There were two men, both
seriously ill, were in a hospital sharing the same hospital room. One man was
allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day. The other man had to spend all
his time flat on his back.
There was a window next to
the bed of the man who was allowed to sit. The man kept viewing from him
window as long as he was allowed to sit.
The men talked almost
everything such as their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their
involvement in the military service, where they had been injured and ended up
in that hospital. Every afternoon when the
man in the bed next to the
window was made to sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate
all the things he could see
outside the window.
The man in the other bed
enjoyed the narration, and would live for that one-hour period as though he
himself is seeing the beautiful world outside his roommates window.
As per the sitting man the
window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. There were ducks and swans
playing in the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm
in arm in the park, and he could also view of the city skyline in a
distance.
As the man by the window,
described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room
would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by
the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could
not hear any band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the
window described vividly.
The lying mad started feeling
jealous of the mad by the window. He felt he was deprived of all the
pleasure of seeing all the lively activities of the park outside. He
began to brood and started showing his irritation to his roommate.
One night suddenly. the man
by the window began to cough. He was choking, and struggling to grab button to
call for help. His roommate heard the noise but never moved, never
pushed his own button which
would have brought the help. In less than five minutes, the coughing and
choking stopped.
The next morning, when the
day nurse arrived, she found the lifeless body of the man by the window.
She was shocked and called the hospital attendant and other formalities were
finished.
Our friend asked the nurse if
can to shift to the bed near the window. The nurse made the changes and left
the place after making him comfortable.
Slowly, he propped himself up
on one elbow to take his first look. He was very very exited about the joy of
seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside
the bed. Oh no, The window was facing a white wall. There was no
park or lake or anything else. He could believe his eyes. He
realised what his friend was doing for him. He also realised that,
"The pursuit of
happiness is a matter of choice...
It is not a gift that gets
delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the
window. Its just a way of life."
