We’re a blessed lot

The other day, I overheard a conversation between an acquaintance, M and another person. I knew that M did not have a father, but I didn’t know what had happened. Well, during this conversation, I shouldn’t have pretended to be preoccupied with my work, just showing a bit of concern on my face now and then. Call me whatever, I try not to get too emotionally involved in things – after many experiences all these years, I realized it just makes me sadder – for instance, if I miss someone who’s passed away, well I can’t think again and again – “Oh, I miss her, I miss her, I miss her…” because it’ll bring along other thoughts about times when I’ve been angry with her and how I shouldn’t have been like that. While, of course, I miss that person, I try to wake all the happy memories in my mind. It is the good things that have to be remembered the most.

Well, I drifted away. Let me come back to M’s story. It’ll sound straight out of a movie, but it happens to many families we don’t know about, because we are accustomed to all of life’s comforts, living in a happy bubble.

M lost his father when he was all of 10 years old, due to paralytic stroke. His father lived for barely 2 months after that stroke. He underwent a lot of suffering.

M’s family comprises of his mother, his younger sister and brother (I think he has a younger brother) and an elder one who has a nervous disorder – one of the main nerves in his body doesn’t function properly – he cannot utilize one hand and one leg properly.

That day was M’s birthday. He was saying that they hadn’t celebrated birthdays from when his father passed away – till the last two years. On this birthday his family had surprised him with a cake.

M comes across as a happy-go-lucky fellow. You’d never imagine that he’s the breadwinner of his family, unless you knew things. Probably he’s too young to become more serious about things; yes, one needs to get serious – and maybe he is; he has to take care of a lot of things. But on the exterior he still seems to take each day as it comes, cracking jokes, making chit chat… I hope he makes it his conscious attitude, with a dose of seriousness where it is needed.

There’s another point to this article – the one I started it with. There are many of us with all the comforts life has to offer. We end up taking many of those for granted. Worse, they still don’t make us happy. We get lazy and selfish – not valuing things for what they are. We get angry, short-tempered and bitchy, arguing for many things. Let us take a leaf from the book of those who are worse off. Let us learn to endure and tide over whatever small difficulties we have and appreciate life’s comforts. We’re blessed, and it’s high time we acknowledged that.

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