Rush Hour

As we are heading forward towards all our lives everything seems to be gaining pace. The way of living of people, their habits, routine have taken a new form. Live conversations have changed to phonic talks, dining table with five or six chairs have become useless. Everybody is busy with himself or herself………..but in this dynamic life we don’t even realize what we are actually missing. This reminds me of a poem I read somewhere. Here it goes………

Here I am sitting in my office @ night…

Thinking hard about life how it changed

a maverick collage life to strict professional life……

How tiny pocket money changed to huge monthly paychecks

but then why it gives less happiness

a few local denim jeans changed to new branded wardrobe

but then why there are less people to use them

how a single plate of samosa changed to a full Pizza or burger

but then why there is less hunger…..

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…

Thinking hard about life how it changed…..

How a bike always in reserve changed to bike always on

but then why there are less places to go on……

How a small coffee shop changed to cafe coffee day

but then why its feels like shop is far away…..

How a limited prepaid card changed to postpaid package

but then why there are less calls & more messages……

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…

Thinking hard about life how it changed……

How a general class journey changed to Flight journey

but then why there are less vacations for enjoyment….

How an old assembled desktop changed to new branded laptop

but then why there is less time to put it on……….

How a small bunch of friends changed to office mate

But then why we always feel lonely n miss those college frnz…..

Here i am sitting in my office @ night…

Thinking hard about life How it changed…..

How it changed….

I am sure that each one of us can relate ourselves in one way or the other to the poem…true…very true. Now I believe that the readers must have realized the incompleteness in their lives. We are so much busy that we don’t even have the time to sit with our parents….who, when we were young used to devote most of their time to us…..we don’t have time to talk to our friends to whom we used to talk for hours together in college days. Seeing the hustle and bustle life of the present era……my mother narrated me a story which became the most important lesson of my life…this story I would like to share with all because one day or the other we all would be a part of the same dynamic world….

THE JAR AND TWO CUP COFFEE

Once there was a professor of Philosophy who decided to teach his students an important lesson of life…..entering the class he said “My children, today I am going to teach you the most important lesson of your lives….if you follow this throughout your lives then no one can stop you from achieving sweet success in all your endeavors…”

He put a jar he had brought with him in the table and started filling tennis balls in that………..he kept on putting the balls until the jar could accommodate no more. After this he asked his students “What do you think ?Is this jar full?” “Yes sir” said all of them in chorus. The professor smiled and started filling the jar with pebbles….and continued this process until the jar had no more space for pebbles…..and again turning to his students asked “Now do you think this jar is full?” Again the students chorused “yes sir”. The professor smiled again and this time he started putting sand into the jar………….sand occupied the voids between the pebbles and balls……a time came when the jar could now no more adjust even a particle of sand….and then he asked his students the same question. The students sure enough this time answered unanimously “Sir this time definitely this jar is full” But the professor had something else in his mind…..he now started pouring coffee into the jar not to mention the coffee got absorbed in the sand. The jar accommodated two cups of coffee.

Now turning to his students the professor said in an erudite way….”Dear students think this jar as your life and balls the most important part of your lives that is God, family, friends, health and your hobbies……….the pebbles are analogous to your job and the luxurious things like car, bungalow etc….and the sand signifies even pettier things like your altercations.If you would have filled the jar with pebbles first then the balls would not have been present there….the same thing can be applied to the life……..if we keep on paying attention to small petty things and waste our energies we would be enervated to pay attention towards our most important needs.Don’t keep on wasting your time thinking of sand and pebbles they are secondary things in your life……..all you have to care about is the balls” The students were quite amazed to hear all this.Suddenly one of the students interrupted “but sir you din’t tell what those two cups of coffee signify”. The professor said phlegmatically”That’s what I was thinking why no one of you questioned about those two cups of coffee” and then he continued” it signifies that however your life seem to be full and you are satisfied with it………you still should have time to share a cup of coffee with your friends”

Listening to this story I felt as if somebody has suddenly shown me my real face in a mirror………my face which has just got pale with tensions of life. I started to think the last time I sat with my family members to have meals…..the last time I went to my best friend’s house to wish her on a festival…..and the last time I cooked something for my parents and let my mummy have rest………and to my surprise it had been months and years back when I used to do all this. And I felt ashamed of myself now…..I pondered over “was I so busy with myself that I even didn’t have the time to spend with my near and dear ones?”….and then I realized the genuineness of the story and the poem.

So friends all those of you who had not realized all this by now…..do think over it.Let not your sand and pebbles ruin your balls. Its you who have to decide what are your balls and what the pebbles and sand…..time once gone….never returns back..and don’t let yourself create a situation which would finally make you miss your loved ones and regret of not having enjoyed your life with them in your race in this materialistic world……………

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