GANDHI : THE IMMORTAL

Sixty seven years have passed since we lost the greatest Indian ever. I know him since I started my schooling. He was everywhere. Currency notes, walls of classrooms and offices, textbooks, as statues on the road…an omnipresent character with no hair and glamour. As a kid, I assumed he was a poor villager who did not have education or even money to buy clothes. I thought he was the oldest freedom fighter and that’s why he is called the father of the nation. I just knew that everyone respected him and spoke about him with great reverence. Anyway, I loved him for some other reason. He looked like a perfect grandpa with a toothless smile. Yes, my Bapuji.

Later when I came to know that he was a barrister, I was seriously proud. I still remember the first time when I watched the movie “Gandhi”. The one scene which I would never forget, is when Gandhi was thrown out of the train with his luggage. That was the moment!  Which changed the course of history of a man and a nation. It was later described as the ‘moment of truth’ by Mahatma himself. I slowly started to understand the transition of this barrister in suit to an ordinary man wearing khadi. This amazing transition was full of sacrifices. He sacrificed everything that a normal man would hesitate to. And that’s what makes him Mahatma. 

Gandhiji unlike many others, did not focus on transforming others. He worked on himself and demonstrated how world changes when the individual changes. As one of my Professors said “He believed in something, he thought the same thing, he spoke the same thing, and he did the same thing.”  This is a very hard thing to do. Which is exactly why the modern day politicians find it impossible to emulate him! Unfortunately, many Indians are busy debating his greatness. And some of them are even busy installing statues of Godse (Gandhi’s assassin) and worshipping him. But this reiterates the legacy Gandhiji has left behind. He never imposed his ideology on anyone. Never did he fight people who objected his ideals. 

Gandhiji is not a person anymore. By the time he was assassinated, he had transformed himself into an indestructible idea. Last year, a Gandhi statue was unveiled in London’s Parliament Square. It is a beautiful irony that his statue is placed near to that of Winston Churchill. The man who called him “naked fakir” and made this terrible retort during the Bengal famine “If food is scarce, why isn't Gandhi dead yet?”

The mortal Gandhi was a powerful man. The immortal Gandhi is even more powerful. 

THE ELIXIR OF LIFE

I start my day with a glass of pure water. And I end my day with the same. I’m sure most people follow the same ritual every day. But how often do we think about a world without water? Since most of us have uninterrupted supply of this precious liquid now, we take it for granted that, it is forever. Hence, unclosed taps, polluted rivers and cutting down of trees. With summer temperatures already hitting the highest ever in human history, we are here again…observing yet another World Water Day. 

An estimated 650 million, which is 10% of human population do not have access to safe water. In other words, they are all under the risk of infectious diseases and premature death. Water being a natural resource, each and every living being on this earth has equal right over it. It is our duty to make sure that we do not contribute to their suffering by wasting water. It is our duty to keep our rivers and fresh water reserves clean. What annoys me the most is “I pay for it…so I can do whatever I want with it (waste it)” attitude that prevails in our society. But wait. Are you really paying for the water or for the service? Can you ever pay for the water? I don’t think so. It is a priceless resource which is vital for the survival of life. This awareness should be injected into our social thought streams in order to create a shift in the thinking. How many millions do we spend on space probes just to find a sign of life outside earth? And this ‘sign’ of life is water. I wish these millions were spend on cleaning and preserving the water we have on earth.

Everything in nature is connected. We cannot save water if we do not preserve our forests. We cannot save water if we keep polluting the air which in turn will result in global warming. Global warming will result in the drying up of rivers. And if there is no water, there is no life. So, understanding this interconnectedness is the key for future planning here.  We need a holistic approach towards environment preservation. Preservation and conservation of all natural resources should go hand in hand. We have unfortunately distanced ourselves from the truth that we are part of this nature. Thus, we humans have become like a cancer which kills our own mother from the inside. The ultimate realization will happen only when we reconnect with this basic truth of our existence.

Is it too late? Yes it is. We have already done some serious damage to our home planet. But let’s not give up. All we need is awareness. And the actions will inevitably follow. The moment you decide to close a running tap, or stop polluting water, or plant trees, you become the ‘green warrior’. Green warriors are the need of the hour. Being a Superman may be impossible. But being a green warrior is not. Eventually, a real hero is the one who saves the planet! 

I found a brilliant post in the net which discusses World Water Day. Kindly go through this link to see 40 mind blowing snaps which will make you think twice before wasting water. And make a pledge that you will never waste this elixir of life! J

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/world-water-day-2016-40-photos-make-you-think-twice-about-wasting-this-precious-resource-1550350

" Water is the driving force of all nature..." 

                                                                - Leonardo Da Vinci 

SENSE V/S SENSATIONAL!

Today, when every news channel in the country was playing out their breaking news, “Nobel peace prize for Kailash Satyarthi, Malala ” , I was just wondering who this Kailash Satyarthi was! The name sounded Indian and the following reports confirmed it. But this man was a total stranger to my brain! And I was feeling a bit ashamed of my ignorance. But very soon, I realized that it was not my mistake ;)  He is not a film star, not a politician, not a cricket player and not even a criminal. So, he was never ‘eligible’ to be in the news according to Indian media for 30 years, I guess!

 ‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan’ or Save the Childhood movement was found by this man in 1980. And I was born 9 years after this. Internet sources say that about 80,000 child slaves were saved by this remarkable movement till date. Two of BBA's activists have even been killed in the past during their fight for child rights. One was shot and another beaten to death for raiding and preventing employers from exploiting innocent children. The man himself, Kailash Satyarthi was attacked several times. All these sacrifices for our future generation and I don't even know this man. Ashamed. :(

You think our country is on the right path? I think it’s going down. Simply because our priorities are upside down! There was a time when our national heroes, poets, and social reformers filled our papers…What about now? The information that is fed into our minds by media have very little sense and a heavy dose of sensationalism. When ‘sensation’ wins this battle of sense Vs sensation, it is we, who lose eventually. Our independence was just defined as the freedom from British rule. But since the day of independence, we are fighting new wars within our country. And people like Kailash Satyarthi are leading those fights. In every nook and corner of this country…there are many such heroes, who are striving day and night for liberating thousands of chained souls.

Are we not responsible to support them?  What social media revolution are we boasting about, if we are not even aware of our own Andolans?  Why does the media fail to enlighten us? How come our government failed to recognize a man like Kailash Satyarthi for 3 decades? 

I hope that one day, I will wake up and read reports about all these brave warriors in the front page. I hope that one day we will all join these andolans and fight for the liberation of our country from social evils. We don't need 'cleavage' journalism..we need a clean age journalism. :) 

"Real courage is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. Doing the unpopular thing because it's what you believe, and the heck with everybody "

                                                                                        

                                                                                     ― Justin Cronin, The Summer Guest

THE SECRET

She was upset. She have suffered a lot in her life. "I can't take it anymore,I'm done " Tears flowed,but not enough to kill the fire which was burning her. He was miles away, still the boy could feel her pain. They were connected. The dark clouds are always born out of the sea. But where do they fall? Miles away..

"Let's go for a walk" He spoke to her mind. She was too tired to respond.He waited for sometime,then he lifted her and started walking. "Am i heavy? " she asked. "No,not at all my love" He replied with a smile."Everything is heavy when you wake up..something is heavy in the dream world..but nothing is heavy in this world!" She didn't understand what he said.

"Where are we going? Who showed you this path? It's so beautiful" She seemed lighter with every step that he took. She never saw such a beautiful place before. "Can i walk now? " He happily agreed and she placed her feet down with so much excitement.They were walking on the clouds..

"Are you happy now? " boy looked at the girl. "I'm the happiest! Thank you somuch for taking me here" Her face was bright as the moon. They sat under a tree. "Now tell me,who told you about this beautiful place?! I never knew such a place existed! " The girl wanted to know the secret.

"I don't know who He is..once, He came to my dream and took me here..and gave me this book" The boy took out a book from his pocket. "But,when i opened it,it was full of blank pages.."what do i do with this? " I asked Him. The man smiled and whispered in my ears "This is the book of answers..but no answers are born without questions!" and He disappeared."

The girl opened the book. She read these words inside..

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be nomore, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying,
nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

THOU ART MY LIFE..

Ever since he chose the path of love, he was a philosopher..everything spoke to him.. and he spoke to everything.. Earlier, he used to complain "Life lacks background music..some movies are interesting just because of right music " But love transformed him. Now his eyes can see what normal people can't see. His ears could easily tune into the rhythm of life. He was happy.

He flipped the pages of his memory and found these words.. "Be a love bomb..not to break, but to heal the broken hearts! " These words were written by a beautiful soul years ago..in his autograph book..His heart filled with gratitude and he smiled.. "Why are you smiling? " the girl wanted to know. He didn't answer..but he took a piece of paper and started writing something. She read aloud " Thou art my life"

THE SILENCE

"Do you still love me? " the boy asked..there was a pause..then came the answer "yes,i do" "How much? " She didn't answer that. It was the boy who taught the girl many times, that love can't be measured. Yes,all good teachers were not great students..

The silence of his love haunted him..he kept on asking himself "Why didn't she answer me?" He started walking..just to feel good. It was dusk..the sun fell in to the sea splashing beautiful shades in the sky..the birds were rushing back to their nests.. "I wish I were a bird..wings are a blessing..it teaches you everything about perspective" he thought..Everything in life becomes microscopic when you have wings..So,a bird can never have depression.

He walked until it was dark. Until he could not walk further because of the darkness.He used to walk in the dark..for 7 long years..nobody knew why he was doing that for so long. They thought he was crazy. But one day, he came back with a ball of fire in his hands.It was the gift from the darkness,for trusting it.

He took the ball of fire outside and asked "Show me how much she loves me" The ball of fire started growing..the light filled every inch of darkness.He never saw something like that ever in his life. The brightness grew so much that his eyes started to ache..and then he was blind..everything was dark. He got the answer.

For the first time in his life, he realised "darkness is born twice..when there is no light and where there is only light" So with the silence in love..He ran to his girl and hugged her tight. He whispered.. "I love you" She was silent.

I'M A FLOWER

Today she told him.. "you are unromantic..you should visit a doctor soon" He smiled..as if he already knew it. For the last few days,he was not able to bloom everyday.. "a flower has no choice" he thought.."it has to bloom..otherwise,it's not a flower"

He knew that he had to go to doctor..that's why he goes to beach often..there he sits for hours trying to connect his inside with the infinity..he closes his eyes and focuses on his breath..that's his definition of peace! But,it's very short lived..his mind would tell him that people are staring at him..and he opens his eyes, to see if somebody is staring.. "Why do they do this? When you do what everyone does,you are
not stared at..the moment I close my eyes,they start staring "

Looking at the sea,he remembered what he read somewhere..mind is like the sea..and thoughts are the waves..one could see the bottom of the sea if  it was still..there you will find everything precious..stones,pearls.. "may be it's a deception" he thought.."what secret is revealed by finding
precious stones and pearls? Nothing. Then where else should we search for the answers? " He was confused.

The wind was blowing harder..he felt good.When he was a little boy, his mother used to blow his eyes when something was trapped.Even if it did not clear his eyes,he
felt good after she did that. Now he felt the same pleasure..he was happy.

Clouds were on a trip..as if they were in a hurry to reach somewhere..the stars were happy as ever.. "they don't have any ego..everyone knows how big they really are..
but,they know where they should stand to stay beautiful" He grew impatient..he asked "Who am I? Why don't you reveal the truth of my existence?"

He did not expect the sea to answer him..he did not expect an answer at all. Something told him from inside..
"Not yet.."