THYAAAAA....PPP!!!

Know this sound?
I doubt it. Most probably you’ve heard it, but I reckon very few would be able to recognize it.
Let me give you a hint. Isn’t this the sound of a ball of clay being splashed against a wall? Remember? Good. Now, you’re more or less on the right track.
This is the sound emitted by your couch when you present it your bottom at the end of a grueling day.
Come to think of it, are they really so different?

However, professional “Leisure prioritizers” like us (terms like ‘couch potato’ are too vulgar for our finely tuned nerves) find it the sound of……”the basic state of mind.”

Actually, as some great man once pointed out, (ought to have at least, where’s a Mark Twain or a Groucho Marx when you need one?) “Leisure is a word, found in the dictionary of workers.” We actually have specialized technical terms for what we call the ‘basic state of mind.’ For instance, in my regional language, it is referred to as - “Lyaad.” Hereafter, I shall refer it by that only.

You might ask the obvious question, “Why a whole new term?”
Obviously, you are a worker. (Otherwise, how can you have the energy to ask questions in the first place?).
Anyways, the answer is quite simple and straight forward.
“Because it’s a whole new ball game…. ”

To you, leisure probably means sitting or laying lazily, not thinking much.
‘Lyaad’, on the other hand is…..not thinking anything at all. Mind you, the physical posture is not a priority. You are welcome to try it while hanging from a slippery ledge, with your balls itching terribly. But somehow I have a hunch that not thinking of anything might not strike you as a passing fancy at the moment.
A comfortable, secure and balanced physical state is imperative for ‘lyaad’. Believe me, this is pretty difficult to achieve all the time,- what with everyone poking and passing suggestive comments about one’s growing resemblance to specific forms of vegetation. But you see, we all have our professional hazards.
Summing it up, Leisure, as you know it, is “A respite from work.”
Work, as we know it, is “A spiritual imbalance from the basic state of mind, practically achievable by contact between hard, sharp objects with specific sensitive body parts.”

Now, let’s come to the tougher part of the affair. "Not thinking anything at all". No matter how easy it sounds, trust me, its as difficult if not more.
To try and not think of something is pretty hard as it is.
But to try and not think of anything is - almost impossible.
It takes years of practice and has a cumulative effect.
You try to do it for two hours, you would feel like doing it for four more, after those four, you convince yourself that eight more never did anyone any harm…. and so on.
Furthermore, sometimes there comes a point, when you become vaguely conscious about actually not thinking of anything. But that’s a thought once again, and you have to start from the scratch.
If you get my point, it’s a pretty complex piece of crap.
In fact, I have never seen a ‘lyaad’ in my life, whose not in the making.
Once, I even heard such an aspirant remark, “Sometimes I wonder if its really worth the effort. I guess I’m too lazy…..”

So, next time you see a collection of body parts scattered over the couch, (in the proper order of course) don’t jump to conclusions (or on him, either). Perhaps a trifle ungracefully, but someone is probably in a state of deep, strenuous meditation, and the best part is…….. doesn’t even know it!!!