If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way

 - Napoleon Hill

It's amazing how in a world so big, one can feel terribly small; in a place with a million people, how one can feel extremely lonely too. I suppose, it's all about perspective.

Recently, I came across a man who makes ghunghroos (a musical anklet) for a living. He has been doing this terribly monotonous task for the last 35 years now. and despite all the hardwork, he has not been able to procure even a roof over his head. His 'shop' is a mat on the sidewalk with a small wooden case. He sits there all day long, eats from the food stall next to his mat after which, he takes out a thin battered blanket from a big metallic trunk kept at the back and goes off to sleep. He is not married and lives in Delhi all alone. Once a year, he goes back to his village to visit the few remaining members of his family for a couple of weeks and that's about it. The only time his eyes shine is when he tells people how he has made ghungroos for big artists like Pandit Birju Maharaj, Geeta Chandran, etc. One can tell how lonely he is, just by the way he starts chattering away to his customers. If you ever come across this man or even when you read about him, I am sure you would feel sorry and maybe a bit sympathetic towards him. But, if you ask him, he would cut you off in the middle and say "kis cheez ki udaasi aur akelapan? Yeh humara kaam hai aur yahi karne ke liye hum zindagi mein aaye hain. Haan, achha lagta agar koi aur humaare saath hota lekin nahi hai to kya? Nahi nahi, hum bahaut khush hain apne kaam aur apni zindagi se. Bahaut log hain jo bahaut hi bure haalat mein hain." (What's there to feel lonely and depressed about?! This is my duty and this is what I was born to do. It would have been nice had someone been with me too but if there is no one, what's the point of lamenting over it? No no, I am happy with my work and my life. There are many others who are worse off !)

He has nothing..absolutely nothing and yet his view of life is so much more positive than mine. If you remove the ghungroo from a dancer's feet, the beauty of the dance itself falls by a huge amount. Kathak, Odissi, Bharatnatyam - they just would not be the same ! Such a small part of something so big..and completely unacknowledged..

It has been months since then but his words continue to ring in my ears even today just like the ring of his ghungroos...