“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared”. - Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) 2005, New Delhi, India:
I was getting married, and as part of Indian rituals was scheduled to organise an hour’s ‘puja’ (means ‘prayer’ in India). It is a religious ritual performed by Hindus as an offering to various deities, distinguished persons, or special guests. It is done on a variety of occasions and settings – from daily puja done at home, to temple ceremonies and large festivals; or to begin a new venture – like my wedding. I was not able to relate to this thought.
I believe that God wants us to be with people who need our help and attention, rather than performing ‘puja’. I convinced my parents that I wanted to visit a school for ‘children with special powers’ (those deprived of the sense of sight). With the help of a friend I located a school near my apartment. It was a life changing event for me.
The School had 67 children, and it was mainly funded by the government for all its needs – from education to three meals a day. I never thought that spending half an hour with the children at the School could be so meditative. It was a busy day for the School administration, as all three meals were to be served by a Corporate Team. They permitted me to distribute fruits as a late-afternoon snack for the kids.
I was ready with my basket of fruits, and I could see all the wonderful children standing or waiting in a queue. They were amazing children. Other than being uniformly dressed, they were benevolent in greeting any stranger. The moment I entered they could sense my presence, and welcomed me with a warm ‘Namaste’ (a non-contact form of salutation that is traditionally preferred in India).The charm on their faces, and the smile on their lips, induced an inspiring thought in me. These children live happily even though they are deprived of one of the key senses. They will never ‘see’ that the sky is blue and the grass is green, but still they are living with pride and personal contentment.
I can still feel the positive vibes while writing each word of this story. I feel ecstatic!
I started the task of distribution, and a polite ‘thank you’ from each child was like a blessing for my marriage. It was a very hot day, and I quickly distributed the snack, so that the children could soon go back to their respective classes. They were perspiring under the scorching sun, and their red cheeks glistened like polished apples.
I had almost reached the end of the queue when I realised that I was left with two children and one apple. It was immensely embarrassing for me, and it was hard to figure out a solution. I went to the second last child in the queue to tell her my concern. I had not yet completed my sentence when both the girls instantly said, “We will share.” I was overwhelmed. The administrative coordinator got me a knife, and I cut the apple into two equal parts, for my two little angels.
On my way home I was thinking about a quote by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, “There is no delight in owning anything unshared.” I have seen people fighting for materialistic things, and breaking homes to acquire houses made of bricks. I have seen people fighting for power, dragging others down to get to the top, and then calling it, ‘competition’. I have seen people stealing food to satisfy their hunger.
We can see colours, and for us the sky is blue and the grass is green. But what is the benefit if we cannot see a tear in someone’s eye? What is the benefit of our sense of ‘sight’, if we cannot feel someone’s pain? We are just beings, not ‘human beings’, else we would have been human at heart too. We would have shunned violence. We should share love, to make our planet worth living, as ‘there is no delight in owning anything unshared’.
These ‘children with special powers’ are born with a sixth sense, that we as ‘normal’, ‘competitive’ human beings cannot see, though we are blessed with the sense of ‘sight’. The sixth sense is often referred to as intuition. But that day at the School I saw the real ‘sixth sense’ of humanity.
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