Jigneshbhai, Swami and I gulped a spoonful of the thirteenth and last dish participating in the annual organic cooking contest for which we had been invited by Shridhar Mama as judges.
As part of the preceding twelve, we had relished whole wheat chapatis, fruit salad based on organic milk, sandwiches with organic jams and even a chickpea organic soup.
The day was bright with magical sunshine. The soft breeze and the blue skies made it a perfect day for the annual contest that Shridhar Mama started a few years back to encourage local villagers. It was a day to taste the organic recipes from the nearby villagers based on the fresh vegetables and fruits in Shridhar Mama’s farmhouse, Prakruti Eco farm.
It was after a lot of deliberation which needed repeated tasting of multiple dishes, which both Jigneshbhai and Swami didn’t mind, that we decided that the winner of today’s cooking competition was the organic spinach paneer dish.
The prize distribution got over soon, and all of us settled into having lunch. Happiness was in the air.
“I never knew that a job like this existed,” Swami remarked licking another spoonful from the prize-winning dish. “If I knew it when I was twenty, I would have had a different career path,” he added. Jigneshbhai tapped on his rotund belly and said, “And if I would have joined you every Sunday, this would have had an even faster growth rate on that path.”
Shridhar Mama broke into his loud guffaw that reverberated throughout his farmhouse. Thirteen participants from the nearby villages laughed with him watching us from a distance while they finished their lunch, adding to the merriment.
“That’s true. But we would have been filled with happiness, like these happy villagers,” Swami remarked, taking another taste of happiness from the buffet of dishes.
Jigneshbhai raised his eyebrows sipping into the fruit juice and remarked, “Hmm.. well, happiness is another matter.”
“Why do you say so?” Swami revolted. “Don’t they look happier than us? I am certain this organic food has a role to play in that,” he argued. He then turned to Shridhar Mama and asked, “What do you think, Mama? Am I wrong?”
It was one of those rare occasions when Shridhar Mama remained tight-lipped. I was surprised that for someone who didn’t need any reason to start talking, and after starting, didn’t see any reason to stop, this was a question for which he didn’t have an answer. Or perhaps he didn’t venture an answer, yet.
“It is in the air here at Prakruti. That’s why people here are happier than us,” Swami asserted. “With Raichand and all the troubles of the city life, how can we be happier than them?” Swami continued. Happiness and its antidote Raichand can’t stay away for long for Swami.
Jigneshbhai continued sipping into his fruit juice.
“It looks like you guys have nothing to say. I seem to be the only one speaking,” Swami said, himself casting a shadow on his happiness in an instant. Jigneshbhai looked up with a smile. I and Shridhar Mama looked at him. Something was cooking.
“Well, organic or inorganic, good food inside you is always one reason for happiness,” Jigneshbhai said, looking blankly at the prize-winning dishes on the table. Swami’s smile returned.
“But, if that was all that made people happier, all one needed was a recipe book,” Jigneshbhai remarked. Swami’s smile left.
We pondered over what Jigneshbhai had said. There was silence for a while. That was when Shridhar Mama who had been listening so far decided that it was time for him to speak up.
“Well, you might feel that this is not the appropriate forum for me to raise my philosophical opinions intertwined with my practical concerns, but now that your discussion on being happier is underway, I think it is, nevertheless, an opportune time for me to express my views, and, accordingly, for you to direct your attention towards them,” he started.
Jigneshbhai looked at Swami, and I realised that he was lost in the lexicon that Shridhar Mama had suddenly snowballed on us like an avalanche of words. What Shridhar Mama said was that he will now speak. None of us spoke then.
“I often speak of one’s search for being happier than others as the journey of a traveller who has neither a map nor a destination. Such a journeyman doesn’t even have a compass for general direction,” Shridhar Mama said.
Swami and I pondered over what Shridhar Mama had said.
“He is bound to get lost and never get anywhere. That is because his is the case of the ever-moving goalpost,” he added. He picked up a spoon of the prize-winning dish and took a bite.
“Organic food is nice, but your diet is as unique as you,” Shridhar Mama remarked. He then came close to us and said, “Happiness is not what goes in. It is what is already within you. You can be as happy as you want, but not happier than others.”
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