His search of happiness - 2

He crossed the tracks and made his way into the forest. The greenery enchanted him and the sweet smell of nature delighted him. He quickened his pace. The trees were dancing in the wind and the sunlight was peeping in through gaps between the leaves. It was as though a huge net was filtering the light. He could see flowers on some of the trees. Their colors were vibrant and they added cheerfulness to the whole scenery.

Soon he reached the banks of the small stream that he had seen from the train. The stream water was crystal clear and the he could see the rocks that lay beneath. The stream zigzagged and disappeared around a turn. For some time he walked along the banks of the stream soaking in the beauty. Then he chose a big rock and sat down. He folded up his pants and put his legs into the stream water. The water was chilly and he shivered for a while. In the same position he lay down on the rock and closed his eyes.

He then concentrated and tried to listen. The first sound that he could hear was of the gushing stream water. Beyond that he could hear the distant lapping sound of water hitting some of the rocks. A few minutes passed and he could hear the rustle of trees along with the sound of water. Combined together it seemed that earth and water seemed to be creating music. He could hear the birds chirping away happily providing vocals to this music. He concentrated harder and he could hear the wind joining in. The earth, the wind and the water were creating a melody in unison, which was beyond any music he had heard before. It was as if the wind was providing background vocals to this orchestra.

Some more time passed by. His sense of hearing was so acute now that he could hear a small sound near his ears beyond the music. The sound was growing steadily. He opened his eyes and turned his face towards the sound. He could see a small insect flying near his face. The flapping wings of the insect were making the sound he had heard. It was as if he was contributing to the whole music by flapping his wings. He closed his eyes and heard out the insect’s performance, which lasted for quite a while. He opened his eyes again and all he could see was the blue sky enveloping him.

This was happiness. Listening to silence and still be able to hear music.

Moral: Sometimes, to calm the frantic mind and to slow it down it is necessary to shift the focus from inner problems to the outer things. For happiness and for peace.

His search of happiness

Monotone had become his life’s mantra. He had become more of a machine than a human being. It was time to break the routine. It was time to go in search of happiness. He remembered the first time he had done something like this and smiled. It was crazy to follow the heart but it was worth it. It gave him happiness.

He checked his last month’s pay slip. He had quite a few leaves in his kitty. He smiled and made a mental plan. A few hours later he had applied for leaves in office, booked his tickets, packed his bags and done some online research on the place he was traveling to. He was en route to the railway station to catch the evening train.

The journey to the station was slow and painstaking due to the heavy traffic and dug up roads, but he didn’t care. The station was overcrowded with people rushing for their trains and he had a tough time in reaching his platform. Once inside the train after a lot of pushing and shouting, he took up the upper berth and started reading a novel. He wanted to slip down and glance outside the window, but he forced himself not to. There was no point in looking out of the window. The train started moving and with in an hour it was dark. He slipped down to the lower berth and had a quick dinner. He then returned to his upper berth, set an alarm on his cell phone and dozed off.

Beep..Beep. It was five. He stretched himself and made way to the door of his bogey. It was still dark and he was happy that he was up early enough. He opened the door and the cool night air hit him hard. It was chilly and it made him shiver and his bones rattled. But it was fresh and pure, unlike the polluted city. He sat down on the door with his legs hanging out. He took out the magnetic compass from his pocket and adjusted his sitting position accordingly. He then lit a cigarette and waited.

Exactly seven minutes later there was glow on the horizon towards the east. The first ray of light peeped out of the groping darkness. The sky turned magenta with its birth. The ray made the green fields look golden and it seemed that nature danced wherever the ray touched it. It was a fascinating site. Within a few minutes dawn turned into day. The sun was up in full glory. The sky was blue and the earth was green. There was no human structure in sight and he was thrilled at this virginity of nature. Back home, the urbanization had literally raped nature. The mountains, the green forests, the rivers, the birds, the air everything had a heavenly feel to it. They all looked happy. He wanted to be a part of their happiness.

Quickly he made his way back to his seat, collected his backpack. He then looked around at the sleeping passengers and pulled the chain.

As the train screeched to a halt, he was back at the door staring into the face of happiness.

He jumped down from the stationary train and made his way into the wild. He was happy.