On that auspicious evening I was about to complete my thesis. I was so content to complete the best work of my life. I had been working on it from past 8 years. I lit a cigarette from the candle on my table and went by the window to smoke it. Just then my dog entered the room and jumped on the table I had been working on. The candle fell and burned with it the work of my life. I tried to gather whatever was left of the papers but there wasn’t much left of it.
I turned to the dog and said, “Oh poor dog, you don’t know what you have done.”‘An Anonymous scientist from 19th century’
I feel delighted to tell this incident to everyone as for me it is surreal in our world. From our birth we are taught that life is pacy and if we aren’t able to catch on with it, we will be left behind in the race. So in this race we forget what it means to stop and ponder on our existence. We are so induced in our daily routine that no matter how fast we run we always feel left behind. We are discovering new technologies which are for a fact faster than the old ones. Every other company has its caption like ‘Making this world a better place to live!’
Of course development is the new fashion. Political parties are garnishing votes in the name of development. Companies are using development as the tool to sell their products. And to be frank I don’t disagree with them. I am currently able to post this article on this website because of the technological developments. But there are some traits which our grandfathers and great-grandfathers used to have which are equally applicable in this fast paced developing world. Like being truthful. No matter if Earth starts revolving from west to east, truth will always victor over lies. It’s because truth will always empower us to be ourselves. It will take us to a path away from guilt and regrets.
But out of all the traits that we must have, patience is for me the most difficult to imbibe. It takes practice. In most cases life teaches us the value of patience.
With patience I am not talking about the time when you wait for other cars to go before you because you have more than enough time left to reach to your office. This is nothing like patience. It depends on your mood whether you wait or not just because you have time in your hand.
I am talking about the time when you wait for the other vehicles to pass even when you are getting late. I am talking about the time when you let other passengers pass in a metro and you don’t mind waiting. I am talking about the patience and composure when your life’s work is destroyed in front of your eyes and you just have a smile on your face even with the agonizing pain in your heart.
In the matters where you have so much to lose but have so less in your hands, you should wait for things to get better rather than cribbing about it. It won’t change anything and the scientist knew it.
It’s easy for humans to react to everything. We think that time is in our hands bound in our clocks and we can overcome its might but it’s the other way round. The earlier we understand this, the better we can spend our lives.
These traits, truthfulness, patience, composure are more of the should-haves than the must-haves. No one will tell you this. No one cares. But it’s for you, your satisfaction. We so usually say that our ancestors lived better lives but we don’t care to acknowledge that they were more patient and happy and in turn more satisfied with lives.
The scientist could have easily run after his dog and beat him up but he knew he wouldn’t gain anything from it. Instead he could spend his time to plan out his next move and gather his thoughts together on how to start his theory from the scratch.
It’s easy for me to write it or say it but I know somewhere while I am writing or narrating the story about the scientist, I myself am trying to gain his expertise in patience to some extent. Be free. Be noble. Be patient.
SushantKaushik 