Triveni Journal
1927 | 11,233,916 words
Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....
鈥淚T鈥橲 NEVER THAT BAD鈥�
Jaswanth Singh
Some incidents, however minor they may seem, leave an indelible mark on our life. Many a times we are not even aware (consciously, that is) of the incident, and yet its impact is the driving force throughout our life. Such an incident happened in my life over two decades ago. To be precise, it happened in 1974.
I had returned from a university field trip to the beautiful Chakrata Hills in Dehradun District of U.P., the Hills that became infamous as having been the preparatory ground for operation Blue Star exactly a decade later. But the Hills cannot be blamed for that. It is the unscrupulous humans who, by their actions, make a place famous or infamous.
On that day, as I opened my luggage, I could not find a shawl which my father had given me when we had left Delhi. My younger sister could judge my discomfort as I threw all clothes here & there frantically in search of my elusive shawl. I was shell-shocked. Rupees 70/- In those cheap but hard days (hard for us) was a big sum - especially when my father earned only Rs.300/- per month. As the gravity of the loss sunk in, tears welled up in my eyes and flowed down my cheeks uncontrollably and I locked myself in my room.
When my parents arrived in the afternoon, my sister told them that I had been weeping in my room since morning. By this time I had regained composure and had prepared myself for the worst. I opened the door and came out. As I neared my father, with my eyes glued to the floor, unexpectedly he put his arms around my shoulder and said reassuringly, 鈥淲hat is this? My brave son is crying over a shawl of Rs.70/-? Forget it and relax!鈥� These sympathetic words made me cry again - now out of inexplicable gratitude. How wrong I was in understanding my father? Perhaps all of us are! Most of the times! But we realize it too late.
Next morning as I walked into my department in the University Campus, one of my fair-sex classmates beckoned me. As I approached her, she held my 鈥渓ost鈥� shawl in her hand. 鈥淚n your hurry, you had left it on your seat yesterday鈥�, she said. I could not believe my eyes and once again tears welled up in my eyes - This time expressing my gratitude to the almighty. My friend looked at me, taken a!
This incident taught me two very important lessons for life even at that tender age. One to be magnanimous when youngsters commit a mistake. And two - never to lose heart. Even under most trying circumstances. The situation is never as hopeless as we perceive. In other words, there is always a glimmer of hope - only we are unable to see it!