The meaning of life

Everyone has off moods now and then. It is not a sin. It happens to the best of us. Yet there are exceptions.

There was this friend of mine. He was so full of life that I never saw him without a smile. It was a nice smile too. He seemed to exude strong vitality all round wherever he was.

It was contagious. One can’t escape being affected by it.  He was blessed with an unthinking mind too. It used to irk me sometimes.

I asked him once mischievously:

“What is the meaning of life, man?”

The guy cringed like he was hit by a hammer.

“The thing should have a meaning you say? Good God never thought of that!”

He stood there musing in that strange way he had at such times and then with a feigned sadness shook his head.

“It beats me” He winked at me “It beats me hollow”

We all laughed.  We were sitting on the top of a hill looking down to the freshly planted paddy fields at a distance. It looked like a vast green basin between the surrounding hills.  We could hear the muted sounds coming from the village hidden somewhere below the hills.

The evening was particularly still that day. Not even a breeze stirring. The rock we were sitting on was still warm from the sun.

He had just taken off his T shirt and was standing there in the fading light of the humid evening stretching himself.

He had a wonderfully chiseled body and probably would have won any body building competition in his weight category. There was poetry in his body, every tiny muscle evenly merging with the rest to create a rippling and vibrant unity.

We all used to say “Wow” when it was on display.  It was not merely muscle mass. Not many muscle men have such aesthetically pleasing appearance. He knew of it too and was very naïve about it.

He strode around in great pride and after striking some ridiculous poses spoke rather shrewdly, all the while looking at me sideways.

“It could be meaningless too, couldn’t it?”

He had come up better than I expected.

The fact is, we rarely think about such things in the normal course of our life. We stumble upon the question quite unawares when we are hit by the heavy hand of circumstances. A very thick hand that is too, quite deadly and punishing.

We are then suddenly very aware of our mortality and our stupidity; we want to hide from everyone and everything if possible.

Did you ever think why people say “Leave me alone” at such moments of total illumination? Well, well, they do not want to share their wonderful enlightenment with the less blessed! One can’t blame them too.

I have to end this on a sad note.

That friend of mine, he was a wood cutter by profession, was crushed between two giant logs of wood in an accident. He was unrecognizable.

He had a great zest for life while he was alive, whether it had any meaning or not…………