I Was A Mistake

It was on 31January2019 when my father and I were coming back to Shillong  from Tura after a vacation. I didn't get up as early as I had to be to get prepared for the journey. I didn't get enough time to go to the toilet and refresh myself. We ate some foods and set off for journey.

On the way, I felt like vomiting and my stomach was paining. I got headache followed by series of discomforts. The most distracting thing was that the old man sitting beside me had been talking all along the way so loudly with a driver and my father. The latter ones weren't paying that much of attention but the former kept on buzzing.

I knew that the old man was talking about goods stuffs only like, the old Garo traditions that had gone lost which were really significant for me to know as well. But I was engrossed  only with my sufferings. And his continuous talks made my headache even worse.

But I kept quiet. I was reminded of my childhood days when I used to get scolding from my uncles for talking so much especially during meetings. I used to be sad thinking that they didn't understand me. I felt like I was just getting a 'reaction' for what I had done and who I was before. So I said to myself, "If this is the reaction, then okay I'm ready to face it and I know I need to be responsible for my  every action. If I had caused this problem to people before, then who am I to get angry with this old man?"

Then we reached Rari Ronggop, a place where the drivers from different vehicles travelling to Shillong stop to have a breakfast and a short rest. Finally, I got to refresh myself. While having a breakfast, I said to my father, " Dad, that old man talk so much right? I really get a headache". My father got angry with me for saying like that. He said, " Don't you lie, he isn't talking  so much". Most of the time my father was sleeping when the old man was talking. The latter would kept on repeating the same thing until he got a reply either from my father or the driver. Since my father was asleep most of the time, might be because of that he didn't find the old man talkative or because he was sharing about one's own rituals which he witnessed in his childhood, which seemed interesting for my father.

While we got on the Sumo again, I wasn't having any sort of discomfort. The old man still kept on talking but it didn't bother me at all. I was fine, very much fine after all. Then I reflected at myself. Was it me who had a problem and that old man wasn't the cause of that? Well, it was also the mistake of that old man to have had a loud continuous conversation especially while travelling. He must have concerned about the other travellers too. But it wasn't all his mistake, I realised. If I was already prepared to make a journey, come what might, nothing would  have bothered me; neither would I have the discomforts or even if, I would have been able to tackle it.

Why did I blame that old man who was just expressing his views? Didn't we all blame people sometimes because we we're already with problems? We did. I realised that I was wrong and made a mistake by unnecessarily blaming that old man while I myself wasn't prepared for the journey. No matter what we have to go through in life, if we are firm and consistent towards our every action and also trust God that He will guide us, nothing can stop us, neither disruptions nor chaos!