The Laughter of Old Age

Laughter is the only thing that sets the mind free for some time. As we age, we stop laughing and as we age more, we stop smiling. But, as we age even more, the only way to keep ourselves going is the “laugh” with the people. I came across a group of old ladies, in their 50s, who would laugh at each and every thing, be it anything. They had this alacrity to laugh and make people laugh by cracking up stupid jokes about every situation. While their body galumphed and got inured to the pain of the growing age, their mind was convivial. It was out of my imagination, being at this age and trying to keep oneself upbeat with the world, trying to be a part of organizing committee and titivating themselves.

THIS CONVERSATION IS STRICTLY TO BE READ BY FEMALES ONLY. RESEMBLANCE OF ANY CHARACTER TO ANY LIVING BEING (MOSTLY FEMALE) DEAD OR LIVING IS PURELY INCIDENTAL :-)

Lady 1 to me: Can I find an Indian man to marry?

Lady 1 is divorced.

Me: Yes, just don set your hair on fire (she always used to say that out of frustration)

Lady 1: What else does an Indian man want?

Me: A big question mark on my face???? I literally could not answer that. (Sorry guys)

Lady 1: Tell the man, I have my own house, three dogs, a convertible and I am RICH.

Me: Well, ok!!! Hahaha (No offenses, I thought to myself “lady if you have all this, you can point at any man and he will be yours)

Lady 2: Can I get one too???

Lady 2 is married.

Me: Are you that rich and why do want another man in your life, again?

Lady 3 to Lady 2: Are you going for “cash for clunkers”????

Lady 3 is almost their age and in getting married soon.

The whole room burst into laughter as soon as this came out. I had no idea of what to say at this point and neither was I in a condition to speak. I was astonished how prompt and apt it was. Can you imagine this coming out of bunch of old people?

It was amazing to see the spirits of those ladies who made fun of each person and each situation, even I wasn’t spared. But I laughed as they laughed on me. I think I am falling for the people of old age. They simply surprise you at times. They behave more like a 7 year than their own age. The question I had and still have, why not we???

BURST UP AND MAKE FUN OF LIFE

Krodha, Mana, Maya, Lobha

There are different aspects of a human behavior. They can be characterized in many ways and often it is the perception that divides the behavior as good and bad. Jainism describes the human behaviors in a way we, the humans do not perceive it and those are:

Krodha (anger)

Mana (ego)

Maya (deceit)

Lobha (greed)

Krodha or anger is an issue with everybody unless you are a cognoscente of a religion or attained the highest level of discipline in your life. People like them do conquer over their anger with all the preaching and practice. On the other hand, for a common man like us, it becomes hard to control this with the advent of all the luxury and the need to lead a luxurious life. This need can be referred as the ‘lobha’ or the greed to get all the enhancements of human existence. And this leads to different passions called ‘mana’ or deceit and ‘maya’ or greed. Yes, we all are very familiar with this and while you read it you can think of many situations where you have demonstrated either of those.

The human ‘animal’ is designed in a way that always wants to go 2 steps ahead of the animals around. In doing so he gets inured to the distress. The distress is nothing but a non required, useless and illogical result of combination of the above mentioned behaviors.

You can lose a lot if you have those ‘qualities’ but there is no harm in losing these ‘qualities’ in order to gain a lot. It needs a lot of effort and dedication to find out where you stand in terms of anger, how often and to what extent you get angry; ego, what are the situations in life and materialistic things that enhances your ego or adds to it; deceit, what and/or who will make you deceit others and last but not the least greed, to what extent can you go to satisfy your greed.

We need to ask these questions to ourselves from time to time in order to keep a check. A check that can save us anywhere from a minor loss to a huge loss, the loss of a value, money, people or life. Few things that one can do to get over these negativities would be:

a) Say to yourself when you are angry: “My anger will not let me resolve this issue or will not let the other person get on track”. Everybody makes mistake and if someone had made mistake there is no need for you to get angry, patience is the KEY. You could do the same mistake at some point.

b) Say to yourself when you have an ego problem: “Putting someone down will just put me down in front of others”. You can and you will need people around you some or the other day. Why not be nice to all. Just think how you would feel if someone mistreated you.

c) Say to yourself when you want others to believe what is false: “Am I doing it right by giving the wrong information? What and how much will I gain by giving this false information?” Truth will come out someday then why not now. It’s always better to speak the truth now then later and bear the consequences than breaking someone’s trust.

d) Say to yourself when you have greed for something: “All the things that I can get by my greed with not make it with me to heaven/hell. They will remain in this world and will be possessed by someone else”. Whatever you greed for means that does not belong to you. If something is supposed to or belongs to you, you will get it someday.

Let’s just summarize the intent behind writing this article in one word, BELIVE IN HIM. He has given the powers for you to NOT misuse them. Make the right use of your existence. As a self exercise, find out how and in how many ways you can make use of what you are and improve yourself so society can benefit from it.

White Mountains – Franconia Notch State Park

The Flume Gorge and Ride in Cannon’s Aerial Tramway

Fall has finally come again this year with beautiful red, gold, yellow and orange colors hanging on the trees all around. The White Mountains in New Hampshire is one place where you want to be over a weekend just to see these beautiful colors and feel the crisp autumn air and watch the blue skies. As the fresh air penetrates your body, it takes away with it all the dirt and fills the empty spaces with purity. This place is has been a destination for visitors from all over the world and many generations have passed to capture the scenic beauty of the mountains, the trees, the leaves and the drive.

The drive to this place in itself gives a feeling of immense proximity to the nature and the way it has titivated itself. The experience of the long 4 hours drive from Boston to White Mountains in itself was pleasing to the whole group. Although the body was breaking of the pain which instilled in us by sitting in the same position throughout the drive, the excitement was slowly gushing through the veins and taking the pace. The temperature was something that none of us and the hundreds of people in the queue and walking around were looking forward to. The heartwarming views around filled us with unbeatable joy and enthusiasm to further explore the nature.

The walk in the mountain trail started with a slow fervor until we all started taking pictures near different rocks, water fall and the trees. Hanging on the trees re-surfaced the child inside us and the memories of the days when we used to hang on the trees or climb to steal a fruit, was floating in the water like the dry colorful leaves in the waterfall around us. The uphill climb reminded me of the times when a person has to deal with all the difficult situations and keep climbing till he finds an even surface till he find another uphill climb. This sequence kept going on throughout the 4 mile trail till we came back to where we started.

The walk through the woods showed all the colors of fall and life. The life which is full of deep and shallow waters, precipitous and gentle curves, clamber and descend. The trail was a good way to get close to the friends and at the time to your own soul. I remembered “miles to go before I sleep” which instead was “miles to go before I reach”, reach the place from where we started. The trail was enough of a workout for 4 days but this was not over here. Yet to come was the Cannon’s Aerial Tramway.

The Cannon’s Aerial Tramway took almost 100 passengers to 4080 foot hilltop of Cannon Mountain. The experience in the cable car was incredible and it took approximately only 5-10 minutes to reach the summit. During the drive up to the top, one could see the mountains of 4 states and Canada. The staff member in the car mentioned about the surrounding area and the Canadian border. I could hardly listen to what he said since the cold air gushed through the ears making me deaf and my body numb. But I must say that what I saw was out of the world still a part of this world. There were mountains all around with the bright blue skies and the fall colors shimmering in the sunlight that fell on the mountains in patches. One part of mountain looked composed while the other part did all the mischief with the sunlight and the colors that it held.

The beautiful walk to the top of the 360 degree observation through the narrow path was scary. There are points where you could take pictures which will cover the 4080 foot height but at the same time one slip and your existence is a mere memory. The wind was cold or rather freezing and there was a point where we could not feel the cold anymore.

But the overall experience was breath taking and I can see the colors floating around me and the freshness still instills.

Thanks to all the people who made this a memorable trip.