Que Sera Sera

Que Sera Sera means Whatever Will Be, Will Be.

There lived an old man and his son near a mountainous area. They belonged to a tribe which consisted of 30 other families. The tribe’s primary mode of occupation was cattle rearing. Cattles were used not only for their livelihood but other avenues of revenue generation such as farming, transportation etc. Among the cattle, the sheep constituted the majority of the cattle followed by horse. Since the majority of the revenues came from renting their cattle nearby village, the wealth of a family was determined by the number of cattle they possessed, which it turn reflected the social standing of a family among its tribe. The tribal man had 5 sheeps and 1 horse which he had obtained from his father and had continued the same occupation since he was young. He too had trained his son in the same occupation. The young son specifically looked after the horse while the old man cared for the sheeps.

One day, the old man received a note requesting him for few goods from the nearby village. He instructed his son to leave for the village. The young son left in his horse along with the goods. While returning, due to the continuous journey, he stopped in a place for taking a brief nap. When he woke up, his horse had vanished. He wondered if the horse had been taken by some bandits or if it had run away. Mulling over this, he reached home and conveyed the sad news to his father. Possessing a horse was a matter of pride among the tribe and losing the only horse affected the old man’s status in the village. When the villagers came to know of the news, they all remarked “How unfortunate. What are you going to do now”? The old man remarked “Que Sera Sera”. The villagers nodded silently and left but internally they mocked him. Maybe he has become very sad and hence replying like this. 

Months went by. One day, the young son woke up and opened the door. He was surprised to see his horse standing outside his home. More surprisingly, there stood a female horse along with his horse.  His horse had gone into the jungle along with a female horse and now it had returned back home.The son ran to his father to convey the good news. The villagers were surprised by the turn of events. They went to the old man and congratulated him. Now his status had increased in the tribe. Having a male and female horse was perfect as they would produce more horses. ‘Your life has changed now. This is an occasion for big celebration, they remarked’. The old man smiled and replied ‘Que Sera Sera’.  The villagers wondered what the old man meant. Instead of celebrating with them, he was playing it down. Crazy old man, they said and went away.

The young son started training with his horse and its companion. During one such training, the son took the two horses to the mountains and while on the way back, he tumbled and fell down. Due to the fall, he broke his leg. Somehow he reached home and was hospitalized immediately. He underwent therapy but the doctors said that the young man can’t walk normally again. He would have to limp for the rest of his life. When the villagers came to know of the news, they met the old man and offered their condolences. ‘Poor guy, it must be really hard on you to see your son in this state’ remarked one fellow. The old man had a grim face. He felt sad about the state of his son and felt sorry for him. He just replied ‘Que Sera Sera’.  

The son got well and resumed his daily work. Though he couldn’t walk normally as before, he got used to moving around with a limp. Few weeks later, the messengers from the King arrived in the village. They had a message from the King. There were rumors that the neighbor king had plans to attack their country.  In order to have his army at full strength, the king had passed a declaration making it compulsory for all the young people to come forward and be a part of the army. For all the youngsters volunteering, their families will be awarded 5 gold coins. The villagers were excited on hearing the news. All the youngsters from the village were able to join the army and were awarded 5 gold coins. Everyone except the son of the old man. The villagers remarked ‘You won’t get the gold coins since your son’s leg is broken & he can’t join the army. The old man replied ‘True. My son can’t fight properly due to his current state and volunteer for the army’. ‘You would have been lucky had your son been in good health’, said the villagers. ‘Que Sera Sera’, replied the old man. 

The youngsters were taken to the city capital as part of the army. No news came from them for two months. The villagers wondered what had happened. Then one day, a messenger from the King arrived there.  He announced that ‘the neighbor king had attacked their kingdom.  The war raged for 2 month and finally with great difficulty, they were able to subdue & defeat the enemy forces.’ The villagers cheered.  ‘But there is sad news. In the war, many of the young soldiers had died while fighting for their country. & others have been badly injured. ‘Saying so, he read the list of soldiers who had died in the battle & those who had been injured. All the bereaved families would be given some compensation from the King’s treasury. The villagers were shell-shocked. For the next two days, the whole village mourned the dead soldiers. The old man & his son visited the bereaved families and expressed their condolences. They said to the old man ‘Please apologize us for mocking at you before. We have lost our only child’. The old man consoled them and said “Que Sera Sera” and walked on…..

P.S: Life has its up and downs. We don’t have control over what might happen in our life but we do have control over our reactions to it. Understanding that all events (both happy and sad) are transient would be a source of everlasting joy in our lives.