Skip to main content

Understanding


I go to Moopan just as other people go to temple or church.  Moopan is my inspiration, my spiritual succour.

“Why don’t you let go, man?”  He asked when I mentioned my problem to him.  I had come to a situation in which I had to make a choice: whether to continue my job or turn to something else that my heart urges me to do.  “All through life people live like shopkeepers,” Moopan continued.  “How much profit did I make today?  Which items are the most popular?  What new item can I sell tomorrow?  Is this life?”

He paused and stared at me a while.  “Did you ever live your life?”  I could feel his gaze penetrating through my heart into something that I may call soul.  “All through life people tie themselves with a chain to something: wealth, generally.  You have your monthly salary.  Each day you calculate how much you can spend on what, how much you should save, how to evade the tax – not that those who handle the tax are any less bastards than you....”

“Let go the chain and see what happens,” he continued having poured himself another drink.  “Calculate a little less.  Think a little less.  Don’t try to understand everything.  Stand in some uncertainties.  Feel the wind around you.  Savour the flavour in the air.  Be.  Just be.”

I understood whatever he was saying.

“Yes, that’s precisely your problem,” he said though I hadn’t said anything.  “You understand everything.  Understanding is the problem.”  He turned away from me as he said the last words.  I knew it was time for me to leave him.

PS. My earlier Moopan episode: Ghar Vapsi
Moopan is as real a character as the ghost in A Ghost and a Secret


Comments

  1. Sunil DeepakMay 16, 2015 at 8:43 AM

    Letting go the chain means facing suffering, but in the end it is worth it! That is personal experience :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 16, 2015 at 9:43 AM

      Thanks for sharing the personal experience. I'm now all the more convinced that it's worth it.

      Delete
  2. Utpal KhotMay 16, 2015 at 1:10 PM

    Nice..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Titas BiswasMay 17, 2015 at 12:07 AM

    There is a lot,just a lot in that two letter word and six lettered phrase - "Be.Just be."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 17, 2015 at 7:02 AM

      What the Buddha and the Christ and even our discredited Mahatma said was the same thing.

      Delete
  4. UnknownMay 17, 2015 at 12:13 AM

    'Be, Just be.' Reading this made me feel so light at heart. Here I found some connections with my life. I am happy that I read this. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 17, 2015 at 7:03 AM

      I' ve been looking forward to you for quite some time :)

      Delete
  5. sunaina serna ahluwaliaMay 17, 2015 at 12:05 PM

    Very nice!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 17, 2015 at 1:01 PM

    A wandering heart is not always lost ! As i say, be.Just be.
    Experience and memories are not made sitting and thinking.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lancelot QuadrasMay 18, 2015 at 3:55 PM

    Understanding is indeed the problem.We all have the answers. We just plainly learn to ignore them. A good write up.

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownMay 25, 2015 at 9:07 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownMay 25, 2015 at 9:07 PM

    You understand everything. Understanding is the problem.”
    How true!!!!!
    It kills innocence.. I guess

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 26, 2015 at 5:14 PM

      It prevents one from experiencing. If you understand the sunset you don't get the thrill of the riot of colours in your veins!

      Delete
  10. UnknownJuly 13, 2017 at 5:28 PM

    exciting article! thanks for sharing them! i'm hoping you'll keep to have comparable posts to proportion with anyone and desirable work, preserve it up thanks. Top Gun Maverick Jacket

    ReplyDelete
  11. samish leatherJuly 21, 2017 at 9:37 AM

    Interesting article! Thank you for sharing them! I hope you will continue to have similar posts to share with everyone. Pokemon Cottan Jacket

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hassan FarrukhAugust 21, 2020 at 12:09 PM

    Pakistani Mehndi Dresses including high-class fashion and inspiring design will look completely different on your big day. Order now as these contemporary cuts, dynamic colors, and marvelous fabrics are just what you need for your big day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. jhonathanFebruary 1, 2021 at 2:52 PM

    As one of the many clothing products used in South Asian countries, Pakistan lawn clothing is like Pakistan’s women. Pakistan’s cotton is of high quality, so it is not surprising that woven yarn is exported all over the world. The price is very cheap, because of its availability and price, cotton is used to produce fashionable women's clothing in Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
44 comments
Read more

My New Years

Image created by Copilot Designer Each New Year of mine was invariably overshadowed by the preceding Christmas. My entire childhood was lived out in a remote and nondescript village of central Kerala where electricity arrived when I was in high school. New Year meant nothing more to the villagers than the replacement of the old wall calendar with a new one. Just like the earth which went on revolving around the sun without ever knowing the human markers of time, the villagers continued their routine life on the first of January too in their farms. The Christmas hangover would linger, however. The crib was still there waiting to be removed. The star made of bamboo strips and mist-resistant paper was already brought down in all probability. Most people couldn’t afford to maintain, beyond a week, the oil lamps or the paraffin wax candles which were lit inside those stars with much care and caution. The crepe paper decorations in the crib would have begun to sag. There was no plastic i...
15 comments
Read more

Koorumala Viewpoint

  Koorumala is at once reticent and coquettish. It is an emerging tourist spot in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. At an altitude of 169 metres from MSL, the viewpoint is about 40 km from Kochi. The final stretch of the road, about 2 km, is very narrow. It passes through lush green forest-looking topography. The drive itself is exhilarating. And finally you arrive at a 'Pay & Park' signboard on a rocky terrain. The land belongs to the CSI St Peter's Church. You park your vehicle there and walk up a concrete path which leads to a tiled walkway which in turn will take you the viewpoint. Below are some pictures of the place.  From the parking lot to the viewpoint The tiled walkway A selfie from near the view tower  A view from the tower Another view The tower and the rest mandap at the back Koorumala viewpoint is a recent addition to Kerala's tourist map. It's a 'cool' place for people of nearby areas to spend some leisure in splendid isolation from the hu...
30 comments
Read more

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart...
14 comments
Read more

Three Poems

Illustration by Copilot Designer 1.      Anachronism Ekalavya is eager to learn Unlike his contemporaries Who are buried in digital graves.   ‘What’s anachronism?’ He queries. ‘Anachronism is,’ says Bharadvaja, He pauses, muses, and pronounces: ‘Sita Devi’s chastity was questioned By a barber named Al Ansari bin Laden, According to the latest grave-digging Of Archaeological Survey of India.’     2.      Exorcist   History textbooks are haunted by the ghosts Of Akbar and Babur and Gandhi and Nehru. So the Prime Minister decides to become The Exorcist of the nation In order to save Ekalavyas From graves that refuse to be Closed by sward shroud.     3.      Redemption   Ekalavya opens his new history textbook. Words look like petrifying ghosts That want blood, Ekalavya’s blood. So he chooses to leave his country And settle down in Tr...
8 comments
Read more