Life - Greatest Guru of All

As Actor and Director Sylvester Stallone has rightly said it in the movie ‘Rocky Balboa’: “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very rough, mean place. And no matter how tough you think you are, it will always bring you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You or nobody ain’t gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. If you know what you are worth, go out and get what you are worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit.”

The train started moving. It was packed with people of all ages, mostly with workingclass men and women and young collegegoing boys and girls. An old man was sitting near the window with his 30 year old son. As the train moved by, the son was overwhelmed and thrilled by the scenic beauty outside. “See dad, the green trees moving away are so beautiful.”

Others were surprised to see such a childish behavior from a 30-year-old man. Everyone on the train had something or the other to say about this man. “This guy seems to be mad,” newly married Anup whispered to his wife. Suddenly it started raining. To the dismay of the passengers, the raindrops began to wet them as some of the windows were left open. Thirty year old son, opened his window further and yelled with joy “See dad, everything looks so pretty, the rain makes everything prettier, the rain is beautiful.” Anup’s wife got irritated with the raindrops spoiling her new dress. Anup shouted with anger, “Old man! Can’t you see it’s raining, shut that window and take your son to a mental asylum. I am sure he can enjoy the rain as much as he wants there. Your son is crazy!”

The old man hesitated at first and then in a low tone replied, “We are on the way back from the hospital and my son got discharged in the morning. He was born blind. He just got his vision back. The rain, the trees, everything is new to his eyes. Please forgive us for the inconvenience caused...” The things we see may be right from our perspective until we know the truth. But when we know the truth our reaction to that will hurt even us. So we should try to understand the problem better before taking a harsh action. Anup saw only a part of the reality and reacted in such a harsh way. Most of us behave in the same way. We don’t look deep enough and respond to the surface of things.

A four year old boy was sitting next to his mother working in the kitchen. Fascinated by the ‘Bright Red Light’ emanting from the coke in the hearth, he started moving towards it. “Come back!” scolded the mother. He was feeling bad but still he could not resist touching and playing with the glowing coal. He was so mesmerized by its beauty that he again tried to reach for it. Now annoyed and scared, the mother slapped him to prevent him from touching it. She told him that even though the coal is bright and attractive, it is at the same time very hot. The mother only wanted to protect her son but now the boy had thoughts about how bad his mother is. He started thinking that she is stepmother and not the real one. He thought that God has been unkind to him. He started cursing his destiny. The son started crying and screaming “Mom, I hate you. You don’t let me have the things I like.” After some mewling, he was looking for an opportunity. As soon as the mother left the kitchen, he galloped towards the coal.

He held the coal in his hand and burnt his fingers. The mother came running in response to the loud shriek of the child. “I told you it was hot,” screamed the mother while applying the ointment.

Similarly life is like a mother, having no enmity. It is we who are unable to judge from the circumstances what is right and what is wrong. Life always has something good in store for us. God knows that everything we want is not everything that is good for us. The mother or God (or Life) knows that at the end, everything will be for the best. The problems or obstacles on the way try to teach us. God makes us fall only to make us rise higher the next time around. But we are so ignorant that we don’t understand it right away. It is only when we look back in time that we realize that everything happens for our own good. It may bring tears at the time it happens, but only leads to bigger smiles in the time to come.