Home & Body – Cleaner The Better

My entire childhood and teenage (till 18) was spent in a small single room with just partition walls to separate kitchen and bathroom (if presence of a gas stove and a commode makes them respectively what they are called). And the space available in the middle of the house was a convertible one. When plates were arranged it was our dining room and when mats were laid it was our bedroom. If guests arrived third chair would find it difficult to fit in forget about having a couch. And when it rained we had a personal pool right in middle of the house. With regular power cuts we spent innumerable nights under the star lit sky and water supply as good as probability of finding an oasis amidst a dessert.

Memories!!!! Those days were tough. Financial and physical hardships have toughened our mettle indeed. Our navigation through those tough waters was guided by a compass with two blades –

• You have a roof at least over your head and a full stomach when you go to sleep.
• Work hard for your betterment, stop complaining.

14 years later, in 2017 I moved into MY (OUR) own house. What a joy it was! The peace of having and living in an abode where you are sure no one will surprise ( read shock) you with an evacuation notice out of nowhere is surreal (conditions apply – regular EMI thy name ). Every hardship, every austerity measure in the past finally paid off.

But since we moved into an old property considering our budget constraints then our house needed lot of renovation. We recently got the heating system changed in the pursuit of having hassle free winters and also to add to the resale value of the house if at all in future we decide to do so.

Allegory came to mind: We all know what renovation means – lot of dust and dump to clean up. While I was at it, one thing stuck my mind – isn’t our body same like our home? While a structure made of bricks and mortar gives us shelter, another structure made up of flesh, bones, water and blood shelters our heart and soul. We take a lot of pain and make lot of efforts to keep our premises clean lest it won’t be presentable and hygienic too. Then why we behave negligently towards our body that is nothing less than a temple created by the greatest architect – The God.

Yes I can hear those voices “what are you talking about? We take utmost care of our hygiene and with Covid around we are not taking any chances whatsoever”. I would say ” you are doing great. But what about those who are maligning this temple with various addictions like smoking, drinking, drugs? What about those who are knowingly or unknowingly giving shelter to dacoits named ego, greed, jealously, lust, anger, pessimism in the compartment called heart that are corroding and robbing them of their sanity & peace and consequently Joy. These termites are blindfolding us and deviating from the path which everyone of us is destined to trend. The path they make us walk are ecstatic to begin with filled with fun and frolic but as the end approaches we

• Clueless,
• Corrupted morally and ethically,
• Consumed by poison once we were consuming,
• Crippled by illness, close to a painful death.

Get your Insurance done: Just like a house has insurance against any possible loss and damage due to theft, fire, water etc. Insurance for our joyful lives is HIS WORD, EMI being EP – everyday prayer. If you sign for a premium plan of “Please Enlighten Me” you shall surely be delivered from temporary hardships of falling prey to the vices and get a bonanza of eternal joy!

Points to be noted :

• Respect your abode, be it house or body.
• Keep them clean for health – physical, mental & spiritual.
• Rent/EMI/Prayer – being regular is the key.

Just like a structure that we live in needs regular cleaning so does what lives in us needs a regular check.

From rented house to own- I had my fair share of experiences, hardships, memories and delightful moments. Now I have embarked on a journey to cleanse my temple – renovating my approach, dumping out the negativity. It’s hard and I am prone to falter but assurance of Joy of Enlightenment is my driving force.

MY QUESTIONS…YOUR QUESTIONS… OUR QUESTIONS

Who What Why When,

Stood holding their hands again,

Little How slowly crept,

Left behind it quietly wept.

Oh my dear, Why is true love so pure,

And hearts around search for it here and there?

Why does the grass wither and flower wilt,

Even though the earth has been so beautifully built?

What is this life and the end of it all,

Will Doomsday truly befall?

What gains a man from fame, health and wealth,

Will they be worth all the toil and stealth?

Who is a friend so dear,

That’ll always stick very near?

Who would give justice,

In the face of grave unending injustice?

When’ll peace reign in the earth,

And sorrow and pain become blissfully dearth?

When’ll all men have hearts of flesh,

And malice, hatred, anger become like a worn-out mesh?

How’ll I have answers to my questions,

Can anyone give me viable suggestions?

Can finite mortality

Fathom the infinite immortality?

Can uncertain irrationality

Explain certain rationality?

What is unseen will soon be seen,

No matter how much be the gap between.

What is unheard will soon be heard,

So what if now things seem very blurred!

My questions will have answers,

My pains will reap heavy gains.

Every heart shall rejoice,

And sing with a united voice.

The Sun of righteousness shall rise,

And greet everyone with a prize,

There shall be no deep sighs,

And no more ignorant whys.

WHAT IS LUCK?

When I was a small kid, I often had a lot of questions. Most of them my parents could answer for me, but many they couldn’t. I often reflected on my life and that of others; sometimes I felt luckier and other times I felt envious of other’s lives.

This is what I wrote as a 13 year old kid while reflecting one late night

Luck is the most unpredictable part of life. When it turns and how it turns – nobody knows. Death, marriage, life, family, friends, children and so many things we say are dependent on luck. But what is luck dependent upon?

Is it the deeds of this life or the deeds of our previous lives? Or is it just in random dependent upon nothing. 

If it is dependent on the deeds of this life then I wonder what bad has been done by that infant who is the sixth child of those parents who are living in a small cell, starving and struggling to survive. He has just opened his eyes to see what this world looks like. He is too innocent to do a wrong to somebody. Then why has he got such miserable life and I have such a beautiful one to deal with. 

No dear, it can’t be the deeds of this life. It has to be the doings of our previous lives. How unfair it is that we are being punished for those deeds committed by us which we don’t even remember. It is very strange; I cannot quite understand the mystery of the maze prepared by the Almighty.

I wrote this almost 20 years back. I still don’t have the answers. All I know is that I have to trust Him and do my best in whatever I do. Whatever happens, happens for a good reason – we are mostly blind to that reason because we do not understand the bigger picture. 

Well, the quest will always continue…

WHERE IS MY PEACE?

Have you seen my peace?? I have lost it somewhere!!

Long long long time ago… Well, not that long, but it so happened that my mom was shouting at me for coming late from college. She went from, “Is this a time to come home?” to “What will people think of you?” and more. That day I told her, “Please let me eat my food in peace!!” Since that day, it has been a daily dialogue for me. Some how my peace has gone missing; I have searched, and searched and it still eludes me.

How can we describe peace? Some might say peace means having time to sit alone and think. Some would say enjoying a nice cup of coffee without disturbance. Some would say, to sleep through out the night. The definition of peace is different for different people based on their perception of life. Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work, but to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. We tend to lose our peace everytime we encounter some unpleasant environment. Doing the wrong things in life, destroys our peace. Being in relationship with a wrong person, destroys our peace. When we visit places, where we have had some unpleasant encounters, there we lose our peace. Being in wrong places at wrong times makes us lose our peace. Not being able to do things which we want from a very long time kills our peace. Not being able to express our emotions also makes us wary and pushes our peace away.

And me, I have just managed to do most of them. You can just imagine how peaceful my inner self would be. When I saw Kung fu panda part 2, where Shifu teaches Po about the inner peace, O how much I saw myself in Po! He never knew who he really was in order to attain real peace. We all think we are leading a very peaceful life.

But are we? That inner peace… Is it attainable? Well, according to the movie, Yes!! But in real life????

We try very hard to soothe ourselves with all kind of things that help us relax like music, dance, art, and we very happily name them as hobbies. Good!!! Very good in fact!!! It is said that the time we enjoy wasting isn’t wasted after all. But the question still remains. Do we really do anything to attain that real peace? That’s a kind of quest which actually continues for a lifetime. It comes to an end only when we find our real purpose in life and how to accomplish it. Life is always a game. It has quests. Some important and main ones and some adjoining ones. Eventually all lead to the ultimate thing.

Mine is finding my peace. I haven’t quite figured it out yet. I have a long way to go. I am still in the process to find my ultimate peace. I can never figure out how did Po find his inner peace so soon. But it’s definitely taking me a lot of time. Its just HUMAN I think. High five to all who think they can relate to all such situations. Good news is that we will sooner or later find our thing by adding a little patience. And of course spread our love, joy and happiness to this world. I pray everyone find their peace and live a relaxed life.

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” – Holy Bible

ARE WE CONTENTED WITH OUR LIVES?

From the perspective of a foodie I have often patronized the fact that I LOVE BIRYANI. Not just any Biryani but the famous Kolkata biryani that comes with the humble potato. The love that I have for this item cannot be compared with the fondness that I have for other eatables. I have such humongous affection for biryani that I can devour it for all the meals of the day (Trust me I’ve done that as well).

But, consuming something for ages that is lardy and heavy comes with a price. I have to watch my weight as I am going on its higher side. It gives rise to gastric ulcers resulting in chest pain and fatigue. Numerous breakouts like acne on the skin are noticeable. Having experienced the results of some sorts I pledged to reduce the intake of such items at the start of the year. Yes, I took a resolution (I doubt its sustenance though).

You must be wondering why I suddenly related to gastronomy and my resolution at the beginning of this article as the topic for the week is “Quest of Life”. However trivial may it sound, this does help me relate to a pertinent question that I have been pondering upon lately. To what extent must a people go on living their regular lives till they realize they need a change? Do we really find contentment in the things we do?

We all take decisions regarding various aspects in our life which are far more important than having biryani. Do we really find satisfaction in leading our lives the way we want to? How far should we go to satiate ourselves till we become self-sufficient? We run after our desires and do not rest until we achieve our targets. As soon as we accomplish we set new goals and prepare our quest for them. Our interests keep changing. We have forgotten to be consistent. We change with the shift in trends. A new trend sees a new you. Somewhere in this changing process we tend to lose ourselves to the temporary changes. Change for consistency and sustenance is what we don’t aim for. I am not saying that change is bad as in some cases it is necessary and changing for the good has its own rewards. Now let us address the question of self-sufficiency. Can we ever become self-sufficient? The answer is NO. The mortal human cannot achieve self-sufficiency. How much we try to acquire knowledge, skill etc. we will never be enough for ourselves.

If this is the case then why do we resist ourselves from showing love and being kind? Why do we prioritize ourselves and feed our selfish desires? We spend our time worrying and planning for an unseen future. Discontentment and dissatisfaction encompasses us giving rise to displeasure. We are annoyed with our human nature. But the truth is there is no need for such annoyance as we cannot change the fact that we are dust and to dust we will return. Where do we find the solution to end up this displeasure? The joy will be found when we know who our Provider is. The previous week we were illuminated with the various facets of God’s nature. Self-sufficiency is one of them. Your Creator knows you best. Trust me when I say He will give you what you NEED and not what you WANT. Running after something that you want will only add up to the dissatisfaction that is already present. Therefore, submission to someone like this is what we need to do.  This is the key to be contented and peaceful amidst all chaos and imperfection.

We do realize the times when we want to change for the better, isn’t it? Still, we feel like lingering on to irrelevant and unnecessary things. At times these unnecessary things can be toxic enough to destroy us. Though we want to let go we don’t take a step further in it. That is when we see ourselves engulfed in worries and discontentment. As we keep on prioritizing ourselves losing out becomes a red mark and we tend to have false hopes. Let me tell you, there is a unique joy in losing out to the righteous. But you will only feel it once you step out of that zone and embrace the right path. Innumerable times we ignore the call to joy and continue to break ourselves till we become soulless. Stop right there and answer to the call. Stop trying to do everything by yourself. You certainly cannot turn every stone. The reason for that I have mentioned in the previous paragraphs.

The birds never reap, sow or store as they are aware of their Provider, The Heavenly Father. Hence, they do not worry. We humans are more valuable than them yet we are in constant vexation. So if you too are struggling with the thought of changing for good, transforming into the ideal human, identify your needs before your wants and submit to the will of the Creator. If this makes you a weak person delight in it as you will realize that your strength relies in nothing but God who has promised never to forsake us come what may.

Even if we know this very well…yet why are we so discontent and dissatisfied?

WHAT IS LIFE ABOUT?

From the point of our birth till our death, we are running a race. A race which is unpredictable, full of surprises, full of challenges , full of good moments and bad moments.

From a fetus in the mother’s womb to the corpse in the coffin, the journey is in a sequence- infant, kid, adolescence, adult and old age. When we are small, we have no work except receiving the affection from our parents. We grow up, go to school and then it’s a different journey from nursery till our 12^th. After this is our career making time where we focus on our future and choose courses accordingly. We find a job, get in there, earn money, fulfill our desires then we look for life partner and the role of family planning takes place. Finally with everything in place or maybe a little struggle here and there, we grow old and eventually leave this world. It’s a race to get along from one position to another with our best performances and as less mistakes as possible. But with all the efforts we put in, with all our endeavors and with the achievements we get in return, we leave the world just how we had entered- alone and naked!

Three years back when I was in the stage of deciding the course that would help me get a settled career, the question struck me. What is life about? Why are we running, changing our designations when ultimately we get nothing?

Death governs it all at the end!

Then is life worth living for?? Of course we reward ourselves with several good things in life and every action of ours brings in results but everything vanishes in the end.

So what are the elements that our life consists of? Unless we find the true meaning and purpose to life, then it’s an aimless run ending in death.

What gives that meaning and purpose to our otherwise mundane lives?

I stumbled upon this poetic passage which gave me some hope and warning as well…

Remember your Creator
    in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
    and the years approach when you will say,
    “I find no pleasure in them”—
 before the sun and the light
    and the moon and the stars grow dark,
    and the clouds return after the rain;
 when the keepers of the house tremble,
    and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
    and those looking through the windows grow dim;
 when the doors to the street are closed
    and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
    but all their songs grow faint;
 when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
    and mourners go about the streets.

 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
    and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
    and the wheel broken at the well,
 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
    “Everything is meaningless!”

Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.

WHO CAN ANSWER?

In the past 7 years of my professional career I worked with good brands, learned many things, earned name and money, excelled in my skills, became a channel of blessings to many, made myself resourceful but in the midst of all of these feel good factor I was not satisfied. I felt like somewhere I am missing the something. There was no inner joy! Every night as I went to bed, I was thinking that I am doing the same thing what others’ are already doing!

What’s the DIFFERENCE between Them and myself?

How can I prove my life on earth worthy?

After my death what account will I be giving to God of His blessings?

At my death bed will I be able to say, ‘YES, I LIVED LIFE WITH A PURPOSE?

At the buzz of these questions, from 2012 – 2014 my utmost question to the ONE who created me was “Why should I do what others are doing? If you have created me, then there has to be a purpose! WHAT IS THAT???”

As He answers to the cries of every heart (our secret sincere prayers), He answered my question too and I came to know the purpose of my existence on this earth!

Before the death of Alexander the great, whose name is enough to say of his achievements said,

“Burn my body and don’t build any monument. Keep my hands out so the people know the one who won the world had nothing in hand when he died…”

Is that life all about?

Is that I was born for?

Is that I was dreaming for years and so?

Is that for which I toiled day and night?

Is that my achievements are all about?

NO!!! Life on earth is more than what we have achieved and what we have accomplished! LIFE is all about knowing and attaining the Purpose of our Birth and Existence before we die. We cannot know this purpose until we question about it? But the BIG question is whom shall I ask? Why shall I ask Him? Does He know the answer? How can I know He knows the answer?

Yes… if I talk about another man just like you and me, s/he cannot answer our questions, cannot define the purpose of our life on earth because s/he her/himself is in the cubicle of these questions as well. How can he/she escape me from this buzz of life when he/she her/himself is subject to that? How can s/he answer when her/his knowledge is just finite like me?

Then WHO is that ONE, who can answer the “Questions of Life…”???