Love, Forgiveness and Freedom

Free, we are free. Free from what? The country is celebrating Independence Day but I can’t.
Jammu and Kashmir is bleeding. My heart is bleeding. What am I free from, independent from?

Why is the situation in this state? Because we can’t forgive and let things go. Because whenever we give something we expect returns. The greatest emotional fulfillment takes place only when we give without expectation and when we forgive.

Giving without expectation may seem a non pragmatic notion today but it still exists. Just try it once, give something to someone without expecting anything; it need not be something big or important. Say you had thought about eating a toffee and had kept it apart; just give it to someone without thinking. Without expecting anything from the benefactor; not even a thank you or a smile. And you will feel immense pleasure filling up your heart at that precise moment.

The other day I was going to the post office. It was late morning; I had taken my bath and was dressed in fresh clothes. Few street urchins were playing and running around at a juncture on the road. They were squalid and one of them looked as if he had just come out of the drain running parallel to the street. Suddenly in the midst of their commotion, the dirtiest of them bumped into me and put some filth of his clothes and body onto mine. At that instant I was livid and felt like spanking the boy. But the boys nonchalantly continued with their game and gave me an impish smile when I looked at them. I forgave them. I felt a joy in my heart. Some may say it was not a big deal but I would like to point out that today we don’t even forgive our friends for trivial mistakes.

But have we ever thought what characterizes the human race?

It is forgiveness that makes us what we are. Without forgiveness, there would be no history. Without that hope, there would be no art, for every work of art is in some way an act of forgiveness. Without that dream, there would be no love, for each act of love is in some way a promise to forgive. We live on because we can love, and we love because we can forgive. --- Shantaram