How much is "enough”? Growing up, we
determined its extent by the tone and body language of our parents. Even by the
accent on particular letters of the word. Like, when they said, “enough!” the
danger light flashed bright and we retreated to our rooms immediately. If they
said, " enough is enough now", that was a warning signal not to
stretch things too far.
We used to have to take our cues from them.
There was strict discipline. Not only that, our elder siblings became unrecognizable
when they donned the mantle of our parents while the parents were traveling.
They turned Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde into nonfiction and a total reality.
Ah! Those were the days when even
discipline did not keep us from smiling happily and basking in the love of
family. Our parents were not friends as such. We had our siblings for that. But
we ate together, sang and played bridge and card games together, holidayed
together with our parents, every summer holiday without fail. Wherever we went,
we distributed all the chores among us and it was the height of pleasure to do
them amidst mischievous chatter only because we were all together.
On other holidays, it would be dormitory
style living with cousins , climbing trees, plucking mangoes and tamarinds off
the trees in the compound, playing hide and seek all day long with our elders
running after us to get us to sit still for meals and snacks.
Rustic living but so, so beautiful and
close to nature! There were no super expensive holidays to Europe and
Switzerland. These were hardly any substitutes for the laughter and fun filled days,
full of love and sharing. Our hearts were full, pity that this generation will
never see such days. What it used to be, finding pleasure in the simple things
of life.
Today, what is enough? Going to Europe and
Switzerland is not enough. Having the best of cars and gadgets is not enough.
Holidays with family are not enough. Being content with "enough" of
everything is not "enough". Because, what IS enough? Is your
"enough" like mine or better than mine? Simpler than
Mine or more complicated than mine?
Can I say "enough" today and get
away with it? Can I say, “enough is enough" and not is put into a dog
house for a sizeable chunk of time?
And what IS enough? I always felt that like
"good, better, best", there ought to be categories of "enough”,
too.
Like, enough, enougher and enoughest.
See! At least, you can smile. And that is
enough.
Surekha Kothari
surekhakothari.wordpress.com
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