HE WHO HAS A ‘WHY TO LIVE, CAN BEAR WITH ALMOST ANY ‘HOW’
Friedrich Nietzsche.
It’s that time of the year again, and all the NRIs are in town, maybe to see their aging parents, or to give their kids a holiday, or to be seen at the society weddings, or just visiting India to shop since it is the cheapest holiday destination for all. All reasons seem wajbi. But something does come to mind, aging parents, who long for their children to visit. The web has long since taken some longing away, with skype and the like taking care of conversations.
But what about those who are left behind and have to make do without any warmth in spite of having children so to speak? Has it become like the west, where old homes abound? Do we still have consciences that relate to taking care of our old? Or are we going to join the rest of the world in letting our monies speak for our hearts?
There is a new generation who do not flinch at the term-Parent Orphans. And it is not only the people who went away to distant lands in search of fortunes, and no prizes for guessing about the others that fit that bill? From the old to the young, alas the festive season is just not only about the noise or the celebration but about everything that actually makes you think, feelings that are so far buried come finally to the fore.
Wasn’t that hard being a teenager in our days, but today-life is incomparable, so much exposure, bringing its very own pain. The greatest challenge being- maximizing enjoyment while minimizing expenditure. Smart parents now just give a weekly allowance.
Not that it suffices the daily costs of transportation, coffees, movies, etc. They just about manage to have a life of sorts. And of course understanding that- you can’t have everything and go everywhere just may help with those that get the drift. But pocket money is purely subjective and will remain an individual choice.
Festive also brings cleaning to the fore. Spiritual or merely physical. Discard is the key word. Clutter has made many a mind and body sick. Ofcourse here we are talking about energies being blocked. Giving away materially clears our living spaces and thus makes our minds turn freer. Mentally when we clear our mind of the past and we let go of some of the baggage, we give ourselves the reasons to go forward spiritually.
Emotions, particularly guilt is like a leaking faucet, that drains energy by the minute, so are bad food habits, and lack of exercise. So watching every aspect of our existence helps. For instance place a tulsi in your home (since it is a very energy sensitive plant) and watch it grow. You will see that it takes on the energy of its surroundings. Definitely a barometer of the of the energy flow in your home. Don’t you think? So go ahead and shake up that energy in your home, workspace, and your head and allow it to flow…
And then there is this book, Life after death– burden of proof by Deepak Chopra. Is there really life after death? Do we just ‘cross over’ into the same soul journey or? One thing is for sure, it is what you do here and now that shapes what happens after you die. And the notion of reincarnation is by no means a new one. Such concepts are already present in the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, etc.
What is funny is that how many souls reincarnate and what happens to the rest? Where do they go in between to hibernate? Or are they still in limbo somewhere? And then there’s the Bhagwad Gita in which Krishna tells Arjuna-‘You and I Arjuna, have lived many lives, I remember them all, you do not remember’…
That brings me to the very existence of life. I remember my father telling me, in his many stories, when I was a lot younger (and paid little heed to his talk), that every person was put on this earth for a specific reason. So he was almost on par with Socrates who said that an unexamined life is not worth living and from examining our lives we can get a new perspective on why we really are here. Purpose merely means intention, and we will what we want and so we are completely capable of living halfway decent lives. When one uses ones mind, ones body and ones emotions, one has the ability to bring into being virtually anything on purpose. So rather just be born, go through the motions and just die I have a mission to perform to the best of my ability and create some kind of ripple that might encourage someone else to feel some of the same emotion…
Somewhere along the way I have realized that being religious has never been my cup of tea, idol worship and rituals only made me feel like I was living in a box(trapped) and every time I peeped out, even if it was in sheer innocence, I was enveloped in guilt and awaited punishment. That has never been the way God wanted it. So today I prefer to be Spiritual.
Now that is, accepting life and the world around me as it is, not denying what life has to offer. Spirituality is about finding harmony in mankind, and surrendering oneself to a higher power, discovering a freedom that is more permanent.
Yes! This has turned into a very heavy kind of a dialogue; maybe I should talk about the movies that gave me a high this time around – Dor (director-Nagesh Kukunoor), and Casino Royale (But did Bond have to go and fall in love? hmmnn).
The book on my bedside has been – Romancing the Ordinary by Sarah Ban Breathnach who believes that women are endowed with not five senses but seven, and encourages them to discover what moves them to tears, makes their blood rush to their heads, their hearts skip a beat, and their souls sigh.
Filled with days that are used as marketing gimmicks, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Buy Nothing Day actually existed. Did people actually follow it through? I couldn’t this year but next year it’s definitely on my Must try list.
Some of the things in life that nobody can take away from you-
- Your backbone.
- Your smile.
- Your dream- whatever it is.
- Your first memory
- Your free will
- Your ability to take pleasure in your own company
- Your orgasms
- Your flaws (and thank goodness! Perfect is so over rated).
The list is thankfully endless and you can add on as you go on – Life is indeed beautiful!
Previously published in the Sindhian
