Expect nothing in life…

“Expect nothing and everything becomes a gift. Disappointment is the tax on unrealistic hopes.” – Vintage prudence.

I saw this quote accidentally and it taught me ,a great life lesson. Another beautiful quote, which has always inspired me is “Frustration is the gap between achievement and hope”.

If we are able to live life without expecting anything, we may be happy, with whatever we get in life. In my life book, life is all about contentment and gratitude. We need to be content with whatever we have and we need to be ever grateful to the people in our lives, who have made it possible, for us.

We tend to expect a lot of things in life ,even before we set our foot forward. So, when we do not realise most of them, we are disappointed. Is it realistic to expect nothing in life ? May not be. But, to expect things realistically, it may be possible.

We give our exams in school and college and we know realistically ,how we have fared. So, we may not get disappointed with results if we get what we expect, whenever they are announced. But if we are sure, we have not done well and still expect to top the class, we are thoroughly disappointed.

Life is no different. Our expectations have to be grounded in reality. Our realistic goals embeded with our hard work and focussed efforts, will lead us to ,what we want to achieve. However, in reality, our dreams are generally ambitious. Our efforts are mediocre and hence when we do not achieve our set goals, we get frustrated.

A sportsperson preparing for the olympics ,works for years, to achieve her goal. She works ,day in and night out ,to represent her country and stand on the podium with a medal. Her efforts will determine the colour of her medal. She does her best and if she wins , she is happy but if she loses, she is aware that she could not match ,the best in the world.

We need to live life ,that way. The less we expect, the lesser will be our disappointment. The recent pandemic of Covid across the world , taught us great life lessons. We realised how privileged we are. We could survive months ,without going to the workplace. Many of us did not lose our jobs. We could eat and live healthily and our family and friends supported us.

On the other hand, many daily wage earners lost their job and their livelihoods. Many lost their lives ,as they could not sustain ,on the onslaught of the virus. We need to realise that gratitude is critical for happiness in life. We have to be grateful for what we have ,rather than worry about what we do not.

Life is a zero sum game. We get what we deserve. We get what we work for. Nothing appears from thin air. We need to struggle today ,for a better tomorrow. No sportsperson wins a championship by luck. He has to work hard, day and night and with sweat and blood ,to be the best in their sport and win a championship.

Let us learn to expect nothing in life and we may rejoice everything we get. This does not mean ,we do not strive and give our best ,to achieve our goals. This only means ,that effort is in our hands and not the results.

Let us focus on our efforts from today ,without worrying about the results.

S Ramesh Shankar

8th June 2025

Perfect spouses ?

“There are no perfect husbands and no perfect wives. But if you keep believing in each other, there will be plenty of perfect moments together.” A nice quote, I came across, which triggered a lot of thoughts in my mind.

The truth of life is that, nothing is perfect. So are partners, in a marriage. There are no perfect husbands, wives or even partners. The joy of life , is to enjoy the imperfection, between us.

Marriage is communion of mutual trust and belief ,in each other. If we trust one another and believe in one another, we will be able to live with each other’s imperfections, have healthy conflicts and find ways mutually ,to resolve the same.

On the other hand, if we keep looking for the perfect spouse to marry, we may have to enter our grave ,as a bachelor or spinster. The reality is that none of us are perfect and that is the basic tenet of life. Even nature teaches us to enjoy the beauty of imperfection. No two leaves will be identical, in the same tree.

I am not sermonising here ,but trying to share my personal experience as a married person, for over four decades. I did marry a person of my choice. However, the truth is that ,we are two independent personalities. We may have a lot in common and many things different.

I am an extrovert whereas I my spouse is more of an introvert. This does not mean ,we cannot live compatibly. This means we need to recognise and respect each others individuality. I love all my cars in black and my spouse likes bright red. This does not mean we can never buy a car. We possibly need to buy a black and red car alternatively to keep each other happy.

We need to let go our egos, to keep the other person happy. We need to recognise ,that we are different and respect the differences. Our ability to adapt and recognise differences ,may keep us together as partners.

There would be conflicts between us and differences to resolve. If any married couple claim that they have never had differences or conflicts, they may be lying. The reality of harmony ,is not absence of conflicts between partners, but their ability to accept and resolve them through conversations, mutually.

We also may sometimes like to tread different paths ,to achieve our life goals. The ability to dialogue and agree on a common path ,acceptable to both the partners ,is based on the foundation of mutual trust and respect. The day we appreciate each others’ individuality and respect differences, we will be able to resolve anything.

Happiness in marriage is not because of absence of conflicts but the presence of the ability to dialogue and resolve differences with mutual respect and adaptability.

Nothing in life is perfect but our ability to adapt to imperfections and appreciate mutual differences, is the key to resolving conflicts.

One of the partners has to let go their ego and be willing to accept that in a particular context ,they could be wrong. This will be the key to success in this relationship.

Let us learn to enjoy the imperfections in life from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

8th June 2025.

Understanding your mother

I am a proud Hindu and consider Hinduism ,as one of the most liberal religions in the world. Hinduism gives me the liberty and space, to practise the religion the way I want to ,and I love that. I have never been a great believer, in many of the rituals of Hinduism.

However, of late, as I experienced some of the rituals, I realise the value of each of them. I was recently on a pilgrimage to Rameshwaram, Varnasi, Prayagraj and Gaya to perform Shradh ( death rituals) of my parents, who died almost four decades back. This is a ritual, which is performed by children for their parents and forefathers ,at least once in their life time and is considered sacrosanct.

The belief is that, if you perform this ritual ,your parents and forefathers will be liberated from the cycle of life and death and will attain moksha (or we may salvation) for themselves. I performed this ritual with my spouse, with sincere devotion and completed it, over three weeks, in the month of March.

While I was performing this ritual in Gaya, which is one of the holy places, where you perform this ritual, the Pandit ( learned guru) explained to us ,why we need to be grateful to our mothers ,in our lives. He explained the whole cycle of life right from conception in the womb of our mothers till our life time, He also explained how our mothers sacrifice everything to make us live and be prosperous.

The day the mother learns about conception and it is confirmed, she is joyous about impending birth of her child. But , she experiences physical and emotional distress. She may have nausea, vomiting, sleeplessness and a lot of other known and unknown physical distresses, which needs to be experienced ,to be understood.

Then in the first trimester of pregnancy, while the mother is taken care of by her parents and family, with nutritious food and care , she sacrifices her sleep, her physical and emotional health ,for the welfare of the child. She may give up her career, her sleep, her food habits, her hobbies and many other good things in her life ,for the good of her child in the stomach.

The second trimester the child grows in the womb and the mother being inexperienced ,has to take extra care ,not to hurt the child physically or emotionally. She is willing to sacrifice a lot of life’s pleasures, to rear the child in her womb and ensure a healthy delivery.

The final trimester may be as challenging ,as the first two. The mother feels the motions of the child inside her, at odd hours. She wakes up in the middle of the night and sits down, so as to allow the child to sleep peacefully. She may listen to music or even sing to keep the child calm and undisturbed.

Then the delivery happens and the first five years ,are still a big struggle for the mother and father ,to take care of the child. The father supports the mother to take care of the child ,but the pains and tribulations of the mother, has to be experienced to be believed.

If we look back, many of us ,may take our parents for granted and especially our mother. We are not aware of the unlimited sacrifices they make, for our well being. This ritual brought tears to my eyes ,as the Pandit narrated all the sacrifices of the mother ,in great details.

I bow in gratitude to my mother and salute all the mothers, who have sacrificed so much ,for their children. I have seen my sisters, my spouse and even my daughter , go through this phase of motherhood.

Let us learn to grateful to our mothers and commit to take care of them, right through our lives.

S Ramesh Shankar

31st May 2025