Slouched in my sofa, when I sat to
pen down my thoughts, I felt very much rusted. My thoughts were broken and
scattered and the blogger in me was waiting for something which would snap me
out from my self-imposed lethargy. To free myself from this melancholy, I finally
I went to the nearby garden to breathe some fresh air.
I was deeply engrossed in my
fancy world thinking about absolutely absurd things when suddenly an old couple sitting beside me broke my chain of
thoughts. The lady with a wrinkled smile and gloomy eyes said to her husband in a heavy tone” humari life aapke retirement k baad bahut badal gayi hai , jindagi
mein ek khalipan pan aa gaya hai”. ( our life has very much changed after your
retirement, it has become very lonely).
Their conversation receded as to how, all those years, celebrations were
organized by many favor seekers, so-called friends and relatives. How during
festivals, people would drop in since morning with their precious gifts to
their house. The old couple was feeling highly downcast and depressed with their
change of fortune.
Their conversation left me totally awestruck and saddened.
Then all of a sudden it reminded me of a story which I had read in a newspaper
which I like to share-
A donkey was carrying idols of Gods on his back for an important annual
religious puja. The donkey passed through a no. of villages on the way. Villagers
bowed to the idols of the Gods. In every village, a crowd would throng to pay
obeisance.
The donkey started thinking that people were bowing to him
and was thrilled with this newfound respect. After leaving the idols at the
place of the puja, his master loaded vegetables on him and they started their
return journey. This time, nobody was paying any attention to the donkey. The
cold-shouldered donkey felt so frustrated that he started braying to invite the
attention of villagers - who became irritated with his non-stop braying and
started beating him.
For once, it made me feel, we all are ‘’ donkeys” in this
so-called race. All the gifts and overt gestures of respect and obeisance
extended to us are actually for the positions we truly hold and how we could be
of use for somebody.
I went home thinking, how our feelings and emotions have fallen pray of this materialistic
world.........
