Veranda Tales-Rushing through life
Storytelling has been an integral part of my life since childhood. I grew up listening to stories during the hot summer evenings and nights with my cousins. Mothers and grandmothers would gather all of us children for story time. It was usually pitch dark except for a very faint light coming from the flickering candle. Power cuts were as frequent as the hot and humid summer days. We all spread out on a cool concrete floor or bamboo mats on the veranda intently listening to fascinating stories about kings, queens, princes, princesses, and peasants alike. Stories about love, life, families, and people entertained and taught us life skills. These stories transported us to distant worlds, strange yet familiar. Often the same story told by two people sounded different as storytellers added new twists and turns adding their personal style and flair to the stories.
Storytelling wasn’t limited to summer evenings and bedtime. I was surrounded by adults who didn’t pass up an opportunity to share their wisdom using the art of storytelling. These rich vibrant oral traditions include songs, poems, stories, and సామెతలు (Sametalu are proverbs in Telugu). Men and women sing songs as they work in the fields, grinding grains and spices and doing other daily chores at their homes. Stories are often used to teach important life lessons, interpersonal skills, and survival skills. These stories and the time spent listening to them made our lives richer leaving an impression on me. This series is all about reliving those memories as I share these stories.
పరిగెత్తి పాలు తాగేకంటే, నిలబడి నీళ్లు తాగడం మంచిది (parigetii paalu taage kante, nilabadi neellu taagadam manchidi)
We live in a world where speed is paramount and worshiped. We talk about how fast we can drive, run, walk, or do things. Faster the better. We keep asking slowpoke to catch up. We like to do anything and everything faster and quicker. Our lives are busy and packed with chores and activities. We want to get to places very fast, visit quickly, and get back even faster. I often see people with their phones out recording video as they drive through beautiful places without getting out of their cars.
Our daily lives are a lot simpler and easier than a few decades ago. We have gadgets and appliances to make our daily chores much easier and quicker to complete. There is an account of how Michalangelo’s stepmother went to the market at the break of dawn to get live chicken and other ingredients to make mezzaluna stuffed with ground chicken. She came home with the chicken, killed it, cleaned it, cooked, ground it, and stuffed it into freshly made mezzaluna (halfmoon) pasta for lunch. All of this work took several hours and they had lunch at 3 PM. As I read this book, I was rather impatient with the pace of life. I would rather go to a restaurant to order mezzaluna, polish off and come home within an hour or two, complaining about how long I had to wait for the table and to get food after I placed an order.
With all our modern conveniences that reduce our daily chores, one would think we would have lots of time in our lives. The reality is we don’t. We fill up our spare time promptly only to feel rushed for time cramming more and more into our days. Just like when we move into a bigger space, it fills up before we blink an eye, the time fills up with things to do at the expense of our sleep. I remember when our house was empty after my husband and I combined our households and moved into our new home. It didn't take very long for us to fill each and every corner of once almost empty rooms in the house.
పరిగెత్తి పాలు తాగేకంటే, నిలబడి నీళ్లు తాగడం మంచిది (parigetii paalu taage kante, nilabadi neellu taagadam manchidi) samteta expresses the sentiment of taking the time to enjoy significant life events as well as the mundane moments. This sameta means, “It is better to drink water while standing than drinking milk while running”. Enjoying a delicious glass of milk is going to be difficult while running.
This sameta conveys a deeper meaning than drinking water while standing is better than drinking milk while running. This sameta advocates for a balance between rushing through life and staying still. Chasing after riches for a higher pay while getting stuck in stressful work schedules could have negative consequences to physical and mental health. Whenever I hear this sameta, I remember the time I had to make a decision on switching jobs to reduce commute time to work. I was driving 100 miles a day to work and back. I would spend two to three hours a day on the road. The commute was especially hard during winter. My commute time doubled on snowy days as I made my way to work driving on snow packed and icy roads. I was commuting until a week before my first child was born. I would be driving down the highway to work counting the number of kicks while my little guy was gently rocked to sleep in his little watery world. I listened to countless hours of All Things Considered and Fresh Air on NPR. Terry Gross was my companion as she eloquently educated me on contemporary arts and issues.
Once he was born, I was eager to reduce my commute. I didn’t like the idea of being on the road for 2 hours a day while my little guy was waiting for me. I found an opportunity very close to home. The catch was it came with a large reduction in pay. It wasn’t an easy decision to make for another reason. Changing jobs comes with a pressure of proving yourself and building credibility at the new place of employment. I took the leap opting for a simpler life with a 5 minute commute to work. I opted for quality of life and made the switch. It was the right decision for me at that time and for several years to come as I raised my two boys. The precious hours of family time and time for doing things I enjoy was worth its weight in gold.
The job switch meant I had to work hard to establish myself and it took me a couple of years before I felt comfortable. One could say that this sameta advocates a life without ambitions and goals. On the contrary this sameta advocates prioritizing quality of life over rushing through life without having a chance to enjoy it.
పరిగెత్తి పాలు తాగేకంటే, నిలబడి నీళ్లు తాగడం మంచిది (parigetii paalu taage kante, nilabadi neellu taagadam manchidi) expresses the same sentiment as, “stop and smell the roses”. Both advocate the importance of enjoying the little things in life taking the time to connect with the world around you and people in it. I recognized how important these tiny interactions are and how much energy I derive from them during the isolation of covid lockdowns. I realized how important how much energy I derived from exchanging pleasantries with a checkout clerk at a store or engaging in smalltalk while standing in line to board a flight. These tiny human interactions make our daily lives fulfilling and meaningful.
