You are never too old to learn and, when the lesson comes from your ninety-something mother, it is cherished all the more. She is a talented person who hates to be idle, but is now too frail to help in any way with household chores or engage herself in embroidery or crocheting that she is so good at. I caught her recently though at a self-appointed task.

Pen in hand, she was filling a note-book with the mantra, “Jai sree Ram”. It was meant for an organisation that was going to perform a “yagna” for world peace and unity. The rationalist in me immediately reared its head.How would such a task, I wanted to ask her, contribute in any way in achieving this goal? This was a waste of good paper that could be put to better use.

The observance would only cause pollution, besides being a waste of time and energy. As if reading my thoughts, she looked up at me and with a glow in her face said, “It keeps me peacefully and pleasantly occupied. I am not asking for anything. It helps me concentrate on god and, who knows, it may bring some good.”

I was shamed into silence. After all, I reflected, how many of my own occupations would stand the test of utility?

My obsession with cryptic crosswords for instance—only rarely did it help me learn new words and phrases. And wasn’t this too, in a sense, a waste of paper?

One has to only ponder a little bit to realise that many of the activities we occupy ourselves with could be labelled wasteful or useless. An activity may qualify as wasteful or as necessary depending on the feelings we bring to bear on it. Perhaps the best yardstick to apply would be “the golden mean” propounded by the great philosopher, Plato. Neither too much nor too little.

Small pleasures have their place in life and there is no need to condemn them or allow over-sensitivity and guilt to thin them. No doubt indulgence is bad, but deprivation could be worse!