IGNORANCE IS BLISS ....

Attending weddings these days is more of a feast, than anything else! There are hundreds of food items to tantalize our taste buds. I had gone to attend one such wedding! After a few rounds of pizzas and sandwiches, we were awaiting our turn at the Pani-Puri stall. As a few hands, including mine went across the counter, the ‘Pani-Puri wala bhaiya’ gestured us to wait. He bent down, and took a piece of wet cloth. He wiped the counter clean with that cloth. (What cleanliness, you might say!) He then turned around and rinsed the water out of that cloth. He did this process twice and was ready to serve the mouth-watering (?) Pani-Puri with those same hands.

As Einstein’s law says – ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction!’ The moment I saw this, my hand automatically withdrew from the counter. A few people followed suit!  As I completed my dinner, out of curiosity, I passed the Pani-Puri stall once more. As I was passing, I overheard a few people saying – “Aha! What Pani-Puri!”, “This is by far the best Pani-Puri I have had!”, “Mazaa aa gaya!”

I thought to myself that these people didn’t see what I saw; hence they are enjoying. If they had seen it, probably even they wouldn’t have eaten it. A little jealous I uttered – “IGNORANCE IS BLISS!” I really wished I hadn’t seen him do that. Even I would have relished the same Pani-Puri!

While driving back, my mind went back to the Pani-Puri stall. Somewhere a connection happened. It got me thinking - Aren’t there so many times in my lives, I happily and conveniently ignore a few things and remain blissful in the process (irrespective of what other person goes through) –

·        After my bath, I leave my wet towel on the bed expecting the wife/ mother to put it in the balcony. I leave the house thinking I have lot of work. I leave people at home with an extra bit of work to do.

·      A husband and wife together decide to give birth to a child. Looks like, post delivery it is only the responsibility of the mother to take care of the child. More often than not, the husband is busy in his own world. Even if the kids come to dad, he says – ‘Beta, go and ask your mother.”

·   One of my colleague at office is going through something. Looking at him, I know something is not OK. Today he is not his normal self. Yet I choose not to ask him and help him in any ways, but continue my work.

·      Driving on the road, I know I just made a sharp cut, which would have made someone skip a heartbeat. I speed away thinking – if they can’t ride/ drive properly, it’s not my fault.

·       A few kids are walking on the road. They want a lift, the moment they see me coming on a bike. But because I don’t want to give them a lift, I keep looking at the road knowing fully well that they want a ride.

·     My wife and mother are having some issues. I can see the cold war happening. Somehow, I wish that they mutually reach an agreement and things become peaceful in the house.

These are a few instances where I happily choose to IGNORE things happening around me. Taking notice of these will demand me of having a compassionate heart. At times, it will force me to take initiative. It may not be my cup of tea. I ignore things because it is convenient to me. On the other hand, how about ignoring in these situations –

·      In a spat of anger, my dad says a few things, which he doesn’t necessarily mean. Can I IGNORE those and tell myself – he doesn’t mean that. It’s not him, but his anger speaking!

·      After a hectic day, my wife isn’t in a good mood. She says a few things about my family. Can I IGNORE those remarks knowing fully well that she respects people everytime. Just because of the hectic day today, she is feeling frustrated?

·      A client calls me and tells that your sales person is not answering my phone calls and is avoiding me. Instead of howling at my sales person, can I IGNORE it if that comment has come from 1 out of 50 customers? Maybe he was with a client and it skipped his mind to return the call?

·    In a get together, the friends whom I have always been pally with continually pass sarcastic comments at me. Otherwise we have had a great time; but in that moment I feel let down. Can I IGNORE that get together thinking that it was just one of those bad days?

I am not saying that IGNORE mistakes of people. The point I am making is that every one can and will make a mistake. If someone does an error once-in-a-way, I’ll choose to ignore it. If a mistake happens repeatedly or intentionally, some action has to be taken. If I don’t take an action, people will take me for granted. I need to be alert between a ‘once-in-a-way’ mistake and repeated mistakes.

I personally feel that it is worth ignoring such once-in-a-way mistakes. Even they know that they could have done better. Maybe they just didn’t understand how to do it. In those moments, if I have observed their face, it will show various expressions, saying SORRY! When I IGNORE such mistakes, me and the other person remain BLISSFUL. Whenever such things happen, I tell myself – “Jaane de re!” I needn’t always prove a point to others. The moment my intent becomes to teach them a lesson, I have lost my peace of mind.

I firmly believe that this is a mantra for me to always remain peaceful. Once in a while if a person does something, which is not OK, I will look at them, smile and tell myself – “Amit, IGNORANCE IS BLISS!”

Love,
Amit Kothari
…… always upgrading!