This too will pass…

Dharmathin vaazhvadhanai soodhu kavvum,
dharmam marubadiyum vellum
marumathai nammaley ulangam karkum,
vazhi thedi vidhi intha seygai seythaan
karumatthai maenmelum kaanbom indru,
kattundom poruthiruppom, kaalam maarum
dharmathai appodhu vella kaanbom,
dhanu undu gaandeevam athan per endran

Yesterday, I came across these words, from Bharathi’s Paanchaali Sabatham. Entirely by co-incidence I must say. It immediately prompted me to update my Facebook status with a cryptic (or not-so-cryptic) message. Too many feelings…too few words…

Loosely translated, these immortal words preach patience. They represent the eternal hope that no matter what happens, tomorrow will be a better day. When I was in college, we would get caught every other day for some silly prank. A class missed, a lie told, a fake permission slip…something. And as is the case with most college students, we were dumb enough to actually get caught. Sometimes, it would get worse than anticipated. We would be pulled up, shouted at and even punished. And again, as is the case with most teenaged girls, I would get upset. So upset that I would refuse to eat, or drink…or even talk. I would be miserable. At such times, Nandini would come up to me and say, “This too will pass.”

Today, she is not there to tell me this any more. But, the message still holds true. Kattundom…let’s be patient…poruthiruppom…let’s wait. Kaalam maarum…times will change! Sounds familiar? To me it strikes a very powerful chord. Nandini’s words in college…this too will pass… Dad’s words at the worst times of my life…kaalam maarum…times will change. Today, I realize that truer words have never been spoken. Times will change. Life will, and must, come a full circle. Today, like no other day in my life, I fully understand what it means to be patient, to wait, to bide my time and hope.

A break-up, a fight, a newly-found friend, parents, friends…even money, house, car…everything! Life definitely comes a full circle. I am perhaps being completely incoherent right now, but I don’t care. Words that were once hurled at me with a hurtful callousness are now being hurled back at those who used them in the first place. And, strangely, I don’t feel good. In fact, I wish things did not have to be this way.

The ridicule, the criticism, the pain, the unhappiness, or even the joy and the euphoria… all of them seem meaningless today. Because life, as they say, catches up with you at some point. Because times change. Because life comes a full circle. Does all this make any sense at all? Or are these just meaningless rants?