I should have...

          We had our World Environment Day celebration on 7th June at 1.30 pm at the auditorium. Our chief guest was Mr. A. Achyuthan, an eminent conservationist. Although he is an engineer by profession, he is deeply involved in environmental activities. He delivered an interesting talk on climate change and its relation to global warming.

           My task then was to take snaps even though there was a professional photographer around. When Mr. Achyuthan was still speaking on the subject, at some point I felt thirsty. Two thoughts flashed through my mind. First: 'I should stay and wait for him to finish' (because I had to take snaps of the Class X exam toppers being acknowledged on stage). Second: 'I can go, drink some water and come back fast.' Absentmindedly, I went and had some drink in the staff room. From there, I went to the office and checked something on the computer. After a brief moment, Shereef, the school chairman, hurriedly came and told me that I was needed at the auditorium urgently. I still had to ask him, 'for?' and 'why?' Duh! 

So, I immediately got up and rushed to the auditorium. When I reached there, Ms. Anuradha V, the school vice-principal told me that I missed the awarding of the students who successful passed the class x exam. Later on, I was told that it was Fr. John who called for me because I was not there to take photos and the professional photographer had left the scene much earlier.

        I SHOULD HAVE STAYED! I should have stayed and waited for Mr. Achyuthan to finish! If I had stayed, I would not have missed taking snaps of some moments that would not come back again, ever.

            After the celebration, the national anthem was sung and students took their bags from their classrooms and proceeded to their respective vehicles. I came back to the office and tried to finish what I had left undone.

          Since my bus would always come late, I had enough time to finish some work. Then, again, two trail of thoughts showed up. First, 'I should hurry up and be ready when the bus arrives.' Second, 'I don't have to go by bus today' (since there was no clear sign that it would rain). Without any thoughts of reconsideration, I stayed back.

When I was done working, I packed my things, left the office and started walking. Since I didn't join the others in the school bus, I had to walk to the medical college junction and board a bus. I was slowly walking and enjoying my walk when all of a sudden, the sky darkened and it rained heavily! I immediately pulled my umbrella from my bag. It was a small, lavender-coloured summer umbrella, under which I tried to fit myself and my big bag. So, since my bag and me didn't fit quite well, I decided to keep my bag dry. So, as it is already understood, I got wet!

            I SHOULD HAVE LEFT! I should have left earlier when the sky was clear, when the bus was there ready to bring me home! If I had left, I would not have felt so unfortunate to walk alone in the heavy rain, under a small summer umbrella which had almost left nothing dry except for my bag.  

            As I recall those moments, I am reminded of two things: first, when I am confronted with a particular situation that requires a clear, responsible action, I should not act without a thoughtful consideration of the possible consequences ( I should have stayed and waited for the talk to finish...); second, I should always anticipate the next possible scenario and act based on that anticipation (I should have left with the anticipation that rain would fall anytime and that I wouldn't want to walk a long way in the heavy rain).

           Food for thought: Almost always, we are caught in a stay or leave situation. It is to our consolation that life gives us enough time to decide what to do. We must  therefore use that God-given time for choosing the best course of action, even if it's just a few ticking seconds. We must therefore use that God-given time for choosing the best course of action.  Otherwise, we might miss precious moments in our lives that could never be repeated. Or, we would be in situations where we would not want to be at all!