The Pursuit of Comfort and Security: A Thoughtful Journey
Life is a struggle for each one of us. A struggle on many fronts but most of these struggles are towards achieving a better life. A cushy job or a robust business, a fat salary, an apartment in a metropolis, a good car and a few lakhs of rupees in fixed deposits are the minimum expectations or goals that we strive hard to achieve in order to get the much-desired financial security and comfort in life. But do we really get it? Yes and no. As a progressive-minded, ambitious generation of young and educated people, we raise our bars and levels of expectations every time we achieve our goals, especially in the matter of financial security and comfort. We start feeling insecure every time we reach the goal we had set earlier. Hence, we continue to slog harder to achieve the next higher goal and the next and the next. So the process continues till we become incapacitated to earn further and pass on the baton to the next generation. The rat race continues with the same fervor.
Do we finally achieve the financial security and comfort in life that we chase like a mirage in the desert? Some will vehemently say 'YES' and some will sheepishly admit 'NO'. So it is quite Debatable! Don't ask me which category I belong to, though I can confide privately to you that I am still struggling to get out of the 'No' category and bravely pretend to belong to the 'Yes' category!
However, if we take a peek into different wakes of life and try to gauge the level of comfort and security that exists in different strata of society, the pictures that emerge (literally) are quite thoughtful and at times touchy.
I was strolling on the bank of the river Ganga in Rishikesh, completely immersed in the heavenly beauty that Nature has bestowed on this region. The freshness of the air, the tranquility in the lap of the Himalayas and the graceful flow of Mother Ganga had created a divine atmosphere! The sun was slowly coming out of the clouds spraying much-needed warmth in the winter. All of a sudden, I was startled by a sight. I took a couple of minutes to understand it, believe it and then capture it in my camera. Snuggled amongst the boulders on the riverbank, I found a young man in his early thirties sleeping soundly and peacefully making a flat rock his pillow. He was oblivious to my presence, in complete security and comfort of Mother Nature!
A realization dawned on me for the first time in my life. Comfort does not necessarily come with money and is tuned to the level of expectations in one's mind.
I quietly moved away, without disturbing his well-deserved siesta.
(It takes some effort to notice the man sleeping, in the photograph below. Regret the inconvenience.)
The year 2010, a day before the beginning of Maha Kumbh Mela in Haridwar. I had made a solo trip to witness this great event. Har Ki Pouri, the main area for this mega festival was bustling with pilgrims, tourists, vendors, and organizers. I crossed to the other side of the river Ganga using the bridge and continued my leisurely walk to familiarize myself with the place for the next day. Something which might look wonted caught my attention and I stopped on my track. An old poor pilgrim who had perhaps travelled from a far-off village to attend this great occasion and earn some punya felt dead tired after taking a dip in the holy river. Spreading his lone pair of wet pyjamas on a concrete block to dry in the sun, he was in deep slumber.
I wondered while clicking his photograph, how could he sleep so peacefully on a concrete block under the sun with no fear or anxiety? I had my second realization. When one has no fear of losing anything, peace and comfort prevail in life, anytime and anywhere. This old pilgrim had only a pair of pajamas as his belonging which he knew would not attract anybody's attention.
At a very sultry noon in Mumbai, the temperature was hovering around 39 deg C and humidity was more than 90%. Even in the comfort of the air conditioner working at full capacity, I was struggling at home, annoyed and irritated with the climate. I happened to look out through the window at the passing people and vehicles. Everyone was hurrying past the sight, to escape the fury of the summer sun. My roving eyes had unexpectedly caught something bizarre.
On the footpath beyond the boundary of our building, a small child completely naked was in a deep sleep on a sheet of cardboard, under a tree. The only thing I found it wearing was a sacred thread with an amulet around its waist. The child perhaps belonged to a beggar mother who could not afford the basic requirements for him and left him at the mercy of the elements.
I rushed down with my camera and clicked a photo from a safe distance so as not to offend the mother who was a ragpicker working nearby. Then walking closer to the child, I found the innocent little soul was completely oblivious to the noise around, from the honking of the cars to the annoying cacophony of the auto-rickshaws. The summer heat and humidity which took its toll on air-conditioned people like us had no impact on him and his peaceful sleep. I handed over ten rupees note to his mother asking her to buy some eatable for the child.
The third realization came to me when I kept looking at the photograph and pondered about the child. Before cribbing too frequently about the lack of comfort and security in our lives, spare few thoughts about the unfortunate ones who do not possess even a minute fraction of what we do!
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