Expectations

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Man lives in the now moment. His memories make his today  resonant with expectations: For ha had planned, dreamed, imagined things to happen in a particular pattern. The conscious mind always lives the future in the present, imagining a scenario to unfold like a tape as visualized, scripted and directed by him. The dreaming consciousness is therefore a very significant element in the Indian 'om'(Aum). Man cannot live without dreaming about a future. Of course there is one bold argument that if you already script a future you are most likely to be frustrated. Your script not in a social vacuum. The script has other characters, dialogue, locations and also has its own pace and rhythm. Since you are not god or the manipulator of your own reality, your  script cannot be  superimposed on other characters. The other characters too have their own scripts. The dialogue also has dialogue- choppers. At times the characters in your script are too unreal to be true. you cannot expect a person to behave or speak according to your visualization of the screenplay. The location too may have its own moods to swing according to the elements. But man cannot live without expectations. He imagines a future and works, strives, dreams for it.  But his expectations may go awry. Hence expectations have frustrations built into it. Man, however, never stops from dreaming.

And this dream kills you, frustrates you often makes you a laughing stock in self-immersed realization of your foolishness. If you  imagine your love to come all dolled up for a midnight walk in a mangrove forest listening to the muffled roar of the sea under a clear crescent moon and wait you may face a sudden  storm. Or she may never turn up . Or she dislikes your idea and prefers to sleep at home to say sorry next morning. You will simply waste your time  in visualizing  a romantic outing and get sick in frustration and give up dreaming altogether. Expectation often robs you of  your  intensity of imagination. If you are a poet or artist you may turn cynical and start suspecting everyone. The ancient wise men, therefore say: Don't expect anything from life. In an Islamic scripture it is said "If you are in the morning, don't expect the evening to come in your life; 'if you are in the evening don't expect the morning to come in your life'. Well, it is horrible to expect anything. No welcome or farewell could be planned. No fulfilment in love or life should be expected. You will ask: How is it that some people get what they dream of? May be they are neither lucky nor blessed. But mere mortals are neither lucky or blessed. Therefore dream is forbidden to them. But if not dream  what else?

The other argument is Existential . You are in a  godless world. There is no one to protect or guide you. You have to carve your own destiny by your own efforts. But efforts also do not produce the expected results. A brilliant student fails in  Maths: The Examiner rubbishes his brilliance. A good actor does not get a break. In such cases the argument is, something was wrong in your efforts or you merely had an overestimated ego. You thought of yourself what you are not. Then when Santiago (in Old Man and the Sea) went to catch fish for  his survival into the deep sea was  he not adequately prepared? Did he not fight with the Marlin who was also his equal in all respects. He did his karma but could not get fruits. The Gita says, never expect fruits but do your karma. That is life is niskama karma - work (duty) without desire for anything. If this is life, it is a challenge- for not to have any desire is also a desire planted in you by authority.

Does it therefore mean that man is almost a  lifeless sod on  which the winds blow, seasons sweep and finally he dies? When spring comes why should the flowers bloom? When you see beauty and goodness why does your heart flutter in elation ? Is it only a stimuli  to bring about a chemical reaction in your body? Man cannot live like a stone  being impervious to everything. When a thorn  scratches  the skin you feel pain: similarly  when you see goodness in a Gandhi you admire; you get attracted by beauty . You  desire another human being. All these come naturally to us. How can we subject ourselves to the external forces- natural, social, global - without expecting to participate effectively in the larger reality?

Man must dream, frustrations notwithstanding. Man must script a future. Expect things to happen in a particular way. But the characters he dreams of have their own dreams, aspirations, societal obligations. You can't fix others into your dream structure. Your expectations should end after you visualize your dream. Therefore dream. Visualize without expecting anything. That is what man is for.