Daily Times

Our focus mostly remains on political and economic issues and the challenges confronting the country. One rarely comes across write ups on realities of life that profoundly affect it. The media accordingly is replete with articles and comments on political and economic developments taking place on the national landscape, leaving no space for those realities to be mentioned or shared.

Somebody has sent me an audio which mentions the harsh realities of life, forced social behaviours, different mindsets and host of other truths that are rarely noticed by the mortal souls. After listening to it, I found compelled to share its contents with the readers thinking that it might help them to understand the dynamics of life in this world and the routines that one has to re-enact every day to complete the journey of their life.

The world only respects those who are rich and powerful.

I would therefore like to narrate the gist of the contents of that audio. According to it, a person goes to work in the morning and returns home in the evening tired and exhausted. He often ponders over the question whether he works to live or lives to work only? He thinks that he has found an answer to the often-asked question during childhood, “what will you like to be when you grow up.”

The answer is, I would like to be a child again.

The person is sick of serving the life and wants it to settle his account. In other words he wants an end to life frustrated by its trivialities and hardships. The person laments his separation from his friends acknowledging that though they were mean to him but were still a cause of hustle and bustle in his life.

This explains the reality that a man is a social animal and he inevitably has to live that way no matter how difficult it is. In regards to behaviour of the world and his nears and dears, the person says that he came to know the world when his coffers were full of money and his relatives when his pockets were empty. It is an irrefutable reality of life that the world respects only those who are rich and powerful. The relatives also evaluate their bonding with you on the basis of your richness. The moment they find that one is empty pocketed they adopt indifferent attitude towards you.

According to this narrative when a person starts earning himself the reality dawns him that the real enjoyment of life was when he lived on the money of his parents. He was only managing to pull along with his own earnings. In regards to social behaviours the person feels that he has to laugh even when not in a mood to do so and when somebody asks how are you he has to say I am perfectly all right. This drama has to be enacted by every one. He feels that one does not need a match stick to start a fire. In this world every man is jealous of the other and out of this malice can harm interests of others. He regrets the fact that scientist are engaged in finding out whether there is life on the Mars or not but nobody is bothered about knowing whether there is happiness in the life or not.

Explaining the difference between sleep and death he says “Sleep is half death and death is permanent sleep.” He feels that life has its own momentum and does not require supporting dynamics or somebody’s shoulders to maintain its rhythm. Only funerals are taken on the shoulders of others.

Regarding the life cycle, he says that the day changes into night and night changes into day culminating into end of it. People have to endure pain and hardships during their lives. Some cry to express the hurt that they endure and some conceal their sorrows in their smiles. It is an astonishing miracle of the nature that a live man drowns in the water and his dead body floats on its surface. The person feels that his life has become like a conductor of the bus who has to travel every day with no fixed destination. According to him he has been trying to find answers to all the questions and finally found them when he entered his room. The ceiling said, always have high aims. The fan said, keep it cool. The clock said time is very precious. The mirror said, always have a peep inside you before doing anything. The window said, have a good look at the world. The door advised to employ all energies to achieve the desired destination.

The person feels that lines have myriad of implications. If they appear on the forehead they bring good fortune. If drawn on the land become borders between nations. If drawn on skin could cause bleeding. If drawn between kinship they assume the form of walls. One rupee is not one lakh but if it is taken out of the lakh the latter loses its denomination. Out of our millions of friends it is only one rupee that needs to be preserved. The rest is all lies and deception.

It is my firm belief that reflecting on the points raised in this narrative people can greatly benefit in re-arranging the affairs of their lives for positive outcomes and save themselves from many adversities and hardship that occur in their lives due to the behaviour of others. They can also re-asses and transform their social behaviours for building a peaceful society and correcting some of the make beliefs.

The writer is a former diplomat and freelance columnist.