The best things in life come for free!

12 OCT, 2014
by Bikash Mohanty

Do the best things in life come for free? Same question, to five different people and five different answers, essentially they articulated to be the same answer.

  1. First of all, nothing in life is free. Have you ever heard of an oxygen bar? You have to pay to breathe air. What about water bills and stuff? So! Nothing in life is free. That means life is filled with a bunch of crap!!! I’m highly disappointed that I am just no realizing this too.
  1. Yes. Love, friendship, happiness, hopes...they are all free. Life is free too and it's a great gift!
  1. Yes of course! Our eyes, ears, tongue, nose, brains, heart - aren’t they the best things without these, will we be so happy on earth? They are the best things for which we pay nothing. Other than these our unique talents are also free. Love from everyone is also free. Most importantly; our life is also free. Isn’t it the best thing?
  1. If you talk about material things then yes they don't come for free! But if you talk about love and friendship, you see that it's always free! And is better than the material things
  1. Philosophically speaking, yes they do! I mean remember that story, where the rich man gets sleepless nights thinking about his money while the poor man sleeps without any worries? At the end its happiness, friendship, etc which matter.

We all go through times when we want to feel loved, appreciated, admired and trusted. We want to be important to others and we want them to be important to us. This is all normal and natural but whenever it seems as if we are in an otherwise situation (not necessarily a romantic one), we can start to wish that we had never allowed ourselves to become so vulnerable. That’s when the religious /holy books remind us: to be free from “attachments/Moha”. We would like to care a lot less about a demanding situation. We can't fake disinterest but only solution is to nurture a greater independence of mind …ONLY. 

We turn up on Earth knowing nothing, about where we have been in the past and where we have come to make our present. We are clean canvases. But, sooner or later, there is always someone strong-minded to make an impression on us. We are trained about our culture and our heritage. But when is it ever accurately explained to us that nobody really knows fairly; who we are or why we are here on the earth! Our emotional life ALWAYS reflects a clash between us and people who feel sure that they have answers. We are better off with fewer of those answers... and more questions! Questions fulfill our life purpose.

Son asked; what present I shall give you Papa on your birthday. You choose, I said. He said – but I have no money Papa. I assured him to imagine that he had money and he has to buy a present for Papa which will make Papa happy always and everyday. I told him as well, he may as well; take some time to think about it properly. Half hour later, he came up with an idea in his mind and said Papa: I have an answer, let’s go and buy it. Oh boy; what a gift it was. Best gift of my life. I am proud of Rishi for being so observant. A snow-white teapot set. When I was growing up with my grand-father, he was drinking black tea and now I am. Black tea in a snow-white tea cup is something very alluring for me, it excites me, brings smile on my face with a thought of emotional connection with my grand-father. Rishi has perhaps observed my satisfaction, very accurately, on many occasions.

Didn’t they say above best things in life come for free? If not, free, but with very little cost perhaps, for sure with pure affordability. Free or very little cost; same thing. How does it matter? Let’s not invest emotions here. Having tea from snow-white cup was not the only best thing/gift for me on my birthday. A home made fish curry and last but not least – a surprise gift from Bhaijaan. Bhaijaan chose to relay his recent movie “Kick” in Star-Gold channel to spice up my evening. Some say: Bhai-jaan’s movies are time pass. I say; how does it matter – that’s exactly what I like and that’s exactly what gives me contentment.

Thank you everyone for all your kind wishes on my birthday. And may you have all the best things in your life, for free, or with little cost.

It is Sunday and its time for listening to my favourite smoothing song; here it is: