lady luck

sadhuji

Is it not strange that we refer to Luck in the feminine? Is it to be presumed that Luck is an entity that is gentle, caring, and understanding? We agree that Luck has her charms like any lady and is more elusive than her; if not properly handled, she can create problems for he who feels that he is lucky – examples are galore. Consider the simple lottery ticket – pay a nominal amount, buy a ticket and keep building castles in the air of what you will do when you finally have the fantastic sum in your grasp. The fact that you continue to dream and continue to patronize the local ticket counters even though your dreams do not materialize is proof enough that Lady Luck can make you go round in circles like the girl next door who finally leaves the scene in someone else’s doli!

Similar is the case of one who is lucky to come out of an accident and live to tell the tale. We see them on TV whenever a calamity strikes – on the one side you see bodies of the unlucky ones and on the other side you listen to the gory tales of what happened from the lucky onmes. If the survivors are young kids, the picture is still more pathetic – the blank stares try to piece together lost images. That is Lady Luck for you – she has left these helpless souls out in the cold. When they grow up, they will have these miserable scenes haunt them, they will continuously be on the receiving end of taunts: ‘you wretch, you have swallowed all those who loved you and are now waiting to devour the others who wish you well’. It would not be surprising if they suffer mental breakdowns. Would it not be interesting to take census of persons who have sordid tales of this nature hidden in some corner of their subconscious minds? They could be victims of rail accidents, of bomb blasts, or of natural calamities. Has any NGO undertaken an exercise of this nature – to find how those lucky survivors are spending their time today? Time is a great healer, but can time actually heal such wounds?

Therefore, when you feel lucky the next time around, think of its ramifications – the temporary elation may not last forever. There are always invisible strings attached, nothing comes for free, a price has to be paid.

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mooning over a moon journey