Off-track Thanks!

 Off track “thanks”

I recall a typical scene.

My dad was poised to punish me with a  cane…. And, suddenly there appeared a guest at our door. 😜

It was customary to instantly_show a surprise overflowing with smile & happiness ( otherwise,  that fellow starts thinking ‘twice’ from next time, whether to visit us.). That is when….I feel a very different kind of “thanks” to that guest, who might be a total stranger to me ,  and….if he thrusts a small sugar candy wrapped in a cheap plastic paper, that is a bonus, and I magnify my thanks with articulation( he might even misconstrue my over-exaggerated ‘thanks’ to be a subtle taunt at the inexpensive sweet which he sheepishly thrusts into my tiny palm.

I escaped a severe caning, thanks to that guest.

Alfred Nobel has a similar “uncommon” reason to thank two nations at war. He sells dynamite to both. The Nobel prize is funded by such wealth 😜🙏

At this age, I thank rains for a very-different reason. The small overhead tank upstairs, has a rimmed lid, which collects an inch of rainwater in its 9 square feet area, and when it spills over, the water finds its way into-the tank through a quarter inch perimeter left uncovered by the rid.

This rainwater, was about 100 liters due to a downpour yesterday afternoon. Mixed with the tap water, it came via tap into the washroom, where I was manually washing clothes. The white towel turned unusually bright-white. That-is-when I remembered my kid age at village pond in kerala. Soon after rains, elders would enjoy washing their white dhoties using lesser soap. The rain water floating on the pond, whitens the clothes uniquely-bright!  ( I belong to a city dwellers tribe, where I miss the gift of rain water to brighten my clothes. This accidental percolating of rainwater turned me into that kid age fellow who thanked the guest for a reason, about which the recipient himself id destined to remain ignorant😜😜🙏🙏

Spiritual people feel that “thanks” to hurdles in life, where commoners lament “why me?”, to the gawd/Godji.  जैसे जिसकी सोच! 

खैर, yours

psn ( 19 may 2024)