Musing # 35

Hi,

Today is Christmas.............. It's not only a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ but also a day to become a better person by adhering to His preachings also. One of His preaching is that , "The pleasure in giving is greater than getting."

I hap penned to experience this a few years back at a foreign shore.

It was 24th Dec. 2005 night at an hotel in Pattaya at Thailand.

There was a banquet dinner organised by the hotel for all the guests and a lucky dip coupon was given to all as part of this banquet dinner with prizes for the lucky winners.

I also got a coupon ending with a serial no. bearing last two digits 13.

Seeing that no. itself I knew, as usual I did not have a chance of winning any prize as it was a pitiful combination of an eternal unlucky person with an eternal unlucky number.

The draws were being made and the first prize was announced a costly hand set and as usual a pompous guy came and collected the prize.

The second prize was announced and nobody was coming forward. The number was being announced repeatedly which was ending with the number 13.

Suddenly I remembered about my coupon and checked up the number and............ Oh Gosh! I couldn't believe it. The number being announced was tallying with the coupon I was holding.

I rushed immediately to the stage with my coupon and I was given an envelope. I accepted it and as if I had just won the Oscars gave my speech about how the most unluckiest person till now, became the luckiest person at Pattaya. It was 10.30 pm in the night.

With all back slapping from all my friends I opened the envelope to find out what was in it.

It contained a voucher for free spa treatment in the same hotel within next 24hrs.

Suddenly all my euphoria was getting evaporated as next day morning by 8.30AM we have to check out from the hotel to catch a flight back to India.

I rushed to the spa and found it was locked. I went to the reception and enquired and they told me that the spa promptly closes by 10.30PM and it will open only next day by 10.30AM.

Here I was floating in the clouds for having won a lucky dip, first time in my life ,that too in a foreign shore and the reality sunk that, Will not be in a position to really enjoy the fruit of my luck.

For a moment I thought that this is a cruel joke being played upon me by............. whatever.

I came back to the reception and was giving my sob story to the receptionist.

In order to console myself, I asked her how good is that spa treatment.

She replied, " Sir, honestly I do not know, as with my salary I can't even dare to think of entering the spa in my life time."

This stirred something in me and I gave the coupon to her endorsing on her name and asked her to get the spa treatment done on the Christmas day and said it is the present from someone who Knows who deserves what.

The radiant smile on her face was much more than what a spa treatment could have done to my soul. All my disappointments of missing out on a lucky dip prize, vanished into thin air and I felt an immense satisfaction engulfing me and I was feeling light, rejuvenated and in a state of tranquility and peace which no spa treatment ever would have given me.

This was God's way of giving me a very valuable message on Christmas eve that the happiness and pleasure what you get in giving is ten folds higher than what you get.

Nature is always rich because it keeps giving..... giving.......giving...................and.........giving.

A Merry and Happy Christmas to all of you.

mentor mohan