The Rainy Season: I

As a child, I used to hate the rains. It gave me such a tough time. As I get ready for my school, suddenly, there is the heavy rain, and my parents telling me: No School for today!!! Oh Shit… How can I meet with my friends, shout with them, play games…

Ah! Playing Games; This is the basic reason I hated rain. This rain had another peculiar habit of coming at afternoon, just at the time, I got ready to go out to play with my local friends. And All Rain and No Play used to make me a dull boy. I used to stand by my window, and watch the rain, cursing it, and waiting for it to stop. If it took a long time to stop, then again the next bomb: What will you play in the mud!!! How I wished I had some sort of arrow like that of Arjun (Mahabharata Character), so that I can shoot it, and can block the sky, stopping it from raining. Particularly the rain songs, I just hated them, and the authors. I still remember one popular Bengali song which every child is taught.

“Brishti-Brishti-Brishti,

E kon aparup srishti,

Eto mishti mishti mishti,

Amar hariye geche drishti”

“Rain-Rain-Rain,

What a fine creation,

It’s so sweet-sweet-sweet,

I lost all my senses (sight)”

I liked an English rhyme much more than that, because it depicted my scenario, I could identify myself with the character.

Rain Rain, go away,

Come again another day,

Little Tommy wants to play.

Later, when I was in class 10^th, one of my cousins taught me extra two lines of this rhyme.

Rain Rain, go to Spain

Do not show your face again.

Somehow, it is a stronger statement. At first, request the enemy. When he agrees to your request, give him a shocker suddenly. Here, request the rain to go away, and to come on another day, and when the rain agrees, then give the shocker – Do not Show your face again.

Please all, and you will please none

Today, life has taught me a new lesson. No, the lesson is not old, but, however, even if you know the lesson, you cannot always apply it in your life. So, it's all about application of the lesson in practical life.

Everyone must have read the story about "The Man the Boy and the Donkey" from Aesop fables. The final lesson was very simple as that you cannot please everyone, and it's better that stop trying to please everyone.

I sometimes start living my life as other people expect me to live. In some sense, it is normal, since we are social animal, we are in some society, and bounded by its norms. At times, we find it very pleasant when we are being praised by others, despite of the amount of sacrifice we had to undergo to reach the situation.

However, this cannot be the sole idealism to live your life. You cannot live your whole life constrained by other people's expectation, the reason being that other people's expectation is just based on their views on your life, on you. Most of the times, their view on you is narrowed by their view on their own life, and, sometimes that is inaccurate. There may be complete difference in values, and views.

Whose expectations are you living up to? Who are you trying to please? What would you do if you had a blank slate, a fresh start, and unconditional encouragement from your loved ones?

Why should we live up to others expectation! Why should we sacrifice what we want in order to please others! After all, it is not possible to keep on sacrificing till the end. And the day, you follow what your heart says, they stop praising you. They start complaining against you.

I have seen a personal example. One of my friends doesn’t really care about what other people think of him, what other people expect from him. Others keep on telling that well, we don’t understand him, he is a bit different. And I don’t really like to party always, keep on enjoying in general ways with other friends, but, I do so, because, I want to be with everyone, I want that no one tells that I am a snob. However, it is not always possible for me to follow my friends all the time. And, at that time people start complaining that I’m not liable to be a friend. So, why should I try to please them in the first stage!

I am sorry to overload every one of you with my problem, but, after all, what are blogs for!!! Thanks Blogosphere…

Children and Adults

I bought a Computer Accessory which I wanted to buy since a few years. At last I bought it, and I was a bit excited about it, about going to my room, and opening it, and using it, and bla bla bla. However, as I cut the seal, and started using it, I did not really feel that excitement. In fact, it felt that there's nothing new I got.

Then, I remembered my childhood. Whenever I went with my parents to market, I was super-excited about the things bought for me. I used to sleep with the cricket bat, new shoes, robot, even cricket balls, or pingpong balls.  Getting new dress would obviously mean wearing it once for size-check, and then my mother scolding me to open it so that it doesn't get dirty.

So, as we are growing up, we are not contented with those things which used to give us lots of satisfaction. Instead, we keep on searching for happiness every here and there, and when we fail to get happiness, we succumb to those worldly matter, NOT BECAUSE THEY GIVE US SATISFACTION, BUT BECAUSE, WE GET SATISFIES WHEN OUR NEIGHBOURS GET JEALOUS. And, there lies the whole things. We are not excited about what we have, but we are excited about what the other people will say about it. Not only that, the basic emotions of liking, loving are getting lost in the process. It's just like that we cannot love an object because of it's Intrinsic value or Actual value, but, we love an object because of it's Market value. And, as you grow up, you are expected to look and watch and analyse the market value only, not the intrinsic value.

So, the trade-off: Forget about the actual value, think about the market value. Forget about how much satisfaction it gives you, think about how much dissatisfaction it gives others when they see that you own it. And, no one complains about it, because it is so general in our life now.

I did not plan to write the blog like this, however, I took some different track, and now, I end here. Life is so uncertain, and so is a blog!!!