शमथ। Samatha

Camera has become an obsession; why! In the days before internet and in the days before leisure travel, a faded photograph in a photo album could have opened the gates to a magical kingdom for many, who could only look at the person in that photograph with awe. With the advent of internet, the photo albums gradually faded into memory, waiting their turn to be artefacts for the future human beings. But one thing did not fade away; the awe towards the one in the frame.

Those pictured within the frames, for long, have been looked at as someone from beyond. They are not ordinary. Nobody wants to be ordinary. “I want to be where they have been” is no more a feeling possessed by a few individuals. Those who saw magic in a photograph are no more here. Why does every actor want to play hero or heroine? “I too want to be looked at with awe by others.”

Imagine living in a showcase. It is glamorous when you are a ‘nobody’. Isn’t that what you think of yourself as, ‘a nobody’? And you struggle every waking moment to be ‘somebody from the other side’. What you forget is, this opposites of nobody and somebody you have created in your mind is keeping your mind agitated every moment. Such a person cannot sleep, because their mind is in agitation. If you ‘finally manage to be somebody’, you will not feel anything more than an exhibit.

“To be seen” should not be your motivation. An exhibit has no life of its own. Be a cricketer if it is who you want to be, but do not be a cricketer just to be famous. It holds true in whatever you do in life. Fame is a momentary flame. Only a fool will make it their life’s goal. You are seen too, but you are too busy in your race to be an exhibit that you rarely see it, and you keep missing your chances to embrace the fame. That will never do.

Feel Blessed
Swastham Shantam Sampurnam