Everybody wants the window seat!

 I sit in my office facing the cool blue ocean, its hues changing with the sky above. Every time you look up from the computer, the soothing azure canvas sweeps over your eyes and your heart. Beauty unfolds subtly like a bud to sunlight.

This is about to change.  We have to move into a newly constructed room where some of us will be sharing the space. This saddens, even peeves me. The room is organized into cubicles and of the four (more later) of us have to occupy the given space, the two window spaces have been grabbed by two of the four. And why not! They are the most beautiful spots! Besides these are the guys who joined before me, and were instrumental in organizing the space, that gives them the privilege. I guess. One friend tries to make me happy by asking me to specify the third and fourth preference. There’s hardly a choice left, but the yogi in him allows me to choose between the third and fourth spots, with “If you want the balcony seats, you’ll have to talk to them yourself!”  Whoever wants to bell the cat!

I do. I ask my colleague to toss a coin, he says, “this is not our custom”   Which means he’s to retain the seat, don’t talk of petty things like that!  I suggest a six month rotation. All ears are closed. I offer him chocolate – naah!  I offer my rationale – I’m the poet and photographer the ocean would inspire me! Sorry, not good enough – he’s doing heavy management deals he needs it more! There’s no hierarchy operational here, we all have separate departments/fields.  I don’t play the woman-card – the only woman in a cage full of men – there are no dragons and no knights these days!  Only limited window seats.  I wonder if he’s read ‘A Room with a view’.  It may help or at least be interesting.  He’s a management guy doing some path-breaking brilliant work in the field.  I’m trying to do the same in education.  This is a problem children face in schools, parents face at home, managers face in the office,  political leaders face all over the world.  This is an existential problem!  And there doesn’t seem to be a solution than for someone to ‘live with the disappointment’.  Whether it’s me or him that’s besides the point. The whole world wants the proverbial balcony seat! How do you solve a problem like that? 
   

It’s a heaven sent situation for all of us, we who seem to be trying to work for setting up systems for the manifestation of new consciousness.  (Oh boy! that’s some tall claim!) If we can deeply and truly solve this, we can avert serious issues – at the world level.  Most of our world problems are because we all want the window seat and there aren’t enough windows! Nations want the place with oil and Natural resources, they want to grab it for ‘their people’.  Everybody wants to have the best for themselves.  So, we have wars. Some of us are brought up on ‘living for others’.  But the point is not sacrifice, the whole world cannot live in a sacrificial mode for long (or can it?). What is the solution? The real solution. How can everyone be happy when the demand is more than the supply?  In a sense that will always be the situation.  Normally we play musical chairs in life, our education prepares us to be smart so that you don’t lose out too soon in the race. Here, we’ve come up with games like ‘cooperative musical chairs’ where people learn to support each other with fewer chairs.  Can we do this in life?  Everybody needs a chair if it is to be sustainable. Everybody needs to be comfortable, but also satisfied. Satisfaction is the issue – tough that!

Would I be happy if I get that seat if it disappointed him?  Frankly, no.  That’s just winning a tug of war. I don’t want a tug of war! Preferably! I can philosophise to console myself  – I don’t even know how long I’m going to be around in this place, even in the world, besides I can keep walking around to the balcony etc. etc. etc.  There are plenty such notions to cushion the disappointment.  I remember as kids how my mother solved it. I would slice the big mango my dad brought home into three equal shares for the three of us kids. Then we would sort of playfully pick lots as to who would get to choose first.  All three of us wanted the ‘guthali’ (the seed – there’s only one per mango!) but we had to ultimately leave it to ‘luck’.  It seemed fair, a clever management technique to keep fairness and peace among siblings who all wanted the same thing. I learnt my first lesson of fair division then! My friends don’t want that, they want a spiritually amicable solution. I think that’s truly noble, only I don’t see a better alternative arrived at.  Not till now.  


Perhaps the solution is not in the system at all, perhaps we can’t have a ‘system’ that resolves this. Picking lots leads of childish even blind strengthening of the notion of fate, may be they are right, it’s not such a great idea after all.  I’m not sure if I know what is the way out,  perhaps an inner attitude of calmness and acceptance (like my colleague who let me choose between spot three and four)?  It’s a question, yet.  A naturalness? An inner peaceful attitude that will make everything fall into place, let’s just assume that everyone has a ‘rightful’ place in life! Perhaps that will make us happy, or maybe we’ll just get used to our seats after a while or get so bugged that one unhappy person will rebel. It remains to be seen. We haven’t really found an existential answer to this basic problem. I only know of tugs of war and disappointment in their varied forms. If I find a real answer, I’ll post it. Meanwhile chew on the issue.