Life can be both an irony and a tragedy at times. This isn’t the problem. Because such is Life’s nature. The problem
arises when you don’t understand Life’s true nature and expect Life to be in a
certain way – as you wish it to be!
Prasanna, A R Rahman and Vivek Picture Courtesy: Internet |
This morning’s papers carry the poignant
story of Tamil comedian Vivek’s 14-year-old son Prasanna’s untimely death. The
boy succumbed to suspected dengue and brain fever after 40 days in hospital.
One of the papers pointed out the irony – Vivek has been an ambassador for the
Tamil Nadu government’s dengue-prevention campaign! My auto-rickshaw driver amplified
another angle to the irony: “Saar,
Vivek made so many people laugh their guts out as a comedian. Poor guy, he is
now having to cope with such a huge loss.” When I heard the news first, I
remembered A.K.Hangal’s immortal dialogue (written by Salim-Javed) in Sholay (1975, Ramesh Sippy): “Jaante ho duniya mein sabse bada bhoj kya
hota hai? – Baap ke kandhe pe bete ka janaaza!” It means: “The heaviest
burden in Life is a child’s coffin on a parent’s shoulder”.
I am sure everyone today must be sending
Vivek and his family a silent prayer and positive energy. Of course, beyond
that none of us can do anything. The truth is, when our time comes, each of us
has to deal with our own Life situations. This is perhaps why the famous Hindi
poet, Harivansh Rai Bachchan (1907~2003), said this: “Jeevan ka matlab hai sangharsh”; “Life is a struggle, a challenge.”
It doesn’t mean that Life is only full of pain and challenges. It means that
you have to go through your share of challenges no matter who you are and no
matter what you have done or not done, no matter whether you think you deserve
it or don’t deserve it.
This is where the Buddha’s advice is very
relevant. He said this: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” Suffering
is a human, self-inflicted condition. You suffer when you expect your Life to
be any different from what it is, from the way it is. Someone dies and you feel
the grief. That’s because your pain leads you to grief. And that is natural. But
the moment you ask why should this person die or ask why should this person die
now, then you have invited suffering into your Life. Who is going to answer
your “whys”? Actually nobody has any answers. So, following any painful event
or situation, only when you keep clinging on to the grief, do you suffer.
A friend, a retired Wing Commander from
the Indian Air Force, who lost his grandson within a day of the child’s birth,
had this to say: “Well, he came, he fulfilled his time on the planet and he
went away. That was his design. We can’t do anything but accept his reality.” I
agree completely with my friend’s outlook to Life. In fact, the simplest way to
live Life is to be prepared for anything – and everything. And let us not ask the
“whys”. Just take it as it comes. For it was what it was,
it is what it is and it will always be what it will be.
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