“We’re living in the worst of times,” my neighbor sounded gloomy.
I was having a casual chat with my neighbor next door over a cup of tea when the comparison between the worst of times and the best of times reared its head.
The context?
A “powerful man” had killed a vegetable vendor over an argument about the price, and my neighbor was worried about the way things were turning out to be. “It never used to happen in older times,” he reiterated.
The world has always been like this only. The worst of the times and the best of times are always together. They cannot be separated from one another. I protested.
“Well, if you don’t want to accept the reality, then it’s okay. But I believe the times are worse and things are getting gloomier by the day.”
And that was the end of our conversation regarding the worst and best of times.
Are We Living in the Worst of Times?
So this is the question I am asking you today:
Are we living in the worst of times or are we living in the best of times? What do you think?
If you ask me, I’d say we’re living in both the worst of times and the best of times. Some people believe that older times were better than the current, “modern” times. But my grandfather had a different opinion. He used to insist that people who assume that older times were “golden,” are either delusional or they haven’t lived the so-called golden times.
To give you a background, I come from a family of middle-income group farmers. My ancestors have been farming since the pre-independence era in the Meerut and Muzaffarnagar areas of Western Uttar Pradesh.
My grandfather used to say, “In older days, when the country was under Christian imperialism, things were ghastly. I myself have suffered humiliation at the hands of many people. Common folks did not have money, proper food, or even decent clothing. We used to go to school on foot which was miles away. Things were bad, really bad.”
He recalled this incident to support his argument:
“It happened when I was a child, barely 10-11 years old. One morning, my father, your great-grandfather was cutting fodder for the cattle with a handheld tool—an iron blade with a wooden handle. A person from the “Raydasi community” entered, greeted him with Ram-Ram, and requested him to let him cut the fodder. Your great-grandfather tried to say no but that person insisted. After completing the job, he got up and said, “Okay, I shall take your leave now. Hearing that, your great-grandpa uttered, “All right, before you leave, visit our home.”
“He nodded and left.”
“Seeing all this, I got curious, “Pita ji, I don’t understand why he cut the fodder without you even asking for him to do so. And now why did you ask him to visit our home? Please tell me.””
“Beta, I came to know last evening that he hasn’t eaten for the past 2 days since he doesn’t have money to buy food. Seeing me cutting the fodder he thought of earning his food by taking the job himself although he didn’t need to—he could have asked for food, but he’s a man of self-respect—and so he couldn’t beg. I have asked him to go to our home so your mother could give him something to eat.”
Narrating this sad incident, my grandfather sighed, and said, “They were the worst of times. Don’t let anybody convince you otherwise.”
So, today, I am wondering if those were the worst times or if the times we’re currently living in are the worst.
It seems that the worst of times and the best of times are always there, like two banks of a river, always running parallel but never meeting.
The worst of the times and the best of the times are subjective. When you’re doing well, you’re living the best of times, and when you’re passing through a low time, you’re living the worst of times.
Times have always been like that—the worst and the best together. It’s up to you which one you want to choose.
If you focus on the things that make you feel good, if you talk about things that make you joyous, you’re living the best of the times.
But if you overconsume news and political drama and chaos happening around you, you’re living in the worst of times.
“Are you saying that I should not worry about the wrong things happening in the society? Should I close my eyes to the atrocities, the suppression, and the hatred being propagated by evil people? Don’t I have any responsibility towards other people?” You argue.
You should definitely care about what’s happening around you if you can control things. What’s the use of losing your sleep over something you have no control over?
If you want to care about something then care about how you feel. Like right now. At this very moment.
The way you feel is the indication that you are attracting either better times or worse times.
The worst of times and the best of times are relative, not absolute. One cannot exist without the other. How can day exist without night? How can good exist without evil? What will be the value of joy if there’s no sorrow?
It all depends upon where you focus. If you focus on being happy no matter the circumstances, who can stop you from living in the best of times? And if you have decided to focus on the “wrongness,” the injustice, and the bad things happening all around you, then who can protect you from living the worst of times?
It depends on how you see things. What is your attitude like? Which reminds me of a boy who decided to live in the best of times:
In the summer of 2008, I frequented a roadside eatery for a couple of days in a row. There I noticed a teenage boy preparing “Rotis” in the “tandoor” with a smile on his face—he grinned most of the time. Standing beside a hot tandoor in the scorching heat of May is the last thing you want to do, and this guy was not only standing there but he was also putting his hands inside the tandoor to do his job.
Seeing him in a jolly mood day in and day out, I could not suppress my curiosity. I asked him, “Brother, how come you’re always happy? It seems that you have found some sort of treasure. What’s your secret?”
He smiled and showed me his hands—his forearms were burnt in many spots. And then he replied, “Bhaiya, I have come to terms with my work. I realized a long time back that this is my life: working with a hot tandoor every day. I can do it either resentfully or with a smile on my face. And so I chose the latter.”
I had no words.
Happiness is a choice. And so is the worst of the times or the best of the times.
You decide.