In today's fast-paced life we have left behind many a thing, many a concept. It has made us forget, too soon, the small pleasures which we indulged in and the precious moments of leisure we enjoyed.
And surely, one of these pleasures was catching up with friends at certain places in the town (tea and coffee shops, little cafeterias) and talking about just anything under the sun. Not looking at the watch every five minutes to see whether we were getting late for a meeting or missing our our favourite soap on TV.
Even till ten years ago, the addas or meeting joints, especially for chatting and debating, were found almost in every town and city. Forenoons, evenings and holidays were the time when most people drove or walked towards the place, drawn by the lure of hot samosas, adrak wali chai and stimulating conversations with like-minded people.
These places were the “pulse of the town” and the culture of addebaazi enriched the life of any town and provided a platform for healthy exchange of views on art, politics and literature.
In my own town, which is now a bustling capital of a fledgeling hill State, there were many such places. In one of them, there was a juke box during the eighties which lent a pleasant air to the heated discussions. But now, all these places have been replaced by posh shops that either sell readymade garments or some other things that are more in demand than the humble pakoras and samosas served with steaming cups of tea and coffee.So there are no longer places where friends gathered and talked late into the evenings, giving a liveliness to the town. All this was part of a town’s character and spirit.
The disappearance of such activity says a lot about the dramatic change in our way of thinking and looking at the world and at life. We all now do things only if they bring us some material gain. If we call up someone, it is for work. If we go and meet a person, it is mostly official. If we even say a few words to someone, we plan so that the conversation is ‘useful’ to us in some way. We no longer have any time to feel the wind on our faces, listen to the rustle of the trees, or to smell the roses.
It is true that this mad rush of our lives has taken away those beautiful moments and we have easily allowed us to get swayed by the tides of time. Our minds are always governing our actions. But, sometimes we should allow our heart to take us where it wants to.
Just follow your heart once in a while.As the great Allama Iqbal said, achha hai dil ke saath rahe paasban-e-aqal lekin kabhi kabhi isey tanha bhi chhor den. (Surely, we must let our hearts wander and give ourselves moments that are guided by intuition alone. True happiness is often the result not of intellect but of intuition.)
Nowadays, we need gurus to tell us how to take time out “to do nothing.” It is now being sold as “an art.”Earlier, we did not need any kind of prescriptions about how to do nothing. We could naturally spend such “do nothing” time with our families and friends, or even alone. Basking in the winter sun, feeling its glorious warmth in every pore of our skins, or sitting by the riverside on a summer evening, feeling the breeze on one’s face, talking “sweet nothings” with a loved one. Why do we need people to teach us all this todayIJ
let us resolve to revive these beautiful moments in our lives. Only we can do that. By just making a few adjustments in our hectic schedules.
I am reminded of WH Davies’ oft-quoted lines... What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stareIJ No time to stand beneath the boughs, And stare as long as sheep and cows: No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass: No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night:…A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
So friends, strive and work, lead a busy life. But you really owe it to yourself to smell the roses, just once in a while.