“You mean to say that you don’t really care? Is this the love you have promised when you first proposed me for this relationship?”, Radhika shouted in a crowded shopping mall when Suraj called to tell that he is not able to make it today as he has got some last-minute assignments. Today is their 10th marriage anniversary and they both planned to celebrate it by watching movie and dinner.
Radhika had dressed herself the best she could and her money could for this special occasion. No stone was left unturned to make sure that she looks the most beautiful girl on this earth and to make Suraj feel proud and others envy Suraj. Preparation for this day had started when Suraj agreed with this plan for their 10th marriage anniversary over last weekend. It was not merely 3 days of preparation rather can be called as 259200 seconds of preparation. But Suraj has spoiled that all by giving some lame excuse that he has some last-minute assignment to complete. There are so many people in office, can’t anyone do this for Suraj at least on this day. Can’t he somehow manage to get this work done by another person or push it to some other day. This is ridiculous and so heartless. When Radhika complained about these over phone Suraj raised his voice and said “I don’t care. This assignment is the most important thing now for me so just hang up”. How can he be so rude. This is their special day and he is aware of Radhika’s preparation for this day. Suraj is the most uncaring, irresponsible and rude man Radhika has ever seen in her life. She was snatching all her make up and jewellerries and coming out of the mall. She was less aware about the scene that bystanders are wondering and somehow getting entertained by as well.
Suraj planned to surprise Radhika by coming before the time he had promised to Radhika. This was their most important day in life. 10 years back he has married Radhika and he had found a new meaning to his life. He had understood the meaning of life and had learnt to enjoy it. He was a careless guy when bachelor and never bothered about anybody’s emotions but after 10 years of marriage he has found his emotions have found some place in him. He started caring people and understanding the unspoken words. This had helped hi to become a successful professional as well. He had developed EQ and credit goes to Radhika. He was starting his car and he got a call from one of the senior level manager that there is a crisis. 2 Clients have declared downtime and they can not do their business unless an issue that is causing havoc is resolved. There is nobody in office who can quickly find the resolution to it. He was trying to explain about his marriage anniversary but it realized that this issue is far more important than his concern. He went back to office and started working on the issue. It seemed like a small issue but somehow he was not able to find the exact resolution and bring the clients back up with the system. Radhika’s calls were coming on a regular interval after the promised time was over. He just continued to say , “I will start soon”, as he did not have enough time to explain. He thought to focus on the work so that it gets over so so that he can reach home faster. But Radhika’s pinching words after sometime has lifted the pressure valve of Suraj. He said that, “I can’t come.”, when Radhika tried to extend the conversation and clients were calling at the same time, he said, “I don’t care. This assignment is the most important thing now for me so just hang up”. He focused on his work. After sometime the issue got resolved and both the clients went up with their system and he was ready to come home. It was 2 hours late than the promised time. He thought he will manage Radhika and at least go for dinner and then a late night movie.
Then what happened is usual for married couples and strange for others.
People usually say, Life is full of problems. But if we see life is full of expectations and reactions.
Newton’s second law of force says, “Every action has equal and opposite reaction” may be true for materials but for rest, “Expectations have multifold and opposite reaction”.
We start everyday with many expectations and some carry forward to the next day and some either get fulfilled or break during the day. Every broken expectation creates unhappiness, hatred, discomfort and frustration in our mind. We live life to fulfill these expectations and we die everyday due to these unfulfilled expectations.
In most of the scenarios we assume expectations have not fulfilled because we just focus on the result but if you carefully try to understand the situation, you will find many a times there has been enormous effort given by the person from whom you are expecting but somehow end result could not be achieved.
If Suraj would have explained the exact situation to Radhika and Radhika would have believed it then it would still have been the best evening they planned to have. But they both found it easy to assume the unknown part and go forward.
So assumption is what adds spices to failed expectations. We assume because we think we know every situation and every person and 100% of the times, it is false. No single individual on this earth knows his situation around him and person around him completely. So more than the expectations it is the assumptions which create problems in life. So assumptions should be left alone for the experiments and not let it intrude into human relationships. True knowledge is the assumption killer and should be given the precedence. If we do not have the knowledge then we must wait till we get it than filling that gap with assumptions.
True knowledge is difficult to achieve and that is the reason we always find it easy to replace that with assumptions. Lack of knowledge makes us feel like a fool. In order to save ourselves from looking like fools we prefer to be confident with our assumptions.
So the resolution to every issue can be and can only be found by true knowledge and that knowledge will take away all worries from us and let us live a life full of happiness.
Ask yourself, Do you consider yourself in the class of knowledgeable people?
Do you consider your self as a fully aware adult?
If the answer is yes, then look around you and see everything that you see within your reach and question yourself how much you know about it. I am sure you will find many which you think that you know but you really don’t. Try to look into yourself and see if you know yourself. I am sure you will not get an affirmative answer. This realization is important to start the journey from ignorance to knowledge.
That’s the journey necessary for an ever blissful life.
Namaste!!!
– Stray Dog
Life as Sakti 
Ancient Indian Scriptures think of two kinds of knowledge, Paroksh Gyan and Prataksh Gyan. Paroksh Gyan is secondhand knowledge: knowledge obtained from books, hearsay, etc. Prataksh Gyan is the knowledge borne of direct experience, i.e., knowledge that one discovers for oneself.Although secondhand knowledge serves a purpose but perhaps, the best knowledge is the direct knwoledge. And this knowledge is not easy to gain. Very rightly said that we often don’t know ourselves what to say of our surroundings. Very important message given here in such a nice way.
Braj
Sakti, another thought-provoking story that helps us reflect on the way we act or fail to act towards those we care about. Explaining our actions in a rational way is not easy when we are emotional, and yet that is important to help reduce misinterpretation of our actions.