Always be Selfish and MAD

Just like every other child, I have always been a fan of those bed time stories which our grand parents used to narrate during childhood days. Years have passed; things have changed; people have moved; still that eagerness to listen to those stories never seems to fade away. As I was pondering about it sitting in a chair, my mind slowly started to narrate one inside…

Once upon a time, there was a donkey which lived in a village. Getting up in the early morning, carrying the load and following its master’s order used to be its routine. The donkey was pretty much occupied and enjoyed this routine. 

Days passed… The donkey started to develop a friendship with a buffalo and a dog who were also living nearby. All the three became so close that every night, they meet each other to chat.

One night, the Donkey was extremely tired because of the heavy load and was ranting about the same. Suddenly the buffalo stared at the donkey and started to laugh… Both the Donkey and the dog were clueless. The buffalo was like, “Did you look at your face in the mirror? You are too ugly, lazy and not fit to do any other work. That’s why your master continues to load you with this mundane work on a daily basis”.

The Donkey was shocked to hear this comment and felt bad. The buffalo continued to laugh loud and the donkey couldn’t bear it anymore as it started to leave the place.

It went to its sleeping place and lied down. But somehow its mind was not peaceful. Being ugly, being lazy, not fit for any other work - these were the phrases lingering inside its head. As it turned right, suddenly it got afraid seeing the dog lying next to it. The Donkey was like, “what are you doing here”???

The Dog replied, “I know what you are thinking now inside your head. The same buffalo said similar nauseating statements about me last week and spoiled my peace too. It is when I learnt a mantra from a saint, who helped me to be at my peace”.  The Donkey was furious to listen to this and at the same time it felt curious, “Mantra? What is that?”, asked the donkey.

The dog replied, the mantra is “Be selfish And MAD”.  The Donkey was taken a back. It looked at the dog and asked, I thought you are telling some mantra to be happy and peaceful. What’s this selfish and mad, the puzzled donkey stared at the dog. 

The Dog told, wait a minute. Whatever people say around you should not matter at all. You should know what your self worth is, what your capabilities are, and what your weaknesses are. There is no one better in this world to judge you than yourself. Once you have that self introspection, you really will not be affected by these external noises.  That is what is meant by being self(ish) oriented. 

And whatever you do in your mundane life, at the end of your life, you should be mad (Make a Difference). Just doing something routine like others and passing the life is not going to help anyone. You should make a difference in whatever you do, irrespective of how small it is. 

If you are following these two qualities of being selfish and mad, there is nothing you need to worry about, explained the dog. 

The Donkey didn’t utter a word. It silently went to lie down. Suddenly, the donkey can feel a heavy hot water rain. Puzzled what it is, I woke up to realise it’s the hot coffee my niece poured on me, while I was napping in the chair…

Mind realised that there are many such buffalos surrounding each one of us in real life. And you won’t always have a dog to teach any mantra too. Instead of being a depressed donkey, it’s upto us to look upto the dog(god) in ourselves and say, “I will be selfish and mad”, no matter how many buffalos make noise :)