Gap between mortals and gods
When you are unhappy, you want to be happy. When you are happy, you are worried about bad things happening to you in the near future. Between this endless pendulum, a large part of our life gets lost. No, not giving a fuck is not the ultimate answer. Don’t forget that those who don’t care anymore used to care a lot once upon a time. Many rivers passed by for them to reach this non-pendulous rhythm in life.
Do you feel bad when you smile at a stranger and they don’t smile back? It’s OK. Smiling at each other is one of the most basic human traits but thanks to the world we live in, smiling has turned synonymous with both deception as well as idiocy. However, we can change this at the grass root level. How? By smiling at kids. Of course, not in a creepy fashion. They can reset the smile-o-clock if we help make the smile normal again. Even the ants customarily recognize each other no matter how long the ant trail is. We must do better. Also, it’s worth assuming that those who don’t smile back weren't smiled at often enough in the first place. Everything takes practice, don’t you think so?
Don Corleone, played by Marlon Brando to perfection in The Godfather (1972), had nothing against gambling but couldn’t stand prostitution. Quite a twisted standard of morality but then, who are we to judge a true blood mafiosi? Thanks to my early introduction to Manto, I have nothing but respect and concern for the sex workers. They continue to remain on the fringe and their condition hasn’t changed at all. Zilch. Nobody cries for them and they remain nameless despite dealing with the absolute scums—the irony being the word ‘scum’ is used for the service providers, not the consumers in this transaction—from our society. Every once in a while, you’d read a worrying article on how human trafficking continues because the state refuses to recognize these vulnerable lot as human beings. All one needs to do is rise above themselves and accept that we are all traders here. We sell something to receive something in return. Even powerful men like Corleone avail the service of escorts, not to ravish them, but to cry in their arms because they don’t have the luxury to be seen as that vulnerable otherwise.
In the narrow gullies of Cheeta Camp, where I grew up, there were fascinating men who knew the art of getting by, some feisty women whom even the sun feared, and several children who left behind tales worth repeating. It recently occurred to me that our neighbouring young woman had two daughters, separated by two years, and both the babies had a strange brown-blue eyes combo. What made this more intriguing was one had left eye blue while her sister had a blue right eye. If we had social media back then, these two pairs of eyes would have been super-popular. On the other side of the spectrum, there was a boy who had only one testicle; he was born that way and he led a perfectly fine life. Although none of us kids made a big fuss about it back then, to this day, whenever my left testicle hurts, I think of him.
While you are hiring a candidate for an organization, you ought to keep the values of the org as the common denominator. Irrespective of the candidates' pedigree/skills, their mindset plays a massive role in what sort of impact they will leave on the org in the short or long run. When you compromise here, your org pays the price later. Always observe how the greatest damage is seldom a result of work. It has more to do with the mental constitution of the person.
When the Titanic was sinking and those musicians continued playing their musical instruments, nobody applauded. It wasn’t the appropriate time, no doubt. Yet, if one were to compile a list of the most important musical pieces in history, I am certain whatever they were playing that freezing night must count. You know why? Because, metaphorically speaking, they weren’t chasing the passing clouds. They were aiming for the sky. I don’t know whether it’s a solid take but it’s a take worth mentioning.
There were so many animals that the ancient Jews could have hated but they stopped at pigs. Pigs. The fifth-most intelligent animal in the world. For some reasons, they couldn’t stand these happy-go-lucky creatures; perhaps their hipster attitude towards sex and orgasms lasting over half an hour bothered the bearded men. Petty peeves. End result: They decided that they are not going to consume pork. As if the pigs were supposed to be offended by this dietary decree. You eat the ones you love, I suppose.
Do you consider yourself successful? Before you answer, let me tell you that your idea of success is the only thing that matters in your orbit. Problems arise when you let others define your idea of success. This is also the reason why people end up associating success with money and the resulting accumulation of wealth. It’s not what you wanted originally; the market decided it for you. In simpler words, your idea of success depended on what others wanted—which was, coincidentally and unfortunately, money—and we let this happen to us because we usually don’t know what we want ourselves.
I might not be a practising Hindu due to my incurable allergy to rituals but I am not ignorant either. Every time I dwell on classical songs, I am amazed by the sheer depth of composition. If you are familiar with Carnatic music, you must be aware of the Marugelara song. In this timeless piece, the very act of devotion is under question as the age-old desire of a devotee to meet their god is addressed. Lord Rama is confronted here by the devotee as the latter asks him—almost chidingly—why is He hiding? Why doesn’t He show up? Especially when the entire universe is not only a manifestation of His form but also built by Him? And even if He wants to hide from His devotee, where can He possibly hide? Excellent questions.
Speaking of open communication channels between humans and gods in Hindu belief system, isn’t it incredibly shocking how Indians have so little expectation from the government and the institutions around them? In other words, from fellow humans. For instance, Indians go to sarkari offices and pathetic places like SBI, wasting hours and hours in the process. But the funny part is they don’t expect any better. It’s like they have told themselves that there is no point in praying to mortals. As my friend Rudra keeps telling me, India is the only country that exists because of its unshakeable belief in gods. Here, we accept the way things are because that’s the law of motion. As for expectations, why would you seek more from a human who is just like you? There are benevolent gods with multiple limbs out there for a reason.
In modern context, to understand religion in a given region, you must pay some attention to the grip of culture and the depth of trade. Without this triangulation, no religion can flourish today. We tend to (naively) think of faith in individual capacity but religious leaning is communal by design and it needs people (read: organization) to function efficiently. Even to set up a mandap, some planning and execution is required. Simply believing in god or gods doesn’t cut it. There is a system in place: the temples and the mosques and the churches and the gurudwaras operate with certain goals with little to no divine interference. Their doors open and shut with a certain economic picture in mind. Similarly, how you look at yourself as a believer is fairly dictated by the tenets in place; you can’t step out of line in this regard. Most interestingly, your culture is defined by what you (want to) relate to. A Hindu can relate to Vedic philosophy while a Muslim can relate to Perso-Arabic/Turko conquests and a Christian can find resonance in European enlightenment. This is where the trade bit enters the scene too. A lot of the temples in India are historic but that doesn’t preclude them from the control state holds over their donation boxes. Money has to flow in a coordinated manner for the gods to be delighted. Indonesian legislators have Sanskritized names and fold their hands while greeting each other but at the same time, they request Saudi Arabia to accommodate more Haj pilgrims from Indonesia. By the way, Hajj and the Umrah pilgrimage contribute close to $12 billion a year to Saudi's GDP — its second largest revenue generator after oil. Again, without generous donations and a cultural tryst to boot for, the Vatican wouldn’t have been as powerful as it is today: it’s one of the largest non-state landowners in the world. This pattern is visible in all other religions as well. You just need to peel off the layer of faith to get a better look.
I know a lot of people who would often crib that the movie they watched was boring or bad or worse. Not me. Never. Once my journalism days ended, I’ve mostly (9.5 out of 10 times) experienced wonderful cinema. Different languages, different backdrops, different learnings. In my experience, a good film pulls you out of your rut and transports you to an understanding place. Temporarily, nonetheless. As a young boy, I was enchanted by the visual medium but the reason why I enjoy cinema today is that it doesn't pretend to be permanent but in all probability, it is permanent. As I am growing older with a lighter hold on time, I’ve come to find this dichotomy very, very attractive.
Lastly, always seek happiness. Even if you don’t find it as much as you want to, keep looking for it. There is no glory in grief. Without happiness, you can’t progress to the final stage of awareness: contentment. You ought to know the rapids to distinguish the calmness of a lake. Make notes on what you had, have and will have. There is no point in losing perspective of your limited being on this planet. Accept the fact that we are all tourists here, hoping to make a lasting difference. Silly species, us. Notice how the happiest folks are not the ones who have a lot but the ones who are thoroughly grateful for what they have. If you are not happy with what you have, how does it matter what you have?