Of celebrating happiness

Grief can take care of itself. But to get the full value of joy, you need someone to share it with - Mark Twain.

For those like me who dwell in negativity and who crave for atleast small victories (self defined), wallowing in the muddy murkiness of sadness is something that we excel and thrive. We often forget that there is other side of the coin called happiness. Even before Mr. Twain, someone simply quoted sadness and happiness as - something which halves on sharing and one which doubles on sharing respectively. I am quite sure, most of us are masters of handling sadness and some even might've doctorates in self pity. We are so awestruck in grieving our sadness that we almost always miss out on the small joys and happiness, which how much ever small or miniscule in size, like a candle in the wind, is quite capable of shooing away densest of darkness. Celebrating happiness is as important if not all the more and is a trait, like greatness, that inherently comes for some wihle some have to strive to attain. I almost missed out on a good news amidst all the chaos and junk that occupy my mind and thought it is worth sharing.

Junior attended the Spelling Bee finals last week and the arbiter who was presiding the session, stared off with this note that, the 20 kids who had qualified for the finals should give each other a big round of applause and soon all the kids and their parents as well were clapping. I thought it was yet another morale boosting speech when he went on to explain how the selection process has happened and their journey to the finals. First up, of several thousand school kids who participated across India, only a handful had been selected for the regionals and from that round, the top 3 had been picked for the finals. He explained how kids from Arunachal till Gujarat and from J&K till TN, there was eager participation and he credited the top 20 for having made out to the finals. The realization of the scale of the competition and the spread stuck me then only and when i realized what junior was attending, i was dumb struck for a reaction. Even his school, who even though were aware of this hardly made any mention in the prayer assembly nor did his class teacher!! Of course they would proudly jump in to take claim when the kids come out on top, proclaiming how their education helped, but all those things apart, to me the best part was, junior wasn't aware of the level at which the event happened and that in a way helped him in keeping grounded and not to take any undue pressure. I was super happy that he had made it to the finals and from what i could check, but for 3 mistakes he did quite well. Irrespective of the results, it was a happy moment and it already felt as if he had won the title. There were other kids who did very well and some even better than him. But to me the best part being, he attended the rounds like any other regular rounds and the thought of finals didn't get into his head. I personally feel, if there are no scores or marks in tests, scores of kids would do so much better with no pressure of being put under a microscope. Of course, the same logic would make an equal if not less crowd lazy to even study. I do hope junior gets a podium finish and that would surely be a moment to cherish. Now, how to, that would be something to learn!! :)