Time Is Not Yours Forever
A good house of around 2000 sq., with a small garden and a
sitting area. On the seating area are a son and a father. Son has a laptop in
his hand and father a old stick and a pair of thick glasses over his thin
frame. Father is around 80 years of age
and son is around 35 years. A small sparrow is seen and the father asks his son
“What is that?”
Son- “It is a sparrow, Dad.”
Father after sometime “What is that”
Son – “It is a sparrow Dad, you just asked”
Father after a few minutes seeing the bird at another spot
in the garden, “Son, What is that?”
Son, very agitated the third time, “Dad, I already told you
it is a sparrow. S-P-A-R-R-O-W”
Father gets up and goes into the house. Son is agitated,
calls out “Dad, Dad, come back. Where are you going?”
After this goes back to his laptop and is busy with his
work. Father comes back after a few minutes and hands the son a diary, with a
certain page open. He gestured to him, “Read Loud”
The son reads out, “ Today, I have had the best day of my
life. No big thing. Not a promotion, not a big ticket purchase. A very small
happy event, my son asked me 31 times, “What is that”. It was a sparrow. I
answered him several times, but the child in him was still inquisitive. I once
told him it was a bird. Once it flew. Once it was a cute one and so on. After
every time, I hugged him to see my child being so inquisitive and wanting to
know”.
As he read the last line, son had moist eyes and father sat
there unmoved. He simply hugged his father and they sat there for a long time,
just shaken up.
Good Evening Friends and fellow toastmasters. Time if Not
Ours Forever.
We are dependent on our parents for the first twenty five
and on our kids for the last twenty five. In the first twenty five for money
and guidance and in the last twenty five probably for love and care. It is the
middle phase when we are probably all by our self. Life does not last forever, none of the
achievements or power does not either. So let’s let go of some steam and relax
to enjoy those smiles and care. Finally we are here to be happy too.
Three things our generation lacks:
1.
Patience
2.
Empathy
3.
Satisfaction
We do not care to listen to someone until and unless there
is a take away for us or a future benefit. Most times we do not have the time
to just sit with our elders. We are bent upon reaching some point in life and
we hardly relax. We have a pumped up life, where in the blood pressure is
always high and we are worried of increasing our pay check at all times. This
was not the case a few decades back. Our parents worked during the day and
relaxed during the evenings. They stayed healthier. We have scientists from
DRDO, who have done a lot for this country, who have lived this way. We might
not do any better than them running the race for money. We do not realize “How
much is enough?”
Do we have empathy for the old and disabled? We do not. Few
might and that’s really great of them. The reason I say this is the increasing
number of old age homes. Parents who have sacrificed for their child’s future
have a say to see them grow and be happy. Because of lack of empathy, today we
say they crib and keep them away. Din’t we crib for that elusive remote car.
For which our father’s might have let go a few breaks in their offices to save
money and get us one. Today we do the same for our kids. We do sacrifice a lot
and get them all they want. We do not want them to face hardships. Tomorrow we
might face worse consequences, if we do not care our elders.
Satisfaction. We were happy with one movie a month on a
scooter, with popcorn. Today, a movie with nachos, a family tub popcorn and
even a dinner after that is not satisfactory. The media/marketing is
responsible for this too. They would advertise all kinds of offers. Offers are
forced on you through your mobile phones. Don’t cook Wednesdays by Pizza Hut.
By not cooking on an average you spend 1000/- rupees and also add a lot of
trans fat to your tummy. A Sunday afternoon new dish trial at home is far more
healthier. The trend to save is going out of the window. Everything is EMI
today.
Lastly to summarise. Be patient to elders – they are
becoming children by the growing day.
Be empathetic – They have done a lot for you, beyond your
imagination.
Be Satisfied – It is One Life, We are here to be happy and
not crib to the tomb.
Time is Not Yours Forever. So Live Life, don’t be a Machine,
that will once be dumped after depreciation.
This was my P6 Speech, I messed it because of lack of practice, I will be presenting another one in my next blog.
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