There are only a few things in life that I hate more than having to. Some may say that this is so characteristic of the times we live in, but whatever be the cause, waiting for something to happen has never been something that I am good at.
Yesterday, as per the weekly distribution of domestic chores, I had to boil water on a kettle. I had been putting it off for the whole day, but later in the evening I decided it was about time I accomplished the task.
So there I was looking at the kettle boil some water sitting on a chair resting my head on the dining table.
My thoughts drifted to an anecdote by one my favorite authors: the one and only Jerome K Jerome.
In his “Three Men on a Boat” , he described waiting for a kettle to boil as one of the most painstaking tasks known to mankind.
According to Jerome, the kettle is an intelligent thing (but he never mentioned where it derived its intelligence from). His observations led him to conclude that whenever you are in a hurry and start staring at the kettle, it takes your stare seriously and refuses to boil the water.
Whenever you are in a hurry and start staring at the kettle, it takes your stare seriously and refuses to boil the water.
But whenever you are not pressed for time and could care less about it, it boils the water instantly. So the best thing to do, according to Mr. J, is to act as if you don’t care whether the water is boiled or not. It’s better if you say it out loud, “What kettle? I don’t have any kettle..”
Then suddenly out of the blue, a thought entered my mind.
The lives of us mortals are similar to the situation of the kettle.
The kettle does not know whether it will be the last time it will be boiling water and we never know whether which day will be our last. Other analogies started rushing into my stream of consciousness.
Most of the time the kettle blows a whistle to signal that the water inside has reached boiling point, but in rare occasions the water spills over without warning.
People with chronic diseases know that they are going to die soon but sometimes fate decides to take away perfectly healthy people. Electricity (or fire) gives the kettle the ability to boil water. Take away the electricity or fire and the kettle is of no use.
Similarly, the soul gives life to our lifeless bodies. Take away the soul and our body becomes useless.
Suddenly, I heard the whistle signaling that the water was ready. Thank god, the whistle worked this time!
