The purpose and reason of one wait and another wait is different. We wait with different purposes and different reasons only at different times with hope of reaching our goal or fulfilling our objective. Life is full of waits. Sometimes wait is compulsory. Wait is sometimes necessity. Wait is sometimes a problem. Of course, everywhere attempts are being made to minimize waits. Yet wait is indispensable many a times. Majority of events do not take place, all of a sudden .They need wait. Sometimes, we wait and sometimes we are forced to wait. How long we have to wait, many a times, we do not know even. More the rush, more one has to wait. Wait always involves time. Sometimes it is long wait. Sometimes, it is short. Some waits we can avoid and some waits we cannot avoid. Some consider wait as punishment and some call it boredom. Wait indicates how busy a person is. We do not wait upon a doctor, lawyer, or anybody unless he she is prominent and we want their services. Nobody waits unless it is absolutely necessary. The food we take does not digest immediately, digestion is a process, it takes time, and we have to wait. The echo to reach our ears, it takes time, we have to wait. Growth is a process, it takes place slowly and steadily, we have to wait for the same. Wait is part and parcel of human life, when, why, how, we could effectively make use of it to our advantage is entirely depends on us.
Wait makes us aware of value of time. Wait teaches us many lessons. Wait generally needs patience. Wait develops patience in one. Wait is many a time an experience too. An impatient person always finds it more difficult to wait than a person who has patience. Sometimes our wait is rewarded and sometimes, it is not rewarded. We have to wait for anything good to happen. Similarly we have to wait for anything bad to happen too. Wait and suspense go hand in glove. By and large, we cannot predict whether our wait would be fruitful or not. Sometimes, it is nothing but taking a chance. While waiting, we must always hope for the best but always be prepared for the worst also. By wait, we cannot avoid inevitable. Longer the wait, more we become impatient. At the beginning of wait, we are generally enthusiastic, but as the time passes our enthusiasm gives place to desperation. We would be in two minds whether to continue our wait or to discontinue. Tomorrow, we should not repent that we should have continued the wait because there is every possibility of it taking place soon after our discontinuance. It is not easy to discontinue our wait once we start it. Wait sometimes turns out to be a gamble. Wait is coupled with luck.
Wait links present to the future. Wait is sometimes sweet to remember. The wait that Shabari did for Sri Ram to come to her ashram is a prominent part of epic Ramayana. Any wait which brings in happiness is memorable. That is why Keats says “Heard melodies are sweet but those that are unheard are sweeter”. Any wait which resulted in sadness, failure, misery though everybody wants to forget, it is not easy to forget and haunts us. Those who are fickle minded or those who have no control over mind cannot wait for long. They become impatient. Waiting is a capability which everybody would not have. Here, we have to remember the story of patient Griselda. Griselda having agreed to conditions laid down by the king does not question the king what he does with the newborn which he separates from her as soon as it is born. Not once or twice but thrice. That is real wait. At last it is her wait that brought her triumph. How Parushuram, comes to know that Karna is not a Brahmin but a warrior. When Parushuram was having a nap on the lap of Karna, when Karna was bitten by a bee and blood was flowing from his lap, Karna was not at all disturbed; He did not want to disturb the sleep of his teacher. He endured all the pain. Only a Kshatriya (warrior) could do that wait and Parushuram who knew this fact cursed Karna for having learnt lessons from him in disguise.
Opportunities do not knock at our door; we have to wait for them. Wait is a part of discipline, whether it is queue for cinema ticket, bus ticket, payment of a bill, any queue for that matter. Sometimes queue is long and sometimes it is short. In anyone of these cases wait is required, we cannot rush to the forefront and complete our task. Duration of our wait may be either long or short depending upon the size of queue and depending upon the efficiency of the person who attends it. Modern world is so busy; people do not have time to wait. People make use of online services; electronic clearing systems etc to overcome wait. Whether, it is promotions in an office, whether it is railway ticket booking, air ticket booking, there is waitlist. One has to wait for new vacancy to arise to get his or chance. Even to bid adieu to this world one has to wait. Unless his or her turn comes one cannot say “goodbye” to this world. We have to wait for everything. Why we, our opponents, everybody wait to come to know of one another’s weaknesses and make use of them. It is said every dog has it own day.
According to Hindu customs and traditions, people wait for appropriate moment which is called “Muhurtham”for celebrating marriage, thread ceremony, house warming, etc. It is a wait for auspicious moment. According to Basavanna, founder of Veerashaiva community, the moment you think anything good is itself auspicious. There is no need of waiting for any other moment. It is all belief. Even for back stabbing, revenge etc one has to wait, one has to plot and execute at appropriate moment only if one has to succeed. Everybody waits in the wing for grabbing opportunities which may be either for doing something good or bad and depends solely on what type of person one is. Waiting with expecting something good and the same materializing is dream becoming a reality. Such waits are beautiful and worth recollecting too. However waiting with expecting something to materialize, but everything becoming topsy-turvy, makes one disappointed and sad. Thus waits are coupled with uncertainty. Waits increase worries. That is why many do everything in hurry burry. We have to act sometimes quickly; sometimes we have to act slowly. That is we have to wait. We have to act according to circumstances. That is what a wise man does. There is no thumb rule when we should wait and when we should not. Sometimes it is first come first and sometimes it is last come first. Wait helps us sometimes to chalk our strategy to be successful. Whether to wait or take a plunge immediately is a decision to be made by an individual. If we do not take a right decision, in right time, we will miss the bus, train, aero plane, or an opportunity. An opportunity missed generally does not come back once again.
A few children have a matured mind. Children have generally a little patience. They cannot wait for long. Everything depends on how they are brought up. Their wants are unlimited. Most of them do not know the financial status of their parents or the difficulties that the parents have to face to meet their wants. Every child likes to have what the other child has. Their wants are not generally big. They are reluctant to wait. The parents also do not want their children to wait for their needs if their purse permits and there is no difficulty in full filling their child’s desire. They know child psychology and the anxiety, curiosity etc. which a child generally has. Wait is a drain on one’s energy. If one waits more, one becomes lazier. Waiting should be always a minimum.
Just like a child wants to have what other child has, a woman wants to have what other woman has. The difference is that child wants are due to its innocent nature whereas the need of woman is due to other reason or reasons. Shakespeare says “Jealousy thy name is woman”. He also says “Frailty thy name is woman” Though many women are of this nature, we cannot apply these sayings to all women. There are women who are strong willed, magnanimous etc. But those who are of jealous nature cannot wait for long. They are impatient. They do not rest until their want is satisfied. They do not mind whether it is hook or crook.
Those who have renounced everything are strong willed and they do not aspire anything. They can wait for long. They do not mind anything taking its own course. Wait can go on.
Many times wait causes tension and anxiety. Wait increases blood pressure, heart beating, perspiration etc. That is generally, when we wait outside intensive care unit of a hospital where our mother is inside seriously ill, or when our better half is under going operation in an operation theatre. Similarly, when we wait for results of promotion tests, examination results, and important announcements etc however confident we may be of our success we would be tense and anxious.
Besides, there are long waits in life which are imposed by it on us. We wait that happy days would come. We wait that his or her behavior, character would change. We wait our relationship wherever strained would improve. We always wait for changes for better in life. How far we would succeed in our attempt , nobody can predict.