Life intelligence

Recently, I got a good message on Whatsapp from one of our Chinese friends, that shared a subtle yet sobering thought. It said, an unborn child’s required nourishment is always provided by its mother, but as soon as he is born, it becomes his responsibility to draw life’s energy through various ways, to sustain life. We all are product of nature, and are sustained by its five elements, which are earth, water, air, fire and space. So we must realise that to sustain life, we must take proper care of Mother Earth, and the elements and find ways to stay connected. Too often modern technology is used in ways that satisfies our greed but brings a lot of harm to nature. Cultivation of genetically modified crops, injecting animals to harvest more flesh, or drawing out excess water and resources from Mother Earth are sad examples of human exploitation. Though now in my ripe old age of 84, I still enjoy learning more about computer science and artificial intelligence etc. from my11 year old grandson Adrian, who also enjoys flying airplanes as his hobby. Recently he came from U.S.A with his little sister Emma, and his parents to visit me. I thought of introducing him to a playful fun game with nature. Every morning sitting in the garden, in cool breeze, surrounded with flowers and chirping birds, I taught him one of my favourite childhood games – how to play a call and response game with a songbird and sing at a higher pitch than the bird till she responds! Just by mimicking it’s chirp, we were able to ‘play’ with the bird – a game which he enjoyed and practiced every day. Life flows like a river, with waves high and low, ready to fall back , and to be one. Every era brings something new to enrich life, but the whole of life has intelligence embedded within it and there’s nothing artificial about it.

New year's resolutions

Every year people love to make new year resolutions, which generally get broken soon. The variety of these resolutions is interesting. Someone promises to uplift health of body and mind, by avoiding junk food, or promises to go jogging every morning. Someone may think of strengthening relations by being more tolerant, while other may think of trying to do something just for one month, like not drinking alcohol in January! Life becomes interesting by the simultaneous flow of attraction and aversion of what drives us towards or away from ideas, people and obsessions. I remember one of the funnier new year resolutions made by a neighborhood group, which included the age group of sixteen to seventy two. Every morning they gathered near our adjacent park, and laughed very loudly together for thirty minutes. It was a laughing club, and members wanted to strengthen their lungs to fight back the heavy pollution of Delhi. It was indeed a very noble thought, but our Dog did not think so. Every morning, standing near the gate he barked loudly at them to show his protest. Their joint symphony, (Jugal bandi) forced us to be early risers. This year, at the age of eighty four, when I was trying to find a meaningful new year resolution, some thoughts popped up in my mind and brought a smile. Recently we were travelling from Madras to Pondicherry by car. On our way we stopped at a roadside Dhaba (small eating place), to have a cup of coffee. Chairs were arranged under the green canopy of a big banian tree. While we were settling down, we all noticed a few malnourished hungry dogs nearby. Some of them gave birth to puppies and were more fragile. They looked at us, with mixed feelings of both fear and expectations. My son Prodeep is not only a great animal lover, but also is a man of action. He immediately ordered six plates of rice, curd etc. for them, and when Dhaba people objected to serve dogs on their steel plates, he bought all those plates from them. The dogs were very happy, came near us and polished off all food in no time. After that, while wagging their tails with happiness, came to us and looked at us with loving gratitude. Their silent loving gesture was our best new year gift, which touched our hearts, and we preserved that tender feeling in mind like a precious treasure. True we cannot bring permanent solutions of many problems in this impermanent world. But by practicing the simple act of sharing and caring for all life on this earth, one can bring divine joy to others as well as to one’s own self. On the famous saying “Life is to give, not to take“ we may form new resolutions for this new year. That noble resolution stands on three pillars. First is to shower unconditional loving kindness to others, especially to deprived ones, secondly to develop attitude of sharing and caring for others and also to nurture sincere gratitude towards almighty, who has blessed us with a privileged life.

Oneness is all

Recently, I was delighted to get an invitation from our friend Silva to accompany her to a spiritual discourse by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha. Silva is an Estonian lady by birth. After coming to India, her interest in spirituality deepened and her quest was satisfied when she met Swamiji and became his disciple. Swamiji’s intellectual approach to find spiritual solutions of life’s problems in an analytical way that appealed to many intellectuals, including my late husband Dr. Ashish Bose. The transition through Delhi’s thick layers of pollution to reach the venue where Swamiji was to speak didn’t dampen our spirits but after reaching our destination, we were magically transported to a peaceful heaven. In that twilight, we heard chirping birds were returning home, and could see expansive green lawns bordered with beautiful flowers. We proceeded towards the main lecture hall, which was decorated with orange merry gold flowers, and as Swamiji entered, dressed up in his orange robe, the atmosphere became vibrant with spirituality. In India, orange colour is known as sadhu colour. That day Swamiji touched a very important point in today’s problem, and also gave a solution to that. Today the whole world is suffering from conflicts and disharmony which has robbed our peace. The root cause is our Ego. Swamiji said the only way to overcome our ego centric attitude, is to understand and realise our basic oneness. The truth is, the whole creation is made of pancha bhuta - five elements (earth, air, fire, water, space), and life throbs in every heart in the same way. Our appearances differ for different climatic and cultural backgrounds. When we understand the knowledge of basic Oneness, egocentric attitudes will fall flat, and we can be at peace with each other. Our ancient scripture Upanishad said, “ Vasudhaiva Kutumvakam “, which means , the whole world is one family. Tagore prayed, “drown my arrogance in tears, make me modest “. All through the ages, great people realised that unless we realise our oneness with each other, we cannot survive, and cannot be in peace. As Martin Luther King Jr. said , “ We must learn to live together as brothers or sisters, or perish together as fools “.

Youngsters, our nation's pride

After being locked down for two years due to COVID, the start of 2023 brought a welcome change for me. My son Prodeep and his wife Louisa had planned well in advance to spend the first week of January with me in India. To avoid the cold weather in Delhi, we decided to have an adventurous trip to the jungles of South India, which are home to tigers, elephants, monkeys. Among many plantations, blue mountains, and rivers, with riots of colors in various flowers, the beauty of nature was breathtaking. We stayed in comfortable forest resorts each night, ate good food, and rested to prepare for the next day's adventure. This was my second visit to South India, and after almost forty years, I noticed a desirable change: national integration was taking place through migration from other parts of India. Smart young boys and girls from faraway places like Sikkim, Bhutan, Mizoram, Darjeeling, and Manipur were happily working in different service sectors like restaurants, hotels, and massage centers. They were noted for their skilled working abilities, cheerfulness, helpful attitude, smiling faces, and swift gait. I met one such girl, Martha, from Manipur, who worked as a massage therapist in an Ayurveda center in a jungle resort of Nagarhole in Karnataka. As I was unable to join the early morning jungle safari, my thoughtful son arranged for my massage appointments, and that's where I met this charming and enterprising girl. The skillful movements of her hands rejuvenated my body and mind. While talking to her, I realized that not only was she a skilled massage therapist, but also a very brave and determined person. She told me that after her 10th board exam, when she was getting ready to join the Indian Army, her father died, leaving behind two younger brothers and mother. As their small piece of land was not enough, she took on the challenge of financial responsibility, came far away from her home, earned money to give stability to her family, and worked hard to make her dream come true, which was to join the Indian Army. I advised her to study online and appear for the twelfth grade to get better opportunities to join the Indian Army. I salute such youngsters who have the courage to face problems, the determination to reach their goals, and who serve others with sincerity and a smiling face.

The pursuit of devotion, charity and self-discipline as the path to happiness

In Bhagavad Gita’s last chapter, it is said that three activities are most essential in life and they should never be renounced. The first is “Yagna “, which means a devotional service towards a higher power for spiritual growth. The second is ”Dana”, which means charity, and thirdly “Tapas” , which means disciplined effort so one can progress in life materially and spiritually. It is mentioned that all these should be practiced with ease, poise, and without any longing for a specific desired result. In today’s busy life, nobody has enough money or time to arrange for Yagna, but other two things can be practiced. Dana is a very noble act, by which one can uplift the spirit of a deprived person, by helping him to grow materially and spiritually, so do we ourselves. The act of charity brings benefits to the giver and the receiver. The giver’s life gets richer by the unseen blissful gratitude which flows from the receiver’s heart towards him. As a seed grows up in to a big tree, and bears fruits, our every action also bears many fruits, and what we sow comes back many times over in life. The intention behind our every action is like the seed that bears fruit – the nature of the seed is the nature of the fruit. Once I heard a story from my Chinese friend which may be relevant here to mention. Long back, a one armed man came and knocked the door of a rich lady, and asked for some donations. The lady was truly helpful and wise. After hearing his tale of misery, when she asked him to arrange some bricks in her garden, he felt helpless and expressed his inability to do anything with his one arm. The smart lady folded her one hand back and showed him how she could do the job only with one arm. The man got the point, did the job, and got a good remuneration for his job. Before leaving, when he asked the lady if she could kindly give him a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, she gladly gave him one. Many years passed, and the ageing lady was still there. One day a big swanky car stopped near her gate, and a gentleman came down and bowed his head to her. When she was unable to recognize him, he showed her that handkerchief which she gave him a long time back. He said she taught him how to live with dignity and also to be helpful to others. He now owns a company, and provides employment to youngsters to learn to live with self-dignity. Difficulties come to teach us to find out inner strength, to be humble and helpful. It is a great lesson, which we all can learn to make life worth living. If we only concentrate on hurt, we suffer. When we support those who might be trapped in a difficult situation and help them march ahead, we ourselves can blossom like a rose and spread fragrance all around. It is not the direct pursuit of happiness that leads to it but rather the pursuit of devotion, charity and self-discipline that leads to a life well lived, that is free and full of joy.

Gujjia the great

Gujia is the name of a popular sweet in North India – traditionally enjoyed most during the Holi festival. Our three-legged dog named Gujia, is equally sweet. He was named Gujia by “Red Paws”- noble organization that rescues and cares for stray dogs. Once during “Holi” festival, Gujia met with an accident. His leg got crushed by an insensitive, careless driver, who ran away, leaving Gujia bleeding on a dusty road. Luckily, he was noticed by “Red Paws”. They brought him to their shelter and gave him medical care which unfortunately required an amputation. After a long recovery, Gujia was ready to be placed in a forever home – and that is how Gujia came in our life - for which I am very grateful to them. With his kind looks and gentle behaviour, Gujia stole our hearts in no time and became darling to us all. But he dislikes two things - all loud sounds, especially the doorbell, and anytime he’s left alone at home even for a while. In both such situations, his style of protest is unique. He just looks up to the ceiling and starts howling in a soft, long-drawn and melodious wail that sounds unbearably pathetic and causes irrepressible laughter from anyone who witnesses the phenomenon. Recently, one winter morning, Gujia was happily digging mud in a quiet corner of our garden, while Rajbir, our driver entered and without noticing Gujia, he started his car – making an abrupt noise, and that made Gujia totally unnerved. In a second, he ran away from home so fast that nobody could catch him. The next three days and two nights were a totall nightmare for us. We had no sleep or hunger, and searched for him in every nook and corner of our neighborhood but could not find him. We possted his picture on social media and were waiting to get some information. Thanks to thoughtful and kind people, and technology, after seeing his photo on social media, one smart girl named Amiti, noticed Gujia sitting on a dusty road, under a tree. She was returning from her office in the evening. She took his picture and sent it to me to confirm. A thin ray of hope shone through. I thanked her profusely and sent my driver and maid to accompany her to the spot where Amiti saw Gujia last. They all rushed there, but could not find Gujia. He’d moved away somewhere else to be safe and stay protected in the winter night. Being a dog lover, Amiti already got some posters ready with Gujia’s picture, and with the help my staff she pasted them on the walls of the market place. Her brilliant idea worked like magic. Next morning, at eleven I got a call from Rajeevji, another dog lover, who informed me that he’d seen Gujjia at a particular location. My rescue team immediately reached there and saw our braveheart was sitting on a dusty lane next to a very busy main road. Hearing a familiar voice, Gujia looked up with hope, and totally exhausted. He had no energy to bark or even to get up. Rajbir lovingly carried him and put him in the car. Fighting and winning another battle of his life, Gujia the great came home, unhurt this time but totally drained of energy. We celebrated his home coming by giving him his favourite treats and taking selfies with big smiles while he sat in the middle like a king. We invited my two newly found two dog lover friends who helped us find Gujia and bring him back. This drama ended well, made us more thankful to God and to all our friends and helping souls. It taught us to stay strong and positive even in the middle of crisis. Long live Gujjia!