Where are you – HAPPINESS?

I saw everyone eccentric in search of something, something I too was longing for. Something so much desired that makes them run from dawn till dusk. Everyone wants it so badly and trying to make it their own forever by any way possible.

Everyone has his own way to search for ‘it’. Someone is searching for it in money, some in relationships and some in love.

Do they still get ‘it’?

I too tried to search as I was told many times that I don’t know the importance of the thing that makes the world go round – Money.

But what I saw was, children trampling down the faith and love of their parents for money, parents who spent every moment of their days, every ounce of their money, their countless sleepless nights, and their love and in fact spent themselves for their children.

I found siblings to belittle the ties of blood for money – those who spent their childhood together, sharing their toys and candies, sharing laughs and cries, sharing clothes and secrets, and promised to hold on to these fragile strings of warmth and affection throughout their lives, they too forgot everything for money.

I saw the closest of all, husband and wife not left virgin with the spell of money – the two souls who once swear to complete the other, who took the vows to face any misfortune protecting the other, who promised to be together till their last breath. Money demeans all those vows, making them worthless.

I was disappointed when I was not able to get my share of ‘it’ in the most precious thing the whole world is inclined to. I needed to think again, where should I go, where should I look for ‘it’?

I then tried to move on to the next treasure, the one that makes people crazy and dumb, makes them dive into the sea of emotions and then fight to come out of it to find their own existence – Relationships.

I started with zeal and zest to find it this time for sure. But what I saw, no relationship was even close to give me a sign for what I was looking for. All of the relationships were choking under the burden of selfishness, expectations, hurt, lies, greed, false egos, fear, hollow pretensions and shallow personalities.

Parents coerce their kids with their preferences and priorities on the name of love and care they have given by far. Whether it’s related to choosing the life partner or deciding on their ambitions/career, their consents are biased because of the societal standards. Should they not let the child decide? Not all of those expectations are meaningless and their support and blessings are always required however, are the hollow pretensions for the society so much precious that it does not matter how the life of their child will shape? Children are supposed to agree to what parents have chosen for them, is it a scale to measure how much the children love them in return? Or the purest form of love, that parents have, too has its limitations to succumb to selfishness and egos. The worst form of it is honour killing. Does it prove that their honour is so big that killing their kids is a mockery of life and this relation?

Likewise, children are no less in proving that they too are not selfless, and have their own motives (I think everyone knows what I mean as children often set up such examples) to be good to their parents. Once those motives are fulfilled they tread their own path no matter what their parents go through. Or they are so much settled in their lives that they just don’t have the time to think about the old people who cannot be of any good to them now.

Talk about brothers and sisters or talk about husband and wife, no relationship is spared. Siblings are suffering from the burden of self-interests and their false egos. A marriage is no more a relation of trust and respect but of controlling and dissatisfactions. It’s bearing the load of despair and uncertainties.

So, I asked myself once again - where should I go and search for ‘it’? I have already tried money and relationships, the most enduring as people believe. But it was all in vain.

Now I thought I should try the last but the most eternal of all, as it is called, something that is beyond forever – Love. I heard people say, Love is God. It makes people to forget themselves, purifies their souls and allows them to experience the feeling without which life is meaningless. I was sure that this time I will succeed and no one can stop me to have my piece of ‘it’. How long will I be kept away from it?

Someone cannot think and then fall in love. It’s as natural as flow of river, as a blow of wind, as flowers bloom, as we breathe. But does this fall truly give a rise to anyone? Is Love as pure as it is called and believed? Or just saying the three words  ‘I Love You’ is left as something that can be said to anyone but that no more fathoms the essence of life. Is falling for someone is so hollow that love now means having a girlfriend or a boyfriend rather finding a soul mate?  These days, saying ‘I Love You’ is as quick and plain as it is to say ‘Sorry, we are through’. All happens in a spur of the moment and not as a call straight from the heart.

I saw some people who swear to have experienced love in its purest and serene form. But somewhere they too agree that life becomes nothing but a suffering that is brought by love. The crux of love is pain and soreness. Or somewhere love too perishes at the dawn of distrust, useless expectations, lies and hurt.

So I sat down as I found ‘it’ in none of the three most searched and believed treasures. They were all empty for me. I again thought - where should I go now and whom should I ask for ‘it’? Time passed and I realized there is still some where I have not yet searched.

I searched you here, I searched you there,

But at last I found you somewhere so near…

You are the link between my heart and my lips when I smile,

And I was looking for you running around so many miles…

I saw you hugging the subtle things we think are redundant,

At last, I found you hiding in the womb of every moment…

I heard you in the screams of kids running out of the school when the bell rings,

I smelt you in the fragrance of wet soil,

I breathed you in the breeze at the time of dawn,

I listened to you in chirping of birds at twilight,

I saw you twinkling in the bright star-studded night,

I drenched myself in you with the pouring rain,

I measured you in the expansion of clear blue sky,

I felt you in the tenderness of flowers,

I appreciated you rolling down from the eyes in fortunate moments,

I caught you peeping out from the innocence of a child,

I searched you in the prayers to God,

I got you as a gift in the blessing of elders,

I earned you in the faith of people,

I cherish you in the love of my friends,

Happiness, you are in nothing still in everything,

You are nowhere but within me,

All that matter is how I look at the things…