Life is all about success, happiness and enjoyment. Happiness lies within us and not outside us. It is only our achievements and successes which can make our life comfortable and enjoyable.
Small things make our life great and meaningful. A house is built brick by brick. Drops of water make an ocean. Small streams make a big river. Bits of knowledge make one a great scholar. Life aspires to be great, and greatness is achieved by nice and noble deeds, however small these may be.
Our routine work, if enjoyed, can give us great comfort in due course of time. Big assignments, inventions and the marvels of art, science and technology are the result of phenomena of daily occurrences. For example, the theory of gravitation by Newton was discovered by the mere fall of an apple from a tree. Similar is the case with hundreds or thousands of other inventions which were made from humble and routine incidents but have revolutionised the world at large.
All great men were not born with silver spoons in their mouths. Many of them came from poor backgrounds and started their careers from scratches. Small things played big role in their lives.
The famous rock garden of Chandigarh was constructed by an ordinary person, named Nek Chand Saini, from scrap material like bottles, glasses, tiles, broken pots, etc. Even big sculptures have been made from urban industrial waste. This amply shows the importance of small things which contribute in accomplishing great projects. More such examples can be found world over.
Walt Whitman has said, “Keep your face always towards the sunshine and the shadow will fall behind you”. Such is the value of having positive thoughts and an optimistic view in life that all our worries and anxieties pale into insignificance and instead, fill our life with optimum joy and happiness. Alexander, the great, once passed by an ascetic and asked him, “I am Alexander the great. What can I do for you?” The saint looked towards him in a calm and composed manner and told him not to stand between him (saint) and the sunshine as the sunshine was enough to give him so much joy which the riches and the wealth of Alexander was unable to give him. We seldom realize the value of many bounties of nature gifted to us for our enjoyment, if only we avail them properly.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of free India, has given an account and description in his book of how he passed his days and derived maximum enjoyment while being in prison during freedom struggle. He was called the golden boy of India’s independence. When he sipped tea, as all of us do, he paused in between the sips to prolong the time of drink and to contemplate and meditate in between. He derived maximum pleasure from a cup of tea and also spent the prison time while sipping the tea. He was in solitary confinement. The rays of the sun coming from a window gave him company and enjoyment. The sight of the moon would fill him with much ecstasy. He had the taste of music from the chirping of birds outside his cell filling him with joy. He has described many episodes and examples of this kind in his book, which gave him much joy.
Watching the sunset and sunrise is also a joy. Receiving a handwritten letter from a relative or a friend is great fun. I remember how we would congratulate each other when any of our batchmates received a letter from home during a course of training. We would run after the postman and derived much joy on receiving a letter.
Other little joys which we have include reading a good book, a fresh haircut and a bath, buying a new dress or wearing freshly washed clothes, smell of a perfume and a sound sleep. Enjoying home cooked food with family, having an afternoon nap, a long walk and making someone smile are other forms of enjoyment. Remembering about old times with friends, taking time to mediate and pray, walking bare food on grass and avoiding tension are the best therapies for a happy life.
Last but not the least, is the golden rule that making someone happy will make you also happy in return. It is just like every action has a reaction. One person who had come out of prison would buy all the caged birds out of his money and free them. He would say that he knew the value of freedom and what confinement meant in life. He derived much joy out of giving joy to birds. We even see bird hospitals where birds are treated for ailments and bird watchers are all over the world. When a doctor treats a blind person and returns his eyesight, he becomes happier than his patient. When a teacher finds his pupil successful in life, his joy knows no bounds. If you feed hungry and wipe out tears from the face of a poor person, it fills you also with joy in return.
Watching the twinkling stars, waves in an ocean, sleeping on green grass, clouds in the sky and the rainbow are all meant for making our life colourful and sparkling with joy.
The real joy is the joy of hereafter and the best way of achieving joy in hereafter is to spread joy among the people in this world. So enjoy life and be successful.

Peerzada Abdul Rashid.

The writer is a retired telecom engineer and author of the book, ‘Footprints in the Sand’. abdulrashidpeerada@gmailcom

Peerzada Abdul Rashid