Have you
ever wondered what heads of state talk about when they are not discussing the
important matters concerning their respective nations?
Do they talk
about their families, their own finances, their growing-up years, their interests
and hobbies?
I always had
a hunch that somewhere between those meetings and speeches, they do get time to
discuss personal things.
This week,
when Barrack Obama visited India, he asked Narendra Modi a question which is
quite endearing. It made people want to pray for their leaders. It made them
seem so human.
Obama asked
Modi how much sleep he got each day. He seemed to be pleased with Modi’s answer
which proved that he, Obama, slept more!
Well, kings
are known to have uneasy heads because of their crowns, after all.
...
At the
Diamond Museum in the heart of Amsterdam, there are exquisite crowns studded
with jewels which display highly skilled craftsmanship. At the same museum,
there is a gem of a quote by a famous king who says, “A crown is merely a hat
that lets the rain in!”
It did rain
on Obama and Modi and they had to take the shelter of umbrellas in the absence
of bejewelled crowns.
Oh yes, the
rain rains on the poor and the rich too.
...
In our
little town of Vasai, there is a baker called Kamal who works day and night. He
kneads the dough for bread late at night, bakes bread at the break of dawn,
jumps on his bicycle loaded with loaves of bread, and delivers them to the
sleepy homes of the villagers while announcing his presence with a loud “ Kamal
Pav wala!” accompanied by the familiar bell of his bicycle.
Sometimes,
during the day, when we pass by his bakery, we see him fast asleep with a
whistle on his lips. Just like a child.
...
To watch
your child sleeping peacefully is one of the most precious sights in the world.
Without a care in this world, no thought of possessions or property or
politics... only the existence of an imagination where fairies love to dwell.
Sleep, many
of you would agree, is one of the things in this world that money cannot buy.
(Picture courtesy: Google images)
