Small joys of life
May 2015
I go for my morning walk in pure wilderness – uneven topography, remarkable terrain and very little habitation. I don’t travel for miles looking for such a place. It is just behind our house, well, more or less – it takes about ten minutes to reach Paradise.
After my dose of filter coffee, I join my walking partner, Shankar, to the back and beyond. Once we reach Paradise, the routine is an hour’s walk in any random direction, listening to birdsong while dodging squirrels. We have observed stray dogs joining us as soon as their self-assumed territory starts as if to guard us against any unfavorable elements. Once their territory ends, they quietly see us go.
We watch in awe majestic trees that have stood there for several years amidst rock formations that seem several centuries old. Delicate vines climb electric poles (I call it the Power Plant!!) while shrubs dot the rest of the landscape. The cool refreshing breeze carries a million fragrances. After the rains, small, seemingly insignificant flowers of various colors have silently exploded from the unlikeliest of places – from between rocks, from dense shrubbery and some from the middle of the tarred but hardly-used road. These flowers do not come from delicately tended gardens. They come from the rugged and unforgiving Nature. The sheer variety of rich colors, symmetric shapes and interesting patterns are a veritable feast for the eye. They continue to bloom whether we are there to appreciate them or not.
Like these flowers, our small joys lie strewn around our path and are sometimes hidden in the nooks of our everyday Life. They continue to bloom even when we are not looking. We need to believe that they exist and must purposefully seek them out.
Life’s big moments are few and far between. Let us keep looking for these small joys. They are all around us and come from the most unexpected of places.