KK posted: " As a child, once I got irritated due to skylights in my room and started covering them. My mom asked me the reason. I told her that dust and dirt made me uncomfortable. Then she explained why skylights are provided in rooms. The air in the room ge"
As a child, once I got irritated due to skylights in my room and started covering them. My mom asked me the reason. I told her that dust and dirt made me uncomfortable. Then she explained why skylights are provided in rooms.
The air in the room gets heated up due to respiration etc and leaves through those skylights, while natural light and fresh cool air come in without compromising one's privacy. But my question was, "Why two in one room? One could have sufficed this need."
Her answer was interesting one. And I still remember it vividly, "A lonely skylight becomes sad and silent. It also needs company." In the same vein, she went on to tell me why we used double doors in rooms.
These are the things that have long been forgotten. Skylights may be non-living objects, but in old days, we used to respect even doors and stones were revered as respectable objects. When I think in retrospect, I find some logic behind in case of all living objects.
When a plant is kept alone in isolation in a room, it starts wilting after a few days, but if the same plant is kept in the company of some other plant(s), it starts flourishing. They too need company in addition to air, water and manure. Similarly if a single fish is kept in a glass jar, it will not live longer.
So is the case with human beings. We come across cases, where a husband or wife dies within days of demise of his or her spouse. But I have also seen numerous such persons, who found company of friends, plants and trees, pets and animals, or a social or charitable institution. They thus got their ikigai, the purpose of life.
My mother was one of them. She lived for more than forty years after my father's demise. We all siblings were small and school going. I was just 12 then. She had to see all of us stand on our own feet. I had seen her hardships during those days, but she never cried or complained.
She always found some company. First we were there. When we grew up, she developed a fascination for garden, where she used to grow all sorts of vegetables of daily use, like tomato, green chilly, pumpkin, brinjal, lady's finger, gourds etc. as also flowers like jasmine, madhumalti, hibiscus, rose, marigold etc
So be it a plant or an animal, or a human being, they all need company. If somebody is seen alone, keep him company and stop him from wilting by understanding him and empathising with him. And if you yourself feel alone, seek someone to keep you company.
Some walks we have to take alone. It's also okay to remain in the loneliness of within for sometime for self introspection or self exploration, but not as a routine.
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