Sweeping analogy

The new broom kept in the corner was beckoning me, but I procrastinated it’s use. The old broom had almost become a stick with all its dry grass sacrificed in the process of making our floors clean day after day. Every day, as I held its balding frame in my hand, I felt as if it was pleading for some rest (read retirement). But as an employer who knows that an aging old employee is always better than a new employee who comes with a daring demeanour, I continued to extract services from my old broom.

Now the question is why have I so much aversion towards the new brooms?  When actually, the new broom looks so handsome just like a lion with it’s golden lair. It stands tall and proud like a king of all it surveys; protected by its  silver cover. In spite of this, I do not dare to uncover this tall, dark and handsome broom out of its cover. Again Why???  Because the new broom has the uncanny habit of drizzling its pathway with its powdery exoskeleton leaving golden traces of its trail. Even an adept sweeper is left wanting for skills when he has the new broom in his hand. So, when we sweep the floor with a brand new broom, we ardently and earnestly wish to ask ourselves the question. ’Are we cleaning the house or adding this powdery dry grass to the already existent dust encroaching our floors?’’ Then as you know, there are always some well-wishers around you who are ready to provide you with some guidance or the other on your problems. Their valuable  didactic solutions  can be on  a simple problem like   a common cold to the solemn predicaments in your relationships (Panoramic consultants). I received one such piece of intelligence from my well-wisher. She advised me to shake the broom and allow it to shake off its surplus burden till it feels properly  light to take up its duty as a cleaner efficiently. I immediately implemented the advice as I was eager to put to use my new broom. But to my utter disgust, I found that when I was thus shaking my new broom, in the balcony, a gust of strong wind came and decided to spread the powdery droppings inwards in my house. Later, I had to spend more than an hour searching for the golden powder which had travelled to all the corners of my living room and had even found secret spots for annoying me further. The next advice handed over to me was to enclose myself in a closed room and bang the new broom against a wall after spreading a newspaper on the floor to collect the guilty golden powder and throw it into the dustbin. This I felt would me a profitable activity. So I started on this activity. On the first day, I worked for fifteen minutes and eventually got tired. But the rainfall of golden powder from the heaven called ‘the new broom’ continued. I stopped for the day and decided to continue this activity for some days. But even after the continuance of this exercise for some days, I realized that the new Broom was a better warrior than me. It continued to send its ammunition unabated. I finally gave up. Then I remembered another valuable suggestion shared with me. One aunt had suggested that the new broom should be drowned in water. I remember, to have asked her in total ignorance and a round innocent face that what would be the result of such a risk? I also shamefully remember that she had mocked at my ignorance. With utter exasperation writ on her face, towards my innocent countenance, she had eloquently explained, that when you drown the new Broom, then the whole powdery substance attached to the broom would be compelled to commit suicide in the bucket of water. She had assured me of a sure victory at the end of this procedure.  Her emphatic confidence then, lured me into a Utopian dream now. She had said that after this operation, my broom would stop shedding its extra baggage and would remain   at my service as a true dutiful servant. I immediately felt a rush of adrenaline against my enemy and I unsheathed it from its protective plastic cover and immersed it in a bucketful of water. I had full faith in the experience of my silver haired aunt who did not forget to add always that her silver hair was not the product of standing in sunshine but was symbolic of the mellowing of her thoughts and experience. After the nocturnal immersion of the broom, I was eager to see the floor of the bucket covered with a layer of powder but the water was as pure and clear as the heir of River Ganges. As I picked the broom, I was aghast to see the tragedy. Only the handle was in my hand and the other part of the broom which had been actually paid for, had committed collective suicide in the bucket. So much for team spirit! I was totally disillusioned. I decided to again seek my old friend -the old broom. Then someone suggested using plastic brooms but as an ardent advocate of natural products, I defied that advice.

This waging of war with the new broom had also started a parallel line of thoughts in my mind. I suddenly found an analogy between the new broom and our life journey. When we are young, we keep on shedding whatever good advice wishes to shape our personality like the broom sheds its golden powder. We do not allow the right influences to become an intrinsic part of our personality like the stubborn broom who defeats all our attempts to discipline it. We shun each good advice like the broom shuns its dry powder with the firm belief that there is still a lot of time left in our life time for great deeds.  We are so much engrossed in materialistic pursuits with the strong assumption that engaging in social service or spiritual upgradation should be our agenda only much later in life. The new broom which keeps on shedding its golden showers and only becomes truly useful when it has lost most of its resources, in the same way, we throw away our entire life and then, when our resources are scarce, i.e., when we have paucity of time and energy, we begin to brood about not doing anything when we had time and energy. So taking this broom and life analogy into consideration -Let’s decide, to be really useful to our family, friends and society at large till we still have lot of life left on this earthly abode and when we still  have the reservoirs of energy bubbling in our bodies!