I woke up suddenly disturbed by a sound. I couldn't locate the sound but as I slowly turned over on my pillow and looked at my mobile screen, the screen flashed '5:43 am'. I let out a sigh and got up, pushing aside my blanket. It was only when I walked over to my shelf to grab my tooth brush that I realized it.
My mom's birthday.
I had decided the earlier night when I had laid down at about 11:30 pm as to wake up about 20 minutes later so that I could wish her at midnight. But I had slept off and it was only the sound in the morning that had woken me up. I immediately placed down my tooth brush and picked up my mobile phone to call her. About 10 minutes later, I ended the call with a large smile spread over my face.
But the phone call is not the reason I typed up this post.
It was a thought that struck me afterward as I kept staring at myself in my hostel's bathroom mirror, lazily rotating the toothbrush in my mouth that made me type up this post. It was a thought that kept disturbing me so much that it was all I could think of when one of my professors reviewing my mini-project today asked me to explain about 'Low complexity filter' in BLAST.
Why is it that we never try to respect the love that comes about easily?
It was my mom's birthday that had triggered the thought.
My wishes, when I had called her, had made her happy. But she was more focused on stressing that I dare not miss my breakfast. It was a love so pure that it had absolutely zero expectations. And it was the same love with the zero expectations, I guess, that had been the reason that I did not take any extra efforts to wake myself up at midnight in case I accidentally fell asleep. I knew within my heart that I did not have the necessity of taking an extra step to make my mom love me more.
And this was the thought that hurt me.
Why do we always keep trying so hard to satisfy someone who seems very difficult to be satisfied when we don't even care about a person who showers love constantly despite whatever we do?
I have had the opportunity of observing this scenario more than often in these three and half years of college life. I have seen many of my friends spend hours planning a surprise birthday party and spend hundreds on a gift for the birthday of a loved one (I have also been a culprit on 2 such occasions and the only reason I continue with this post is because of my 'realization' later) whilst so casually wishing their moms and dads on their birthdays only on the evening of their birthdays, that too in many cases, only after having been reminded by their moms and dads about it.
Why does the extra effort go into making a birthday special for a loved one when there is not even an attempt to remember the birthday of a person who loves you dearly?
I would be a fool saying that one must not plan surprise birthday parties and hand over intimate and meaningful gifts for a loved one's birthday. The joy of seeing a loved one smile at your gift and the feeling of having made a loved one happy is inexplicable. Agreed. But why is that these extra steps taken to make a loved one stay in your life not continue on to people who will never ever let you go? After all, aren't the latter people the ones whose love should be reciprocated more?
But I guess that this outlook not just exists in love. Though it seems to be very explicit in love, it seems to exist in most of the other affairs of human life too. A school situated close to the home and a school wherein the admission seems easy is not even given a chance before a school where getting an admission seems impossible (and I often wonder what attracts the people more - if it is the quality of the education or the simple fact that the admission is just difficult). A completely sufficient 'Maruti Alto' is never given the equal respect as a 'Mercedes-Benz B class' (and I often wonder if it has anything to do with the mileage or the simple fact that a 'B class' is much harder to own). A simple yet delicious meal prepared at home is eaten so simply when a meal at a posh restaurant or a foreign dish at a very expensive eatery seems to be worshiped (and I often wonder if it really has anything to do with the taste).
Being attracted to things that are hard to attain is not a crime. But why not give, if not more, at least the same level of respect to things that automatically come your way?
The face of a mom or a dad might not always come to the mind while listening to a melody like a loved one's does but they still require a part of the love they shower, don't they? A grandmother or a grandfather might not always talk interesting stuff like a new friend does but they still require a part of the love they exhibit, don't they?
The human mind, just like its desire to love things that are hard to attain also has an uncontrollable urge to try everything practically rather than just in theory. So perhaps, it would probably not hurt giving the opportunity of making special the birthday of a person who showers love on you a try.
The trial might probably even lead to a very beautiful realization - the love, which exists so abundantly and in so easy a way all around you is in many ways more heartening and fulfilling than the love that comes the hard way.
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