Saturday, February 03, 2007

God of Small Things

Happiness! Such a weird feeling naah? All the time we keep running after it thinking it is this elusive thing, and then one fine day it just jumps at you out of nowhere, and you are left thinking, “Wow! That was simple!”

One hell of a bad day I was having. Nothing disastrous, just one of those days in college when everything goes wrong and nothing goes right, your friends don’t understand you, your lecturers are mean, and the human race in general is not just mind bogglingly stupid, but is also on an out and out war with you. You know the kinds when the world and everything beyond just pulls you down.

At the end of a naggingly irritating day at college, I went in the evening to meet another friend. Ranted my heart out to him. Didn’t really help though. When I left, my mood was really really unhappy. I was walking back home, and I had to cross through Forum. Now malls are one place that I always was a fascinating place for people watching (NOT the same as bird watching). You meet all kinds- the rich, the not-so-rich, and the most interesting, wanna-look-rich. But that day I really couldn’t care less. I was too bothered my own set of borrowed problems to be worried about all that just then.

Then I saw this dude. Cute li’l chap, must be all of three years old perhaps. Dude had this tetrapack of Frooti in his hand, and was struggling with all this two feet nothing might, to push a stubborn straw into the packet, and finding that it ain’t the as easy as he thought it should be. His mom offered to help, but our man, staunchly refused. After all what’s a puny li’l straw to question his super baby might?

Then he looked up to see me looking at him with extremely amused eyes. I couldn’t help smiling at that tiny bundle of cute resolve. In return, the dude gave me the most spontaneous, and genuinely happy smile that I ever saw. That moment, that smile, made me feel so innocently happy, something that no amount of talking, counselling, philosophising, and ranting could manage. Looking at that kid, his happy smile, made my heart feel so light, all those things that were nagging me seemed so not worth it. Sure if he were some another two decades older, he’d have probably thought I was linemaorfying him. But right now, for him life was really simple. He saw someone smile at him, and he smiled back. He had his worries to handle (he was in the middle of the battle with the straw, remember?), but he had his fundas clear. Smile for a smile. As simple as that.

Sometimes I think, as we are born with the knowledge of pretty much everything that we need- to live to be happy. Then our whole life we spend in unlearning that, and then feeling all lost in the search of answers. Tsu recently said, if you can’t find the answers, its probably because you are not asking the right questions. Makes sense huh?

Happiness. It’s such a weird thing. All our life, we keep running after it, while it is all the while waiting in a mall, fighting a stubborn straw. :)

13 comments:

Anu said...

i rem u tellin this to me... i guess people have diff ideas of happiness. the innocent smile made u happy and for other ppl its making money. but in that flight they forget to have fun!!!
ohh i lost my thought...

Sh'shank said...

this blew me away...
all our life we keep wanting to run to being old...
being a kid is the most fascinating existence...
things sublime and still occupying and intriguing...
the most irressitable smiles are those of these kids...
couldnt help it... hate the word verification... its like a test
but this one is good
fuk smel
;-)

Me Thinks.. said...

last line rocks...happiness is just a state of mind...
Kids live life to the fullest while we search for meaning....

Maverick said...

good one

Anonymous said...

now playing

take it easy, take it easy
dont let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy


trouble - its just a matter of mind, if you dont mind, it doesnt matter.

- Cyrus

Anand Sarolkar said...

In search of happiness,
In search of success,
Life is an ultimate quest!

crumbs said...

@ tsu
Yep u did!
sure happiness means diff things to diff ppl, but it still doent mean that we have to complicate the search for it so much.
"i wish that everyone gets everything that they ever wanted, so that they realise that it is just not the answer" jim carrey said that, if i'm not wrong

@prick
hmmm...these days watever i say seems to be blowing u away. become quite lightweight have we?
and word verification, i hat it too, but yeah momments like that make it worthawhile :D

@ methinks
just the last line?;0

@maverick
mmm...thanks.
re u really who i think u re???

@lash
if you dont have a mind, then it becomes even more simpler, dont u think? :P

@anand
true!but its a fun ride don't u think? :)

Sh'shank said...

ah well you blow quite hard you know...

crumbs said...

@ prick
since this is public forum, i choose to maintain a dignified silence over that comment :P
u meet me on gtalk !@#@!$!@#$!@#%$$#%$^$%&^%#&^%
:D :D

Maverick said...

Yes.
my earlier identity was "You know who"
since its a public forum,wont write more..

Sh'shank said...

you cant help but be silent when u blow u know!!!
;-)

mathew said...

that was beautiful..it was just one of the day when u feel happy for no reason..sometimes just that feel good factor makes you happy..and the kid help you made a child again..

crumbs said...

@ prick
i'm ignoring u :P
@ mathew
:)