So… Who is the Murderer?
Written by- AK Dharshini
Try sitting idle. Close your eyes and don’t move. Try to stay calm. Try not to think about anything. Feel the emptiness within. Try it after reading this. Try it now. Did you succeed in your attempt? Did you witness your boundless thoughts in those seconds?
Umm…What am I doing? Don’t worry, I wasn’t trying to expound about desires and the mind. If you didn’t have a single thought, I envy you. If you had innumerable random thoughts, well we have something in common! I tried this in my yoga class and suddenly, I was reminded of a story I read years ago in school.
Once upon a time…Well, that’s cliche, isn’t it? How about this? Long, long ago, so long ago, nobody can tell how long ago, that long ago. Oops, that was too long! Actually I don’t really remember the characters’ names but I do remember that this story was based in an Arab country. So, I’m going to name the protagonist— ‘Nasiruddin Sheik.’ Let’s begin the story.
Nasiruddin Sheik was a famous tailor in town. There also lived a hunch-backed beggar in the same town. The beggar had a magical voice and people enjoyed his songs. He would sing along the path and earn a few cents for his daily bread.
One day, Sheik heard the beggar’s voice outside his shop and went out to see who it was. His generous heart ached at the sight of this extremely talented singer. He called the hunch-backed beggar into his shop. The beggar sipped some hot tea and sang for Sheik till noon. Sheik thought he could impress his wife with some some romantic songs and invited the beggar to have lunch with him in his home. The beggar was overwhelmed by this generosity.
Sheik’s wife was more than happy to serve their guest. She prepared a special fish curry for the beggar. While having lunch, a fish bone got stuck in the beggar’s throat and thus began the hiccups. Sheik gave him a glass of water and tried to scare him, but the hiccups wouldn’t stop. The beggar broke into a sweat and had trouble breathing, and slowly his hiccups ceased and so did his breath. Sheik and his wife were terrified by what had just happened. They felt responsible for killing an innocent man.
Scared of the consequences, they decided to get rid of the body. At night, they pushed the body into the chimney of their neighbour’s house. When the sun rose to push the play to the next scene, Sheik’s neighbour witnessed a strange sight in the fireplace. As he approached it, a thought crossed his mind and he paused.
After a few moments, he convinced himself that the creature was the thief who had been stealing butter from his house. So, he took a rod and started hitting the beggar’s body continuously. As the body fell to the ground, the man panicked when he touched the cold body. He was petrified and cursed himself for killing someone for a silly theft.
At midnight, he took the body to the marketplace and placed it upright. He quickly fled the scene faking a lively smile. A drunkard passing by, saw the hunch-backed figure standing against a pillar. Drinking in public was an offence in the town and he feared that the beggar would complain about him to the authorities. He started hitting the beggar until he hit the ground again. The drunkard pinched himself to check if he was dreaming, and then fainted upon realizing that he had killed the beggar.
The patrol guards picked up the drunkard and locked him in a cell. At dawn, when the court room was set up, the case was brought to the king’s notice. His Majesty scrutinised the case and pronounced his judgement. The drunkard was brought before the public. Just as he was about to be hanged Sheik’s neighbour confessed to the crime and begged to be hanged instead of the innocent drunkard. The drunkard was replaced by Sheik’s neighbour. Just as he was about to be hanged, Sheik confessed to everything that had happened and expressed his guilt.
The king looked at Sheik carefully and burst into laughter. He said that the
beggar’s death was an accident and not a murder. Thus, the case was
dismissed.
Doesn’t this story sound familiar? It happens to all of us. Sometimes, we believe we are to blame for the constant murdering of blessings and bliss of life. In an attempt to beat the game of life, we complicate even the simplest of situations and land ourselves in big trouble. We can’t deny the fact that life often tests us with complex situations.
Rather than being overcome by anxiety and overreacting, we must ground ourselves in the present, process what is happening and then respond to the situation. Anxiety, after all, is fear of the past or for the future. The key is to stay in the present and radically accept the status quo.
Acceptance doesn’t necessarily mean liking it, rather letting go of the false notion of control we feel over circumstances that are actually beyond our control.
Here is a doha from a famous Hindi poet:
“Rahiman katin chinthaan the, chintha ko chith cheth.
Chitha dahith nirjeev ko, chintha jeev sumeth.”
— Rahim
Rahim says that a human has to have some eustress to keep himself/herself on the move but when it crosses a certain limit it proves fatal to his/her physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Just like the pyre that burns the dead, worrying burns our very existence. So, let’s try to live a happy and peaceful life and think meaningfully.
Change your perspective once and you might see your life change forever…
[Spl. Cr. — Chandrasekhar sir and Malini]
Written by- AK Dharshini
Edited by- Anushka Gupta
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