Fatal Obsession

The young man is talented, and is a gentleman to the core; but the problem with him is that he wishes to belong to a group of people who do not wish to consider themselves “gentlemen” in the way the world around would understand. He is too polished to belong to this group of men who make sincere attempts to be down to earth. His one and only interest in Indian classical music has kept him away from his other companions who have varied interests, and are not as obsessed as this gentleman, and that is where the problem begins. He has been thinking all along that he was made for music, and nothing else, and would do anything to pursue his interest in music, even by hook or by crook.

This attitude of the gentleman had landed him in trouble on several occasions; his condescending attitude towards his companions who are not as gifted as he is in music is sometimes so very evident that one can make out his motives. Unfortunately he has always considered himself the “best” of the lot in music, and if anyone else were to occupy his place, he finds it hard to accept, leave alone join others to sing or play the instruments. He has been doing this for several years, and maybe he will continue to do this for all the years to come, until he is cornered to face a realistic situation, where he might find his illusions crumble to nothing. But no one knows for sure, when that moment will come.

No one understands me and my interests – this has been one of his refrains to others all the time; anyone who does not encourage him to pursue his sole-interest in music is against him, and all those who let him have his way are good to him. If anyone were to understand him, then they should take it for granted that he is the most versatile classical singer; if they do not honor him with that recognition, then they are considered as music illiterate. This has been his trend, and we do not know where exactly he would land up after a few years; but one thing is sure, his life is not going to be a smooth sail… he is bound to face several storms and typhoons.

I would not think that music had made him less of a human; no. Any true music is supposed to arouse the human heart towards the appreciation of beauty and truth. If that does not happen with this gentleman that is an indication that something had gone wrong somewhere during his upbringing. It is hard for me to go to the details of how he came to be so obsessive with music all these years, and no one had administered to him the much needed shock therapy, to wake him up from the psychological slumber he is still in. Probably once he wakes up from this slumber, then he might be able to see truth as it is, without any additional color glasses.

But who would tell him that what he sees through the eyes of his obsession with music is only partial truth, and there are more elements which may be of greater importance than music, and lead him to enjoy beauty and truth in a more intense way. So long he is obsessed with music, he is not going to see beauty in other elements of nature or human creation. There is beauty in the blue sky, there is beauty in the creepers, helplessly climbing on a tree, there is splendor in a rose or lilly; we don’t need to strain ourselves to see beauty around us, and it would be narrow mindedness to think only music has rhythm. If I can find rhythm in the songs of the birds, in thunder and the rumbling of the streams, then I will find the most soothing music in nature, and then I may not need to take asylum with human-made music!

Shoes for Sharing

'To get into the shoes of another' is a beautiful little expression in English, but to do that is not as simple as it might sound! While attempting to get into the shoes of others, we have often experienced that the shoes are either too big or too small. Very seldom we come across shoes of another which just fit into my feet! But then, whom can I blame if the shoes are either too big or too small; and is it possible for me to cut my toes to fit into the shoes? These questions may sound silly at the first look, but behind them is a truth that we have to come to terms joyfully, in order to make meaning out of our relationship with others.

Let us get into a detailed analysis of this expression : shoes! One thing is certain: we do not check the shoes size of others, before we begin our relationship journey. It is only after embarking on a life-long journey do we come to know about the size of the shoes, and often we may have to make slight adjustments in order to comfortably share shoes! Two of my sisters often exchange their clothes, since both of them are of same height and weight, and they have no problem in sharing the clothes. So there is no problem with their dressing; but there would be a problem if the clothes do not fit into both. In that case they should be satisfied with only their clothes!

After purchasing a new pair of shoes two years ago, I realized that it was too tight for my feet, and felt quite uneasy wearing it. But when I asked the shop-keeper, he said that once I start wearing, it would become quite loose. Any relationship may be strained at the beginning; it would take quite sometime for the partners to get used to each other. Once they begin to realize the pulse with each other, the shoes begin to give in, and they will not hurt the feet either. Sometimes we may be too harsh on the shoes for not fitting into the feet, and we may find ways to make it give into the feet. Some may try even oil on the edges of the shoes to make them supple, in order to let the feet get in freely.

In order to get into the shoes of another, I am required first of all to leave behind my own pair of shoes; if I am too attached to my shoes, I will never be able to get into the shoes of another. This implies that I should be prepared to leave behind my shoes in order to get into that of another; who knows I may not even like to get back to my own shoes in the future. I may become so accostomed to the shoes of another that I may not like to take back my shoes. I might let another person use it rather. If this were to happen, then I should be happy, because there is newness in me, and a fresh viewpoint might have taken charge of the other.

But what if the other person does not permit me to get into his/her shoes? Can I legitimately force myself to get into another's shoes? Probably I should never force myself to get into another's shoes, but invite the other person to permit me to take a try. It is not that my feet will fit perfectly with every other shoe I come across. After trying, I may say that my feet do not fit into the shoes, and therefore let another person try. With persons who are close to us, we can take the liberty to get into their shoes, sometimes even without their consent, so long my getting into to the shoes of the other is not going to make the person nervous, lose sense of direction in life, and finds it hard to get back to the normal rhythm of life.