Quantums of Happiness

Pissed of with Delhi heat, a sulky mood and a smug on my face! This was the sight of me walking from home towards the metro station. A broad grin, a light heart,full of delight and respect, gratified, thankful to God, a firm determination: me coming out of my society gate. This stark transition was a result of a Quantum of love, a Quantum of care, a Quantum of affection, a Quantum of friendship, resulting into a Quantum of happiness.

Walking towards the gate, occupied in the thoughts of the busy day that lay ahead, I was hardly noticing my surroundings. Until, I noticed an old man standing in my way greeting me with a warm smile. Lean, in his 70s, a puckered face youthful with a pleasant smile reaching his twinkling eyes. This man is my society guard. I answered back with a namaste and the best smile I could put up. He came to me and said," Beta itne dinon se aapse baat hi nahin hui. Mai aapko roz apne papa k saath car me jaate hue dekhta tha, aaj paidal ata dekha to soch lia tha ki aaj aapse baat kar lunga". I merely smiled back. He went on,"Pehle to aap aate jaate dikh jaate the, mahine me do baar to kam se kam. Pichle 3 mahinon se to bilkul hi nahin dikhe?" I told him about my summer vacations and to avoid getting into details just mentioned that I was taking some classes explaining my daily pilgrimage with papa. He seemed content, but yet a little worried and asked,"Beta aap to hostel me rehte ho na?" I nodded in affirmation. "Mushkil hota hoga na ghar se door rehna, hostel me, aur bus se aana jaana." I tried to convince him that it is not that bad and hostel is actually fun, but he still didn't seem sattisfied and went on, "Beta aap mehnat karte rehna aise hi. Hume pakka yakeen hai ki aap safal hoge aur bahut bade aadmi banoge. Humara naam roshan karna. Humara aashirwaad humesha aapke saath hai. Hum to bas aashirwaad hi de sakte hain". And with this he kept his hand on my head, blessing me and wishing me all the best.

I have known him since my class 10, the year when I moved to this society. On my way back home from school, we used to ackowledge each other with a bow of namaste, and at times he used to ask me about my studies and well being. Then I went to college and started staying in hostel. This communion became modest after the school, but continued. Most of the times I used to return home on Friday nights, when he was not on duty. But, the few times i used to come on Saturdays, and he used to be there on the gate, he always used to come up offering a hand for the luggage and asking about my well being. But these encounters held momentary importance to me. I never thought of this uncle like other people who held importance in my life. But, it ran deeper for him. He worried himself when he did not see me around. He noticed me going daily with papa. Seeing me coming from a distance, decided to talk to me, worried about my stay and comforts in hostel, and prayed for my future. It was this Quantum of affection that touched me deep within and triggered a series of thoughts and emotions.

But why my obsession with the term Quantum. Recalling my class XI chemistry, a quantum is the smallest, discreet packet of energy that takes part in interaction. But, the sense I derived from this term in this context is that of a unit which is the smallest and the basic, the simplest, and yet the principal, intrinsic to every higher unit, and yet so powerful. Something that is pure and intangible, untarnished by dirt and malice. There are many things in this encounter of five minutes that touched me. Firstly, it was for these just five minutes that the rest of the day was a pleasure. I was passionate and full of life. There was no bounds to my happiness. The same chores of the day became more meaningful, easier and most importantly not a burden or liability, but something fun. I could not help but smile the whole day and spread this happiness to others as I went about. So, these five minutes made so many faces smile, so many hearts delighted, bringing in hours of joy. This is the power of the Quantum I am talking about. It is so easy to bring smile to somebody, to lift someone's mood up, to illuminate his world. All it takes is a little love and care, consideration and regard. Just a Quantum of each.

And, we keep fretting over small things in life, over our busy schedule, over how God has been particularly unfair to us, instead of cherishing what we have, being happy with those who care for us, being happy in caring for others. With the optimism I had that day, the tough busy day that lay ahead turned out be fun, full of passion, excitement and determination. Life is full of such small moments of joy, and people around us who care for us the way that uncle did for me, but we so easily tend to overlook these for those who have hurt us, and cling to the moments of despair from past, or hung up in the worries of future. Embrace life as it comes, cherish each one of these moments , love back each one of those people. And if you feel demoralised or heart broken at any point, and don't have the strength to stand up for yourself, derive your strength from these people and stand up for them. Think of the pain your despondence will bring to them. Smile for the smile your happiness will bring to their face. Doing this will only make you happier and stronger, and the world around a beautiful place to live.