Priceless

I am reminded of this incident that happened a few months back. I and some friends were travelling on the city bus. We were glad that it finally arrived after making us wait for what seemed like hours. We all got in just to find that the last seats were all empty and were welcoming us for a comfortable ride.The whole seat was at our convinience, but the only problem was a wooden box placed abrubptly in the walkway restricting our access. Somehow we managed to get through and the bus trip continued.

The wooden box seemed like a tiny cupboard with colorful doors and decoration completed with pieces of colored glass and some mirrors. It could easily pass for an antique from some remote part of the world. It belonged to an old man who sat on the neighboring seat keeping a watchful eye on his luggage. His lady sat just ahead of him. From the looks, it seemed they they barely had the money for the bus fare.The wooden box could have been their only fortune.

As the bus moved on, stopping at regular intervals to add a dozen other city commuters to the existing lot, the place was soon growing insufficient to accomodate all the passengers. Amidst the crowd, people would kick and push the wooden box, make some space for themselves and curse the owner of the box.The old man heard the curses but held onto the box, lest it dragged a bit too far. The old lady was also growing restless about their luggage and would turn back every often to make sure the box was still there.

I was watching this with due patience and curiosity. The particuar restlessness on their faces caught my attention. In the entire episode,amidst the crowd and the chaos, the only thing they were concerned of was the box. Which seemed to me like a useless peice of crap not worthy of keeping around. And that is when this question struck me : "What is Priceless?". The object of no worth to anyone on the bus, was the most valuable to this old couple.

I couldnt help wondering, each one of us possesses something which he or she regards as priceless. Regardless its real worth in terms of money, few things are your prized possesions than anything else in the world.These things have their own value and are worth different to different people.If you have something priceless that makes you look more worried than the look on that old couples face, then hold on to it before it gets lost in some crowd where people have never understood and will never understand the real worth of your possesion. In this bus journey called life, hold on to your wooden box, should it be ruthlessly kicked away by unwary people around you, or dragged away out of sight so that you forget about it one day.

Insanely guarding your priceless things, would be the most sane thing to do. Wouldn't it?