The Wait

There is a famed Raja Ravi Varma painting depicting a lady in a white sari 'In Waiting', or should I say in 'Contemplation'. Maybe both...A person who is waiting for something important to happen would not only be waiting but would be contemplating on so much, envisioning the beautiful experience or moment that lay ahead or worried what if the much awaited never happens. The ever restless mind would engage in thoughts and feelings perhaps otherwise alien to the individual. A mother waits for over 9 months to see the face of the unborn child she only envisioned, eventually culminating in sheer thrill and joy upon actually seeing the baby she carried . When my son was in the afternoon shift batch while he was in 2nd standard during his schooling in Kuwait, he would wait for me a bit sad and impatient as I would only arrive after all the children have left school, as I had to pick my daughter from her dance class and then pick him up. When he saw me, he would come running towards me with his heavy school bag and water bottle dangling from his neck, hair flying in the wind and he would be so happy to see me. In 1990, the Kuwaitis and all the expatriates in Kuwait, waited for 6 months, for the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait to end and our joy knew no bounds when Iraqi troops were ousted by the coalition forces and life returned to normalcy in Feb 1991. I know of an aging mother who waits for her estranged son in USA who has'nt visited her for over 20 years! But she has faith, that he would come to see her.

Waiting to know the result of an interview, waiting for your salary, waiting in a long queue, waiting for a friend who is late, waiting for a promotion, waiting to meet that special person, waiting for a bus, waiting for your family member to recover from hospitalization or an illness, we wait for so many reasons. Sometimes the wait is not for anything ordinary, but for a miracle. Paolo Coelho the famed writer expresses in his novels, not to fight the natural order of happenings. When we move along with the rhythm of the natural order of the universe, it helps to keep calm and see things from a different perspective. Its not easy to be patient. The worry of the unknown hangs like a cloud while standing in the Waiting List of the Universe. But its always worth the wait.....whatever you are waiting for, if its meant to be, then it surely happens, If it does'nt then, there is definitely something better out there and its only a matter of time. On a positive note, a hindi quote goes 'Saburi ka phal meeta hota hai'. Sweet is the fruit(result) of waiting.