There is no denying that one gets a considerable amount of joy when one gathers a huge amount of material wealth. Indisputably, money is the oxygen of life. One must have sufficient means to live a comfortable and contented life.
However, the contentment quotient of life cannot be merely measured with the yardstick of material wealth gathered through means fair and foul, that one may have stashed away. The bliss of a truly contented life is the sum total of human relationships and humane virtues. A palatial mansion that offers the greatest of luxuries will be nothing short of a veritable hell if there is no love among the family members living in that opulent bungalow. Undeniably, restful sleep always eludes the denizens of such a plush house who are consequently the poorest of the poor, judged on the real matrix of happiness.
Modern man to a large extent is addicted to his mind-boggling desire to amass heaps of wealth, which has in fact rendered him completely bankrupt in the absence of the virtue of real love. Loving others unconditionally softens our hearts and makes us truly compassionate towards fellow human beings. Thus, love is the staple diet of the human soul; it infuses positive energy into our mind and body. The first conspicuous effect of this energy is manifested in our attitudinal change, and as a result we begin to empathise with the entire creation of god. The feelings of hatred, jealousy, revenge and ill-will begin to die a natural death, and in the garden of life the flowers of finest of the feelings spread their aroma all around.
The inner joy for which man is otherwise ready to pay any exorbitant price, is not a costly affair. One can even derive a sense of deep contentment within one’s soul with even a small act of compassion and courtesy. As the bone-burning summers set in in India, and many a hapless mortal is subjected to the vagaries of weather with the bare minimum of rags around the bodies, you should spare a few of the discarded clothes for them, I am pretty sure that your gesture will not only cool down their burning bodies but will also give solace to your heart with a sublime of sense of satisfaction. This is a mantra of happiness for which you don’t need to shell out any money.
During the previous winters I had this conviction that happiness had no price and it could be afforded by anybody. It got cemented when a one wintry evening during my evening walk, I bumped into a whimpering puppy in the park. It was perhaps abandoned by its mother and left unprotected. Though I initially did not take a pause, during my way back, when I again saw the little puppy shivering, I could no more continue with my restful walk. I was now desperate to mitigate the impact of the cold weather on that puppy with some warmth.
The first idea that gripped my mind was to use my branded jacket, with which I could wrap him up and bring comfort to him. But the thought of mother’s scolding back home made me reject that thought. I began to think of some other way to bring warmth to the whimpering dog. After a hectic search, I stumbled upon a tattered sack and a heap of dried hay with which I managed to comfortably cover the whole body of the puppy. In no time, its shivering stopped. It was sufficient indication to me that the puppy had got rid of the freezing chill.
Now it was my time to resume my exercise regimen, which was not at all gruelling to me as I was experiencing a superlative degree of bliss and inner serenity. After that small act of kindness, I could fairly conclude that generosity should not be just restricted to the human world. It lends an equal amount of peace and tranquility to the heart of the giver even when it is lavished on the members of the animal kingdom. Being merely kind to men and ruthless to animals will deprive us of that sense of complete joy.
rajrani597kkp@yahoo.com
Published - August 19, 2018 12:15 am IST
