To borrow from chacha Ghalib I'd like to say,
"Achchha hai dil ke paas rahe paas-baan-e-aql,
lekin kabhi kabhi usse tanha bhi chhod de."
Sensible is good, it's safe and sound, free of risk. But is that all
that we are? Thinking in the long run ultimately we all have to die.
So what is the use of preserving our life so carefully only to die in
the end?
I am reminded of a simple incident on the Indira Gandhi International
Airport where an American tourist couple, who were going back to US
offered me some money. They were strangers to me and I to them, but
the money was in Indian currency and they would have no use for it
once they boarded the plane. Unfortunately, I was a passenger on the
same plane, going back to US for work, and I was basically in the same
situation as them. I told them so and they gave the money to someone
else.
In this life we have a finite moments of life. We can use those
moments anyway we want. You cannot carry them over to the other side.
You cannot put them in a vault to wait for your next trip. You have to
spend them here and now, in this one life.
How do you spend them? What are you getting in return for them?
You spend 7 12-hour days in office and get commendation from the boss.
Was it worth it?
You spend an hour listening to your wife and her various troubles at
work and get a warm hug in return. Was it worth it?
You leave work half an hour early to pick up your girlfriend from her
office, unexpectedly, and get her sweet smile in return. Was it worth
it?
You get home in time just so you can pick up your 2 months old
daughter and look at her smile. Was it worth it?
What exactly are we supposed to buy with this currency? What is a good
expenditure? I bet it's not all those "sensible" things.
It is said as an example of sense that you should have sense enough
to come in out of the rain. It is sensible.
What if it's the last rain you'll ever see? What if you'll never feel
the cold caress of rain drops on your face?
When was the last time you wasted the well-earned rest of Sunday
playing cricket with some neighbor kids you hardly know?
When did you ignore the sensible advice of going to bed early and
stayed up playing Antakshri with kids well past midnight?
Life is made up of moments. I think we spend moments and earn moments.
Moments that we remember all our life. Moments that make us feel
alive. Moments that define us. Moments that earn us our place in
history. Moments....
Read Nadine Stair's poem sometime when you get a minute. She and I
think along the same lines:
http://www.omidia.com/thought/p_nadine.html
I think we all need some non-sense in our lives! Don't you?
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