~ Why do we Pray…~

 Many a time one may get a feeling of nostalgia towards that “Power Centre” who has created us and let us off to perform – what we call as Karma….

There are so many of us on this planet that we look like “Ants” as compared to other species. Just the other day sitting alone in front of a deity an in vigorous thought came to my mind and that was “Why do we believe in God or almighty…What makes us believe in the superpower that we have not seen and in most of the times not even felt…The power is intangible though…”

Is it the fear factor that makes all of us go to temples and other places of worship or is it the power of unknown tomorrow that puts fear in our minds and we bow to him – for the seeker’s it is that inquisition of “Who am I” and that “Who created us and for what purpose?” that makes us go in front of the Idol and pour our hearts out.

Many a time you get absorbed in the radiant energy of the idol and upon constantly looking at the idol, you get mesmerized and pour into emotional thoughts and start chatting with “HIM” as if HE is responding to all of your questions and problems – at the end though , you get light hearted and come out as a somewhat happy personality.

There are zillion times that we face situations in life which we don’t have answers to and there is no one around us – our friends, family and other acquaintances, who are helpless in providing us that vital solution – it is “that” time that we fall back on our creator , through “n” number of thoughts bombarding your conscience – we crib, cry in front of “HIM” for a respectable solution and many a time we do get our most sought after answers – it makes belief come true that there certainly is someone who is has a controlling stake in this universe and is pulling the string.

I have seen people mesmerized and gone into their cocoons and crying incessantly in front of idols, with folding hands they depict a picture of true devotion – their faith is enormous and have been so for long enough for their own survival – ask them if they have got solution to every problem – most probably the answer would be a “NO” – but still their will come and bow down to that “Unknown” power for their faith is resolute and immaculate!!!

Just the other day, a conversation led me to a gentleman who had been coming to a nearby temple for almost four decades, - his obeisance to the Almighty has been truly remarkable – As I watched him silently, his murmur with the idol was endless…tears flowing through , he was engrossed in that “moment” and had no conscience of people around him – I certainly was convinced that he was not a devotee out of compulsion or fear – he certainly was a true devotee who was just “Thanking” him for a life given …

As I encounter endless souls pray every day, I think of HIM who must be keeping a record of all the prayers and demands we are making 😊 – and why not – if we can’t find answers to the basic of questions troubling us in life – he is Mr Dependable with whom we converse our hearts out and depict our helplessness in solving our life’s big and small problems….

Every one of us have different dimensions and purpose of praying – it si HE who knows the best ...if to answer or have a deaf ear… the ball was and would going to be in his court …Always…. but we would always be hell-bent to fall back on HIM as I strongly believe in his existence…. Always near me….

~ Sorry Papa...~

 “Sorry Papa..” these words are piercing to the ears when you hear it, when you get to know or read in newspapers or News that some young soul ended his/ her life for simply not getting into IIT or not clearing NEET exam – Is getting into IIT  or clearing NEET is the soul purpose of life I ask? There are billions of souls who are not engineers or Doctors and they own best of engineering companies and also have their own hospitals – In other sense these students have been pressurised to achieve the impossible many a time, The result “Suicide”!!!

Confined to a small room and riding on high spirits to either preform or perish – there is no other way out, students are left with no other option but to do the ultimate – they don’t give life another chance, it is here where spiritual education can be of immense help as it can be panacea of all negative thoughts.

No school or college teaches its student to absorb failure in life – “What if you fail?” , teachers should ask their students. By probability theory every action has 50% chance of success and failure and nothing is certain in this uncertain world. It is here that parents and teachers fail to assimilate a holistic touch to young minds – “You are born to be an engineer from IIT “or “Crack the NEET and secure a position and be a Doctor of reputation” , nothing wrong in these objectives but WHAT IF NOT – is it the end of your living, nobody has a real plan B to entertain our lives and continue with the scars of “failures” which the society will see us with.

Students are prudent enough to be taught an alternative to these failures resulting in the cult of suicides, there has to be an alternative teaching – a profound class to start with is to teach these minds that Human birth is exceptional and on top of the value change - its life, failures will happen but still be bold to keep walking - you have to tread the path for which you were born and it is individual struggle that one has to live for... no one is going to remember for your suicide as you will certainly stamp yourself to be a failures BUT not doing so , who knows you become the next Startup boss or a achieve something substantial in life... 

I still remember my SSB interview for the esteemed Indian Army – on the last day a colonel rank officer came and declared the result – my entire batch was a “Washout” batch, as they call it – to my surprise, many of my new found colleagues started to weep profoundly as if there was no life left 😊 – I was surely disappointed but not at the stretch of a weep and crying like a baby – life surely had to offer me other opportunities which I can be successful in – which indeed I got – the best part was when I cleared my written of Combined Defense Services Exam and again got a call for Bhopal interview board, I had already secured a seat in MBA course which eventually I went into… life surely had given me a suitable alternative – what if I am not serving our esteemed Army but I am contributing in an equally effective way by being a law abiding citizen paying monthly taxes and following rules and regulation….  😊 ..for me it is same as serving my country! 

It feels bad and heartbroken that for life’s nitty gritty, one loses hope and takes the route of ending one’s life – never ever thinking what effort one’s parents, family members and friends might have gone through, raising you to this level and what will happen to them afterwards…

By endings one’s life, you have stopped the probability of a better one altogether, there will be no 50% better opportunity coming your way now as you lost hope after living and experiencing the toughest 50% - always remember there is always a second chance to stand up and start running…. As all you need is to be on the cricket pitch and wait for that loose ball and hit it for a six!....

~ Find Your Purpose...~

What are we here for? Just to earn and procreate and have family and then one day our body withers and we are flamed and after some time no one remembers us of our visit to this planet – whatever amount of good or bad you have done is forgotten after some passing years…

The society is developed in such a way that people come and people go – everything is absorbed in melancholy and love and lost soon after. So again the main question comes prodding to the mind “What are we here for? , to eat sleep, procreate, earn money accumulate good and bad experiences ?” or there is something much beyond our comprehension. 

Till date the only “Convincing and a logical answer I came across has been from the Bhagwat Gita which was again and again echoed by Srimad Prabhupada… when one devotee asked him “what is our purpose of this earthly life? “, Sri Prabhupada replied “just to thank god and be at his devotion, nothing else…you are not here to achieve big things and live with them perpetually, you will surely have to leave everything at his insistence and start afresh – now to the naked eye this logic sounds so profound and real for we can see this happening in our day to day lives.”

There is another school of thought which insists that that this world is just a coincidence and everything “Just Happened” by chance and that we are here to exist and vanish one day with no afterlife – there is no one who created us and there is no cosmic governance guiding our living.

Every religion has its own interpretation of our existence and its own school of thought – but all have one similar commonality and that is that we come, we exist and we go! – in between what happens is what we call “Life”.

So, when you see your near and dear one go, thoughts come to your mind promptly about our purpose and what should we do to enrich our lives - time is clicking for sure and as they say, each passing day takes us close to our death – our final destination.

I have met umpteen people and asked them this “simple yet most complex question” – “What is your purpose in life? – there was no convincing answer as almost all of us are confused – we are just living a day without any purpose and a forming a legacy…. Only one soul till date has given me a convincing answer to our purpose in life “ Just live it and don’t try to find your purpose, things will altogether shape up to find you one day and then doing things you will realize that you were born for this…till that does not happen , live synonymously with what life is offering you….!!!” – Sounds quite convincing to me and that this advice I incorporated and am a happy being…waiting for destiny to find me and make me live my true purpose…. For others, keep on this journey alive for sure you will to one day tread on this question and move out to find someone giving you meaning of life and what you are here for….

~ My Book-Man ~

In your journey of life, you will meet people extraordinaire, they may not be big shots in their fields but surely will be brimming with day to day wisdom – life for all of them was never bed of roses but they inculcated the art of living whilst they started to live life each day.

Today, I present one of my very old pal “Mahesh” the “Book Man” who I lovingly address – for the tagline “He introduced me to the world of Books!” – mind it , he is uneducated and only had a chance to study till class 8^th, due to family circumstances, life did not offer him pancakes and he had to start fending for himself to survive – A friend advised him to sell books , which he started by buying them from old Delhi weekly bazaar and setting out a pavement shop at a prominent business Centre. 

That was a time, there was no internet and no social media, Youtube, many people had the habit of “Reading” and glancing through various books and magazines street vendors and hawkers decorated at various pavements of Delhi, Mahesh being one of them became a prominent book hawker – with a diligence to earn a livelihood along with interest in part time reading, he soon educated himself via open school education system and also mad friends with students like me who were studying for various competitive exams – unknowingly , we became friends and started to share a bond of discussing various current affairs topics which we read and glanced through in various magazine’s.

Today, when I saw him after quite some time, my old memories resounded, generally asking about his well being and what he has been upto, we quickly shared the same bond and asked each other that pertinent question “Do you still read?”, he was quick in his reply and reverted “ Yes, of course!, Books are my lifeline and has taught me so much.”

Mahesh is now married and has a teenage daughter; he was proud to convey that his daughter is a voracious reader and is his “Permanent Customer!” – “She speaks clear cut English Bhaiya!” – I was elated! and at the same time happy to learn this – after all his efforts had bore fruit – at a time when many youngsters have just lost contact with books and have turned to virtual shortcuts, here was a street vendor who himself had inculcated the habit of going through various books and have also  passed on this hegemony to his daughter!

As we again parted ways, not before buying some good stuff that he recommended accordingly – again he astonished me as he knew my “reading taste”, time had not eradicated his memory, as he still remembered me as his one of the primary customers decades ago. Today when I started to read his recommended book, his words echoed in my conscience “A book can teach you so many things in a lifetime!”.

“So true Mahesh, these are invincible words of wisdom which you have resonated with decades of standing at your makeshift pavement shop and selling such precious pieces of wisdom, unfortunately few of them would partake in your journey, I truly consider fortunate to have found such a lovely gentleman and a true friend with whom I share a profound relationship and camaraderie of non stop book reviews and life’s conversations… Looking forward to our next meeting eagerly, not before I complete your recommended book as I know for sure your first words of inquisition would be “ How was it ? 😊” …Until we meet again…