Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of others…for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected .….
~ Einstein
As we got aboard the heritage train at Ooty, travelling towards Connoor, the feeling of adventure and excitement soon vanished. The general compartment, with the seating only for a few, was filled to the brim with the GRP constables outside relentlessly pushing – yes, literally pushing - the people inside. As the engine whistle sounded its readiness to embark on the journey, the negativity prevailed in the compartment. The tempers running short & high, no one was agreeing to adjust for anyone else. It was indeed a chaotic situation which normally a general compartment in Indian railways is.
However, as the train started on its journey towards Connoor, enroute Mettupalayam, though the chaos stayed, the fresh breeze of the mountains soon made egos and feelings of resentment disappear. Those who were fortunate enough to get a seat started accommodating those who needed one. Those who sometime back had fought to capture a seat to have an uninterrupted view of the beautiful terrain of Nilgiri mountains, were now ready to share it with those who were lesser privileged.
The entire journey, to me, resembled the way our life is. However, the journey of life is different from a train journey because, the bigger mystery of our journey is that we don’t know when our last stop will come. Neither do we know when our travel companions will make their last stop. Not even those sitting in the seat next to us. Hence, sooner we get over our negative feelings and get on with sharing and caring, better our own journey would be. Let us not wait for speaking the words of appreciation, encouragement or retracting our own harsher words earlier. We must remember that the time is short and we never know who next would be getting down from the train we all are on.
Henri Fredrick Amiel – a Swiss philosopher and poet of 19th century put it down in much better words
Life is short
We have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those
who are travelling the dark journey with us.
Oh, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind.
Here is my lense looking at the journey of life:
http://acumenimages.blogspot.com/2010/06/oh-be-swift-to-love.html
Share and care!
Cheers
Ashish
