So close, but still so far

The human mind is very intriguingly complicated. It has a tremendous capacity to reach out far and wide, but at the same time not able to get the grasp of things so close at many times. Be it the relationship among the family members, colleagues or anyone in the social milieu, there is a pattern that one feels closer with someone, even at the first sight than with people whom one knows for many years.

There are two factors in this. One is the doer (or the thinker, analyser or whatever one may put it). In relation to this particular one, there are so many. How is that this particular one understands and comprehends the tenets of trust or confidence among the various persons? The scale varies between person to person either way and in a situation to situation.

In my own life I have experienced situations in which if I talked to my mother about any issue, whenever I was in doubt, I did get a clear canvas in which I could work out the solutions for myself. She was such a personality as I look back, as she is no more now, that she made me very comfortable even while I used to discuss and at the same time she induced me to take decision by myself while she was presenting before me the ways and means to get the issues resolved. This capacity on her part was very unique. Over a period of time, when she grew in age, there were visitors who used to come to her for similar advice, though not in a professional way. They used to just visit her, discuss issues generally, and in the course of general talk, present their own problems and they used to get the solutions in a smooth way. Though she had no formal education, her command over spoken language in Hindi and Tamil was very good. She was never selfish nor she had an agenda of her own while dealing with any persons or any issues.

The point I am making is that every person knows about himself better than anyone else. But most of the persons have different scales of measurement of value system when it comes to all others as against himself. One set of comfort as against discomfort for all, to put it in simple words. If only one thinks of himself in others as well, the problems can be simplified and solved. This is what I call “so close”. However, for one’s own selfish interest we discard this “so close” and put everything and everybody “so far”. The distance gets widened depending upon the desires and requirements for one against so many.

However, there is a thin line here. Each and everyone respects and understands a good human being. This tendency is natural in each one, as a first reaction from the mind. Simultaneously, the worthiness of that fineness in the other person is appreciated or respected within one’s mind. But the fact is that a good human being is valued as worthy. This is the bringing together of the natural quality in a human called “so close” while purposely not recognizing that goodness makes it “so far”. The gap between these two situations of “so close” and at the same time “so far” depends upon the multitudinous desires of one individual and his intention to get them executed at any cost at the expense of all others. The scale increases with increased requirements and vice versa.

It is not out of place to say that all our philosophies and various scriptures instill in us repeatedly that God is within each and everyone and in all beings. By bringing about this thought process repeatedly through various explanations, were they not telling us to be close to each one rather than away from each one?

 CHELSEA FRANCIS