Once there lived a family to whom belonged a very old and beautifully carved flute. After the last known flute player in the family died, the instrument saw itself covered in dust for most of the time. No one ever bothered looking at it, let alone preserve or play it. Many flute masters came and went but no offspring of the house gave this flute more than a glance.
One day, while cleaning the household, the female head of the family decided to have this flute thrown away. “Why should we bother keeping it anyway? Who wants to play it even?”, she said to herself. And within seconds, the instrument found itself lying on the road outside.
But within seconds of having tossed the flute outside, she heard a melodious sound playing. When she stepped out, she saw that a beggar was playing the very flute she had abandoned. She couldn’t believe her ears; it was as if time had stood still. Everyone gathered around the beggar and listened to him play for a good twenty minutes. This included the female as well. The sounds were so enchanting and hypnotic.
As soon as the beggar stopped playing, the woman demanded the flute back. But the beggar said,”When it comes to a musical instrument, only those who can play it deserve to keep it. You might have bought it but it never belonged to you or to anyone living in your house at the moment because all of you forgot that it even existed. I mean, look at this dust that has settled on it!”
Everyone standing around agreed with the beggar. A musical instrument belongs to someone who can play it.
Similarly, life belongs to those who can live. It belongs to those who do not waste every second that is gifted to them, letting the seconds rot in dust. It belongs to those who bring out the melodious rhythm that these seconds carry.
