MOTHER

If God has a face it would have kindness of you

If God has grace his smile would have warmth of you

If God has compassion his hands would be gentle as yours

If God has reflection it would be serene as yours

Oh Mother ! if God had form He would have looked like you

You were the shade of Banyan Tree in scorching summer

You were the warmth of sun in cold winter

You were the Messiah of destitute for who non-one cared

You were an Angel for those whose grief no one shared

You were a hope for many a downtrodden

You were a respite for those whom others had forgotten

You taught us the greatest service that Man could ever do

Oh Mother ! if God had form He would have looked like you

In a time when Man treads on Man

You worked unflinchingly where others ran

You taught us human values are supreme

You told us to love fellow human beings

You made us realise that blood is thicker than water

You showed us that He is the Greatest Creator

With faith and determination there is nothing which Man can not do

Oh Mother ! if God had form He would have looked like you.

Angry Goddess

 From my childhood I have been observing Goddess Durga being portrayed in an angry form. Off course, when She is engaged in a cosmic battle with the Demon King Mahisashur, anger is the most appropriate emotion that can be depicted. But at least I for one find it difficult to relate to a Goddess who is ever angry.

            The scriptures stipulate that God is beyond space, time or form. But for the purpose of our perception we have to identify God with one or the other form that appeals to us. Being Mother of all creations I feel benevolence should be a more durable feature of Ma Durga. I find it easier to accept an image of the Goddess that radiates kindness.

            We believe in Gods and Goddesses as it gives us a sense of security. We can depend upon them in difficult times. We ask for their blessings for fulfilling our unending desires. Such prayer can only be made to a Mother who listens to her children and takes care of them. An angry God or Goddess will be worshipped more out of  fear than love lest She vents Her ire on the erring subjects. Such attitudes are feudalistic.

            I remember my grandfather was an ardent devotee of Goddess Kali. Whenever he would buy fruits or sweets he would first offer them to Her with much fondness. Perhaps he shared a similar feeling that there was kindness behind the angry façade of the Goddess. Great saints are revered for their acts of kindness. How can the Supreme Creator, therefore, be an epitome of anger ?

            On my last visit to Kali Ghat in Kolkatta I searched for an image of Goddess Kali that would portray her kindness. After looking in different shops for sometime my efforts were fruitful. I was happy not only on finding such an iage but on discovering the fact that there are others who share a similar feeling as mine.

            Anger makes us irrational and do things which we may repent later. It is an emotion which at best may only be exhibited and not felt. Kindness on the other hand helps us to overcome our ego. It helps us to think beyond ourselves. It teaches us to care and share. It prepares us to sacrifice for others. It keeps us in touch with Nature. It takes us closer to the Ultimate Truth.

            Let the kindness in us prevail over our anger.

Life

Life is short

Is it not ?

Then why those lines on the forehead?

Why do the eyes tears so much shed?

If this life were a bit more long

I wonder what I would have done!

Still I wish I have a long life!

May be I like the present strife

If you ask me the reason why

I’ll say Mans’ like that and that’s I

In Search of Peace

   There are no two opinions that all of us want a peaceful life. But peace eludes us. We, the urban population, can be considered to be better placed than our rural brethren as materialistically we are better off. However, it is a known fact that the urbanites are caught in the fast life of the cities which ultimately tell upon their health and social relations. In more developed countries pace of life is still faster, so much so that those who are not able to keep pace with this life style suffer from cultural shock.

            On the other hand the rural folk are shackled to out-dated social norms. In many villages in our Country child marriages is still common and inter caste marriages is unthinkable. Proper medical and educational systems are found wanting. For them cities are considered greener pastures. Many of them migrate to the urban areas in search of a better life, increasing the pressure on already congested cities. When their dreams still remain unfulfilled some of them resort to theft and other crimes or take to begging. Thus we can safely conclude that peace is not a matter of logistics.

            According to Maslow’s theory of Hierarchy of needs Man first tries to fulfil his basic needs like food, shelter and clothing. Next priority is given to fulfillment of social needs like family, friendship. Then be tries to fulfil his desire for associating with a group which gives rise to feeling of Nationality, belonging to a particular community. Once these needs are fulfilled he tries to fulfil his need for recognition in society which motivates him for competition with others. The last stage indicated by Maslow when all other needs are fulfilled is need for self-Esteem i.e. striving for safe guarding what he has achieved so far. Thus Man is constantly striving at every stage and never at peace.

            This gives rise to the basic question as to what is peace ? Like happiness, it is a state of mind. The Bhagvad Gita says “Be a Karmayogi. Do your duty and don’t bother about the fruits of your work”. While this is easier said than done, there is good logic in the quotation. If we choose one day in a week to help others it helps us in forgetting our needs. The more we practice, the greater control we can achieve over our ego. Working for others gives more meaning to our existence. A person who devotes his life for others is respected the most in society. The more we forget our own needs the more peaceful we can be with ourselves.

Let us develop the will to earn our peace.

Transience

The rose unclosed its green bud,

And Smiled at the morning Sun.

When people saw it they cried

Oh! What a lovely one

How sweet! How charming!

How enchanting! They sighed

And closer and closer to it they bend,

They let their eyes feast on it,

And filled their nostrils with its scent

The bees sipped its Nectar

Which tasted like sweet wine,

They rested on the satin petals,

And wished if only these were mine!

As time flowed along

The petals shed one by one,

Soon no eyes looked twice at it

It had its admirers none,

They trampled on the same petals.

Which fell to the ground,

These petals are worthless now!

They cried.

Which now the wind knocked around.

Raghu

Raghu lay in the cool shade of the banyan tree. The multi-storeyed building was at last complete. There had been the usual distribution of sweets by the contractor. But Raghu’s heart was filled with sadness. For the past about two years the structure had become a home for him and his family and many other labourers like him. He did not have to bother about the rain, the cold winter winds and heat of the summer season. In the evening after a hard day’s work he and his wife would watch their two children playing in the foreground. All this will have to change now.

            From where he lay the building loomed large and seemed to kiss the sky. Raghu wondered at the Irony of fate. From tomorrow he would not be allowed to come anywhere near the building which he and hundreds like him had constructed. He had become a non-entity for them. The building would house people whose wealth was beyond his comprehension.

            Raghu decided that there was no point in wasting any more time. Life must go on. He had to find a new job. But first a new shelter. Before his assignment on the multi-storeyed building he was staying in a juggi colony near the railway tracks. He decided to shift there for the time-being. As the place was in the suburbs of the city he asked his wife to hurry up with their few belongings so that they could reach the place before sunset. After trudging the long distance on foot, they could reach the place at last. But at first sight he could not recognize the place, No juggi was visible in the area. He could locate someone familiar and asked him about the juggis. He was told that the juggis had been cleared as a new multi-storeyed building was to come up there. Raghu sat down with a heavy heart. Why was fate so cruel to him and people like him who helped in providing shelter for others. His brother who worked as a farm-labourer in his native place led a similar hand to mouth life. Perhaps God who was the provider for all mankind had chosen him and people like him to carry out His work on this Earth of providing food and shelter for other and sacrifice their own life for this divine task.

Laughing At Myself

   It is true that laughter is the best medicine but you must have a reason to laugh. You can either laugh at others or your own self. I assure you that laughing at yourself is much safer than laughing at another. That way you neither hurt the other’s feelings  nor run the risk of getting hurt yourself if the object of your laughter is in no mood to humour you and is stronger than you. The only risk in laughing at yourself is that an observer may thinks that you are either in love or mentally imbalanced.

            Each one of us would have at one time or the other experienced some humorous moments in life whose memory evokes a smile on our face. I have experienced many such incidents two of which I narrate now.

            A couple of years back in winters many a times I used to travel to office by local train to avoid the traffic on the road and pollution. I covered the distance from my resident to the railway station by my two-wheeler. On one such foggy morning I got late. As I parked my two-wheeler at the stand I saw my train entering the station. I rushed to the platform after crossing the over-bridge and was just in time to board the train. I was fortunate to get a seat. After a few moments of attaining normalcy from my breathless condition I found that number of eyes were staring at me. Impulsively I looked at my clothes. I found everything in order. I concluded that as I was an occasional traveler I was an object of curiosity for them. Station after station passed by. At one of the stations, may be it was Nizamuddin, I recall now that a small boy about five years of age was pointing a finger at me and laughing. I was too engrossed in planning the day’s routine to pay any attention. On reaching Tilak Bridge I readied myself for disembark at the next station. As I put my hand to my head to take off my woolen cap, to my horror I found that all along I had my helmet on the head which I had forgotten to take off  before boarding the train. Even today recalling the incidence makes me wonder at my absentmindness.

            The next incidence I narrate after obtaining due permission of my better half. Once we were invited to the house of a Bengali family in the vicinity in connection with finding a suitable match for my unmarried cousin. Before entering the sitting room we took off our shoes, as is customary. After exchanging pleasantries and consuming the refreshments offered it was now time for us to depart. On coming out, while putting on my black shoes my eyes fell on a lone brown shoe that looked familiar. Suddenly it struck me that the shoe was mine. But what was a single shoe of mine doing in the house of a stranger when I had never visited that house before? To my shock I found that my wife who had adorned a beautiful silk sari, perfect makeup had made one mistake in her attire. In hurry she had put on one of her shoe and one of mine. It was a Herculean task to control our laughter lest our host may take it otherwise. Nowadays whenever we go out she is extra cautious to ensure that she has put on the correct pair of shoes and also asks me to confirm this.

            Try laughing at yourself. It is more enjoyable than laughing at others.

Menace of Soap Operas

  God! Give us this day our daily TV serial! Is the new prayer on the lips of today’s TV addicts. The problem has acquired such proportion that it has ruined the social life of the average urbanite. It is not surprising if we are not aware who our neighbors are though they have been living next to us for ages. If an acquaintance mistakenly knocks at the door when our favorite soap opera is in progress he better be prepared to retreat from the entrance itself. The most despised lot is the electricity board staff in the event of a power cut midway of a soap opera. I feel appalled at the continuous tirade of the choicest abuses showered upon the staff on duty by family member after family member. Fortunately, the outburst is confined to the four walls of the dwelling unit. Sharing a quiet evening over a cup of tea and a plate of refreshments has become wishful thinking. Inadvertently, if you happen to ask your dear one to bring some refreshments from the kitchen be prepared to encounter the coldest look that is bound to freeze  you midway of your request.

            The height of this addiction can be judged from this interesting incidence I came to know the other day. A person was watching his favorite soap opera which he realized that his house was being ransacked by a thief. Instead of raising a hue and cry he continued to watch the programme till the end without tension and thereafter the thief. How ! Because it happened to be the favorite soap opera of the thief as well and he could not afford to miss it at any cost.

            Now about the context of the soap operas, the lesser said the better. Intrigues, family members scheming against other family members, advertisement of new superstitions, deceased characters springing back to life like the slain heads of Ravana are common features of most soap operas on the popular channels. You do not remember their beginning and there is no hope of their coming to an end soon. Midway the characters have changed umpteen times. Perhaps the Director and Script Writer have also changed. As for the storyeline there is none, courtesy the TV addicts the Promoters are able to secure enough sponsorship to live happily ever after.

Whither To

    It is said that once in the presence of Swami Vivekananda, Gurudev Ramkishna Paramhansa started groaning, Swami Vivekananda asked his Guru as to what was the matter. Gurudev said that across the river a land lord was beating one of his disciples and that he (Gurudev) could experience the pain felt by his disciple. In fact cane marks appeared on his back. That was the extent to which Gurudev Ramkishna Paramhansa cared for his disciples. While this may sound like fiction, a friend of mine narrated a similar episode recently. My friend’s Guruji resides in an ashram in Himachal Pradesh. Once on his way to the ashram my friend met with a minor accident and received a few cuts on his shoulder. However, he continued his trip to the ashram. While conversing        with his Guruji at the ashram, Guruji complained of some pain in his shoulder. On removing the loin cloth from the shoulder, to his utter surprise, my friend found similar cut marks like the one on his shoulder. Both the above incidents depict that when we care for others to that extent even the physical distinction between self and others vanish. If that is the degree of feeling one human being can have for another, image the pain undergone all the time by the Almighty God because of the sufferings of the disciples.

            During the last century there has been tremendous technological progress. Distances have shrunk; means of communication have never been so efficient and affordable; developments on the medical front are unimaginable; it is truly a space age where   Man is looking beyond the Earthy frontiers for creating new habitats.

            Along with the technological progress there have also been changes on the social front, but in which direction? In this age of the internet where communicating with someone across the world has never been easier, do we know who our neighbours are? Why is it that senior citizens are left alone to fend for themselves against criminals on the prowl? Are parents to be treated as use and throw commodities?

            Once an elderly gentlemen expressed his desire to his only son settled in the USA that after his wife passed away he felt all alone and would like to spend his last days with his son Prompt came the reply from the son that he had made arrangements for his father in an Old Age Home in a place near to his residence where his father could move in immediately.

            The family pattern over the years has gradually transformed from joint family to nuclear family to further disintegration in more developed societies where adhocism     prevails. The consequences are high divorce rates, children going wayward and taking to bad habits like smoking, drinking and drug abuse etc.

            Despite the phenomenal material progress, on certain aspects we have not been able to reorient our mindset. What kind of parents are those because of whom the backyard of a nursing home in Patiala is full of rotting female fetuses? Why this distinction between man and woman continues when a large majority of the populace worships the Almighty Goddess of Shakti.

            Despite all the progress we have not been able to overcome the barriers between caste and religion. Why is it that the dark side of man continues to prevail in the form of war and terrorism raising its ugly head from time to time killing hundreds of innocent people including women and children? Why have we come to accept such heinous crimes as a part of things happening around us. Why have we become apathetic towards such tragedies?

            Lord Ram is worshiped because he never forgot what his Dharma was. The day before he was to be crowned he readily give up the throne to fulfill the wish of his father and step mother. He sacrificed his marital life on the desires of his subjects. Dharma continues to play as important a role today as it did then. But how many if us realize what our Dharma is? When each one of us is conscious of what our Dharma is we shall be at peace with ourselves and with others and help in creating a better society.

           

Let us all strive to follow our Dharma and create a society that will truly reflect Gurudev Rabindernath Tagore’s verses :

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

Coma

  He could sense the flurry in the hospital as he gained consciousness. It was a miracle that a man in coma for the last almost 50 years could regain consciousness. The resonance of “Inqulab zindabad” still rang in his ears. He remembered now having received a lathi blow from the British police while hoisting a tri-colour. He turned his attention slowly to the environment around him. Everything seemed to have changed – the people, their clothes, their lingo, their tastes, everything. As he walked out of the hospital there was a strong urge to know and understand the present. He picked up a newspaper from the nearby stand. It seemed that evolution of man was now in the reverse direction. The paper was full of depressing news of war, terrorism, murder, suicide, robbery, industrial unrest, hollowness of politicians etc. Is this what he had fought for with the British ? There must be some link with the past to which he could reconcile himself.

            There was a procession coming towards him. But what is this he heard. They were chanting “Inqulab Zindabad, Inqulab Zindabad”. So the spirit was not dead. He moved forward. He belonged to that procession. As the procession reached the market place, there was sudden anarchy. The mob resorted to looting, arson and burning of vehicles. He stood still dumbstruck. The police were upon them now swinging their lathis. He stood still not bothering what happened. He did’nt care. He received a lathi blow on his dead. He was aware that he was fast receeding into unconsciousness. He prayed to God that if at all he was to gain consciousness again, it may only be at a time when fellow feeling would be back, the beastliness in man had faded, the narrow walls between one and other, between nation and nation did not exist, when human values would reign supreme.