Finding Inner Peace

Someone once rightly said,” The Art of Peace begins with you”. Question is how many of us actually try to find peace within our self amidst the entire hullabaloo surrounding us. Have you ever felt that eternal peace within yourself, that feeling of being totally free, that feeling of not being accountable to any one, that feeling of not fearing losing someone, that feeling of running naked on a highway? The answer is ‘Nope’. None of us has ever felt like that and neither had Rudy, the rat.

Have your daily chores ever been overwhelming? Have you ever pole-vaulted out of the bed looking forward to your day and yelling,” Today is gonna be a good day”? If the answer is an affirmative, then do not read further, this piece of text is not for you.

A rat’s routine consists of trudging out of the bed in the morning, running through the morning ablutions without paying much heed to the fact that poop has to go in the toilet and mouthwash into the mouth. The rat somehow manages to put on his morning face and to get ready, though in a slipshod manner. It is followed by a dash to his workplace, completely ignoring the importance of a good breakfast that could have kept his machine running till he will get to eat the musty food of his office’s cafeteria. The tasks in office are no more different, the rat is constantly under pressure from his peers and his Boss to meet the deadlines and moreover, the previous day’s work is still pending and to add to that, the rat has to manage his time for a tete-a-tete with his girlfriend, Suzy, the armadillo. He has to listen to her for time immemorial, to all her complaints such as not devoting enough time to her, not paying attention to what she says and all that shit.

But our rat does not complain as stoicism runs in his generations. No one has ever dared to complain. The day saunters and finally the rat returns home carrying a baggage full of anxieties and conundrums. Alas! He can not hang it on the tree in his porch; he will have to sleep with it. A sleepless night again! And the vicious circle will continue tomorrow.

Rat’s physical and mental health has started dilapidating. Rat’s 2 year relationship with Suzy, the armadillo, is on the verge of a breakup. Rat’s performance at work has jettisoned. Rat has lost his peace, which he never actually possessed and moreover, he does not know what went wrong.

Life was a race for Rudy, like one of those races in kindergarten where one has to run with a marble in a spoon kept in one’s mouth, only he did not know that if the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Rudy did not know that the marble in his life was his eternal peace and not the material possessions that lured him from the finish line. Rudy achieved the success by finishing the race, but lost the marble and with that the spark, the feeling of being excited and alive. Rudy is dead now.