Helpless Age

On Monday evening, for my usual walk I was out. There I came across two interesting aspects of life and age. One instance of youth which is helpless an the other of the aged where in both are helpless at the hands of age.

While walking, amidst the chaos of the traffic, there was an old lady on the road, which a dirty white saree and hazed spectacles. At first glance, I thought she was a beggar whith a ragged bag and old plastic bottle and a box into it. She was blabbering something which I could barely understand. Then there stopped by a Rickshawala, a middle aged man, with some of his hair growing grey asked the lady" Maaji, su thayu che"( what happend old lady?) The lady replied "chakkar ave che."( I am fainting). The old man grabbed her a cup of tea from the road side tea stall. I was being a mere spectator, the old woman offered that rickshaw guy half of her tea, but the guy refused.The guy left and I was just observing the old woman.

At this point of time seeing her helpless the corners of my eyes were already wet, I gathered myself andiasked her, "tame khadu kai?"( did you eat anything?), she replied ,"ha, puri" ( I had some puri). I was relieved a bit. Then she started narrating her story to me, she told me she had come to see her elder daughter who lives near by who was unwell. she told me that her husband passed away long back and now she is living alone. I asked where did she live, she said at BUS DEPOT. She told me that she sits nearby the temple and whatever people put in her bowl makes a living for her.

I inquired who takes her care? She replied with a smiling face " uparwalo" ( GOD). She told me she had three sons, they all died before they were 10 years old, and later her husband too passed away, she some how managed to survive with two girls and got them married. Now she lives alone at the bus depot and when required visits her daughters.

Her approach towards life was very different, she had not aim, but just a wait till her breathe lasts, no legacy to leave behind and no wills to be made, though with the coming of age she was getting more weak which was evident.The bus arrived for which she was waiting, I kept something in her palm and helped her to board the bus.

On the same road side, there was this young chap of about twenty years who along with me was observing the old lady,he was having a pack of cigarette, since I noticed him he had already had 4 puffs gone and he was heading for this fifth one and lighting it up in style. I was so tempted to ask him to stop from smoking but I feared to be humilated, I avoided and I just kept watching.He eventually finished his fifth cigarette and then gave me "a dare not talk to me "look. I didnt even dared and I walked off the scene.

Out of this two incidents, I could figure out a common factor "AGE".  The helplessness of the Age. The old woman was fragile and incompetent to live her life where as the young guy with all his senses in places was still leading a life of misery. I could somehow help the old woman by talking to her and helping her board the bus, but not the young man. His age was more helpless than that of the old woman. The starking difference of the age is not only a physical challenge but also pshycological. The old woman does signify the apathy of life where as the young guy shows nothing but ignorance.

Inspirations- The Swami and the soldier

The usual Monday morning rush was around, in haste towards my journey to my “karma-bhumi” I boarded a bus, where it was not very difficult to break through the usual boarding rush of Monday, accquired a seat with extra legroom( thanks to Emergency Exit concept!) in all comforts. Then the usual mela came in, with loads of strangers and strugglers to get a seat with a few women with their children, a partial drunkard and last but not the least  a “ Man in Uniform”. I could read, Indian Army on his pockets all over and his Initial with his surname inscribed with yellow thread embroidery on his right pocket flap as J.Chaudari. His calm sedate charm was worth noticing, he was around 21or 22 years of age, he got a seat on the other side of mine.  For a while, I wanted to start a conversation but for around 20 minutes he was busy getting settled and he did not make any eye contact too. After a while I over heard him talking to someone on his cell phone and mentioning himself as Jagdish.

The conductor was giving everyone the tickets and collecting the fare, must say he was honest enough to give back every passenger Rs.12 as change if one had given a hundred rupee note. While buying ticket I asked for Ahmedabad, the army guy asked for one to Radhanpur. To my surprise incidentally or accidently  my eyes were on his wallet which he was opening to pay the fare to the conductor.

What can one expect in a young army guy’s wallet? Some cash, an identity card, an atm card, and in the photo pocket a family photo or a picture of his beloved ones or some GOD. Let me tell I did not see any of these in his photo pocket, rather what I saw was surprising. It was a portrait picture of” Swami Vivekananda.” I could not move my eyes from the person for a while, I was lost in some space for a while without even realizing what I was seeing.

This was tempting me to know more about the person and I was expecting to strike a conversation with him. But the Swami Vivekanada’s picture had taken a toll over me. I could not stop thinking about the article I read a day before in the local newspaper about his Famous 1893 Parliament of Religions speech at Chicago. The ever inspiring speech was all again before my eyes, every word I read a day before was  coming to me. We as citizens of India have failed upto an extent to keep his vision for modern India alive, He represented India in parliament of religions  and was so open minded and a reformist of one of his kind. His speech there was not regarding one religion or sect that he believed in, it was about integrity of Mankind.

We all know about Swami Vivekananda’s contribution in shaping the modern India and the out look to the world as a country with oldest civilization history. It amazed me how a young soldier so much influenced by someone like swami Vivekananda and has inculcated the values of Integrity and nationalism from him. I am just guessing that the guy is influenced by Vivekananda’s thoughts, but something is making me think that Swami Vivekananda must be this Army Lad’s IDOL and his inspiration and motive behind joining the Indian Army, I was still confused whether to strike a conversation with him or not.

There has been lot said, read, written and heard about Swami Vivekanada’s glory, though I potrayed him once as a child in some competition I was not able to know all his character. Some of what I could know about Swami Vivekananda was through books, and during my visit to Bellurmath . The calm serene sand stone structure on one bank and Dakshineshwar’s hustle bustle on the other of the river Hoogly. My quest to know him has been since childhood, the enigma of the character has always been around me and I am always trying to know him better.

The question of why is he Idolized by young army men?  That is something to be sought after, according to me the Swami Vivekananda has served the nation in true sense, as young man, a seeker, a researcher a reformer , an activist and a divine light making him truly a “VIBHUTI”.

I finally gathered courage to ask that young man about his whereabouts and came to know that he is 21 yrs old, coming back from Bhopal and serving in 3EME regiment. He was going back home after eight and a half months, the happiness was evident. I asked him about the picture and all my assumptions proved to be right about Swami  Vivekananda being his IDOL and we exchanged pleasantries and he was very open to discuss how at the age of 8 years he first read about swami Vivekananda and got this picture of him since then with him which he carries always in his wallet. He is still left with his graduation but to serve the nation is up on the front.

I salute this young man who not only carries a picture but also told me that he follows the ideals of Swami Vivekananda in his life and that has helped him achieve. SWAMI VIVEKANADA – a true inspiration to today’s youth and for coming n-number of generations.

The great Indian drifting tradition

The Great drifting Indian tradition:

Drifting is one of the finest attributes of We Indians. We can change the course of action just by joining hypothecations of the varied Indian culture. I wish we could drift the waters of all the rivers and save them so that no one dies of scarcity of it. We the people of India, can drift from the most important to the least noticeable virtues of life. There has been numerous instances since we achieved independence and even before that which I would not consider as the union of India was commemorated after it. The way the world looked upon us as a divided state united, we all together said united we stand, divided we fall, though to a larger extent we were successful in claiming and proving it. Despite we had just drifted ourselves from the correct path to move on when socialistic thinking was governed by communistic ones and communalistic ones too. We tried to close eyes and walk on the way of ardent truth and secularism. These gave babies called corruption and pseudo secularism with more of family expansion of poverty and unemployment with surgency of illiteracy. Just by the numbers of the recent census 2011, the skewed ratio of male : female has been very easily been over looked by the state this is another drift. There has been a large contribution of every individual for their POV in drifting the matter from the main objective. Had it been such a case during independence struggle, would have it been able to get it?!! I see no possiblilities.

Reality bites hard we all know but drifts has not only set the pace slow but also has given a chance for several other forces to come into picture. When we take our attention from something sensitive to something less sensitive we tend to become more tolerant and insensitive. The insensitivity not only results in the more drift but also creates a divide. India had a recent victory in cricket world cup 2011 we all celebrated it without any distinction amongst individuals, we created the true Indian spirit come on the roads, while the same when demanded for the cause of corruption does not seem to be playing well. What has drifted us from national pride now? The Netas ,the babus we all know we elect them or either we are one of them but what keeps us at bay from getting along for the cause of nation you ask this and a 100 answers will come out. A sound mind would definitely would love to join the forces and bring them to enforce strong will of getting things done the majority wants. I know here again a drift can surge out for the me claiming the majority and minority divide. The division brings not only substraction in strength but division in will. This leads to enormous wastage of positivity and possibility of achieving what we could not do till today.

How do we consolidate the time loss or how do we make up the benefits lost? Every one can do a bit of their and see how this comes out to be a beautiful picture. No imagination has colours until the dreams are lived!

A spatial Living

A spatial Living:

From the beginning of the life mankind has always been adaptive to the conditions subjected to. This not only has helped the humans to evolve but also helped emotions to flourish. Though at times the ability to adapt, modify and renovate have been proved to be the most dangerous, still the dimensions that can define life have remain constant along with time.

If I were to talk about time as a dimension, I would not repeat that it is already been told in the previous post of mine but here by I would prefer to say the spatial ability of human to be in different times( here I refer to emotional states) at the same time ( the one that is shown in the Digits). We often say that good times don’t last long where as the bad times never end quickly. At this point we refer to both the hourly count and the change of emotional states. The harmony is disturbed only when there comes a difference in the phase. The space is too large, as the time is unlimited. The universe is too big and so the endless conformations for a life where dimensions instead of being constant can be seen dynamic.

The advocates of momentary living always keep an eye on the present and winning the present is the greatest of the achievements for them but the past which has in-a-way helped them in the present win holds no importance for them. The future may fall them to the gallows of miseries; which they take as their fate. This is a sheer lack of the vision and also the ability to adapt. “ The moment is mine” is a perception very delusional unless you don’t know to make “ the moment is mine forever”. The eternity of the moment is what has to be thought about and not the fraction of it. The moment can be yours for ever only if the moment is shaped, adapted and accepted by the universe as a dimension just like time.

You can win the moment, you can’t live the moment, you can make the best use of it but what if you cannot fit it into conscious and subconscious of the population around you? The fluidity of every individual has its own resistance which has to be dealt without taking over the other. Between every layer of life there is enough space to accommodate changes, adapt to them and fill the gaps. Rather civilizations are based on this principle of “spatial Living”. I fear that, if this spatial concept disappears that would be the only leading cause of extinction of human race. The world has been through such rough patches of time but the spatiality of only a single individual capable enough to fill the wide gaps has saved the world till now.

Ingredients of the spatial living have been simple, known and practiced since the inception of life. Threats for the same have been in the same dimension since then. Nonetheless has been able to overtake each other. According to Hindu belief the mortal body is made up of “panchtatva”- five essentials viz: Air, water, sky, earth and fire; so is the human soul immortal “atma” made up five essentials : Love, truth, compassion, non-violence and self.

A comparsion of the mortal and immortal with respect to the spatial living gives a clear picture of the purpose of life:

Love is like air present everywhere you just need to breathe right to live.

Truth is like water essential for living without which life will be dry and parched.

Compassion is like sky ; it is there for everyone but only is shown where the clouds decide to rain.

Non-violence is like earth bearing every assault giving out fruits whenever required.

Self is like fire, if you let it grow to become EGO you will be burnt but if you lighten it rightly it will be the brightest of all just like a lamp.

Five ingredients of the immortal self and five of the mortal when are harmonious to each other give rise to SPATIAL LIVING. This makes life a dimension in itself forever to be remembered.

God Answers Ten Questions

:God Answers ten questions:

( excerpts from 11^th Sakandh of Shirmad Bhagwat; Lord Krishna answers the questions himself)

Q.1 Which is said to be the greatest ‘daan’ ?

Ans: To impart Kshama ( pardon) is the greatest ‘daan’, because even if someone has hurt you, done evil to you and still you forgive him whole heartedly at that time your forgiveness becomes your ornament. Instead of punishing him you can forgive him and he will repent on doing a deed like this. His tears will follow out of the eyes and wash away his guilt. Nothing is greater than washing away someone’s guilt so forgiving or granting pardon for the mistake is the best “ daan”

Q.2.Which is the greatest “Tap”(penance)?

Ans: To give up all desires is the best “Tap” (penance) because lesser the desires that will make a person sanyansi even amongst the worldly pleasures. It is really difficult to give up all worldly desires to live and hence to give up all of the desires is considered to be the best penance.

Q.3. which is the greatest valor act?

Ans: To win over one’s own nature is the greatest act of valor, because one can win the whole world but one cannot win easily over one’s own nature. The victory over self is the best victory.

Q.4. Which is the greatest truth?

Ans: To see ”Paramatma” in every living being is the greatest truth.

Q.5. which is the best season?

Ans: The God replied: “ the sweet words that flow from one’s mouth” is the best season, because even in the spring if someone says “Katu vachan” ( unpleasant words) spoils the mood of the season but even in the times of autumn if someone says sweet words it brings a bloom on the face of the listener.

Q.6.Which is considered to be the best “Sanyas”?

Ans: The best “sanyas” is not only to leave all worldly attachments but also to leave all the pleasures that are available whether by the means of money or by the authorities.

Q.7. Which is the greatest “dhan” (wealth)?

Ans: the greatest wealth is the “dharma” because “dharma” is the most valuable wealth one can inherit.

Q.8. Which is the best “yagya”?

Ans: God himself is the best “yagya”, because God himself is a yagya in himself.

Q.9. which is the best “dakshina”?

Ans: To this God replied: Gyan( knowledge) is the best “dakshina”. All other worldly things will perish one day or can be snatched away with power whereas knowledge given to someone is something no one can take away nor can ask for a share into it. It will multiply only if it is used for the welfare.

Q.10. Which is the strongest Force?

Ans: to this God Replied: That Pranayam is the best driving force.

These are the questions that God replied but the gist of all if taken can be taken as Love:

To this: “How Love?”Is regarded as gist lets take a quick look at what all has been said by the God and take a look at the answers with “LOVE”:

Ans:1: The greatest Daan is kshama daan but when can one give Kshama ? Its only when one’s heart is full of love, for instance the Lord Mahavir’s ears were pierced with Spears where as Christ was crucified still they were able to forgive the perpetuators of the tyrannies on them only because their hearts were full of love and compassion and hence we can look at this as the Best Daan is “Prem Daan”.

For Ans 2: The Greatest penance is to give up all desires, but who can give up all desires? The one who is full of love can give up all desires and hence can give rise to the penance. For instance devotee poet Narsinh Mehta Loved God so much that he was able to leave a life of poor though was content. Mirabai was full of love for Lord Krishna and hence she could give up the pleasures of being a Queen and adapted the life of “jogan”. She could substantially stand the criticism of people because of love . All the great sages could penance because of love for God; hence the Love is the greatest penance. “prem Tap” is the best tap.

While the 3^rd ans of god is about winning one’s own nature that makes it the best act of valor. This can be still taken with instance of Narsinh Mehta Who was a Brahmin of Nagar subcaste but still he went on to the Harijans(untouchables) to make them aware about God and made them pray. This courage of his considered to be most valiant in his time, similarly Mirabai being the queen of Mewad she became a Jogan and started roaming with The sages which is also a valiant act in her times, where all this has come from in them at that time. It is just because of sheer Love for God. The one who is coward is unable to achieve such great love for the God. Thus, Love can be taken as the best courage.

In the fourth answer, shri bhagwan says that to see God in all the living beings is the best truth . Every life has God into him and it’s the ultimate truth which can be only be said if you have an equal eye for all and that’s also not possible without love. If the heart is not full of love then one cant see God in all living beings: “ Jag mahi Jagdish Dise nahi, Jo na ho Hriday ma Prem”. When there is no ill feeling for anyone in the world than only one can see God in everyone. So as to see God in everyone one has to be full of love and that’s the ultimate truth.

While answering the 5^th question God mentioned about the sweet words considering it as the best season but when does one utter sweet words? Sweet words can come only if one has love in his heart.

If there is all confrontation and ill will in one’s heart then sweetness of the words uttered is lost. The best season is also Love because without love no sweet words can come out.

In the 6^th answer to give up “tyag” is has been regarded as the best sanyas; but this feeling of giving up things for good of the others comes only when the person has enough love for the people around him and the readiness to help everyone out. A sanyasi never thinks about himself while he serves someone’s purpose. The one who gives up all for the cause of humanity, for the cause of God must have enough love for the world, the humanity. The best example for this is mother and her new born baby; the mother is even ready to give her life while giving birth to the baby and so the love for the baby leads the mother to even give up her life. The Love itself has to be regarded as the greatest sanyas as this proves that to give up “tyag” has love in its root-cause.

About the seventh question the best wealth God replied : Dharma is the best wealth. Can Dharma be there without Love? There is not Religion in this world without Love. Hence Love is the best wealth one can have. All religions have one common basis and that is love and hence religion without love is not religion.

For the eight answer about the “yagya” The God says that He himself is the best “yagya”. The “yagya” performed as a ritual is consuming ghee, woods, Jav and til but Prem yagya is the most difficult one to be done where one has to give ones own self to the fire God, one’s ego has to be sacrificed in Love along with loads of tears just like ghee in other yagya’s help getting the fire more fierce the same tears do it in case of prem yagya. Hence the prem yagya is the best of all and God himself is the Ocean of Love which inturn is the greatest Prem yagya.

The ninth answer about the knowledge ”gyan” as the best Dakshina . if you treat your guests with some high knowledge talks but if they don’t understand anything it will be a futile effort. If you give some sage a lakh rupees but u don’t respect him that’s all vain. The gyan you give or the money u spend in charity is of no use if u don’t have love and respect. Instead if you sit near the guest and say that u don’t have anything to offer but with all love and respect you can give the best dakshina.

The last answer was about the Pranayam; the rhythm of breathing. The changes and hold over the breath is the best force one can have. The changes and the hold makes one eager for being face to face with god. Instance of Tulsidas can help us understand this: Tulsidasji went to meet his beloved Ratnavali rowing with a snake on dead body in the river. This instance shows that Love is the greatest force which is equivalent to the pranayam. If at all worldly love can give so much of force, just imagine how much force it would give out when it is for the God himself?!!

At last only one thing can be concluded that In the whole universe the best element without which the heart becomes a machine and that is Love: “Prem Devo Bhava”!!

The excerpts about the love are taken from dialogue from discourse from Shri Morari bapu who is a revered deliverer of the Shri Ram Charit Manas. This was published in a local news paper under the column Manas darshan , October 3,2010. The orginal article has been in gujarati but has been translated by me trying to keep the essence of the talk the same according to my understanding. I beg the pardon if any of my interpretations of the discourse have been found contradicting or unreasonable just because of my limited ability of vocabulary and to understand the Param Tatva delivered there by.

A Mother For All!

An Albanian Lady by birth, a catholic nun by belief, an Indian citizen by work but An Angel of Humanity To the whole world...." The Blessed Mother Teresa"....

All great things have been said and done for this amazing woman whom I cannot get off my mind ever since my childhood. I have been reading about her the day I was in class 5th when I first came across her story as a chapter in my school syllabus.. as when I grew up I tried to find more about her and endlessly have read a lot about her work, and the way she served humanity.

It is an amazing journey that she has treaded in this world and the path she walked upon has left the footprints for every individual of her times or of the coming times to think upon that how can one be so selflessly compassionate and dedicated to the cause of love and peace?!!

She has sent an extraordinary example of serving humanity by crossing the borders of religion, caste, race, countries, traditions etc that we humans have created to to distinguish.She impersonated compassion, love, human values and service. Her irrespective attitude towards the troubles on the path she was walking has made her immortal and has given a chance to survival of the weakest against the laws of survival of the fittest of Darwin. She has enriched the life of the weakest, dying and the unwanted by her love and compassion. She has brought peace to every soul she passed by.. Her shadow was sufficient to create the magic of life.. I fall short of words in describing her here... rather I would like to quote her here about love "f we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it"..

My heartiest respects to Angel of Humanity on the occasion of her Birth Centenary year

Metamorphosis: A mircale of life

Metamorphosis: a process involved in changing the dimensions, meaning, goals, aim, personality, outlook and over all outcome of an individual. The word scientifically used shows a change or stages of life of a creature where it transforms it body from one form to another. A metamorphosis takes place in every individuals life right from the day one till the last day. The way the process proceeds takes a different course in every individuals life, for some its overnight and radicle for some its gradual and evolutionary.

A butterfly evolves from a larva; who knows that a grey coloured slimy looking creature will evolve into the most beautiful creation of the almighty. The course of development decides how the outcome will be ( though being outcome driven is not so supportive of the theory of self evolution). The major changes that takes place in an individual during what we call his experiences of life are deep rooted in the psyche he develops during his larval stages ( infancy).

Every individual has ample and equal amount of opportunities; none is less in the grey matter content but the correct acceptance of the fact of being able to be novel lacks in the one who deems to be static. We all know that "change is the only constant thing in life"; though we ignore the changes and dont adapt according to them. The miracle called metamorphosis takes place in altogether different way in every individuals life, but the need is to realise, utilize and optimize the changed parameters. The day an orderly balance is achieved in the system consisting of the soul and the universe the entropy will tend to zero and the individual will be relieved of all worldly stress : we can name it MIRACLE.. of Metamorphosis..