The Simple World

When i was little, everyone around me acted as if the world was the most excited place to be. They were so very excited to show me how the moon, the chapatti, the cycle tyre, the coin and of course our earth itself is round in shape. Everything was happy, colourful and/or was magical. Fountains were beautiful, birds were sweet, trees were shady and the butterflies were lovely. Smiles surrounded us, and people respected each other. But with time, as I grew up, I entered a different world: the dirty one, a world full of strange feelings, jealousy, fear, hatred, hypocrites and a little love. So, for a long time I have been wondering why people hate others. What made all that sweetness and happiness vanish? Where did that smiley world disappear?   Why do people taunt or belittle? I never found the correct answers. I have been taunted a lot of times, i never mind, but i fail to understand what they possibly gain by passing such derogatory remarks. One of my friends once said me, "just make some peace and Say it!" Here "it" refers to the cursive expletives or the "swear" words. But, how can saying "bad" things give someone peace? Bad words and peace don't sound analogical to me.

What i found is words can be as beautiful and harmless as they can be, but the tone adds the real sense. For instance, "So, finally u came? What took you so long?" is spoken by a lady in a worried tone. And imagine the same sentence said in a husky interrogative manner. The essence of the words changes automatically. First shows care and sympathy while the second reflects doubt and jealousy. Harsh tones add hatred to the words apart from its meanings. Bad words sound worse and good words are spoiled by the rough tone. Often people try to disparage others in order to get some self-respect or help their personal worth. But, how will anyone gain respect by not respecting another person? The grown-up’s world is surely hard to understand.

The other day, I had to take an auto. After traveling a short distance the meter flashed “40”. I thought there was something wrong with the meter but I gave the auto driver the benefit of the doubt. I paid him a 100 rupee note and told him to give me change as I didn’t have any. He said “I’ve change, wait”. But within seconds after I stepped out of the auto, he drove away without paying me back. First, I was upset about the 60 he didn’t pay but then I thought why did he do it? Was he in need of money? If he’d have asked for it, I would have given him the 100 anyway. He obviously can’t spend the next 30 years with those 100bucks. What if some passenger catches him someday? People are deceitful. Soon after, I boarded a bus. I sat next to an old gentleman. He gave a 500rupee note and asked for his ticket. The ticket cost 50, the conductor returned him 400 and said he didn’t have the remaining 50. The old gentleman smiled and said, “Chai-paani samajh k rakh lo, beta” . In contrast to what I saw earlier, I found love and smile still have some power.

This made me realize that the world we live in is still simple. What has made the world more tangled and perplexed is the urge of some people to make their life simpler at the expense of others’. They want to maintain that simplicity and in doing so, they cross every extent even if their actions make others' difficult and complicated. Some realize it, yet continue to do so while some unknowingly hurt others. I am not perfect either, there's a possibility that i may have come under the second category a few times. But we must make it a point that we should never fall under the first category. If you don't believe in the karma-crap, remember, "What goes around will come back around". Your actions should make life simpler for you as well as for others. Even if you can’t make your own life simpler, do try to make others’. It’ll somehow come back to you only.