Wanting to make our loved ones happy is humane. Among the many ways to make them happy, giving a pleasant surprise holds special significance due to its unique nature. We do varieties of things, like buying unique gift articles and express uncommon gestures to accomplish this. Offering or receiving a pleasant surprise is indeed a unique experience for all involved.
For example, on her 60th birthday, you may bring your mother a toy that you cried for as a child, you may gift your grandparents their wedding photo on their marriage anniversary, or surprise your friend on his birthday by handing him a tiny yet beautiful gift article intriguingly wrapped in an unusually big box. There are practically unlimited ways to offer pleasant surprise to our loved ones. What it needs is a sense of creativity and understanding of the nature of the receiving party.
Generally speaking, the suspense behind pleasant surprise is all about fun. It is fun from beginning to the end. However, the reason I thought of writing on pleasant surprise is a little different. It is rather a cautionary note to those enthusiastic well wishers who go to any extent and take unnecessary risks to surprise others.
The story of a Brazilian bride and her was-to-be husband shows how reality of life can be ruthlessly cruel. The bride’s party wanted to give a pleasant surprise to the boy’s party on the day of their weddings. They planned to land at the marriage venue by helicopter, unknown to all guests, including the groom, except only six guests who knew the plan.
The to-be husband and relatives kept waiting eagerly, and anxiously, as there was no sign of her arrival and the time for marriage ceremony was approaching fast. The pastor was ready to perform the ritual.
“A nine-minute video filmed by the photographer was recently released as part of the subsequent investigation and published by local news channel G1 Official. The video shows a joyous Silva and her brother, Silvano Nascimento da Silva, seated in the back of the helicopter cockpit as they fly through what appears to be thick cloud or fog.
The helicopter begins to encounter mild turbulence, and Silva clutches her brother’s arm for comfort. Minutes later the turbulence worsens and her brother shuts his eyes in fear. The pilot can be heard urging the passengers to calm down. Alarms suddenly go off and the passengers erupt in screams, the camera turning rapid circles before coming to rest on a forest floor. The helicopter ride was planned as a surprise for the groom, Udirley Damasceno, who – together with 300 wedding guests – was subsequently left waiting at the wedding venue, unaware of Silva’s fate.” (Source)
Instead of performing wedding ceremony at the altar the pastor had to later inform Mr Damasceno of the unfortunate crash and Silva’s subsequent death. One can only imagine the pain that enveloped the hearts of those affected after the devastating news. Unreserved sympathy and heartfelt prayers is only what we can offer for them.
While this could be one of the most tragic accidents you may have heard about, and while there may be thousands of even worse accidents reported throughout human history, what we need to learn is where to draw a line in our attempts to offer a pleasant surprise to our loved ones. The argument could be, “this doesn’t happen to all”, but the sad reality is it did happen to Silvia and Damasceno, and it could happen to anyone else too, despite all well wishes and despite all precautions. That is life in this world.
By suggesting you read this first if you plan to give a pleasant surprise, my whole intention is to caution all concerned not to take things for granted. Remember, we are never the controllers howsoever we want to believe we are, and whatsoever it may appear to be so. In a fraction of second things can go out of hands.
This reminds me of an event that took place in India more then 5000 years ago. King Yudhisthira was asked by a yaksa who posed threat to Yudhisthira’s life if he did not answer some questions before using water from a particular, mystical pond. One of the questions the yaksa asked was- what is the most amazing thing in the world? King Yudhisthira soberly replied that although people see regular deaths, they think and hope that they will live forever!
Let us not remain in illusion. Like it or not, we all will have to leave this world one day. The body you are in now is not yours. God has given it to you and to all of us on purpose and we have got a mission to accomplish using that body.
There are better ways to make others happy than offering surprises. There are gifts that last for years and decades, and there are gifts that last forever. We need to identify the best gift.
Being eternal children of God, who is the reservoir of bliss, to be happy is our fundamental right, but we need to follow the path given by Him for achieving that lasting happiness. If we follow the path under the expert guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, our success is guaranteed. Wishing you all success!
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