We are blessed to be born in a country of
rich diversity and cultural heritage like India. Every festival here means a
lot more than it shows up if you are keen to listen, India provides dozens of
stories. To start with, let us begin with the festival of colors, Holi. Holi undoubtedly
brings cheerfulness, it marks the beginning of the beautiful spring. We all have
heard the tale of Pralhad and how his wicked father, demon Hiranyakashypu wanted
to kill him just because his innocent son did not choose to worship him but
Lord Vishnu. In a fit of revenge, he made his sister Holika to take little Pralhad
on her lap and made her sit on fire. But as miracle could have happened,
Holika, who was blessed to be immune to fire got charred down and little
Pralhad came out safe. We all have heard this story since times immemorial. But
once I got a chance to hear another story, which is equally intriguing. And
the story starts as…Once upon a time, there was a fierce battle going on
between gods and demons. Gods were on winning streak and demons started to
flee, they needed refuge to protect themselves. They searched the whole universe
but could not find a single place where gods could not reach. Finally, the chief of
demons devised an ultimate trick. They approached humans. King of demons offered
a plea, “oh dear man! Give us shelter in your heart. Shut the doors of your
heart so tightly no god can enter”. “But what do I get in return? ”, replied man. Devil replied,” That every mistake you
make every wrong do, Put that blame on me and you stay acquitted.” Man thought
for second and let those demons enter. And then many years, centuries passed
away but those demons were still residing in the human heart. With passing age,
they too had evolved. In some hearts, they stayed unfortunate scars of past, in
few others, they stayed as orthodox beliefs. Some were called fear of society.
While other common names included jealousy, hatred, anger, and inferiority
complex. They had made man so incapable that he succumbed to these evils even
before having tried to change and use his rational mind. This old contract
between man and devil had become outdated and even toxic. Fire had to be lit
and demons had to be burn. Just like the usual story we have known, a fire was
lit, the outer core of heart symbolized by holika had to burn but the inner pure
soul represented by prahlad comes out victorious. This crux of life, holi
teaches us, never let the fire of situations harm your inner peace and love for
humanity. These two different stories like two opposite sides of the river lead to the same moral of life, triumph of good over evil. And this is the beauty of Indian
culture, if you lend an ear to listen, it will provide you many stories to stimulate
your mind and provide you direction in every state of life.
Sunday, 3 May 2020
Saturday, 2 February 2019
If Trees could speak...
Sometimes I feel how wonderful it would be if trees could speak. Years of unheard history would be relived again and what a piece of wisdom would they impart! Stories of kings and queens, bravery of handsome princes, beauty of virtuous princesses, trees have seen them all. Even the bloodiest of wars,trees have witnessed. Human existence is very short, say on an average, 85 years, but trees, they endure centuries. They are mute spectators of history.
If trees could speak we would have heard an intriguing tale of our freedom struggle about how our brave heroes like Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Subash ChandraBose won us freedom. Some trees have been for around 500 years. Yes, they could narrate us inspiring stories of our beloved Shivaji Maharaj. We could know the lives anecdotes of Akbar, Birbal and Tenali Rama. We could know lives of heros like Maharana Pratap or Laxmi Bai with finest accuracy.
And most importantly,if trees could speak, we could get to know the culture and society of by-gone era. Nature is the one of the most aspect of life and the way society treats nature defines the values and morality of society. Trees could explain the importance of nature, they could tell, why we need to protect them. Yes, speaking would increase their value and protect their lives.
But then I realize, it's better that they don't speak or else, man would have put nature also
into his laws of right and wrong, truth and false. And again, man would have judged nature by his
own limitations, forgetting that Nature is Supreme, created and maintained by the almighty himself.
If trees could speak we would have heard an intriguing tale of our freedom struggle about how our brave heroes like Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Subash ChandraBose won us freedom. Some trees have been for around 500 years. Yes, they could narrate us inspiring stories of our beloved Shivaji Maharaj. We could know the lives anecdotes of Akbar, Birbal and Tenali Rama. We could know lives of heros like Maharana Pratap or Laxmi Bai with finest accuracy.
And most importantly,if trees could speak, we could get to know the culture and society of by-gone era. Nature is the one of the most aspect of life and the way society treats nature defines the values and morality of society. Trees could explain the importance of nature, they could tell, why we need to protect them. Yes, speaking would increase their value and protect their lives.
But then I realize, it's better that they don't speak or else, man would have put nature also
into his laws of right and wrong, truth and false. And again, man would have judged nature by his
own limitations, forgetting that Nature is Supreme, created and maintained by the almighty himself.
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