Independence: A Mirage

Independence in Life is similar to Mirage in a Desert. We keep on moving to reach a state of independence, and we rarely succeed.

Flashback

Scene 1: It was a tradition in the society that the school-going kids would celebrate Saraswati Puja and ask the Goddess of Knowledge for more wisdom every year, year after year. Not sure whether SHE listened to us, we followed it religiously. We got the biggest idol that our miniscule budget permitted us to and tried to re-arrange it at the centre of the stage. Unable to do so all by ourselves, I called on my father who was deeply engulfed (deeper than I thought) in the post-analysis of the Babri Masjid massacre. He didn't move; neither was I able to make any of them move (father or the Goddess). I didn't realize it then, but I was Physically Dependent.

Scene 2: I inquired my mom if I could throw a party to all my friends on my next birthday. I was made to wait for an affirmation for days & months thereafter, till the D-Day arrived. Yes, I was stupid enough to ask it half an year in advance. Ultimately, as it turned out, reasons like money constraints were tossed to me. A couple of years smarter, I demystified it this time: I was Financially Dependent.

Scene 3: Our team had lost the football match and it was largely because of me. I had the burden on my shoulders of letting my team down. Yes, I was stupid enough to think that it was the most important thing I had lost in life, but as I look back, it was important to me at that point of time. Of course, I have had lost many a things since then, but coming back to the day: Absorbing the tears that cringed in my eyes, I went home and saw my elder sister engrossed in a social science project from her school. I asked her if she could spend some time with me. You guessed it right. I was Emotionally Dependent.

Present

In the quest to be a complete man, I made a conscious effort to eliminate all these dependencies. I wanted to be independent. Independence, as I defined it to myself, was like a perfect system, capable of surviving on its own. It doesn't need an ecosystem; it doesn't need external inputs to breathe. I don't know after all these years whether I should claim myself to be successful or not, but the matter of fact is that the dependencies are still there, they have only changed faces.

And now with all this self-claimed wisdom I acquired from the prayers since childhood, I can see through the simplest thought of GOD behind making humans dependent on each other. HE wanted to make the world a relatively harmonious place to live in, lest the humans become invincible and self-sustaining. At least, HE blessed each one of us with independent thinking.

Let's celebrate OUR Independence!!