(A story adapted from folktales)

GOD created the whole universe. After the process of creation came to an end, He convened a meeting where all the living organisms were the invitees. And do you know what was so special about this meeting ? God would give the LIFE EXPECTANCY CERTIFICATES to all the living organisms in this meeting ! Yes, now all the organisms would be able to know how many years each one of them would be able to live on the surface of the earth.

So, the day of the meeting arrived. All living organisms arrived at the meeting, but, man didn’t because, by nature, man, sometimes, tries to defy even God ! He said, “What do I care if God has called for a meeting ? I can’t go there today. I am very busy. I’ll go and meet God, in person, at some other point of time.” So, man didn’t go to the meeting.

A few days passed by and then one day man came to know that all organisms but him had already received their Life Expectancy Certificates from God and he was the only one to be left out ! Man became really anxious and said, “Oh! All the organisms except me have already received their Life Expectancy Certificates . I must go to God at once to get mine too.”, and so the man set out to meet God.

While going to meet God, on the way, the man met an ox . The ox eagerly asked the man, “ Hello…hello man! Where are you going ?”. The man said, “I am going to meet God to get my Life Expectancy Certificate.” The ox replied excitedly, “Ohh! I too couldn’t go to the meeting that day and I have also not yet got my Life Expectancy Certificate and hence I don’t know what is my life expectancy. Can I also come with you ?” The man agreed. So the ox and the man went together.

Sometime later both of them met a dog. The dog too asked them, “Hello… hello friends! Where are you both rushing ? Can you tell me, please ?” The man said, “You people have already got your Life Expectancy Certificates from God but we have not yet received it because we both couldn’t attend the meeting which was convened by God.”  The dog was very surprised and said , “ Oh ! I also didn’t go to the meeting that day and hence I too didn’t get my Life Expectancy Certificate because I was busy scavenging for food that day. Will you let me come with you ?” They agreed and thus, the dog too joined them.

After a couple of minutes, the Man, the ox and the dog heard a sound: “Hoooot hoooot! Where are you all going to? Please tell me.” It was the voice of an owl that perched on a high branch. The man told the purpose of their journey to the owl and the owl’s eyes grew round in surprise, “Hooot hoot! Even I haven’t gotten mine yet, because God had convened the meeting that day during the day time but I can’t see during the day. That’s why I was absent from the meeting. Can you please take me with you?”  The man got irritated, “How can you go now, then? You are blind and now it is day time.”Then the owl said , “I can perch on the horns of the ox .” Agreeing to this, the ox said, “Okay, no problem. You don’t weigh much, you can perch on my horn.” Then, the four resumed their journey to God.

On seeing the four from far, the Creator was smiling . He had foreseen the four coming to Him sometime or the other. He was amazed at the way Fate had brought these four together, who were actually the only four creatures who hadn’t received the certificates till then. Eventually, when the four of them met and bowed before God and sought their Life Expectancy Certificates from Him, God faked an annoyance, saying “Why didn’t you all come on the day of the meeting ? Are you all special people and you need special treatment ? Anyhow, now that you all have come, please be seated and I will call you one by one to give your certificates.”

At first, God called the man and said , “Here is your Life Expectancy Certificate, man. Take it and read it carefully to know how long you will be existing on the surface of the earth.” The man read it . The certificate said that his life expectancy was 40 years ! The man’s face fell. He said in a sorrowful voice, “Oh my God! How could you do this to me ? You have given me such a short life expectancy. My life expectancy is so short that if I plant a tree, I will die before it bears the fruit. Is this the way you want me to enjoy my life ?” God said, “You didn’t come to the meeting that day. I could have given you as much life expectancy as you would have asked for, may be 1000 years too ! I cannot do anything now. You have to accept it. Get back to your seat ! ” The man scratched his head and lifted his heavy legs back to his seat with a heavy heart.

Next, it was the ox’s turn. God gave it its certificate. The certificate stated that its life expectancy was also 40 years. The ox let out a sorrowful bellow and said to God, “Oh my God! What wrong have I done that I should stay alive on the Earth with a yoke on my neck for 40 years? Please take away half of my life expectancy, God, please.” God looked at the man and asked whether he would like to take more 20 years of life expectancy from the ox. The man said, “Sure, but it is still too little.” So, God took back their certificates and wrote  ‘minus 20’ on the Life Expectancy Certificate of the ox and ‘plus 20’ on the Life Expectancy Certificate of the man.

Then, God asked the dog to stand before Him and gave its certificate to it. The dog’s certificate too stated a life expectancy of 40 years. On seeing this, the dog burst out into tears. It said tearfully, “Oh Dear Lord ! What sin have I committed that I should live for 40 years by scourging the stinking garbage for food. Please reduce my life expectancy God!”. Then God again looked at the man and asked if he wanted to add 20 years more to his Life Expectancy. The man said, “Of course, I love to take but that’s too not enough.” Also, even after getting 20 years of extra and free life expectancy, he showed no sign of gratitude to God. So God again took back their certificates and wrote  ‘minus 20’ on the dog’s certificate and another ‘plus 20’ on the Man’s certificate.

The owl was the last one to receive its certificate. When the owl saw its Life Expectancy Certificate, it cried out in disappointment, for, it too had received a life expectancy of 40 years. The owl requested God, “Oh Dear God, I can’t use my sense of vision for one half of the day and hence I don’t want to live for such a long time. Kindly reduce my life expectancy by half of what you have granted.” So, God looked at the man and asked if he still wanted to add more years to his life. The man said, “Yes, the more, the better. But still I am not satisfied.” This time too, the man showed no sign of gratitude to God even after getting 20 years of extra and free life expectancy. So, God again took back their certificates and wrote ‘minus 20’ on the owl’s certificate and another ‘plus 20’ on the man’s. Thus, the man got a life expectancy of 100 years (40 + 20 + 20 + 20) but still not satisfied.

The story above states the fact that human wants are unlimited and his desires can never be satisfied. Also, man is the most ungrateful creature in the whole universe. The period of first 40 years in human being’s life is his own. During the first 40 years of his life, human being enjoys his existence because God had granted this 40 years to the man at His own will. Therefore, a man lives this period of life like a human being and like a king, i.e. in joy and without any care or trouble ! It is the golden period of life and, during this period, the earth is like a heaven for him.

During the period from 40 to 60 years, human being passes through the time what was originally granted to the ox. An ox always carries the grains that feed other but no one recognises his faithful services. His faithful services are rewarded with kicks and blows. Therefore, during this phase of life, human being exhibits the characteristics of an ox. During this phase of life, man’s life is full of hard work and heavy burdens. Also, during this period, man shows the tendency to ‘carry loads’ just like the ox, i.e. carrying good food, toys, gifts, good things etc for his children at home and sometimes something else but no one recognises his services. Even after doing a lot of hard work and rendering a lot of unsought services to please others, human being gets a lot of blames and hears a lot of complaints.

From 60 to 80 years, man passes through the life which was originally granted to the dog. The main duty of a dog is to guard the house and bark even at the shadow of the moon. During this phase of life, man is entrusted with the task of guarding the house and the children when the other working members go to their workplaces (Old people will guard the house and the small children !). Getting a stomach full of delicious food becomes a rarity. He will be dying to eat delicious food but he either doesn’t get the same or if he gets also, he is not able to enjoy the same because of poor digestive system or because he has no strong teeth at that age to grind. Very often, human being goes with less than half a stomach of food. Life at that stage is just like the life of a dog that usually guards the house and starves or goes with a stomach half filled!

During the period of 80 to 100 years, the sense of vision becomes one of the five senses(and maybe not the only one), to depart him and all he can do is to lie on his cot in the corner of a house, as helplessly as the owl perches on a branch during the day. He cannot even recognise his own kith and kin. What kind of life is this ? Who is responsible for this pitiable condition of human life ?

Human desires are never-ending. Whatever human gets ‘by default’ or through the sweet will of God or through that of others, is indeed a blessing for him and this is what he deserves. But whatever human gets through vociferous demand or by unfair means to satisfy his/her desires, results in nothing but suffering and suffering only. So, human being needs to learn how to be contented with what comes to him/her naturally or automatically or by default. Something that comes to us without demand is the thing that we deserve. Something that we get through demand is just like ‘Add on’ whose price we have to pay. Rightly, Lord Buddha has said, “Desire lies at the root of suffering.”

 

Compiled by:

Sushree S Bhaavika