The beautiful sound

This came to pass when Aravinda was nearing his death. His last wish was to take a stroll in the jungle with a young man. They had a destination, which took days to reach.

The young man, on the other hand, did not keep his word. He was hours late. Years of practice kept the ageing man’s head cool. He could read the depressed feeling in the young man’s face. His name was Aravinda too – people called him Young Aravinda.

He let the young man speak first.

“Know what? My neighbours came to greet Merry Christmas, but I told them off. You know I don’t believe in Jesus or what he has taught. Whenever I see them celebrating the event with glamour, I feel frustrated. Buddhism is what I follow, and nothing else.”

The senior could not answer. He broke into a heavy cough.

“I need water,” Aravinda said between coughs. The young one looked for water, all he could see was a little stream. But he was not happy at the sight.

“It’s muddy. You cannot drink it.”
Then the cough stopped.
“So it is.”

Young one did not get the message.

“Water is quite useful. But when it is muddy, you cannot drink it. You are a Buddhist. But your heart is not open to your Christian neighbour.”

“But Buddhism and Christianity are two different teachings.”
“Did I ever deny that?”

The young one remained silent. The old one stood up, and the junior tagged along. They were enjoying the birdsongs, stream-flows and the winter chill that whizzed through them. Suddenly they heard a sound. It felt awful on their ears.

“Someone is practising a violin,” Ageing Aravinda said. Young Aravinda thought he had never heard such a horrible sound before. I would never listen to violin again, he thought. It was noon – they had walked a great deal of the journey. But there is still a lot more to travel till they finally reach the destination. It was time, they both felt, for a good sleep.

The ageing man slept only a little, while the young man fell into a deep slumber.

Then he heard another sound. It was ‘hearing for sore ears’!

“That’s a maestro well versed on the violin.” He heard the old man’s voice explaining the sound. Young Aravinda felt ashamed of what he thought just a while earlier. No, violin is a wonderful instrument. Following a lapse of a few hours, young Aravinda heard another sound. Now that was awesome, quite the contrary to what he heard first.

“Listen carefully.” He was amused by the crispness of the old man’s voice.
Young Aravinda tuned in his ears to the sound. Slowly he realized it’s a fusion of instruments.
“Now what do you think that is, young man?”

The old man did not get a response.
“It is a large orchestra. You are hearing a symphony.”
“That is wonderful. I have never heard such a sound before.”

“So be it. You heard violin, sitar and many musical instruments on this earth. When you play a symphony with all those musical instruments, it’s a rare fusion. You will never get to experience any such thing. But do you know why that orchestra was wonderful?”

“Because every instrument was blended into one orchestra?”

“That is one reason, but not the whole reason. Every instrument was handled by a maestro. That is why you heard it as a perfect blend.”

Here ends the story, but not the conversation between Lotus Hearts. The young man realized his mistake, and the old man continued to speak.

“When we are born in to this world we do not take religions with us. It’s what we acquire later in life. Some of us are Buddhists, some Christians and some Muslims. I’m not asking you to follow all these religions, but…”

The old man paused to make sure the youth’s attention was still on the conversation.

“Religions are there to unite the people. You claim to be a Buddhist and tell off your Christian neighbour, and you think you are smart. What is the meaning of being a Buddhist when you cannot see the beauty of your Christian neighbour’s rituals? The world is one beautiful orchestra when people from different backgrounds get together in harmony like maestros.”

Young Aravinda realized the reason why ‘harmony’ is used in music too. “When we are from different backgrounds, we have a reason to practise loving kindness. It tests if we are genuine to our own background.”

A train of thoughts popped in and out of young Aravinda’s mind.

The winter chill still pierced his almost-frozen body, but in his heart Aravinda felt the warmth of himself.

“I understand father, I would not have acted that way.”

What ensued next was more than silence that pulsated within their hearts. It was the beautiful sound, both son and father came to know.

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