Not to be weighed down by desires

Spoilt children of privileged households tend to get bored during the hot, sultry, long days of summer. Unless they are vacationing abroad on exotic beaches and scenic vineyards, the summer vacation tends to drag on endlessly for them. Rather than a trip to mesmerising Maldives, or the Metropolitan Mall, all that is needed is a minor shift in perspective.

Just yesterday I was chatting with the domestic help, Phoolwati, about the sultry weather. Each monsoon makes us forget how hot the humid the previous one was. The conversation steered towards frequent power cuts. To my surprise, Phoolwati had not experienced them much and rather praised the government for the abundant supply of electricity!

In fact, she had grudges of a different kind, which had little to do with the administration or officials. She complained of not being able to afford a cooler, because of which the family of five had to make do with a fan. By evening, the fan circulated the hot air of the house, which made falling asleep a Herculean task. So the sleep-deprived couple ventured into a nearby park for a stroll to kill a few hours.

As if her midnight escapade wasn’t enough to scandalise me, she went on about her woes of patrolling cops catching them in the park, probably suspecting them of dubious activities! The night usually ended in the wee hours of the morning, with the cops dropping the dazed couple back to their stifling and humid two-room house. I felt sorry at the sleepdeprived woman who had to get up early the following morning and cycle several kilometres to scrub and clean a handful of houses.

She only got back home a little after lunch.

Phoolwati smiled back and said that she was glad to be working in air-conditioned houses. It helped her pass her mornings blissfully, she said.

(It’s only a night madam, we get through somehow. I work in air-conditioned homes in the morning),” she said in a matter of fact way.

Her answer left me speechless. It’s so easy to stop finding happiness in small things. It is an equally arduous task to smile through hardship. Phoolwati had learnt to look at the bright side of things, and in return taught me to complain lesser about power cuts. Even the long, dark, sultry nights had become an adventure for her, and she laughed through all of this.

She reminds me of a poignant couplet by writer Piyush Mishra,

IT’S SO EASY TO STOP FINDING HAPPINESS IN SMALL THINGS. IT IS AN EQUALLY ARDUOUS TASK TO SMILE THROUGH HARDSHIP. PHOOLWATI HAD LEARNT TO LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THINGS

(Life itself is easy and light, the weight we carry is of our desires and wishes)”.