Today I saw a girl of about five on the bus, jumping up and down in her seat and singing to herself. She seemed quite happy with herself.
I looked at my other fellow passengers, all adults, staring straight ahead in an early Tuesday morning stupor, and thought: if I started singing or dancing right here, right now, people would think I was nuts. It would be totally at odds with the controlled behaviour expected from a responsible grown-up. It would also be a scene straight out of a Bollywood film. But I digress.
Life isn’t simple for most people. We live in a world that can be difficult to understand. Indeed, the hardships that people live through and the damage that we collectively continue to inflict on the Earth even as we settle well into the twenty-first century seem impossible to comprehend.
Fortunately, a number of individuals have come up with ideas about how things could change; how we could become more like the little girl on the bus; free, content. Maybe we’d feel inspired to get up and dance more often. Or splash around in the sea. Or enjoy a proper belly laugh with good friends.
I'd like to share some thoughts on those ideas here.
I looked at my other fellow passengers, all adults, staring straight ahead in an early Tuesday morning stupor, and thought: if I started singing or dancing right here, right now, people would think I was nuts. It would be totally at odds with the controlled behaviour expected from a responsible grown-up. It would also be a scene straight out of a Bollywood film. But I digress.
Life isn’t simple for most people. We live in a world that can be difficult to understand. Indeed, the hardships that people live through and the damage that we collectively continue to inflict on the Earth even as we settle well into the twenty-first century seem impossible to comprehend.
Fortunately, a number of individuals have come up with ideas about how things could change; how we could become more like the little girl on the bus; free, content. Maybe we’d feel inspired to get up and dance more often. Or splash around in the sea. Or enjoy a proper belly laugh with good friends.
I'd like to share some thoughts on those ideas here.
Roshan Daryanani