We know the story of two brothers, the younger one carrying on his shoulders the elder brother who has been handicapped and unable to walk. People ask him: “Isn’t the weight too much for you?” His reply has been quite remarkable. “He is not a weight, he is my brother.” No answer could be so appropriate!
Often we are prone to assume whatever one, whom we dislike, does is wrong or stupid. As long as he/she is an enemy, everything he or she has said or done will be unacceptable. It can also happen that the same enemy has become your friend, and then, whatever the person does or says turns out to be acceptable to you.
A mother smiles and hugs her baby who is crying, but a neighbour’s approach will be different. Love and relationships make all the difference in such situations. The secret behind everything is love. We may have to connect ourselves to the idea of which Paulo Coelho makes Elijah speak in the ‘Fifth Mountain’.
‘A Beautiful Mind’ (2001) is a film about the life of Nobel Prize winner John Nash. Russell Crowe immortalized the character. The story begins with the college days of John Nash, a research student of mathematics. Later, his research, work, marriage and family progress like a story. But he turns a lunatic; he doesn’t recognise it. He believes that there are persons who do not exist and things happening that do not happen. Many incidents like this take place and difficulties occur to his friends. In the midst of all that, there is one person who patiently holds on and tries to liberate him from his obsessions without denying him – and that is his wife. She endures everything and tries to improve her condition. She tries as hard as she can. Their patience and hope are the beacons that should shine before every one of us.
We may have heard of people who see divorce as the solution for even a small problem which is common in the European-American context. We too have started accepting divorce as an instant solution for family problems. The truth is, where there is true love, nothing else can stand in the way. But love is often being exchanged for money, comfort and convenience.
Finally, Nash received the Nobel Prize for ‘Game Theory’.
In his acceptance speech, he said:
“I always believed in numbers and equations. They were based on logic. I always saw the reasons. I inquired what real logic – logic – is. It took me to physical, mental, and delusional levels. Finally, I have made the biggest discovery in my career. It was the greatest discovery of my life.”
He, looking at his wife in the audience, said. “The mystical equation of love is the basis of all reason.” He continued to match his eyes and mind to his wife’s eyes. “You’re the reason I’m here now. You are the reason I am who I am. You are all my reasons. Thanks.”
Every wife wants her husband to look at her and say ‘You are all my reasons’. And vice versa. But, to say that, one has to walk with others for a whole lifetime. Let us not become those who walk around looking for excuses for cutting the cords with untold burdens to bear and tears to shed. There will be people around you to encourage cutting the cord. After breaking the cord, all they see is laughing at the lost kite. None of us should turn out to be broken kites.