NaBloPoMo 2018: Day 13: Lessons from a saree pallu

During the blogathon, I find my mind constantly hovering around the thought of what to write. Some days, there are few thoughts; other days, there are many. And on some days like today, all the thoughts that had occupied my mind throughout the day, sounding like promising leads for the post, suddenly fly out the window because I’ve been struck by an epiphany (which is a complicated word to describe a striking or sudden realization).

As I clear up the room, I look with fresh eyes at a saree spread on the clothes stand.


I’m struck by the simplicity of the design. Just tiny flowers and yet, so beautiful.

As I begin folding the saree, I glance at the reverse of the same part of the pallu.


And I realize that what appears so obviously simple, has been achieved only after some pretty complex work on the other side.

This reminds me of how we see only the success of famous people and not their hard work that went into it. That singer or dancer on the show who pulled off a flawless performance didn’t do so by chance – it was the result of hours of deliberate practice.

We want to be successful like X, Y or Z; but are we prepared to take on challenges the way they did?

As I continue staring at the saree, there’s another fact that strikes me.

                         

On the side that’s on display, the flowers stand apart; but on the reverse where the stitches have been formed, everything is interconnected. Often, when things happen to us, we see the incidents in isolation, but it is quite possible that there may be some common thread linking them together.

For example, I know a person A who gets blamed at his office for shoddy work. He is left out of group activities and not given much importance. His relation with his family is not too good either. Three different things, happening to this person, all arise out of his nature of not taking his responsibilities seriously.

Being able to connect our actions to the results that follow is not as simple as it sounds. As long as you continue to look superficially at the display side, you won’t notice anything. You have to make the effort to shift your gaze and view things from a different angle to be able to understand the reality of how one thing leads to another.