Last Thursday, Teju and I were jumping in joy (not literally!) because it was a long w/e. Teju was going to visit her parents and I was going to Ooty for a 3-day trip.
We left early from the office so that we could do the packing and other stuff. As soon as we came out of the office, we saw our usual 333 W Volvo bus, which would directly take us to the stop nearest to our house. We again jumped in joy, this time the joy reflecting on our faces and in our voices. We hopped on to the bus and sat with our bags and baggage. All the people were staring at us. 2 ladies and 4 huge bags? Are they traveling to the moon or what was their expression? We didn't pay much attention to them and were in our own sweet world talking to each other.
Tickets paliz!
We came back to the real world and realized that I had a 1000 Rupees note and Teju had a 500 Rupees note. The conductor gave us a very weird look and said, no madam. Change kodtini. Then we rummaged our bags, sacks, all places where there could possibly be small change here and there. After 10 minutes of this endeavor, our bags finally (and thankfully) dished out Rs. 50/- in form of coins and small notes (Rs. 10 and Rs. 5 etc.). We were relieved and handed over the entire lump of change to the conductor. This time the conductor smiled very sheepishly and we couldn't stop giggling too!
After this ordeal, we settled down with the tickets given by the conductor and realized that though we paid him Rs. 50/-, he gave us tickets of only Rs. 30/-. Teju tried her best to argue with him in Kannada, but then the conductor succeeded in tricking us for Rs. 20/-. We showered all kinds of abuses to him (obviously in Marathi and Hindi) and said to each other, "He took Rs. 20 from us, he will surely lose Rs. 40/- somewhere". All this did not have any effect on the conductor and we got down at our stop with a feeling as if we lost some thousand rupees. Then the next step was to take a bus or an auto from that stop to our homes. Again, the question of shelling Rs. 8 stood staring at us with a grin. We had lost heart and hopes and didn't search our bags again for that change. We quietly sat in an auto whose driver demanded Rs. 30 for a distance, which was not even 2 km, but then we literally had no choice.
Teju and I were quiet during those 10 minutes in the auto. We both were thinking, we had big money in the form of Rs. 1000/- and Rs. 500/-, but it didn't quite help us. We had to arrange small coins and change in order to travel such a short distance.
In real life, small things bring great joy, don't they? A hug of a mother, a cup of hot tea, the first showers of rain, a mail or call from a long lost friend, the first non-sensical words uttered by your baby. Can big things e.g. a duplex bungalow bring the same joy as you had bought your first 1 BHK flat? Or can driving a Volkswagen Jetta gives you the same thrill when you first rode on your bike? Perhaps not. The first things in life and the small things (which really look small but bring great joy) should be cherished by one and all in their lives. So, learn to appreciate the small things in life. They give us good memories to sustain in bad and tough times. Learn to look beyond yourself and your so-called worries. Life is not that bad when we look at others, who are less fortunate than us. There is a beautiful world out there if we have the right vision and right attitude.
So which small things do you cherish in your life?
We left early from the office so that we could do the packing and other stuff. As soon as we came out of the office, we saw our usual 333 W Volvo bus, which would directly take us to the stop nearest to our house. We again jumped in joy, this time the joy reflecting on our faces and in our voices. We hopped on to the bus and sat with our bags and baggage. All the people were staring at us. 2 ladies and 4 huge bags? Are they traveling to the moon or what was their expression? We didn't pay much attention to them and were in our own sweet world talking to each other.
Tickets paliz!
We came back to the real world and realized that I had a 1000 Rupees note and Teju had a 500 Rupees note. The conductor gave us a very weird look and said, no madam. Change kodtini. Then we rummaged our bags, sacks, all places where there could possibly be small change here and there. After 10 minutes of this endeavor, our bags finally (and thankfully) dished out Rs. 50/- in form of coins and small notes (Rs. 10 and Rs. 5 etc.). We were relieved and handed over the entire lump of change to the conductor. This time the conductor smiled very sheepishly and we couldn't stop giggling too!
After this ordeal, we settled down with the tickets given by the conductor and realized that though we paid him Rs. 50/-, he gave us tickets of only Rs. 30/-. Teju tried her best to argue with him in Kannada, but then the conductor succeeded in tricking us for Rs. 20/-. We showered all kinds of abuses to him (obviously in Marathi and Hindi) and said to each other, "He took Rs. 20 from us, he will surely lose Rs. 40/- somewhere". All this did not have any effect on the conductor and we got down at our stop with a feeling as if we lost some thousand rupees. Then the next step was to take a bus or an auto from that stop to our homes. Again, the question of shelling Rs. 8 stood staring at us with a grin. We had lost heart and hopes and didn't search our bags again for that change. We quietly sat in an auto whose driver demanded Rs. 30 for a distance, which was not even 2 km, but then we literally had no choice.
Teju and I were quiet during those 10 minutes in the auto. We both were thinking, we had big money in the form of Rs. 1000/- and Rs. 500/-, but it didn't quite help us. We had to arrange small coins and change in order to travel such a short distance.
In real life, small things bring great joy, don't they? A hug of a mother, a cup of hot tea, the first showers of rain, a mail or call from a long lost friend, the first non-sensical words uttered by your baby. Can big things e.g. a duplex bungalow bring the same joy as you had bought your first 1 BHK flat? Or can driving a Volkswagen Jetta gives you the same thrill when you first rode on your bike? Perhaps not. The first things in life and the small things (which really look small but bring great joy) should be cherished by one and all in their lives. So, learn to appreciate the small things in life. They give us good memories to sustain in bad and tough times. Learn to look beyond yourself and your so-called worries. Life is not that bad when we look at others, who are less fortunate than us. There is a beautiful world out there if we have the right vision and right attitude.
So which small things do you cherish in your life?
Very well written. It was really a great experience what we both had on last Thursday. This incident is a very good message to know, small things matters a lot in life. In this day to day hush hush world, one don’t even concentrate on the small things which is gifted by god to us. Rather we keep on cribbing for things what we don’t have. For eg: Sword cannot be used for stitching the cloths & Needle cannot be used in the war :-) But both have their own significance/Importance !!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, Teju, well said!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy a bath with hot water, but the water has to be just right hot, I
ReplyDeletemean it should not be too hot so that it burns your skin, and it should
not be too less hot either.
I enjoy a cup of strong coffee in the evening on the terrace when the
sun is just about to set and the sky is full of various hues of
red/orange...Again the coffee has to be just right strong, not too
strong such that it leaves a bitter taste on your tongue and not too
sweet either..
I enjoy walking barefoot on the grass. Walking barefoot on the sand on
any beach also gives a lot of pleasure.
I enjoy going on long drives at very slow speed at night..
One thing which I like a lot is to sleep on someone's lap.. Mostly its
one's mom on whose lap one would sleep. Or it could be a very dear
person/friend...I like it also when someone sleeps on my lap...I find it
very affectionate...
i enjoy a cup of "swati's" coffee, shopping of any kind big or small, dinner made by amit, watching my fav program on tv, getting up in mrng n realizing tht today is my french class day really cheers me up. while reading the mystery novels when i find out who the killer is, sunday morning la bed var tasbhar lolat gappa marne....:)
ReplyDelete