Not knowing is a boon rather than knowing its impossible

You must have heard of TiVo and its maker’s story [ I watched it on TV interview]. Imagine, what would have been the response of their family and friends circle, when they shared this idea with them. They sure must have thought that these two are nuts, who was talking about making a device, that would pause a live show on TV; so that you can go for a loo or make a quick trip to the kitchen for some food, while you can enjoy watching TV.

Thomas Alba Edison, who has a record number of invention, was also not known for being smart enough to know, that it could be impossible to invent or give it a try. He had invented more than a 1000 products in his life and a bulb made him more famous than his other inventions. Edison was awarded distinct patents for 1,368 separately during his lifetime. He passed away at age 84 on October 18, 1931 - exactly on the anniversary date of his invention of the incandescent bulb.

I do remember having read a story, long time back, when I was still in school. This was about a man, who had gone to show his hands to one of those fortune-teller. Who predicted that in near future he is going to end up in a prison.

The man was very much normal person, who used to work to support his family as well as to meet his own daily needs. For that reason he was totally shaken, internally because of that very unexpected prediction by this man. Besides he was also not the kind of person who would get tangled in any kind of unwanted acts, in his life but more than than he would not wanted to get involved in the kind of work, which will ultimately land him in jail.

Therefore, he became more conscious on the way to and from his office way, avoiding unseen accident, which is yet to happen. He also started avoiding going anywhere, from office and after office also, he would not go to anywhere, returning straight back to home always fearing the unexpected.

As day passed by, the fear got bigger and bigger; and it griped him badly, so for the last couple of months as specified by the fortune-teller, he hardly went any where, and stopped going to office also, to avid any kind of unnecessary hassles to end up in jail.

Some time later, he again went to visit, the same fortune teller to tell him he did not land up in prison cell. The sage asked him, to tell him all the story during that period. This man told every thing to him saying full story, about how he avoided his trip to the jail.

After hearing all this, the fortune-teller told him, the time which you have spend within the boundary of your own house, was the prison time for you, which you could not escape. You may have escaped going to prison made my others, but you could not run away from the prison, that existed in your mind.

I can see in my imagination, this man’s mouth wide open, staring at that fortune-teller searching for better words to tell him.

Every Hindu must have heard this story of Mahadev; how he had converted himself into a cow dung insect, to escape a seven and a half years of dasha [ bad time in one’s life]. When the person told him that was his ‘dasha’ period. This small conversation is so interesting to me as he being the Mahadev, must have found himself searching for better words to face him [ the man who would bring him that dasha]. Every time this story reels in my mind, I can’t help but wonder how it could have ended, if, its a big if, he did not know the art of converting himself, from a man into an insect, that to which wriggled in cow dungs for seven and a half years. I bet my all money, nobody would have imagined punishing him [ he is the lord of Hindu religion] that badly the way he did to himself.

So, do I have to come to an end with a conclusion; in life not knowing is a boon, but facing it boldly and with so much dignity, might lead us towards the place, where we have never ever dreamt as a child, not even in our wildest dream.