Anyway, I asked the girl, “When are you getting married?”
She said, “Oh, I have a lot of time. I’m only 26 uncle.”
I said, “All right, so when do you think you’ll get married?
Let’s put it that way.”
She said, “Maybe 32 or 33.”
So I asked her, “When you have children, do you want
them to have the opportunity of knowing your own mother
as a grandmother?”
She started calculating her mother’s age, the age she would
have children, and so on.
She said, “It looks unlikely that my mother will see her
grandchildren if I do things my way.”
“Then why are you robbing your mother of her grandmother-
hood, and robbing your children of a grandmother’s
wisdom?”
So she started thinking.
Similar scenarios are arising in many parts of the world
- in the Amazonian jungle for example, where elderly
people would love to share the knowledge they have
gathered for thousands of years. They are the walking
encyclopedias of knowledge of the surroundings – what
herbs work, what fruits, what animals, how they interact - all these details will be lost when one elderly man from
the village goes, with the migration of young people from
the villages to the cities. The wisdom transfer is not
happening between generations.
Modern-day times rob us of this opportunity of learning
something profound from our very near and dear ones. Of
course, parents have their duties and they’re doing their
best. Grandparents, when available, will be the most
wonderful gifts that can happen to any grandchild.
Grandparents transfer so much knowledge, which they
themselves were not able to transfer to their own children.
But now, during the sunset of their lives, they are very
happy to transfer such wisdom. So this wisdom bridge is
the bridge that we’re trying to build between generations.
I was shocked to hear recently of a girl agreeing to marry
only on the condition that her parents-in-laws would not
stay with them. Such a demand by a prospective bride
speaks a volume about her. She is not understanding the
vital role of the wisdom bridge for her children, and even
herself, and only thinking of comfort and convenience.Now, individually we can build bridges between ourselves,
sharing knowledge, but how do we build bridges between,
say, two universities? At the moment only sports games
are being played, but are there other ways of bridging so
that this wisdom transfer can happen between universities?
Not just knowledge transfer, which we can get anytime
from Google, but wisdom transfer. No Google, no search
engine, can grant that wisdom. One has to live with such
a wise person to imbibe those vibrations of wisdom, so
that life is richer and worth living.The wisdom bridge is to connect oneself. You know I can
go from my side to the other side of the hill; from my hill
to the other hill; from one side of the bank to the other
side of the bank. As well, other people should also be able
to come to my hill, to my side of the bank. There’s a mutual
connection, mutual bridge, mutual sharing, and only then
this bridge will be functional. If it is only one way it will
be a tragedy. It will not be called a wisdom bridge, but a
foolish bridge.Grandparents, when available,
will be the most wonderful gifts
that can happen to any
grandchild. Grandparents
transfer so much knowledge,
which they themselves were not
able to transfer to their own
children. But now, during the
sunset of their lives, they are very
happy to transfer such wisdom.
FOCUS
10 Heartfulness