Not quite 'easy' .... this one
at-least!
It was supposed to be a 'simple'
word.... The only blunder perhaps, that I might have committed,
when this word 'came into my life at first' (yes, that kid age....
'Engleesh-medium ischoool' it was so... for most of the unlettered
people around me, when they quizzed 'kaun se madarsey mein padthe
hain aap?'.... the name(iscoool's name) did not matter much....
they were more concerned with what kind of mannerisms I was going to
acquire during adulthood..... whether that amenable
'gaontee'(rustic).... or that 'stiff-collared' angrez-literate-babu,
who spews out jargon to instill fear in gullibles, and makes a living
'only-thus'!) ...
Even when that 'strict' notice from the
School-Principal was read out in a stern voice 'those who speak other
than in English, except language classes of Hindi, and regional 2nd
language, will be penalised with a 'fine''... we kids dealt with it
easily... For instance, I distinctly remember my
ever—resourceful-classmate, when asked soon after this notice... by
our teacher 'What's wrong with your feet?'.... (he was limping a
bit... it was afternoon-session... during that lunch interval, we
had a hectic game Kabbadi, we played rough, unmindful of
consequences... serious pulling-of-each-others-legs, while at that
game!)... that kid replied without even batting an eyelid..
“Teacher, I have a moch in my paun...” We never found it
necessary to strain ourselves to find out that it was 'sprain'...
for... the only place we had to strain ourselves , ... at that
age... was when we had to ease, within a given time... not at our
leisure. And that 'paun' is easy-altenative for 'foot-and-not-feet'
(the teacher could ask about our feet, but we were expected to be
precise to the exact foot! So dealing with which of the feet was a
feat for us... then... a sudden forced shift to 'peak' in
English.... I am sorry.... it was just e-speak!).. But admirably
enough, that kid let that 'paun' into a wonderful rendition, like
those long monotonous long notes (alaaps), which are let into a
droole of 'n' in a beautiful descending note, during a vocal
performance at a musical concert....
....
Some where in between, we were told,
what is simple is not always quite easy!
(Example was: there is a finger to
fold, the tongue to be doubled a little inwards, with that finger,
and the air in the lungs to be let out in a gush, through the
so-folded-tongue... but not every body manages to produce a shrill
note that they call as 'whistle'!)
...
So, that 'easy' soon turned out to be
too fuzzy ..... to make out. In those days, 'posh' people used to
say 'I would like to ease myself'..... I wondered... is that why
people squirm in their seats....? that urgency to ease... and they
find it a bit uneasy thing.... due to a 'dis-ease'? Well this kind
of 'dis-ease' is not that easy to disclose like those
'voluntary-disclosures'.... the embarrassment is quite
understandable, when somebody is asked to sit in that vacant bus
seat, and this fellow tries to 'turn a deaf ear' and secretly wishes,
the driver might step on to the horn.... (Oh! How to 'explain' that
being seated is an uneasy thing with this dis-ease!)... When some
people squirm for quite sometime, restlessly, and I wondered (during
that kid age) what is going on in their minds, when being seated in
that 'reserved' seat is just 'all-about-parking' our bottom properly!
Long journey in a train requires us to be 'seated' far better than in
a brief-bus-journey!
Now, with high tech-techies that we
find abound(or in abundance... whichever way it is)..... their
relativity with 'IT' has made it easy for them to go easy on
difficult courtesies like 'wanting to ease oneself'... for that
'matter', they even effortlessly manifest the slightest of
un-easiness with that prefix of 'sh' to their 'it' and 'pronounce' it
jointly! That is why they are so casual about 'great' as 'gr8'
etc... Some of them, I have to admit, use 'Oh' when they are into
'admitting' their own folly, as an extended-prefix ... So evolved
they are ..... from that 'easing oneself' with a strain once upon a
time! (If you feel that I am stretching things too far... the
'topmost' villains {of our today's movies} look down to discover that
their pants are wet,.... right up to the ankle, .... when they are
face-to-face with that point-blank range piece of lead, waiting to be
discharged 'easily' by that hero-cop, who find this method of
dispensing justice more practical than producing the villain at a
court!
..
That illusion of 'Nothing is easier'
kept shattering with the need to knead the intrinsic meaning of ease!
The confusion compounds when we come to spiritual path.... Aghoris
and their activities simply sets aside all our earlier illusions....
the stories that we hear.... they got enlightened 'just like
that'... one touch, one look, etc... As if this is not enough, the
far eastern Zen Masters scare us, when they go beyond that 'stripping
us of easy-go-life'!
I joined that 'junior-NCC' at
school.... This time I kept wondering at the commands “Attention”
('standing' implied...) but that 'At-ease' was explicitly prefixed
with “Stand” (obviously not taking any chances.... some 'wise'
guy might construe it to 'suit-his-convenience' and squat or lie down
to be 'truly-at-ease'!... But I could not muster enough courage to
ask that 'usthaad'.... their awesome 'looks' instilled great fears
in most of us, and we were wearing just shorts, not even
full-pants!)... Much later, those wonderful English movies ... the
War movies... one high-ranking officer to other... dialogue was in
style.... '(please be)...at your ease.....officer' (they had
high-level espionage related issues to deal with .... not these
rigid physical posture of 'attention'). We were initiated into that
wonderful 'Indianised' (desi) version even as we just reached college
level NCC! The 'caution' now seemed to me, to be addressed to 'mind',
..... way beyond the physicality... 'Saavdhaan' (be cautious,
exercise caution, attentively enough)... and that 'Vi-shram'
('bereft of strain or stress'.... as I would like to look at it...
'shram-vihit' ... the same attentiveness, retained and intensified,
by relaxing just the body... they even add 'aaraam sey'... when,
during the next few moments they are going to elaborate on
'concepts'!!! I was at once awed by the depth of clarity thought
of--about 'going easy'--, by the training department of our armed
forces!).... Only that a few of the 'casual' co-cadets found it hard
to suppress their giggle, when non-hindi speaking ustaads shrieked it
to sound like 'Sou-dhan' (hundred-wealth), and 'bay-sharam'
(shameless!)...
That 'easy' is inextricably entangled
with words like comfort, discomfort, uncomfortable, etc...
Dexterity acquired with hard work makes
it look 'easy' when we see people perform at trapeze or that
gymnastics of Olympics... Sometimes, the 'easiness' of others is
suddenly the cause of a 'dizziness' (was it a short form of
dis-easy-ness?) for us (like...when we find that Michael Angelo
saying “take infinite pains to create something that looks
effortless”... what else can we infer, when we find so many
reports of 'suicide' cases alongside the publication of
matriculation/plus-two results, and kids let the 'life go out easily'
despite their hard work for that upper-cut-off, where as, the
previous people had a 'easy-go-life' whatever the results (it was
just pass or fail... at10th class... fail means... try
and try again... no great hurry). Here we find ourselves in a great
hurry to counsel them back into life first, rather than looking at
the philosophical or spiritual aspect of 'easy' life!
Now, having come this far (or having
reached this far..... look at it whichever way you find it
easy/easier), I wonder..... if I have been 'easy' on some of us!
psn(8th June, 2012)
