Finding the joy in simple things
Another hectic week passed by, but it's a blessed Sunday afternoon. Attending the Town Baptist Church with my colleague Neikuo inside the well-ventilated and spacious church was a quieting moment after days of wrenching news and information out of press statements, from the ‘news makers’ and the like.
To be quite honest, Angami language is one among the many Naga languages that I cannot understand. My stay at Kohima for a year or two at during 2005-06, despite the many good Angami friends, all I could learn was something like ‘matsü-lamei?’ and “zutho phamelie?”. Besides that I don’t remember much.
So, as the pastor Rev Velodi Sakhire delivered the sermon, I could not follow much of what he was saying, but I did get the essence of his whole sermon which he delivered in all earnestness (he is one of the few theological preachers that I appreciate and like to listen to just like listening to the preaching of Ketheoser Kevichusa, Rev Dr Mar Atsongchanger and some others). I could follow the essence because of the usage of the word like Edom (that biblical kingdom), Babylon and Jerusalem, a phrase about prayer being addressed to God, vindication of God etc.
Looking back, I can’t help but think that our lives has become more complicated, perhaps of our over thinking, of trying to too hard believing in our own self-induced fallacious human powers and perhaps of our love for complexities instead of the simple things of life.
All these years, while I look back, from the school and college days, being inspired by the Romantic poems, the likes of Shelly, Keats and Wordsworth which was accentuated by some very fine teachers, the burning (or the anger) in the heart persisted in me and my friends, especially my dear friend Late Taliakum (may his soul rest in peace).
But the toll of having that anger, of seeing the world and life from a different perspective on the personal life, I think as I am writing this, was quite huge. The saddest part being unable to find the little amount of joy in the everyday life – like when your best friend (Tommy, Conrad, Marshal, Sammy, Aries etc, all of them have passed away, by the way) leaps welcomingly at you when you come home after a late night meeting or work; like when you failed to appreciate the smile in the face of a young girl and instead frowned; like when you failed to realize that the friendly restaurant owner was just trying to be friendly, and not condescending, when she offered you the chicken curry (I have had this aversion - not allergic - to chicken, especially broiler chicken meat) and failed to see the love in her eyes instead of being offended…
All this life that I have lived, I have always maintained the mantra ‘simplicity is the essence of life’, be it in my scribbling of thoughts or way of life. And being a hopeless romanticist inspired by the great poets of the Romantic Age, I have always been saying that ‘the simplest things in life are often the most beautiful’.
Somewhere along the line, I might have lost track. But as my friend, Late Taliakum Pongen, who was a poet, a radical and one of the best human beings that I have met so far, would often say, ‘It’s never too late with God.’ Somehow, those words still reverberates in my mind. My brother, Dr Bendang would also often say, ‘I have no right to say this, but do pray…it helps”.
Somehow, the anger has subsided and the quiet moment in the church did help. Now, I remember reading somewhere long time back, a quote by Madonna, the singer said, “The only mistake in life is not knowing how to be happy.”
I think the best way to be happy is to appreciate the simple things in life, smile at it and feel that joy in your heart. Somehow, I miss feeding the grains to the sparrows and the sweet smell of roses in the garden. But then, simple things in life come in simple forms. You just need to look at it, not with hatred but with love in your heart. God Bless you all.
