You know what’s funny about pain? It’s the most punctual guest in your life. Never late, never forgets your address. Hurt your back? Boom, it’s here. Lost someone? Double boom. And unlike relatives, it doesn’t even wait for Diwali to show up.

Rajesh Khanna sahab once said in a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film: “Khushi phooljhadi jaisi hai, turant bhadakti hai aur turant bujh jaati hai. Gham agarbatti jaisa hai, dheere-dheere jalta hai aur lamba chalta hai.”

Translation: happiness is like a sparkler, sadness is like incense.

(P.S. Sparklers burn your fingers fast. Incense sticks burn your curtains slow. Both teach lessons.)

So where does pain fit in this firecracker vs. incense theory? Let’s call in Buddha for guest commentary.

According to Buddha, pain comes in two flavors:

Arrow One: The actual pain. Like hitting your pinky toe on the corner of the bed. Arrow Two: The drama we add: “This always happens to me! Why does God hate me? Maybe my house has a grudge.”

Sadness? That’s usually the second arrow. Pain stabs, sadness writes a tragic novel about it.

Buddha also said everything is temporary (anicca). So yes, your heartbreak, your migraine, even your mother-in-law’s taunts eventually, all fade.

But while it’s here, pain acts like a free therapist:

Reminds you you’re human. Forces you to sit down when you wanted to party. Teaches compassion: “Ouch, I stubbed my toe. May all other stubbed toes in the world heal quickly.”

Honestly, if you think about it, pain is just unpaid HR staff, trying to conduct “team-building exercises” between your body and mind.

So maybe:

Sadness is incense slow, smoky, makes your room smell weird. Pain is that over-enthusiastic cousin either comes screaming (sparkler mode) or overstays quietly (incense mode). And you? You’re stuck learning Buddhism, Netflix-pausing every two minutes to say, “This is impermanent. This too shall pass.”

Takeaway?

Next time you’re in pain, try seeing it the Buddhist way. Notice it, don’t fight it, and definitely don’t invite it for dinner.

And remember: happiness may be a sparkler, sadness may be incense but pain? Pain is that friend who keeps showing up uninvited, but somehow leaves you wiser every single time.

Later.