REACHING THE DESTINATION

I was watching a 100 meter race. In the pursuit of reaching the finishing mark first; a participant unknowingly crossed into the adjacent participant’s lane and got disqualified. Hours of personal efforts undergone on daily basis, along with equal involvement of the coach; well wishes of fans, friends and kith and kin did not work. What went wrong? What did the participant miss to do? What did he miss to focus on?

Having watched the competition it was time for me to start for my home. It was going to be at least one hour drive. A drive through the lush green hilly terrain, the vegetation, the flora and fauna made the environment cool and pleasant. The road around the mountain appeared like a snake retreating in the forest. Often I would come across small water stream on the road formed by water sprinkled by the water fall near the road. At times baboons crossing the road would catch one’s sight and the musical twit of different birds on tree branches would attract one’s ears. Though being born and brought up in this place, being a part and parcel of this surrounding today for the time being, nothing did relate with me. I had reached home safely.

After the dinner everybody in the family had retired to their bedroom. My wife an excellent homemaker, after a toll taking day was far away in the deep realms of sound sleep. As far as my vision could go through the glass walls of my drawing room, the earth’s ceiling was creatively decorated with a infinite, inverted, dark saucer fitted with numerous light emitting dots spread over dark ether of space. As it happened during the drive, this too was not relating to me. I was busy occupied with mental analysis of the race that I saw in the morning.

Two things in my opinion contribute to be successful in a race; action at its best and awareness all the time. Motion demand monitoring and monitoring asks for awareness. Running a race, driving a car or living a life; they all, need to meet these two criteria.

Human needs are two; comfort and peace. Comfort concerns body and peace concerns mind. Running the race of life at time, we run after money and forget peace. Money can only bring comfort. With money one can buy furniture, a car, a house, a mobile and so on. They are all means to physical comfort. On the other hand running only after peace is also not fully rewarding. Comfort cannot replace peace and peace cannot replace comfort.

The race of life doesn't have a stopover but has different onus on every leg. Heading towards the finishing leg of life, one needs to balance and achieve both the things in proper proportion to win the race of life, to reach the destination. A home for everyone and everyone in a home.