And Nature - the greatest teacher of all, in all its simplicity, has a way of teaching us profound lessons. It doesn’t need words or explanations—it communicates through its expressions, showing us how the world works in ways we can often miss. It’s in these quiet moments that we learn some of life’s most important truths. This blog is related to the analogies from the scriptures meshed with lessons from nature.
I was on a solo road trip just a year back and one of the most fascinating part of that trip was my ride in Rajasthan specifically the ride from Longewala to Tanot. It was a hot afternoon, and the highway stretched endlessly ahead. The road was black top, 4 lane, straight as an arrow and super flat. It was like a runway, one in which you could land a fighter jet. As I took one of those rare curves on the road, I suddenly noted a shimmering patch of water right in the middle of the road. A puddle in a desert highway? Strange, but not impossible is all I could think. Driving on high speed, I immediately lifted my foot from the accelerator and allowed the car to slow down expecting to hear the satisfying splash of my tires cutting through the water. All these things happened in a few fleeting seconds before I laughed out loud.
Obviously, the puddle didn’t exist. Of course, there was no splash. The moment I reached the “pool of water,” it had already relocated further ahead, as if enjoying an elaborate prank with me. I had been outsmarted by the play of light waves and hot air. I had just encountered a mirage in the desert in close quarters.
That moment stayed with me. Not just as a memory of a strange optical illusion, but as a metaphor I had been encountering again and again in life.
How many times have I pursued something, certain that it would bring fulfillment and quench my deepest thirst? It happens in small ways. The excitement of buying something new, only to feel indifferent about it after a few days. The thrill of achievement that fades into the next goal. The idea that once I get this, I will be happy—only for the mind to move the goalpost once we arrive. The perfect job, the ideal house, that one life-changing moment we imagine will finally make us feel complete. We strive, we reach, and yet, they dissolve into nothingness. The satisfaction we had imagined wasn’t there at all? Again. And again.
Then there’s the rainbow. The more sophisticated sibling of the mirage. The mirage promises something that isn’t there—an illusion we chase, certain that it will fulfill a deep need. But sometimes, we find ourselves chasing something that exists, not as an unattainable object, but as a fleeting experience. This is where the rainbow comes in. Unlike the mirage, the rainbow is real in its beauty, but just as elusive in its own way. It’s a reminder that not all illusions are born from deception—some are simply too precious to be grasped, even though they are present. Just as the mirage tricks us into thinking it’s a real, attainable thing, the rainbow reminds us of how fleeting and unattainable some of life’s most beautiful moments are.
The sight of a rainbow is so magical, so perfect that even today I still stop and look at it in awe. As children, we ran toward it, believing we could stand under its arc of colors. But no matter how fast we ran, the rainbow always stayed at a distance. Its beauty was real, but its place in the world was untouchable. For those of you who have not attempted, try getting to one. Go ahead. Run toward it. Drive toward it. Use GPS if you must. You know it right? You’ll never get there. Because rainbows are the universe’s way of saying, Enjoy, but don’t touch. They exist, but only from a distance.
That, too, felt oddly familiar.
Some things in life are real and deeply meaningful but they aren’t meant to be captured and held still, like a souvenir on a shelf. Happiness isn’t a trophy we win; love is definitely not a contract we lock away; and time, the most valuable of all, with the people we cherish doesn’t wait for us to press “pause.” They exist but always in transition, in experience, in the space between moments. But when we try too hard to hold on, when we cling, fearing loss or wanting certainty, we sometimes squeeze the life out of them. Love suffocates under the weight of expectation, happiness fades when we try to force it, and time slips through our fingers while we’re too busy trying to make it last.
A mirage and a rainbow—both illusions, but of a different kind. Props used by Nature, to help us learn life lessons.
The mirage promises something that isn’t there. It represents all the things we think will bring fulfillment, only to realize they were never truly what we were seeking. We chase success, admiration, or even an imagined version of ourselves, believing that reaching that point will give us fulfilment. But when we arrive, the longing remains.
The rainbow, on the other hand, is real in sight but unreachable in presence. It reminds me of all the experiences that feel profound and magical, yet slip through my fingers the moment I try to hold onto them. Sitting quietly with your spouse while watching sunset over the sea, holding your first child in your hands, the joy of having done something you never thought you could — these are not things to be captured. Maybe the trick isn’t to possess these things but to be present with them—to appreciate them as they flow, rather than chasing or controlling them. Even clicking photographs of these moments can’t ever help you understand the true experience you felt at that moment. They just need to be lived, there and then.
So, here’s what I’ve been wondering.
“Are we chasing the mirage of the perfect career or the rainbow of an ideal relationship, only to realize that fulfillment lies in being fully present in the here and now?”
Are we all just running toward mirages, convincing ourselves that happiness lies just beyond the next curve? Are we thirsty for something real, or do we feel that the mirages of life will sustain us? Are we reaching for rainbows, trying to capture something that was only ever meant to be experienced, not possessed? And more importantly, if we stop chasing, will we finally see what’s been right in front of us all along? In the moment.
Perhaps the real treasure is not in chasing these illusions, but in seeing them for what they are and choosing to live with awareness.
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