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Here’s how to live the beautiful life, like your grandparents did
Yes, you too can find happiness by being kind to others, truly understanding yourself, living the simple life and following a regular exercise regimen
“Oh! He’s got the new iPhone”. Your eyes spot the device in your neighbour’s hand, triggering off a cascade of thoughts. “What a wonderful phone! Perhaps, I should buy it too. Sadly, though, my pocket does not allow it, but then, the great online sale is about to begin, and that too with monthly installment (EMI) options”. So, either you end up buying the phone on EMI and jeopardising your bank balance or you get all frustrated and dissatisfied at the prospect of not being able to afford the phone.
Often, family time in the evening is devoted to discussions around thoda hai thode ki zaroorat hai (have little, want little) and ends up with zindagi isi liye yahan jhand hai (that’s why life is such a hit).
At bedtime, only a few lucky ones get to sleep in the blink of an eye. The majority need mobile phones as lullaby and social media as a soothing thapki (caress). Then there are some helpless creatures, who, in spite of all efforts, keep tossing and turning in their beds only to get up more exhausted the next day.
One wonders how it was when our grandparents were young and able to welcome each day with a smile and sleep peacefully at night. The sky was their mobile phone screen, the humming of mosquitoes their lullaby, their own thoughts lulling them to sleep, as gentle as a mother’s touch. Daily visits to the temple, feeding beggars and stray animals were musts. They also had little, but still thought the world was khoobsurat (beautiful.) The only means of transport then was a bicycle or a gyarah (eleven) number bus. They lived in an age when life was tougher than it is today.
SECRETS OF BEING CONTENTED
So what made them happy and contented? Was it stargazing? Was it riding the bicycle? I think it was a combination of all their activities. For our ancestors it was a part of their lives, done automatically. For us, it can be a change we can adapt, mindfully, on the chessboard of our lives.
In those good old days when there was little of electronic media, the stargazing helped our grandparents think about their life, daily routine, needs and wants, their shortcomings and ways to improve them.
If we could take some time out each night to impartially judge ourselves, we could be better persons. Our lives are full of mosquitoes of ‘wants’ and problems, we can either crib and spend sleepless nights or sleep peacefully under a protective “net” of acceptance, acknowledging life as it is and not comparing it with others.
Acceptance of our ‘life’s situation’ is the trump card in our battle of life. If taken in the right spirit it can make us winners and, if not, it could mean getting checkmated.
OPENING THE HEART
It is said that sharing what you have makes you free and opens your heart for love and compassion. Our elders practiced it by feeding beggars or stray animals; we could do the same by visiting and making donations for destitute homes. Such gestures make us appreciate what we have: A healthy, happy and wholesome life; something which we forget to acknowledge when we hanker after things we do not have.
Walking or riding a bicycle was how our grandparents commuted, and it became their daily workout routine. Research has proved that physical activity or exercising releases ‘endorphins’ in the body that triggers positive feelings. So, why not exercise, run, walk or even dance to feel good?
Our life is a chessboard on which we have the dark squares of problems and pains, as well as white squares of peace and pleasures. We must step on both the squares to move forward.
Unlike the game of chess, however, we have enemies inside us as well asoutside, defeating the one inside will automatically disarm the other.
Our grandparents won the game. Let us continue the legacy.
(The author is a pharmacist. She can be contacted at bassipallavi1@gmail.com)
