The socks I wore this morning were darned ones!
Huge holes had been finally told to shut up.
I had been using them during the lockdown for my daily walk and since the walk I did was on my terrace and there was no one around, I had allowed those holes to take in the fresh air, that the world was suddenly enjoying.
But with the lockdown lifted, darned socks are what I wear now. Why, not new socks? Because I suddenly realised that it didn’t really matter as long as they covered my feet.
Which brings back memories of an older friend of mine who did not view his darned socks in the same way: “Bob,” he, a retired army officer who lost pension and fortune in bad investments had said, “I never ever thought I would see the day when I would have to wear stitched socks!”
There were tears in his eyes as he said those words and looked down at his socks. There were always tears in his eyes as he recalled and recollected better days that had gone by.
I saw nothing wrong with his socks just as I see nothing wrong with my own newly darned socks. Only my socks and I know that some stitching has been done to repair gaping hole, but as far as the world is concerned they look like a perfectly normal pair.
But to my dear friend they made him feel, let down, depressed, and despondent.
Are you wearing darned socks today?
Are you wearing clothes that have seen better days? Driving a car that garage and mechanic are more or less holding together?
The reasons could be legion.
A business that is reeling under the Covid-19 slaughter!
A pension that has grown smaller with banks giving less interest.
The loss of a job. Or a new one that doesn’t pay as much as the last one.
Whatever the reason, if you can wear those darned socks with pride, if you can drive that old car with dignity, if you can put on that out of fashion dress with grace, then your life is happy and joyous but not if you are looking down at those old darned socks and reminiscing about prosperous days gone by.
Maybe there’s something your old socks are trying to tell you, ‘That contentment doesn’t come from branded pairs that look out from display window but from you who can shift gears smoothly from wearing whatever circumstances provide for your feet, with pride and contentment.’
“You sure gave me a thought today!” I tell my old darned ones, who can’t say a word back, after I’d stitched shut their mouths…!
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Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.
Very well written
If we can survive during the times of crisis it is more than enough. The rest will soon fall in place.
True, and this crisis could teach us many lessons for the rest of our lives!
Contentment the key to true happiness…..from within…!!
Unless we learn and adapt to the new environment, our future is bleak.
For many people being poor doesn’t really matter but , being known to be poor causes a lot of stress !
Worrying about what others think is a sheer waste of time as it brings only sadness !
Old is gold..it lasted all these years..seen you through pandemic..can see you through even later..the ones you get will not last that long!
*THE IRONY OF LIFE*
So suddenly:
New York
‘the city that never sleeps’
is now asleep,
all quiet.
Paris the
‘center of romance’
lives in echos.
Rome
‘the eternal city’
is deserted.
Disney is out of magic.
London is caged in silence,
the Queen speaks to her people from a hidden room.
Mecca is empty!
Nobody to
‘stone the devil’.
The Chinese wall is no longer a fortress.
The G8 nations are speechless.
The developed World suddenly on its knees.
Churches,
Mosques,
Great Parks,
Monuments,
Stadiums are filled with unfilled spaces.
Our Miracle
Pastors suddenly
Become so silent,
That they dare not
Visit Hospitals,
For healing.
The anointing oils,
Are no longer effective.
Holy water becomes
Ordinary water.
Our pastors that
depended
On body guards,
Now depend on
God Almighty alone.
The busiest places at present were hitherto the most dreaded,
Hospitals and
Cemeteries.
The famous Football Leagues,
Fashion Shows,
Exotic Weddings,
Festivals all lost to memory.
Celebrities have run out of celebrations.
Our titles,
Status and
Privileged Positions are stale.
With all our boastful
‘citizenships’
we cannot step out of our houses.
With all our savings in gold and cash,
we can only buy food to eat, and toilet papers to take care of the waste.
We usually went to watch animals in cages,
now animals roam our empty streets,
watching us in our ‘cages’.
With our expensive clothes and shoes gathering dust,
our house clothes and pyjamas are the latest fashion.
AND despite all these ‘oddities’…
the World still goes on; the sun still shines;
the birds still sing.
When this long night finally gets over and a new day sets in,
let us not forget the lesson of the long night, that the only essential is LIFE, the rest are but dispensable prefixes and suffixes –
BUSY EMPTINESS.
*ONLY GOD REMAINS, THE MOST POWERFUL, OMNIPOTENT GOD.*
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Bob, today’s write up is exceptionally excellent. You like a sportsman have broken ur own record.
There’s a certain pleasure in wearing old clothes, especially if u r not v young but little ol’ n wise. Or us it just attachment?
Very enjoyable write up Bobby! What you wrote is so true of our lifestyle now Like Paul wrote from his prison cell how he learnt to be content with little as he had been with much. Inner joy overcomes desire for materialistic possessions