BOWL OF MILK or CURD or BOTH

Have you ever wondered where life was taking you and whether the things you have done or are doing are the right ones. Matter of fact, all these discussions are in your head and it is like having a conversation with yourself. But it would have more in common with surfing the internet than having a normal conversation. You start with a thread of thought and you go on to another from there and so on. In the end you end up on a topic which is no where near the one you started from. But nonetheless it either puts things in perspective or make it more muddled. It never is boring/useless because if it had been you would have moved on to the next link in the chain. So here I was taking my morning run and onto cruise control (as you invariably get into if you run the same trail often) leaving my mind wander into the topic of its choice.

It usually starts with planning the day ahead and the things I should be doing or get done. But then as a true disciple of Socrates, I started asking the cardinal questions. Starting with the immediate day i was planning , i move on to the prospective and retrospective ones. All the while asking Why? How? When? and so forth.

Eventually I end up with a catch-22 like question which actually could help in deciding my future course of actions. The question which I posed myself is would I like to have knowledge/career or be happy. Of course, It could be a slam dunk for most of you (But there are different variations of it in which by adding in your priorities to it you could be stumped for an answer).

These musing of mine reminded me a Folk Legend in which Goddess Kali posed a similar question to Vikata Kavi Tenali Raman (who was the Court Poet/Jester during the reign of  Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century). Legend says that Kali appeared in front of Ramakrishna with a bowl of Milk and a bowl of Curd. She told him to pick any one. The milk would give him all the knowledge in the world and the curd would give him all the wealth he needed. Ramakrishna said that both look tasty but he has to taste each before choosing, so Kali gave him both the bowls. Ramakrishna gorged both the curd and the milk. Kali was furious. However, Ramakrishna explained to Kali that what is one without the other. Kali was impressed by his wit and said that he will become a Vikatakavi, meaning a jesting poet. (Text Source: Wikipedia - beats typing the whole thing again).

So what would be the answer to my question. Knowledge or Happiness, Career or Happiness. The way i see it, all of us want to be happy no matter what we do or our priorities are. The catch is will we be happy with it. Wouldn't we have to make compromises that we are not happy with? (like personal life vs professional life) In a perfect ideal world we would be able to straddle all our ambitions with ease. But in reality where there are multitudes of characters around you with their own personas and agendas, you eventually will have to compromise on something or the other. The least of your priorities gets knocked off. You have to take into account the needs and quirks of others around you (or you could totally not care about it. Your call)

So the secret is to order your priorities and not be a sore loser. Sometimes we might not be able to get all that we want or want to do. We got to learn to live with that and be happy with it. And most of the times we might be dealt a shitty card (either our own doing or that's just life). But see what we can learn from there. You are your best and worst critic. Make judicious use of it. Sometimes it is good to ask for help too (I personally take care of my own shit. But I am told it is wrong to put everything on oneself. There is a reason man is a social animal).

So is it possible to straddle both worlds you ask me? I would say yes (provided you do your homework on it). I want both the curd and the milk. I just have to work for it (or Goddess Kali appearing would also be cool).