IGNORANCE IS BLISS.

Thomas Gray, the great poet, writes in his poem, "Ode on a distant prospect of Eton college", "Ignorance is bliss".

It is folly to be wise. Knowledge about everything may not be good and useful for a peaceful life. Knowledge about certain things may do more harm than doing good to us. I had the experience to substantiate this concept.

When I was in Command hospital, Bangalore, I could get a good private living-out accommodation in Domlur layout with comparatively low rent. Domlur's layout is a posh residential area and the house I got with that low rent was thought to be my fortune. It was very convenient for me to reach the hospital in five minutes through HAL road. The other side of the HAL road was a low-profile residential area, where a majority of Air warriors and Army warriors were staying. So it was my pride to come out from a posh residential area each time for my day-to-day business.l proudly answered," Domlur layout", to all those, who enquired where I was staying. Thus for one year, I enjoyed the comfort of the house, the proximity to the hospital, vegetable, fish, and meat market, over and above, to proudly receive my friends to an elegant house in a posh area. Probably, that was my most cost-effective, comfortable living out accommodation in fifteen years of Air force life. The houses of that row had a peculiarity. There were no doors or windows on one side of the rooms and toilets. But there were sufficient doors, windows, and ventilators on the other three sides to compensate for that. Therefore we did not bother to see that side and in fact, we did not need to know what was happening beyond that side.

I gave notice to the house owner for the vacation of the house after my one-year course in the hospital. Two days before the vacation, the friendly house owner came to us and talked for one hour to reinforce our friendship and to show his gratitude for a peaceful relationship for one year. He had entered me in his list of good tenents of his house letting history, in which the drama usually ends with bull shit and brickbats. On the contrary, I was a Good Samaritan, who helped him at times with his geriatric problems with physiotherapy. To reinforce his transparency and honesty, he said, "I don't want to conceal anything from a good man like you. For your goodness, I did not tell you that, the other side of the house is a vast public burial ground, and that is why, no opening given that side for any of the houses in this row, and I took from you, only two-third of the usual rent rates of the layout".I was shocked and walked one kilometer on HAL road to see the other side of my house, which we had never seen for one year. It was an area of a one-kilometer public burial ground, where not less than ten cremations were going on, at that time, and one of which was close to my house with no sign of cremation known to my family. I, personally had no problem, but my family wouldn't have stayed peacefully if the truth was revealed earlier. I told this truth to my wife and children only after reaching Gorakhpur on posting. We bid farewell to this beautiful house in the burial ground after two days after enjoying the life of bliss of ignorance.

Thank you