It's been over a month and so many thoughts go through your mind in a month but not all make a readable narrative .Last 30 days have been really interesting, a lot of travel, temple runs, hospital trips, a few books, House of Cards and the highlight was introspection time. Some percolated thoughts ......
Immutable and evolving : In 1994 , when my maternal grandfather passed away , I was exposed to the Hindu rituals of death. After a full day of step by step prescriptive actions , me and a handful of people were silently watching his pyre . As a human body was reducing to ash and a soul evaporating into the universe, millions of thoughts crossed me . When we walked out of the funeral ground , we were to follow one last ritual . All, who are walking out are given a sermon by the priests . I remember that sermon even today word by word . That sermon is possibly the shortest, most crisp, profound yet so penetrating . It says in "Sanatan" dharma death is not the end , its not the conclusion of a journey , its a hop , "aatma " has moved on to take another form . Therefore it is imperative on all "Sanatan Dharmis" (followers of Hinduism) that they treat anything with a soul with utmost respect . I interjected the priest and asked "What is Sanatan" , he said , what stays constant over ages is Sanatan . I was in Jaipur between 17th and Dec 21st and one night before going to bed , not sure why , I was recollecting the whole sermon . Its been 23 years now to that day. In last ten years, how many new concepts and things have come in our life and how we got used to them. So many things and practices didnt exist just ten years ago. Let me list some of them, Smartphone , Ipad, Kindle, 4G, Uber, Airbnb, Android, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Selfie Mania and so many others . Just for a day, can we rewind our life to 2006. or even to 1994 ? Imagine not having a cell phone , Imagine pictures being taken only on a film camera and sending Greeting Cards . There are "Sanatan" needs of our lives which are perpetual, eternal and Immutable. Do we know them ? Can we list ? Can we segregate them ? Take a pause and think about what needs, aspirations and dreams you had when you were 18 and how you look back at them today. Sadly most dreams and aspirations are about things and events. A wish to buy a car, travel, make money, get married and yaada yaada . Are they "Sanatan" needs ? This thought kept me thinking . During my trip we visited many palaces and forts and as expected , we would hire a "guide" who is more of a storyteller. The guide we hired was, in fact, a Political Science Graduate and I asked him the same question. What did the kings live for, what inspired them? His answer was simple, they lived for their generations to come , for love and valour , for their principles . I heard it but despite the fine architecture , the stories and journey of all these places, I kept circling back to Sanatan goals . This thought was as captivating and as intoxicating as the Glenlivet . Next, I did a small exercise in my 24 hour train journey , Let's map a few lives around us and their aspirations and list them. Money , Better jobs, bigger apartments, more travel, more "social" recognition, more likes on their selfies and check-ins , an insatiable cycle of creating a hormonal rush and the mad chase to quench that thirst, loose weight , look sexier , younger , hide wrinkles , better cars and list is endless ...What of this I wondered, is Sanatan ? What if you are diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer all of a sudden and your packing orders arrive? By the time got off the train, I had read one of my old posts, its called "Half an epitaph". Life is all about writing an epitaph and nothing else . Its about indelible mark we will leave behind when we are gone. Sanatan to me is "changing rules for changing needs" and unchanging rules for unchanging needs ...
हर नयी सांस ने, मरहम सा काम किया , वक़्त ने ज़रा भी नहीं, मुझे बदला लोगो ...
पकवान , मकान , सामान , खुशशक्ल इंसान, इनसे बहल जाने का कभी नहीं सोचा लोगो
मंज़िल समझ के रुक गए रास्ते में हमक़दम , ऐसे रास्तों ने मुझे नहीं रोका लोगो ....
आये बुरे वक़्त , मिले चंद नाखुशगवार लोग , हुई रुसवाई , बस हौसला नहीं छोड़ा लोगो ...
इंसान जैसे भी मिले ,नज़र से नज़र मिलायी , आखों से ज़हन को पढ़ना नहीं छोड़ा लोगो ...
दुनिया समझ में आयी, लेकिन आयी देर से , असूलों के गहरे रंग ने, मुझे नहीं छोड़ा लोगो...
Temple Run : A friend of mine asked me last month to explain the contradiction in my personality. Her exact question was "You are a typical Alpha male and how do you explain your frequent visits to temples and belief in rituals. I understood the essence of the question but I didn't understand what an "alpha male" was (yes that true) . I asked for time to revert and in the meantime, i googled "alpha male" to understood the characteristics. To answer this in the right context, I first asked her as to why do people go to temples in her understanding. Her answer was on expected lines , she said people go to temples to pray for divine intervention in things they need and expect a miracle . In my teenage , I often used to wonder how Karma redemption happens for the atheists, how will they be assigned to Hell or heaven . I started my conversation with her on the alpha male part first. I asked her that who does she think, has an alpha male characteristics in the Hindu beliefs . Her answer was a good guess ...Arjun, she swiftly replied . I read out to her the characteristics of the "alpha male" and to me Raavan, Duryodhana also fitted the description really well . Descriptions of characteristics is always a very futile exercise because there are always tangents of a character which make them unique. Everyone we meet in life is unique, they may have shades of some characters but no character is a repeat or an exact replica.
I then went on to answer the "temple run" question. Temple Run is also referred to as "Darshan", the word Darshan also means philosophy and it is to introspect and reflect. Temples are only one part of one's karmic journey . First one is "Karma" Path, this means just do your duty, you may be a housewife bringing up kids or a security guard doing his job well, delivering diligently on your responsibility is good enough. Second is "Dharma" path, be righteous, be just and as far as possible do the right thing. The third Path is "Gyaan" Path, which is the pursuit of knowledge , sharing knowledge. Teachers, Scientists, researchers and knowledge seekers are all in this category, they are progressing on their karma path as well. The last and least important path is "Anuraag " Path, which is reflection and time to connect dots. Anuraag path means who make social courtesy visits to places which make you reflect on all your paths. Darshan is hence not offering Coconut and flowers, it's a journey and place to reflect upon urself and your respective paths. Some people don't need reflection at all, some more and some less ...
Svaha : I am sure you have heard this term as a word in Yagnas and Poojas but of late I have realised that it has a much deeper connotation. As per Wikipedia, Literally, it means "well said". In the Tibetan language, "svaha" is translated as "so be it" and is often pronounced and orthographically represented as "soha". Whenever fire sacrifices are made, svāhā is chanted. To me, Svaha is total devotion and a divine pursuit to give it all. A mother who makes her life "Svaha" for children, or a teacher who does the same for his students . In Mirza Sahiba, Mirza offers his life as Svaha. A divine pursuit often need an unmatchable sacrifice. In today's time and age, we do make such "sacrifices " in life and "do" svaha rather than saying ? Just wondering :)
Some thoughts in human life as immutable but aren't they fading?
हाथ भी हमारे तलवार जैसे हैं , फिर भी उसूल की जंग में दांव पे ,जज़्बात लगाते हैं.....
उन्ही को मिलता है सुकून ऐ ज़िन्दगी , जो किसी के सर के नीचे अपने हाथ का तकिया लगाते हैं.....
हमें क़त्ल होने का डर नहीं , खंजर वालों से मिल के हम आज भी क़हक़हा लगाते हैं......
उसूल की दुनिया पे आज भी सल्तनत हमारी है , हम अपने नाम के आगे "छाबड़ा" लगाते हैं
Today's poetry ...
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