American Neighbour

Smart Plus - SP 91 011212

In the year 2000, I, along with my wife, had gone to attend the ‘World Peace Summit’ organised at the UN headquarters in New York, in the month of August. After the summit was over, we were staying with our nephew who was newly married and was living near New York. During the same period, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan had organised a programme under the caption ‘Vande Matram’ in which the then Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, was the chief guest. Being a life member of the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, I was also invited to the programme and I had arranged an additional invitation for my nephew and his wife. My nephew was living in a small flat on the first floor and there was another similar flat opposite to his on the same floor. There was a common entrance for both at the ground floor and my nephew and his neighbour both possessed separate keys of that entrance gate. Except for this, they did not communicate with each other, as it turned out following the event given below.

We had gone to Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan’s programme after breakfast and while returning in the afternoon, my nephew noticed that he had lost the keys to his flat including that of the common entrance gate. By the time he realised this we had almost reached home. He also realised that he had forgotten to pick up his bunch of keys after it was passed through the screening machine at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan for security reasons. We had already travelled a lot and there appeared no sense in going back to the venue of the programme. So we decided to deal with the situation accordingly.

When we reached home, we thought of taking the neighbour’s help in getting the common entrance gate opened. But my nephew didn’t have his telephone number. Somehow, he managed to get in touch with him through the locality office and requested him to open the common gate. During all this activity, me and my wife were silent spectators, hoping that the neighbour would at least offer his flat for waiting and also offer a cup of tea or a drink, which we needed badly. However, when the neighbour came down to open the common lock, he was accompanied by a big dog and after opening the lock, rushed back in a very impersonal manner. All our hopes for comfortable waiting and a drink were shattered in no time.

Anyway, we kept waiting and sat on the stairs while my nephew arranged for a locksmith who came in about half an hour. After opening the lock of his flat in almost no time he charged fifty dollars as his wage. During this entire wait, we were fondly remembering our country where most of us consider it our good luck to help our neighbours, particularly in times of crisis. But in America, hoping for such courtesies was perhaps our ignorance. It also occurred to me that we should not follow the West blindly, lest our human qualities disappear. After all, India is a country which has always believed in the concept of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam’, the entire world is our family. It is a different matter that even the nuclear families are now breaking up in increasing numbers. 

Rakesh Mittal I A S

Islam Emerging

There are differences of opinion among historians about the duration of the treaty. Majority of the historians say that it was for two years. It was provided in the treaty that if any person changes to Mohammed from Mecca without the permission of his/her guardian, he/she should be sent back to Mecca. It was also stated that if any person leaves Mohammed and went to Mecca, the Meccans were not obliged to send him/her to Medina. The treaty further provided that if any Arab tribe wanted to have alliance with Mohammed they could do so. Likewise, the Quareshi were also free to enter into alliance with other Arab tribes and that year the Muslims should return to Medina without entering Mecca and in the succeeding year they could enter Mecca and spend three days. So stated that the Muslims could not arm but bring only the sword that they normally take.

As soon as the treaty was signed the tribe of Khusa entered into alliance with Mohammed and Banu Bakr tried to enter into an alliance with Meccans. At that time Abu Jandal, the son of Suhail who acted as the negotiator, reached there to join the ranks of Muslims. Suhail got wild and beat Abu Jandal and caught hold of his hair and dragged him to Meccan camp. Abu Jandal started beating and asked the Muslims whether they were sending any man to the Meccans so as to become a victim of their torture and persecution. Witnessing the scene, the Muslims became very much agitated, with regard to the terms of the treaty which were one sided and biased. Mohammed turned to Abu Jandal and said, ”Patient Abu Jandal, wait for some time; God will open a way for liberation of yourself and others who were oppressed by the Meccans. We have entered into a treaty with Meccans. We have mutually taken oath that we shall not violate the terms of the treaty.” Abu Jandal returned to Qureshi honouring the terms of the treaty. Mohammed stayed there for some time annoyed at the feeling of displeasure expressed by his companions with regard to the terms of the treaty. However, the treaty maintained peace to both the parties. Contd.

Justice P K Shamsuddin

Racism and Casteism

Racism and Casteism in the USA and India

Racism is illegal in the USA. So is casteism in India. But both flourish in the hearts of people. That laws are passed against racism and casteism do not mean that these spiritual and moral evils have been eradicated from the minds and hearts of people, where these evils stay enthroned and dance their deadly dance of destruction. About a hundred years ago a low caste person could have been bludgeoned to death if he or she crossed the prescribed legal distance of a high caste person. Similarly a black person who violated a certain prescribed law related to race or color could have been shot or lynched (hanged or burnt at stake) with no questions asked. A black man looking at a white woman or walking with her could have been seriously injured or ambushed and killed. Honor killing of a daughter or sister who violated the unwritten norms of the clan still happens in some parts of India. While fine laws against racism, casteism, sexism, and violations of human rights exist in the books, most of the human minds and hearts all over the world, that harbor these evils, stay untouched. Unfortunately, history shows that major religions that should have been forerunners of human rights, and that should have consistently, insistently, and forcefully advocated human rights as an essential part of spirituality, have not only miserably failed in the area of human rights but have even actively or passively participated in the violation of human rights. Most persons in all major religions are led by blind and unenlightened leaders or administrators who culpably lack training in spirituality and the morality of human rights. Even in this day and age they encourage or passively tolerate rites, rituals, cults, devotions, and practices that are superstitious, discriminatory, and degrading of humans. For instance, women do not have the same rights in Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. A woman cannot become a priest in Catholic Christianity marked by patriarchy and autocracy.  Married priests from Anglican or Episcopalian Churches are brought into the Catholic Church through the back door unbeknownst even to the vast majority of Catholics. A menstruating woman does not have entrance to the Hindu shrine of Sabarimala in Kerala (India). Most of these unaware, blind religious leaders, will be saved, because, the words of Jesus on the cross: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23: 34)” apply to them too.

While racism and casteism are the twin peaks of human suffering, folly, and ignorance, where humanity was mercilessly sacrificed, I became aware of the subtle racism, for instance, that is widely prevalent in Kerala. I have known persons talking about the degrees of fairness or blackness of skin color especially in the context of match-making and marriage. A successful, practicing Indian psychiatrist, whom I know in the USA, does not mind, through his own peculiar thinking, in categorizing African Americans (Blacks!), and Indians (Browns!), and Caucasians (Whites!) in to grades of racial superiority. Looking into the depth of my own inner being, occasioned by certain realities closer to my own heart, a few years ago, I became painfully aware that I myself was emotionally racist while I was intellectually non-racist. In other words, while I was cognitively preaching equality glibly, I had emotional remnants of inequality. To bring our cognition and emotion together, and to integrate our thought and affect with regard to race, caste, religion, and gender is a life-long, gigantic task. I can categorically assert in no uncertain terms that without true integration coming out of this kind of rigorous, relentless, and on-going search for truth, no true spirituality is possible. Certainly, in this endeavor the importance of the Grace of God or the Universal Force of Creation or the Cosmic Energy is never underestimated.

Wall Coffee

We all might have heard of different makes of coffee branded and home brew. But this was the first time I heard about another variety - Coffee on the Wall. This Venetian story was forwarded to me by a friend of mine a few days back. I could not resist sharing it with the Share and Learn readers the world over. The story goes saying,

‘I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighboring town of Venice, the city of lights and water. As we enjoyed our coffee, a man entered and sat on an empty table beside us. He called the waiter and placed his order saying, ‘Two cups of coffee, one of them there on the wall.’ We heard this order with rather interest and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he paid for two. As soon as he left, the waiter pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying ‘A Cup of Coffee’. While we were still there, two other men entered and ordered three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. They had two cups of coffee but paid for three and left. This time also, the waiter did the same; he pasted a piece of paper on the wall saying, ‘A Cup of Coffee’. It seemed that this gesture was a norm at this place. However, it was something unique and perplexing for us. Since we had nothing to do with the matter, we finished our coffee, paid the bill and left.

After a few days, we again had a chance to go to this coffee shop. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man entered. The way this man was dressed did not match neither the standard nor the atmosphere of this coffee shop. Poverty was evident from the looks on his face. As he seated himself, he looked at the wall and said, one cup of coffee from the wall. The waiter served coffee to this man with the customary respect and dignity. The man had his coffee and left without paying. We were amazed to watch all this when the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall and threw it in the dust bin. Now it was no surprise for us – the matter was very clear. The great respect for the needy shown by the inhabitants of this town welled up our eyes with tears.’

Yes, the Universe has provided us with plenty of walls all around; it has also given us enough chances to express ourselves. It is up to us to decorate the wall of our choice with sayings of our own.

Joseph Mattappally

God Verses Parents

                    This is the legendary story of an Indian saint who lived along with his wife and took care of their parents with great respect, sincerity and dedication. His poor Brahman was named Pundarikan. Pundarkian thought that doing service to his aged parents was the greatest dharmic and spiritual activity, more superior even to performing any kind of pooja and he never even thought of or prayed to  any  deity or God. He was would bathe them, feed them, massage their feet and always stay beside them untiring and ever ready to serve them. Once Pundarika’s aged parents who desired to go on a Kashi Yatra. Pundarikan carried his parents on his back all the way to Kashi and back enabling them to have dharshan of Lord Vishwanath, the Ganges and other holy places, such was his parental bhakthi.

                    Krishna, The Lord of Dwaraka , came to know the Pithru Bhakthi of Pundarikan and came to Pandhari along with Rukhmini to meet Pundarikan. Pundarikan inspite of knowing that the visitor was the lotus eyed Shri Hari himself who had come to meet him, continued his service to his parents and humbly offered a brick and asked him to wait till he finished all his duties towards his parents. The Lord waiting with his hands on his hip stood amazed at the kind of service that he saw Pundarikan do for his aged parents. On finishing his chores Pundarikan stepped outside his ashram and prostrated in front of the Lord and welcomed him. The Lord was immensely pleased with the bhakthi that Pundarikan displayed towards his parents and said that he was pleased to let the world know about his bhakthi’s greatness. He then, asked Pundarikan how he wanted to be rewarded for his unwavering bhakthi.

                    Pundarikan  responded, “ Oh Lord, Oh, Ocean of Mercy, you have this day given darshan to an ordinary soul like me, I would like you to stay in this place forever giving darshan to all who seek your holy feet  till the end of time.” You should bear the name “Vitthal” and this place should become renowned for bhakthi and mukthi and be called as Pundarikapuram. May the river Bhima which flows around this town become as holy as the Ganga and absolve everyone off their sins.

                    Henceforth Lord Krishna stayed in Pundarikapuram itself and bore the name Vitthal and is still celebrating the spirit of bhakthi and is performing innumerable leelas with all his devotes. In due course of time Pundarikapuram has come to be called Pandaripuram. The Samadhi of Pundarikan, for whom Lord Krishna came to Pandhari, still rests on the banks of the holy Chandrabhaga river.

                    (Collections from Indian Thoughts)

Maha Raas

‘To understand Gita, let us understand Krishna’

The cosmic dance of opposites!
The attraction of male and female for each other is what brings them together. Here the latent energies flow into stream of love and life. Separated and alone they feel tense and anxious, coming together they feel the lightness as feather. Without the cosmic factor love, the modern institution of marriage is failing rather miserably. Life’s play cannot be institutionalized without this cosmic factor called love. Krishna’s Raas does not have an order or system; it is utterly spontaneous and pure, though it may look chaotic.
 

Raas, the interplay of energies, Krishna and (gopi’s) milk maids, cease to be individuals. They move as pure energies. And this dance of two different energies brings deep contentment and bliss. This bliss expands and permeates every fibre of universe. Although millennia have passed since the Maharaas, the vibes of Maharaas are still with us.
 

In my humble view, the Maha Raas- the dance of Krishna with all gopis at the same time symbolizes the outpouring, overflowing of the primal energy as divided between man and woman. And if we can understand this, the Raas is as relevant today as it was in times of Krishna. It is everlastingly relevant. In this world the entire structure of life is based on the togetherness of the opposite forces. The more natural and spontaneous this togetherness, the more beneficial it is to the humanity.
 

The significance of Raas, the dance of celebration, is everlasting, it issues from the fundamental principle of life. If this man and woman togetherness happens unconditionally, it will complete these two in an extraordinary and unearthly way. On the other hand, if the union is conditional, if it has an ulterior motive, it is bound to lead to enormous difficulty and trouble in the process of its completion. However, so long as men and women exist on earth, the Raas will continue to be vogue in them. May be it does not attain the height and depth it had with Krishna, but if we grow in understanding and wisdom it is not impossible.

More or less every primitive community is aware of the beauty and significance of Raas, of their own kind. They work hard through the day and by dusk they dance under the open sky with abandon till they are tired to sleep. It is for this reason that the peace of mind and joy of life of them is unknown to most of our so called affluent modern society. Some where we are erring very grievously, the earlier we understand Krishna, the better we will understand Gita.
 

Wishing you all good health and happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath,

Director, MITRAN foundation- the stress management people 

Kaveri Water

We as north Indians often learn of the Kaveri water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, two important southern states of India. Quite often, one also wonders why issues like this cannot be settled amicably and what is so great about sharing river water. We also tend to blame politicians for not solving such problems. While this may be true to some extent, such matters are not so simple because behind such issues lie the genuine needs and sentiments of people. I realized this truth during my visit to Tamil Nadu in the year 1999 as election observer for the parliamentary election. The incident goes like this: During the course of this duty, I also had the opportunity of visiting Madurai, the place famous for the Meenakshi Temple. While returning from there to the place of duty, the car passed through an area which is the best in paddy cultivation and called the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. My escorting officer told me that it was the Kaveri basin area and that the success of crops was mainly dependent on irrigation from the Kaveri water. The area looked so beautiful that I asked the driver to stop for some time in order to watch the fields and enjoy the beauty of the lush green paddy crop. I had not seen such a beautiful paddy-field ever before and so, I spent almost half an hour in the fields.

As we started travelling again, we soon crossed the Kaveri river, which is split into four or five streams in that area. Meanwhile, the issue of the Kaveri water dispute came to my mind and all my previous perception about it disappeared. I could easily feel the need and sentiments of the farmers who are the beneficiaries of the Kaveri water. Perhaps, the same need and sentiments exist in Karnataka also. The accompanying officer told me that the whole livelihood of this area depended on paddy and if the crop fails, people face tremendous problems. I was silently agreeing with him.

The point being made here is not that the dispute should not be sorted out amicably. That it should be done is very necessary but the complication of such issues should be appreciated against the background of people’s needs and sentiments. The joy of a lush green crop, to me, is invaluable and the mere sight of it was enough to give me the kind of happiness which no amount of money can buy. Therefore, in order to expand our personality, it is necessary to understand the feelings of others also, without always judging them and looking at the issues only from the point of view of economics or politics.

Rakesh Mittal IAS

One Sided treaty

Mohammed thought of sending Umar Ibn Khatab to Mecca as messenger of Mohammed. Umar brought to the notice of Mohammed that in the present circumstances, it is better to send his son-in-law Usman Ibn Asham. Usman left for Mecca and on the way he met Aban Ibn Saeed. Aban promised to give him protection till his mission was over. Usman met the leaders of Qureshi and informed of his mission. They responded that if Usman wanted to circumbulate, he could do so. Usman replied that he would not do it until other Muslims also are allowed to do so. He also said that Muslims have come along only to perform their religious rite and they would return in peace thereafter. The Meccans said that they have already taken a decision that they would not permit Mohammed and his companions to enter Mecca and in the given circumstances they could not allow them to enter Mecca that year. The negotiation of Usman went on for some days and the Muslims started to feel suspicion on the safety of Usman. They thought that he must have been murdered by the Qureshi. Therefore they started preparations for a war. Mohammed said that Usman is not murdered and after sometime Usman himself appeared before Mohammed. Usman informed Mohammed about the response of Quareshi. He said that in view of the decision they have taken by the Meccans, they will not permit the entry of Muslims to Mecca this year. Further, they thought that if they permited the Muslims that year it will be counted as a great defeat for the Meccans. 

Negotiations continued. Meccans sent Suhail Ibn Amr for negotiations with Mohammed. Suhail was very adamant. Ultimately it was agreed that the Muslims must return to Medina that year, without entering Mecca that the next year they would be permitted to visit Kaba and perform religious rites. The Muslims were very unhappy about the terms, which was seemingly one sided. Umar even expressed his dissent. Abu Baker interfered and warned him. 

Mohammed called Ali Ibn Abu Talib and started to dictate the terms of the treaty. Mohammed said, “In the name of Allah, most gracious and most merciful.” Suhail objected and said that he did not know whether God is merciful or gracious and wanted to correct it as in the name of Allah. Mohammed conceded this correction; Mohammed corrected this sentence and said, “This is a treaty between Mohammed the messenger of God and Sohail Ibn Amr.” Again, Suhail raised objection and said, “If we Meccans admitted Mohammed as messenger, there was no need for this exercise,” and asked to correct it to Mohammed son of Abdulla. That also was conceded by Mohammed.

Read the Previous issues of Message Peace: Click Here

Impulse Control

(Truth Shall Set Us Free – 5)

Culture and civilization began with impulse control. Only humans have impulse control. Animals act according to their urges.  Impulse control comes at a physical and emotional cost. Freud wisely observed that haemorrhoids started with civilization. Animals respond to the call of nature and release their bodily waste where they are. They do not control their sphincters. They do not suppress their physical urges and control their impulses. Children also do the same until they are toilet-trained. While we humans control our physical urges and deal with them appropriately, we are less likely to deal with our emotional urges or impulses. We say and do things without thinking. Often we are not aware of the consequences of our behaviors or words spoken. At one extreme we have situations like that of a very promising young man from Andhra Pradesh, India, with a good job in the state of Pennsylvania, USA, planning to kill a woman that he was for a long time in love with ended up recently (September 2012) killing her child and her mother-in-law who was visiting the US for ninety days. His raw emotions and primitive impulses took charge of him. We also emotionally kill others through careless gossips, false rumors, and malicious lies. We engage in character assassinations. We do not mind ruining others’ reputations. We hear not what is said for what the truth is but what we want to hear through our peculiar and biased mind-set. We give benign and favorable interpretations to what persons, whom we like, say. We attribute bad motives to persons whom we dislike. When we are talking about impulse control we are talking about mind over matter. We are talking about our every word and deed coming out of the destiny of humanity that is truth, awareness, and bliss (sacchidanandam). The purpose of conscious and ever-refining impulse control that does not do any violence to oneself or others is the state of an aware, gentle person.

John Henry Cardinal Newman writing in The Idea of a University in 1852 paints the portrait of a gentleman: “It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain… He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him; … his great concern being to make everyone at their ease and at home… he is tender towards the bashful, gentle towards the distant, and merciful towards the absurd; he can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against unreasonable allusions, or topics which may irritate; he is seldom prominent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes light of favors while he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring. He never speaks of himself except when compelled, never defends himself by a mere retort, he has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in imputing motives to those who interfere with him, and interprets everything for the best. He is never mean or little in his disputes, never takes unfair advantage, never mistakes personalities or sharp sayings for arguments, or insinuates evil which he dare not say out. From a long-sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient sage, that we should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend. He has too much good sense to be affronted at insults, he is too well employed to remember injuries, and too indolent to bear malice. He is patient, forbearing, and resigned, on philosophical principles; he submits to pain, because it is inevitable, to bereavement, because it is irreparable, and to death, because it is his destiny. If he engages in controversy of any kind, his disciplined intellect preserves him from the blunder.”

 A gentleman/woman, in my mind, is a balanced and self-confident person marked by a passion for truth, cultural refinement, and empathic relating; engages in civilized behavior in words and deeds; takes into account the discrete surroundings and circumstances, and does not consciously wish harm or inflict pain on others including enemies and persons disliked or hated. Contd.

What Do You Mean?

Life's Lessons - Joseph Mattappally

This is a joke: a worldwide survey was conducted and the only question asked was: ‘Would you please give your honest opinion about the solution to the food shortage in the rest of the world?’ The survey was not a huge failure because, in Africa they didn't know what ‘food’ meant; in Eastern Europe they didn't know what ‘honest’ meant; in Western Europe they didn't know what ‘shortage’ meant; in China they didn't know what ‘opinion; meant; in the Middle East they didn't know what ‘solution’ meant; in South America they didn't know what ‘please’ meant; and in the USA they didn't know what ‘the rest of the world’ meant. This is about people living in the same world about which the media says is ‘a global village’. Religions say that there is sharing all over and Governments claim that they meet out the best of welfare beyond all considerations.  

Whatever, there are people all over the world saying that the entire humanity is one; even atheists ask why this difference because temple is a six letter word, church is a six letter word, mosque is also a six letter word. Further, Vedas is a five letter word, Bible is a five letter word and Quran is also a five letter word. To be precise, all are of the opinion that there should not have been any understanding differences among races and cultures, but what actually happens is ever widening gaps between people of all groups. Why this indifference? Once death is said to have asked life, ‘why does people love you and hate me. Life is said to have answered that ‘Life is a beautiful lie and death is a painful truth’. Are all the discourses and claims beautiful lies? My assumption is that it is because people are trying to develop relations in life rather than maintaining life in relations. 

Raasleela, the dance of celebration

Health and Happiness 

To understand Gita, let us understand Krishna.

To understand Raasleela, the celebration, we must understand the life of Krishna, a complete miniature of this celebrating universe. Let us raise our eyes and look at whatever happening all around this vast universe of ours. It is all celebration, whether it is clouds gliding on heavens or rivers rushing towards the seas or seeds on their way to becoming flowers and fruits or bees humming or birds singing on their wings or love between people. It is all panorama of play and dance and celebration.

Raasleela has a universal meaning; it has a cosmic connotation and significance. The meeting of the opposite energies is the corner stone of all creation, of the universe. Even to construct a house, we place opposite kind of bricks on the arch to uphold the whole building. The whole play of creation, at every level of life, begins when energy becomes divided into two opposite parts. Raas, the dance of celebration, is the most profound attribute of the mighty stream of creation. And the creation in itself is the interplay of polar opposites-thesis and antithesis. It epitomizes the everlasting drama of making and unmaking of universe. It gives us the glimpse of that divine dance and that immense orchestra.

It is for this reason Krishna’s Maha Raas ceases to have a sexual connotation. Not that it prohibits any sexual interpretation, but for certain, sex has been left far behind. In reality, if we try and understand, Krishna does not dance as mere Krishna. He represents the gopis (the cow herd girls of mathura), the whole of male element in creation, known in sanskrit as Purusha. And similarly the gopis represent the entire female element, prakruti. The maharaas represents the combined dance of prakriti and purusha. To put it rightly, it is the dance of the male and female energies, of purusha and prakruti. It represents the mighty cosmic dance. Here, the dance is chosen as the medium. The medium of dance comes nearest to the mysterious, to the non dual, and to celebration. Nothing can express better than dance to laymen or to scholars alike. Dance is the most primitive form of gesture, language came much later. Dance, the gestures reaches the human mind deeper than any word can ever reach. Dance is more articulate than anything else. Man’s collective consciousness is well aware of this language, dance.

What we know as love between man and woman is nothing but the flow of yin and yang together. This love, if it is not personalized, can have great spiritual significance. The dance will continue . . .

Wishing you all good health and happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath, 
Director, MITRAN foundation- the stress management people. 

Indiscriminate Renunciation

Smart Plus _ Rakesh Mittal IAS

Indiscriminate Renunciation Today, a very common misconception about being,  religious or spiritual is that such a person has to give up his or her worldly duties and has to lead a life of deprivation. Perhaps, such misconception has always been there but it is more so in the present when science has made us more rational and we want a logical explanation of any religious or spiritual message. As a result, most of those who have been imparted modern education keep themselves away from religion or spirituality. The very mention of these words draws before them a sketch of a person in saffron clothes doing nothing with this world. In my childhood I also carried this impression and kept myself away from any religious rituals. Moreover, I had noticed many so-called religious persons indulging in irreligious activities, which always created a doubt in my mind about the correct definition of religion. However, a time came in my life when I developed a keen desire to know the correct definition of religion and more than that why should one be religious in the true sense. Since the desire was keen and honest, I got ample opportunity to interact with the right persons, the right organisations and the right books. All this removed my doubts and I arrived at a conclusion that there is no conflict between being religious and being a successful worldly person. In fact, I feel they reinforce each other and give us the best of life. When we understand religion in this perspective, it becomes spirituality and all our misconceptions about religion or spirituality drop very naturally.

To establish this point, I would like to mention an extract from a book, which I read many years back. The title of the book is ‘Play of Consciousness’ written by Swami Muktananda. In this book, Swamiji has described the journey of his spiritual life and in the process has given many pearls of wisdom. At one place, he gives a very interesting definition of ‘bondage’ and ‘freedom’. When asked about the difference between the two, he says that ‘indiscriminate renunciation’ is bondage, while ‘discriminate indulgence’ is freedom. It means that in order to achieve freedom one has to be a wise person.

Those who think that freedom is achieved only through renunciation or indulgence are wrong and are always led towards bondage. The secret of freedom lies in between. When we renunciate indiscriminately, in all probability it leads to bondage instead of liberation. Thus, all of us are expected to perform our worldly duties sincerely but detachedly in order to get freedom. Such type of indulgence is discriminate indulgence and leads to happiness or freedom. If we understand this fact correctly, we enjoy both the worlds – the secular as well as the spiritual. 

Magic Wand

Blooming Stars - Swami (Dr) Snehananda Jyoti

(Truth Shall Set Us Free – 4)

The election in the US is going to be on November 6, 2012. All the hype about the election is in the air. People want a quick fix not knowing what got us where we are. They want someone with a magic wand to wave away all the problems. And the politicians are all eager to tell what the people want to hear. This is also a draw-back of democracy as it is now. Persons are not ready for tightening their belts. They do not want to change their lifestyles with regard to unwanted spending. The current democratic climate does not attract the right kind of enlightened candidates with a vision in India or in the US. People are not ready for enlightened politicians. I watched both the presidential debates in the US. I was amused by the Republican candidate telling that he is going to improve the lot of the common people. Yet he, earning about 20 million dollars (10 crores of rupees) last year, paid 14% in income taxes compared to my 15% taxes for my income that is about 1/333 part of his income. Now most people know that the global economic slowdown and the economic melt-down in the USA are due to the bad policies of a previous two-term republican president toward the end of whose second term the American economy came to the verge of a collapse even though he had inherited a budget surplus from his democratic predecessor. In his watch the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. Jumping into the Iraq war sacrificing thousands of lives of Americans and allies and many times that of Iraqis, and spending billions of dollars, without adequate scrutiny of facts and international consultations with saner nations was a very serious and costly blunder. As a result the American economy is hemorrhaging; American morale is drooping. The rate of poverty and inequality is increasing. To berate the current president for helping with social programs and to ask for unreasonable increase in budget for armed forces by the Republican contender, when the armed forces themselves are not asking for increase, are unacceptable.

9/11/2001 (the blow-up of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001 killing about 3000 human beings by fanatic Islamists), another tragic blot – a deep scar of abominable crime - on humanity made another bad turn for humanity. That tragic event dealt a crippling blow to trust among humans. Now everyone is seen as a potential criminal. Instead of using that tragic event for a much-needed soul-searching and serious examination and evaluation of US global policies, defensive and security concerns have taken over the national psyche. There is a pall of fear hanging over the entire landscape. The idea propagated is that nobody is and can be safe anywhere. The terrorists won in that the most powerful government and its institutions have become captives to debilitating fear.  We, nay, all nations,  need to examine  policies  and practices with regard to human rights and aspirations of all peoples before engaging in massive outlay of scant financial resources for security in order to prevent such future events. We may need less security if we begin to treat everyone with due respect. But then wise leadership with a global vision is very scarce in supply. Leaders pandering to arrogance and superiority in muscle power and an eventual arms race in a very volatile world to gets votes in an election are not advancing hope for humanity. No national leader worth one’s salt can ill afford to ignore global human rights and aspirations in a fast-changing world.

The Extra Mile

Life's Lessons - Joseph Mattappally

People are different, so are their aspirations, situations and potentials. To a few, success is material and to some others it is abstract. Quite recently, a friend of mine shared me his state of mind in brief. He wrote, “…. I'm also extreme in my detachment to all family relations. Those close to me say I'm living in some other world. May be, too! Last night after correcting a book, taking some 8 hrs, I didn't feel like going to bed at 3 in the morning. The sky was exceptionally clear, studded with stars. I took my violin and went out on the sit-out and started playing……” There cannot be a single measurement that fits everyone, so is the case of success secrets too. 

I am reminded of an old kitchen story. A daughter awfully tells her Mom how things are pitiful in her case. She said that the more problems she solve the more of that appears. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Then she put carrots in one pot, eggs in another and ground coffee beans in the last. After a while, she turned off the burners. She took out the carrots, eggs and coffee bean in separate bowls and told her daughter that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, and came out softened; the egg had been fragile early but now it is hard inside; the coffee beans were unique but they changed the water. The mother continued saying that it is up to each one to choose to be any of these - the carrot, the egg or the beans. The carrot group looks strong but become weak and powerless at adverse times but the egg becomes harder and harder as the heat increases. With regard to coffee beans, when things are at their worst, it gets better and changes the situation around.

This is not all; this story is only about distinct approaches to varying situations. The real secret of success but is in the advice, a rich industrialist gave his son. He said, “Take the initiative; be innovative, be creative and always go the extra mile."

From Suffering to Happiness

Health and Happiness

For bearing Happiness, we need more preparation, because we are always ready for suffering!

You want to know if divine vision is frightening, because Arjuna was scared. It can be so, if you are not prepared for it. Even happiness, if it comes to you unexpectedly, will suddenly frighten you. People who won lotteries should know about it. Poverty does not kill so much as wealth does if it floods all of a sudden.

What happened to Arjuna was very sudden. It was not so with Sariputra, Maudgalyan, Bheshma, Buddha and even with Ravana. They had long preparation and practice. People on the path of meditation are not scared of divine vision. But it is so shattering for those who experience without  meditation. Because the experience is itself so great, so sudden and so blissful, that it is difficult to bear it. Its suddenness and the excessive joy it brings with it can choke our heart, can even kill us.

Suffering does not scare us so much, because we are used to it. In fact we are always prepared for it. There are so many great people in the world, who can cope with great suffering but are incapable to face situations of flooding happiness. Although we always pray God for happiness, it is granted in measures we are capable of managing. Even in Gita if we try and understand it clearly, we can see in some instances even for Krishna, giving Moksha (the ultimate realization) through killing the wicked was easier. There we have to understand that Krishna was not killing the demons but he was even giving them moksha! We may feel why God should grant Moksha to demons? In reality, we all are angels and demons in the core. Some instances brings out the Angel and some other the demons. With innumerable lives, the soul accumulates the vasana (karma). When the time comes for moksha, some get the path of meditation; other few are made an example in the game of Krishna.

Even for Krishna, giving divine vision and realization with absolute happiness was difficult. It needs the perseverance of the seeker but in the form of demons, but with clean slate of Karma it is easier with the sacrifice in Krishna’s play of life. We shall have deeper analysis in future about the paths, differences, difficulties and solution to be Happy and yet be not scared of Happiness.

Wishing you all good health & happiness,

Dr.Dwarakanath, Director, MITRAN foundation- the stress management people.

Loneliness or Solitude

Smart Plus - Rakesh Mittal IAS

Human life, in general, is a long journey. Each life is a unique one and takes its own path. Perhaps no two lives have ever followed the same path or will ever do. However, two facts of life are the same i.e., birth and death. On both these occasions, one is alone. Whether we like it or not, no one can escape death and also no one can give us company at the time of death. If this fact is accepted well by us, the fabric of life changes for the better and we live in this world with great peace and harmony. In this achievement our riches, positions or fame hardly play any role. This realisation came to me even more clearly after reading the autobiography of Justice M C Chagla, an eminent personality of India, titled ‘Roses in December’.

Chagla’s life was a continuous success story, always on the ascent from the worldly point of view. He rose from one position to another without ever looking back and occupied many high positions most of us wish for. In a way, his life must have been envied by many of his contemporary colleagues. But after reading the book I realised that no life is to be envied because no one knows others’ inner agonies. After a long, active and successful career, Dr Chagla also had his lonely days. His wife had passed away before him and the children had settled down away from him. So, in his last days he was physically alone. He was not prepared for such a life and he candidly admits this in his book. He always believed in a life of fun and not only that, he looked upon those who didn’t, with a sense of awe. That is why at the end of his book he appended a small chapter titled, ‘Personal’- an extract of which goes like this: “We have to distinguish between solitude and loneliness. Solitude is self-imposed, loneliness is thrust upon you. In solitude, you commune with yourself. You meditate and for the time being cut yourself off from the world. In loneliness, you are at war with yourself, realising the futility of life and the absurdity of existence, or the inability to resolve the conflict between the real and the ideal, between what is and what ought to be, between the temporal and the spiritual. I, therefore, have always loved company – to be alone is to me the worst kind of punishment that could ever be awarded for whatever sins I might have committed.

Throughout my life I have had the company of someone or the other, if of no one else, then always of my wife. I have had my bitter moods and moments of unhappiness, but her death made me permanently unhappy,  for I could never be sure of someone being by my side when I needed company most.” I find a great message in this paragraph. The fact is that we all are alone in this world. The so called company, which we look for and generally rejoice, is a myth. It is only an opportunity to learn the lessons of life in order to reach its goal. If one fails to understand this mystery, life is a waste irrespective of its external success. On the other hand, if this mystery is understood, one is never alone irrespective of the external conditions. Eventually, we have to be in our own company and we call that condition ‘solitude’. ‘Loneliness’ and ‘solitude’ are two names given to the same condition with different frames of mind. No one can negate the fact of being alone ultimately. If we understand the mystery of life, we live in solitude, and in the absence of this understanding, loneliness prevails.

Truth Verses Justice

Blooming Stars - Swami (Dr) Snehananda Jyoti

Truth Shall Set You Free - 3

This morning (October 19, 2012) when I got up to join my wife over a cup of tea before she left home to visit her relatives in Illinois, she asked me why I looked very serious and sad. I told her my bone is aching seeing the plight of humanity. Barely 10% of humanity has the conveniences and modern amenities that Americans have. The poorest in America are better off than the most middle class people in the rest of the world. America is choking on its own affluence. Its incredible and morally unacceptable waste in food, clothing, furniture, appliances, and other consumer goods can adequately supply the needs of millions of persons in the world.  A piece of furniture or a costly curtain may be thrown away because it does not match with other items in the house. Americans are numb and desensitized to the point that we are not able to see the massive waste right in front of us. We are in self-pity licking our own wounds inflicted by others in the secluded, fortified island of our own narcissism.  A couple of days ago while driving I was listening to a news item on the National Public Radio (US) in which the reporter said that tons of perfectly usable medical supplies are destroyed. The reporter gave the example of a large amount of wooden tongue depressants destroyed because of the expiration date on them. Would well-packed wooden tongue depressants need an expiration date?! Lawyers taking over every aspect of American life are intimidating persons and paralyzing life. I think of a majority of them are vultures feasting on human carcasses. This taking over life by lawyers in the US is quickly spreading to India. I have a nice and safe pool meeting international standard, I thought, filled with mountain-spring water adjoining my Ashram in Munnar (India) for our enjoyment. A well-meaning friend of mine said it needs a railing between the pavilion and the pool. Rather than arguing with him, I put a sign: ‘No entry without permission’. Another friend looking at a can of chocolate in the kitchen said it had an expiration date. I knew the chocolate was good and told him that it is only for my use. I want to mention here that expiration dates serve a very useful purpose, but we also need to use our good sense.

The other day I was shocked by the sentence of a court involving a fraudulent case. One would think that high court judges have the good sense of deciding the merits of a spurious legal suit brought to it by a greedy, dishonest person. We have a situation where good ordinary persons with no legal background would do better than what the judges did.  The case in point was reported yesterday (October 18, 2012) in Malayala Manorama. The Supreme Court of India reversing the judgment of the High Court of Kerala observed that the High Court failed in evaluating the documents in front of them.  The documents presented by the Mother Superior of Sacred Heart Home, Punnaveli, Pathanamthitta, related to a betrayal of trust. The High Court failed to evaluate the documents presented by Mother Marykkutty, age 75, and sentenced her to one and a half year of imprisonment and thirty lakhs of rupees (about $60,000) in penalty.

There needs to be a mechanism in India whereby performances of high court and lower court judges are evaluated periodically.  Intimidating and bullying lawyers of the American and Indian legal system certainly need to go. Since people are not given training in ethics, morals, and sound principles of cooperative living in a healthy society as part of their basic and on-going education, too many laws are passed by legislatures. The lawyers and judges are there to throw light on carefully crafted laws. Many cases can be settled by interdisciplinary mediation teams. The slow-grinding Indian bureaucracy of the bullock-cart era also needs to disappear. When I spend 2-3 months in the US every year I have a deep sigh of relief seeing the cleanliness, courtesy, and efficiency of government offices. No political patronage is required for getting things done.  No one is likely to think of offering a bribe to get things done. (To be continued)

Humanity to be Cleansed

The Truth Shall Set Us Free - 2

No authority can supplant one’s conscience. God will not do it. It will not make sense if God does it. There was no need for God to give it to us in the first place if God plans to take it away from us. Tampering with one’s conscience is a great crime. The region of conscience belongs exclusively to God. One experiences God’s sacred presence there. That is where God is present most in a human made in the image of god. Autocrats, dictators, monarchs, and religious authorities take upon themselves to supplant sincere persons’ consciences with their will and mandates. They threatened legitimate expressions of freedom and consciences in the past with penalty of death and eternal damnation. They inflicted these penalties by force. They made themselves God by usurping powers and authorities that did not belong to them. Ironically some of them were killed by the very same force (sword) they used to kill others. Now they may not deal in deaths, but may try to kill others ostracizing, excommunicating, taking away their livelihood, or ruining their reputation. They bind people in self-serving knots. Their logic begs the question. On the one hand the autocrats say they respect a person’s conscience. On the other hand they say a conscience is deluded or is not right if it is not formed according to their norms.  With them there is no winning for losing.  They say they only censure a conscience that is not properly formed.  Again they decide on the proper formation of a conscience. They are the judge and the jury. They give themselves the felicitous task of being the custodians of people’s consciences! They impress upon us the gravity of their task by asking for prayers for God’s guidance.

Even in a democracy like that of the US when protests and demonstrations broke out in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s against the Vietnam War the political and religious (Christian) authorities were not at all happy, and  penalized the young men and women protestors considering them rebels and traitors. Many of the young men and women were conscientious objectors. Many of them did not see the point in losing their lives in a far away land fighting a war that was unnecessary and unjust. Quite a few of them fled to Canada to escape stringent penalties to save their conscience and their lives. My question is where were the special class of religious authorities entrusted by God to interpret the scriptures? Where were they during centuries of immoral slavery? Where were they when immoral kings and rulers usurped power and oppressed poor people with unbearable taxations, or waged  Thirty Years’ or Hundred Years’  wars  in which they had no say, and in effect sentenced them to death at their whims with no regard for their lives or families? Where were they when, in a Christian country like Germany, the most heinous crime of the last century – the mass murder of 6 million (60 lakhs) Jews – took place? Was not God working in them at such times? If history does not teach us, if we do not learn the right lessons from history, if we still think that autocratic religious leaders interpret scriptures and God’s will for us, we are utterly stupid, nay insane, and  do not deserve any better than what we get from them. The numerous blunders the autocratic religious leaders committed through their acts of commissions or omissions through the centuries tell us that they have an awful track record  or they are not any better than we are in interpreting the scriptures or discerning God’s will. Of course we need to take responsibility in studying scriptures, history, traditions, and customs before we can make informed and enlightened comments and decisions. While guidance and consultations are indispensable with regard to obscure matters, we cannot shirk our responsibility or delegate it to someone else in making vital decisions that affect our temporal and eternal life. We cannot let anyone or any authority claiming some extraordinary power or commission from God downplay or undermine the importance of our conscience. I might also add that over forty years of my  clinical practice in the US and in India I have come across quite a few persons and families use pressure on and influence social service agencies, legal system, psychologists, and psychiatrists to declare others mentally sick or mentally incompetent to get their ways.

The requisites for forming a good conscience are 1. Utter sincerity, 2. A passionate desire for truth, 3. The knowledge of good and evil, and 4. The best available knowledge related to the matter to be decided on at the time. 5. Determination to bear the consequences of one’s decision made on the basis of one’s conscience. Humanity needs to be thoroughly cleansed from the past, and needs a new orientation guided by universal ethics, morals, and conscience.

The Best Management Lesson

I don’t know much about Sivananda Kendra, but I understand that it is a Trivandrum based organization and I get beautiful mails of good advices and morals occasionally. Today, I would like to share a recent mail from them. It is an answer from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam (former president of India) to a question from a media person at Wharton India Economic Forum, Philadelphia on March 22, 2008. When asked, ‘Could you give an example, from your own experience, of  how leaders should manage failure?’ Kalam replied, “Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the  project director of India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India's 'Rohini' satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources, but was told clearly that  by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people  worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.  By 1979 - I think the month was August - we thought we were ready.

As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four  minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through  the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the  computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some  control components were not in order. My experts - I had four or five of  them with me - told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer,  switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage,  everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed.  Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged  into the Bay of Bengal.

 It was a big failure. That day, the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00  am, and the press conference, where journalists from around the world were present, was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure; he said that the team had worked very  hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took  responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization. The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, 'You  conduct the press conference today.' 

Abdul Kalam said that he learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that  failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson he had did not come to him from reading a book; it came from an experience.

Jiddu Krishna Murthy

Gems Hub

        Is Jiddu Krishnamurthy an Indian? No, but he still lives to be a proud son of a rich heritage. He was born in a Brahmin family in colonial India but grew up into a world teacher. He was a born speaker and writer, who loved to be a citizen of the world, rather than that of a nation. He claimed allegiance to no nationality, caste, religion, or philosophy, and spent his life on move around the world, speaking to large and small groups and interacting with individuals of all sorts. He was born on May 11 1885 and died on February 17 1986.

        His interest was centred on philosophy and spirituality. All his life, he pleaded for a psychological revolution focused on mind, meditation and human relationships. Krishnamurthy argued that there is no path to this transformation, no method for achieving it, no gurus or other spiritual authorities who can help. He pointed to the need for an ever-deepening awareness of one's own mind in which the limitations of the mind could drop away.

        Education had always been one of Krishnamurti's chief concerns. He believed that if a young person could learn to see his conditioning of race, nationality, religion, dogma, tradition, opinion etc., which inevitably leads to conflict, then he might become a fully intelligent human being for whom right action would follow. He proved that a prejudiced mind can never be free. He himself lived what he spoke. He has written many books including, ‘The First and Last Freedom’ and ‘The Only Revolution’. His ‘Notebook’ also stands out. During his life time, he established several schools in different parts of the world, where young people and adults could come together and explore this possibility further in actual daily living. According to Krishnamurthy those all are places where ‘students and teachers can flower inwardly.’ He said that Schools are not factories to churn out human beings as mechanical, technological instruments. He argued that jobs and careers are meant to help a human to flower as human beings, without fear, without confusion, with great integrity. He was concerned in upbringing  unfragmented human beings. He wanted the schools to be "real centres of understanding, of comprehension of life. Such places are necessary. That is why we have these schools".

        Though he had settled in Ojai, California, where he also died, India was blessed to have his talk a month before he passed away. His last public talk in Madras was the last in the series for India. Today his supportersespecially in India, Great Britain and the United States, oversee several independent schools based on his views on education. They continue to transcribe and distribute his thousands of talks, group and individual discussions, and writings by use of a variety of media formats and languages. There was a time when Jiddu Krishnamurthy was the final word for Indian Spiritual revelutionists. 

Krishna & Divine Vision

To understand Gita, we must understand Krishna!

Krishna showed Yashoda, his foster mother, the whole of universe enclosed in his mouth. Krishna also gifted his divine vision to Arjuna to see his universal form. Answer to all these above perception is altogether different and beautiful! Every mother, sometimes the father, has the vision of the supreme in our child. It is another thing that we lose this vision with passage of time, but at some stage we had it for sure. If we can see someone with loving eyes, we will see the divine in them too. All we need is to have eyes that see. Right medium is equally necessary; the whole immense is hidden in every atom. The whole ocean is ensconced in a single drop of water.

       Arjuna too, saw, because he was in deep love with Krishna. It was a rare kind of friendship that existed between them. In a moment of deep intimacy with Krishna, Arjuna saw the universal form of divine in him. Divine vision, it can neither be given as a gift nor be withdrawn. It is really a happening. In moments it is the peak of our consciousness, but it is arduous to live on the peak. Even the momentary glimpse of the immense is enough to change us; we are a different person!

No one can give the divine vision. We all feel that Krishna seems to tell Arjuna that he will give it to him. Human language suffers from obscurity; it lacks clarity of expression. A mother says, “I give so much love to my son.” It is a wrong statement. Love has just happened between the mother and her son. It is linguistic clumsiness to put it in any other way. Hillary and tensing climbed Everest, then returned to plains. It is hard to live on peak. But to live on peak of consciousness is impossible. People like Krishna live there; People like Arjuna and us once in a while leap to it, see it and drop back to earth.

Divine vision happens. Chemistry has a term known as catalytic agent. It is one whose very presence causes something to happen. It facilitates and accelerates the process of happening. Krishna is such a catalytic agent. A master, a guru, is an illusion in some ways, like that of Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahansa. If Van Gogh or Raja Ravivarma, the painters were asked, they will say, the painting happened, and they were the medium, but we will fail to understand it. Everything in existence is real but in our ignorance sees it as miraculous.

New Year Call

India is a big country and it is a great country too, but not all of us understand its greatness.  Most of us only look at its shortcomings and address them without suggesting a solution, much less doing something in that direction. The reason is that we don’t try to understand India and instead keep on judging it. It is often said that there is unity in India’s diversity and sometimes the same is said in a reverse manner. Whatever be the manner of saying so, it is a fact. I had a first-hand experience of this in the year 1999 in Tamil Nadu, where I had gone as an election observer for the parliamentary election. My place of duty was Ariyalur in Perambulur district. Now it has been made an independent district. At Ariyalur, my stay arrangement was made in a government cement factory where I reached late in the evening. I was to stay there for about three weeks, though with gaps. The place was comfortable and there appeared to be no major problem except for the monotony of the south Indian food. The constituency was considered to be a peaceful one. After a good night’s sleep, as I was preparing to come out of the guest house for morning walk, I noticed a short elderly person wearing half-pants and a rule in hand waiting in the lounge. As I was coming out of my room the gentleman intercepted me with a question. He wanted to know whether any observer was there from Lucknow and if yes, who that was. He must have come to know about it from the guest house authorities or the local revenue officials. When I told him that it was me, he felt very happy and gave me an offer. He said that his name was Perumal and he was posted at Lucknow for a long time in the Army Medical Corps and had settled in Ariyalur after retirement. He further said that being a north Indian, I might face problems with the food, as chapatis were not available in the guest house. Since his wife knew how to make chapatis, he offered me chapatis whenever I wished to eat them. I could tell the caretaker and he would arrange the same from his home.

I was deeply touched by the offer. I immediately realised that he was a very good person and gratefully accepted his offer without any serious intention of invoking the right he had given to me. Then I enquired more about him. His house was very near to the guest house on the main road. I also accepted his invitation to visit his home. More than anything else, his offer made me feel at home in that remote corner of Tamil Nadu, far away from my hometown. Subsequently, I learnt from the officials at the guest house as well as the revenue department that he was a very popular person in town and was very helpful too. After becoming sure of his credentials, one morning during my walk I felt like visiting his house, which was very near. He had a very simple house with natural surroundings. All his children were well-settled and he felt great pride in talking about them and also in saying how he and his wife had made sacrifices in order to bring them up. Most of the time they lived separately for the sake of their education and it was only in Lucknow that they stayed together for a couple of years. That was how she had acquired chapati-making skills. I enjoyed spending some time with him over a cup of coffee. Thus, our affection grew during my stay at Ariyalur and I visited him some two more times. Once I invoked my right of getting chapatis from his home, more to show respect to his kindness than out of real need. He joyfully obliged, though it was a different matter that according to the north Indian standards the stuff was anything but chapati. But the affection of his family was very much evident in the product. The affection continued to grow thereafter, as he kept in touch with me over the telephone and through letters after the election. And I was amazed with joy when the first New Year call in the year 2000 was from Mr Perumal. Till today, the first call I receive on every New Year is from Mr Perumal at 5:30 a.m. sharp. Isn’t India great?