Simple Solutions
Once upon a time, Mir was sitting under the tree, hungry, thirsty, desperate for help. One angel passed by, Mir looked at him and laughed,
” Why do you laugh ?” Angel asked.
” You have kept everything easy for yourself, look at my life, all my energies go in looking for food and water. ”
” I am sorry to hear that ” Angel said, ” Go and plant some seeds,, near the river, you will have enough of food, and water, and if you preserve the food well, you will have a surplus .” Mir was very happy, he thought, it is better to plant and stay at one place, instead of just keep moving.
A few months passed by, it was raining and Mir was sitting under the same tree, sad and angry, angel passed by and Mir laughed at him once again
” Why do you laugh now? ” Angel asked
” You have a special skin, water does not drench you, look at me, since you asked me to plant a seed, I can’t go away from here to take shelter in a cave, this tree is not protecting me enough, I am cold and shivering .”
Angel smiled , ” OK, you collect wattle and daub, and build your hut, wherever you wish to.”
Now Mir was very happy, except, at times he felt lonely, one day, he went back to meet people from his old group, and told them about his loneliness, group was sympathetic, and one girl, proposed to go with him to keep him company, where he had planted the seed.
They were happy, planting seeds, having more children, building more huts. Singing, dancing, telling stories under the stars around camp fire, they started fashioning fluets, painting with sticks on the wall. Seeing them doing that, a few more people joined them, first it became a village, then town, and soon grew into a big city.
Mir was unhappy again. Everything was a problem. People were not laughing anymore, they were writing laws, policing each other, natural instincts were being forgotten, and there was too much of violence and noise.
Mir went back to the forest, sat under the tree and wept.
Angel passed by, this time Mir could not laugh and just looked at angel with teary eyes,
” What happened? ” Angel smiled.
” There is no peace around me. Screens are dominating, there is traffic everywhere, nobody is available for fun conversation, people fight and want to have power over others .”
” What can I do for you ?”
” Give me peace of mind .”
Angel laughed.
” Why do you laugh ?”
” I laugh, because the answer is within you.”
” How? ”
” you don’t want to live alone, and at the same time you don’t want to share, how is that possible ?”
Mir smiled, you are right Angel, we have achieved so much together, then not sharing makes no sense.”
Angel smiled.
” Can you tell me, how do I explain this to people ?” Mir asked
” This is the last time, you can see me. Ask me for something more valuable.”
” Everything valuable I have built with your advice, without this last advice, I stand to lose everything. So, please advise .”
” Very well then, just sing the beauty of universe, and let people get immersed into your songs. ”
” That’s all ! ”
Before Mir could complete his sentence, angel disappeared, since then Mir has been singing the beauty of sun set, dawn, rain, starry nights, rivers, streams, animals, birds ,mountains, moon, and what not !
Whenever people hear him sing, they start singing with him, and forget the differences amongst themselves, everything seem to belong to everybody, life feels interconnected. Children run after him and shouting, ” Mirji, a happy man is going .’
By – Shashi Mahajan
