The beautiful nose !

 The king was getting older,the power seemed to be a burden,the crown felt like heavier and the followers looked like unnecessary. His inner voice wanted peace...but yet his work was unfinished. He had to give his only son,the charming prince in marriage and hand over the administration,then only his duty will be over. He called his son and told him his desire. His son agreed but had a peculiar desire to marry a princess with a beautiful nose. The king searched far and wide, finally selected a beautiful, charming and a very noble girl but her nose was not the one the prince will be happy with. But he agreed to marry. The king made a ceremonial declaration, informed his loyal country men and handed over the rein to his son. He gave one last advice to his son..." Don't ever overlook the eternal facts of life, always take care of them"....Time passed,one day the old ,wise king left for heavenly abode.Now only person who could advise genuinely was the new queen. But the obsessed king didn't pay much attention to her. She didn't have a beautiful nose as he desired... 

     One day the queen informed the king,she is going to be a mother. The new king was too happy,but deeply desired that if he gets a daughter, she should  have the most beautiful nose on Earth. At appropriate time a beautiful girl was born with truly a beautiful nose. The king's joy knew no bounds. He was overjoyed. He arranged a royal celebration and declared to the kingdom,he has become the proud father of a charming  princess with the most beautiful nose in the earth. As the time passed and the princess grew,the care takers took her to the royal garden full of flowers with lovely fragrance,but the princess didn't enjoy them, because she could not smell anything. They informed the king the same. But he didn't pay any heed and boasted the girl has the most beautiful nose, nothing can go wrong. 

16th year approached,the girl turned to be a beautiful princess,but slowly her health deteriorated,she started failing to thrive. The queen,being a very wise person got worried and told the king,but yet the king never bothered, rather asked her to consult a royal family doctor if the princess' nose can be made more beautiful. Slowly and steadily she became breathlessness and one day passed away in her sleep...the nose stopped to breath... It was too late for him to realise... The Midas touch.....

   This is a story, could be an imaginary fairy tale....but does it have something to say, give a message? Yes it has. 

   In life we often are in search of " the beautiful nose" and forget why Divine has gifted us a nose. The nose is primarily to breathe,to help oxygen,the life line to reach each cell and then to smell. The primary aim of the nose is not to be beautiful. A beautiful nose is surely lovely,but not at the cost of loosing the ability to breathe or smell. 

  From history to mythology, from ancient stories to contemporary world, there are innumerable examples of people running after " the beautiful noses"....so much so they forget what is the basis purpose of it and why divine has designed it ... So let's look inward. Let's not lose the sight of divine creation in the illusion of superficial beauty, success,wealth, achievement....they are all very exciting but not without the vitally important basics for which they are meant. Some us might be running after a beautiful nose, it may be there, somewhere in someone's life ,right there,right now. Let's  look within,pause for a moment and move in the right direction before it is too late...

    Spare a moment ! Spare a thought !!!

Success....the illusion,the glory and the essence....

 Spare a moment ! Spare a thought !!!

A dove was flying in the sky, fearless,free and in its own world of containment... Suddenly felt an arrow piercing its body,one thrown at it by the prince Devdutt... Instantly the fearless bird falls on the ground, groaning with severe pain,warm blood trickling through its smooth, silky feathers...Basking in his glory, drinking from the pot of success Devdutt reaches there to claim his proud possession... Little before reaches there, the benevolent prince of Kapilavastu, Siddharth Gautam... Painfully taking out the arrow from the dove's injured body and comforting it with his soft, smooth,divine touch. He is equally pained to see the suffering of the innocent Bird. Devdutt orders Gautam to handover the bird to him as he feels he is the rightful owner of the dove as it was his  arrow who shot it down. With heavy heart Gautam tries to defend that he is taking care of the injured bird,so he should be allowed to keep it to care....

   The story,an incident from the life of Buddha lives in millions' mind and the question remains same. The illusion still continues today what does it take to be successful or what is considered as success. Is it wealth, possession, marks in the exam, certificates,awards, job or professional accomplishments or something else??? If we look on the surface, all these will look as glitters and will create a sense of success... But if we look deeper, success is very different than all of these. As in the Buddha's tale above,it looks Devdutt was successful, because he could shot the bird... But is it really success? For him shotting the bird and fulfilling his aim was success,but is it really so? It was perhaps his illusion. Today also most of us run after something, success to be the name.  

    A family of 4 brothers had brilliant 3 siblings, scoring higher and higher in academics and bringing success and glory to parents, in the course of time all have established themselves to be successful in jobs,academics,status and stayed away. The one who was not a scholar stays back with parents, does farming,takes them to hospital in sickness,comforts them with a warm blanket in the dead of winter nights, serves them morning tea and the most needed shoulder to walk in their twilight days... Who is more successful? The brilliant lawyer brother who does the finest arguments and lives in villa,the brother who has performed astronomical no of perfect surgeries and has made name in all time favourite news,the brother who is a terrific successful entrepreneur,wears finest clothes and drives most expensive cars or the one who has nothing but takes care of his parents in his small little ways??? A point to ponder...how much success it takes to succeed in the real game of life!!!

  Few days ago,one of my friend wanted to admit his uncle,who is 85, living alone for long, probably has developed Alzheimer's and other health issues... Got admitted him, doctors took care for few days and uncle became better,now the million dollar question...where will he stay now. His only successful brilliant son has migrated to Newzealand for greener pasture, trying his best also he doesn't have a solution for his father.... Finally, an old age home gave him much needed shelter and whatever care they can... Because he can no longer be left alone at home... It made me think for days... Where the success,the pride,the glory vanished after raising a finest child,a brilliant son,a successful academician and a man having all the wealth and luxury... May be his helplessness in the crucial few years of life made my eyes moist,my mind hazy and my heart heavy.... Success was not seen anywhere as far as I could expand my vision...it all looked illusive.

Few days back I  was  watching the documentaries on the ' millionaire bad boys"... Brilliantly depicting how success,the illusion,the glory makes the most brilliant minds corrupt,the most innovative ideas meaningless,the most successful people fugitives.... Beyond a point when the addiction of success gets into one's head probably it barges into forbidden domains, integrity vanishes into thin air, principles are made to be broken, honesty feels flimsy... The glitter,the glamour,the raw footage of so called success, attention, flattering goes beyond humane control to pause,to look within,to introspect...."  Is it thebright path am I taking?"... May be by then the veil between right and wrong has vanished. Why do they do so? Because the contemporary world mostly looks from out, hungry for attention and appreciation... however superfluous or irrational it may be... People talk and talk about their so called achievement, success,marks, property,bank balance,the empire they have made... No matter how nasty the path may be ,how ridiculous their principles may be ,how pathetic their dealings to others may be or how many genuine people they have left behind and by hook or crook got ahead... and don't have the wisdom,the understanding,the deapth to appreciate an honest failure,to clap for someone's heartfelt trials, someone's simplicity as a divine virtue. A brilliant mind,an able administrator, an undeniable leader at times follows the most unfortunate path of greed to amass more wealth,sign more irrelevant papers, suppress truth of common good.... All in the name of illusive success... Success is not only good,it is even great but only if..... it never leaves the hands of integrity and honesty, never forgets to look within, never fails  to be grateful to innumerable people who have contributed to this success and never leaves to lean on its honest shoulder... Humility,the essence of truly successful people... Without this success is sooner or later a disaster in waiting for self, for society,for mankind...

Who can better define success than Ralph Waldo Emerson ! ...all time favourite author

" To laugh often and much,

To win the respect of intelligent people

And affection of children,

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

And endure the betrayal of false friends,

To appreciate the beauty

To find the best in others,

To leave the world a bit better

Whether by a healthy child, a garden patch

Or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier

Because you have lived;

That is to have succeeded....

  We may not be successful to be the most brilliant academician or the most powerful emperor, or  the most popular artist or wealthiest entrepreneur... But somewhere we all can succeed in wiping someone's tear,giving someone a shoulder or sharing a piece of laughter.....with honesty and integrity... It doesn't cost much... Let's walk our own path and succeed in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson... That feels to be the real  essence of success to my small little mind...

Spare a thought ! Spare a moment!!!