Sharing of responsibilities

One of the weekends I spent with my cousins in Mumbai. It proved to be a memorable. I learnt a lot about people in the course of the conversation that we had.

The first thing that stuck me, about myself was how relaxed I felt! It was not my house. I did not have to answer calling bells, telephone bells, mobile rings, intercom beeps. I have a very bad association with bells. I always hear my school bell in all these which I always missed, but in comparison, these bells are better!

The first lesson that I learnt was to relax even at my house. Well, to be honest I feel that if I learn to understand that even this is not my house, then I know that I can relax.

But is this possible? To have a detached attachment sounds like an oxymoron and surely is one. I have heard one of my father’s friend often say, “This is not my house, I happen to be here”.

Those words, in the recent past, have started flooding my memory. As I sat in a pensive mood trying to untie the knot around detached attachment, one of my cousins narrated an incident.

One day Bhagwan SaiBaba went to a house hold with few of his disciples. An old lady lived in the house and she felt proud having a holy man in her household. After discussing about a lot of things, they finally went to sleep past mid night. At around 2 a.m., Baba woke the old lady up and asked her to make 2 dosas for him.

Obediently, the old woman got up, lit the flame and made all the preparations for making the dosas. As she was about to make the dosas, Baba told her to make it silently. The others were sleeping in the adjacent room and he did not want to wake them up.

Now the lady did not know what to do. While making dosas the noise the water sprinkled over the tawa makes a noise followed by the wet batter. She silently took the batter and mixed it thoroughly. She exhibited no signs of tension, nor did she even take a break in her work to think about what Baba said.

Baba seemed surprised. He again told her that he did not wish to disturb the others who were sleeping peacefully.

Now the lady stopped and turned towards Baba. “You told me to make 2 dosas for you. Till I complete your orders I will not hear anything else. Making the dosa is my job. Ensuring that there is no noise is yours”, she said.

When she finished the narration, I understood the reason for the stress that most of us undergo when we are at home. When we step out of our house, we do not feel the stress.

The detached attachment now seemed possible. Do what you are responsible for. This is what the old lady had realised, may be through the years’ of experience.

Only making the dosa was her responsibility, the God knows how to supress the noise!