Monday morning... Like every other monday, i was forever rushing to office. It took me a lot of mental energy to wake up from my weekend dream and get ready for the reality ahead. As i was driving i was thinking of all the work i had kept pending on the friday for the monday. I was thinking about my boss who was gonna be tough on me for not completing some assignments..But most of all i was thinking of the bad traffic which lay ahead of me at Juhu road.
Each time i went through this traffic situation in life i would exhibit similar patterns with no signs of improvement whatsoever. As the traiffic increased i started to curse myself for not sleeping early, for not being disciplined, for reading the newspaper too long and so on. Once i was done with blaming my own self for the situation, i would start blaming the world for my problems.
The traffic was getting to me and i started honking louder and louder to the cars ahead of me. The thing with the driving is that there is no perfect driver other than you. If they drive faster than you then they are rash and if they drive slower than you then they are blocking you ;) I was so angry and frustrated that i wanted to bang my car against some rick or truck. I wish this was a video game and i could get ahead on the road by banging everyone in my way.
Just as i was passing the juhu circle i happened to observe a man with a placard. He was dressed very simply in white clothes. He had a big smile on his face and was holding a placard with a simple message. A message to love all. A message to respect all religions and love every individual from every religion.
I started thinking why would this man stand here at this junction to give such a message. Why would someone wanna be swarmed with cars and want to give this message? What was his motivation? What did he gain out of it? Why would he do that when no body cared. Was there a deeper message than what it seemed like? Was god trying to tell me something through him? Was i not listening enough? What could this mean for all of us? Or was it just some insane man thinking that he could spread peace by simply standing at the signal with a banner of love.Does he not earn any money? Has someone paid him for all this?
In that moment i couldnt help comparing my situation to him? Why was i going to office. What did i get by working? What was my purpose in life? Why do i sit in front of a pc all day and work? Do i really love my job? Is the MBA degree all worth it? Where am i moving in life? Am i like this man with the banner and 'life just happening' around me like the cars passing by around him? A million questions popped up every second just like the cars ahead of me ...
But now i dint care of the cars and traffic.I started to slow down.. the traffic dint matter now, nor the meetings and the senseless presentations i made. i started thinking that here is a man who diligently came every morning and quietly, without any expectations went about with his purpose of life. Was that good or bad? Who knows.. but he had a smile on his face. he was effortless in his expressions...he had clarity in his thoughts and most of all he had a very strong belief in what he was doing? There was not an iota of doubt in his mind that that he would make a difference to atleast of on of the passengers traveling in the sea of cars around him. Most of all he seemed happy with what he was doing on a monday morning:):)
I waved my hand to him as i passed him acknowledging the fact that i got his simple message. In my on going journey to happiness i had unraveled a small secret. I could feel myself smile as if someone had told me a little secret in my ears. I could feel my smile reach my eyes!! From that day on i have started leaving on time, i honked lesser and i try to focus on the task or person rather than the result. I am learning to find my own meaning and purpose to the things i do in life and align them with my larger goals. I am trying to find simple pleasures of life rather than worrying about senseless things like money, career, weight etc.
"Sabse Prem Karo" -The man with the banner has taught me that you need to add love in everything you do rather than finding things that you would love to do....be it people, career, hobbies or life overall....We don't need to do anything to find love but only realize that we are loving....
