Smiling through life

Marine Drive, CochinChinese Fishing Net, Cochin

Marine Drive, Cochin

My Subject

I call Economics ‘my subject’ because I really loved it. I haven’t touched the subject for a long 7 years after my son was born. Not that I miss the subject or regret anything. But given a chance (may be in the next birth), I’ll certainly go back to the days of my research, teaching, library, journals, magazines, writing research papers for journals and conferences etc. Those days I was totally immersed in Economics and dreamt of a lot of things in the subject. During the initial years after my son was born, I did feel a bit depressed. Felt like digging a big pit and burying away all my degrees. Although staying at home was entirely my decision, because mine is a nuclear family, and I cannot imagine my child with a maid!(He is completely home-made)! But often I go back into the memories of my university days. I loved my subject and teaching job so much, I have given up the idea of starting again. This is because I know what a subject like Economics demands. After such a long break, I have lost the sharpness I had with regard to the subject. When teaching, I never stuck to any textbook. And now, with a family to look after, I don’t have the time to sit in a library and browse over journals, various newspapers and books. I cannot do justice to my subject and teaching job, according to my standard.

I am the type of person, who can do only one thing at a time. When I am doing some work, I get so involved in it, I simply forget other things. ( One thing happens with me daily! Even when I am doing something near the stove, while the milk is boiling, I get so immersed in the other job, the milk will inevitably fall everyday!) .Same is with my son. When he was born, I felt God has given me the responsibility of bringing up a child. Its my responsibility to bring up my child as a useful, responsible citizen of the country and the world. And I can provide him a strong base by staying at home. This way my focus is on him. I don’t have to rush in the morning, or worry about my notes, instead of my son’s studies. We unconsciously tend to vent out our stress on the little ones, stressing them in return.

 Parenthood too opened a new, previously unknown, chapter of life. I am certainly enjoying it too as much as I enjoyed ‘my subject’. That’s flowing and smiling through life. Isn’t it?

Why Blog

Expressing oneself through writing is mostly a God-gifted talent. Like all other talents, this too has to be chiseled through practice. The talent of writing can be spotted at a young age, when a child has just started reading and writing. The way they frame answers, their interest in the written words, curiosity and grasping of new words they hear, enjoy reading and rhyming, creative thinking, all these are pointers towards the literary inclination of the child. If encouraged, creative writing grows into a hobby and maybe a passion and a fulfilling career too.

Writers are mostly free souls. In fact, every artiste is a free spirited person. And writing is also an art. Not everyone can express in beautiful lucid words! Writing is also a passion. Certain things happen around us and with us, about which we may have strong opinion and want to share those views and experiences. Some writers write to share their real experiences to benefit others, and some write to entertain. Some convert their experiences into story form, whereas some simply put their feelings into words to feel good personally. There are many reasons to write. One thing is common – the urge to express!  This expression can be shared with people through published books, and writing for dailies, magazines etc. Even where theirs no monetary gain, the reviews you get from readers about your article boosts the spirit and you start writing again. But editing is an important part of media like newspapers and magazines. Therefore sometimes, when you read your article, you may find that your favorite lines have been edited. The editor has his own limitations. They have to consider many aspects like- the relevance of the topic in the current scenario; any part of the article should not offend anyone, the space available, etc. Sometimes the editing is so much that the final piece that is published, disappoints the writer. Here comes the importance of blogs.

Blogs give the freedom to express without any editing. Of course self-restraint has to be always there. Certain ethics are always to be followed, but here you are your own editor.

Secondly, your views become accessible worldwide. It is not limited to any geographical boundary. Third, there is the option of free discussion with people with similar interests. The positive comments encourage writing more. And the suggestions guide you towards better writings.

Fourth, you don’t have to wait for the publisher’s response, rejection, approval etc. Whatever you write, it is published immediately for the world to see.

Lastly, blogs can also be a source of income as a freelance writer.

So what are you waiting for? If you have the knack for writing, start blogging! Lots of readers are looking for good writings from sincere writers.

(Recognition in any art field takes time. Obviously, patience and hard work are important an ingredient of life’s any recipe!)

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In my last post on Kedarnath,I wrote that I am not a very religious person. Yes it is very true. I really cannot understand the practical significance of a lot of rituals. I have immense faith in God, but rarely feel the need to visit a temple. God is in my heart. The thing I want to point out is that for me, spirituality is different from being religious. People can be both or either of the two.

Spirituality is a much broader concept, because it is boundless. I t is not restricted to a certain way of offering prayers. It is just the belief in the Almighty, understanding life as He wants us to. People fight for religion, but one who has tried to decipher the very purpose and ways of life and this whole creation will never try to enforce any religion on anyone. Love and understanding is his only religion.

When I was about 25 yrs. of age, I started reading Swami Vivekananda’s works. One of my friends then remarked, these books are for the forty plus age group. But I would say, it is never too early to begin.(Swamiji himself lived till 38 yrs. of age!) After almost 13 yrs. of that remark, I have often realized how the teachings of Swami Vivekananda have helped me through so many difficult situations. I didn’t fast or pledge something to turn my bad times to good ones. When difficult, painful situations happened, it hurt. But I accepted them, knowing that however good I may be in this life, I am carrying with me the karma of my past life too. Whatever I have to bear, I have to bear. But this time will surely get over. Because the Lord is always watching. And every good student will know, often the strictest teachers are the most learned and best teachers. From every difficulty, life has lots to teach us. It makes us emotionally stronger and takes us closer to God. Our ancient texts always refer to this world as ‘Maya’ or illusion. Yes, it is! We get so immersed in accumulation of luxury; we think this life and this world to be everything. Actually, life is not a matter of just one, current life. What we are today is the effect of our past births and what we do today will affect our next birth. We are just helpers in Gods creation. Because He found me responsible enough to take care of a child, therefore He gave me one. And I have to fulfill my designated duties to my best.

Once I had a minor accident. The wounds hurt a lot for a few days. But I was surprised at myself, because I was smiling as usual and joking at my own situation. I was thanking my stars that it wasn’t anything worse and my son remained unscathed. In the back of my mind was what I had read some years back. When I am happy, someone, somewhere in this world is sad. Maybe I am happy at that person’s cost. So when it hurt, I thought maybe God had to protect someone who needed badly to be protected. So He passed on some of that person’s pain to me. And He did this because I am among His chosen few whom He felt can tolerate the pain. This is another important point I always have in mind –‘God gives only that much pain, that we can bear.’ This belief pulls me through difficult situations. Although my difficulties were very little compared to what we hear about some personal tragedies! In fact all these thoughts are coming to my mind because of the recent loss my friend suffered. She lost her mother and only brother of 35yrs. age in a car accident. My brother is also the same age and our parents too. Such unforeseen incidents jolt me out of this material dream world, and I again tend to reflect on real meaning of life. It is very difficult to come to terms with such sudden deaths. But then, this life is not ours. God has to balance a lot of things in this world. And if He gives pain, He is also the one to give us the strength to move on. We have to look beyond this one life!

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Winter is knocking at our door! And so is the winter vacation. Time to relax and learn; not from the books but from nature. After all, the best education is not just to enable a person to know this world merely physically, but to enable him to love and understand its creatures, irrespective of his caste, creed or religion. A flower is as beautiful in India as it is in Africa or America, though it may have different colors. A child’s smile is pure and beautifully innocent anywhere in the world.

So Go places…see life and learn to love life! There is so much to learn from other people’s lives. There is so much to see in India, our very own country! Travelling & visiting new places opens the mind to so many beautiful mysteries of nature. While children explore the myriad forms of nature, adults realize the inherent oneness in all of God’s creations.

The southern part of India with all the long beaches beckons with open arms. The states  of Kerela, Karnataka and Tamilnadu are places where nature is spread in all its beautifull forms. There are mountains, seas, waterfalls, rivers everything.The vast limitless sea has so much strength. Its awe inspiring depth and vastness reminds us how insignificant we are, yet we think ourselves to be the greatest. The immense force of the infinite sea reminds us with its power that there is someone above us -The Almighty, who is much stronger than us. The infinite vastness forces you to kneel down, bow your head and accept the Lord’s presence everywhere. Whatever we are, there is always someone stronger than us. The sea sometimes frightens…….but that inspires surrender….surrendering to the Almighty!

Mountains, in contrast to the sea, are monuments of humility. They are huge, majestic….but, humbly silent. We can feel the peace of divinity all around us and inside us. Such is the beautiful calmness of the mountains. 

There are plenty of hill stations in our country particularly in the northern and north eastern states. Places like Kedarnath, Gangotri, Rishikesh etc. do not only have religious significance, but the mesmerizing natural beauty of the mountains, the calm, the peace, all around lingers in the mind for a long- long time. Go to the mountains and climb it on foot.  Eat whatever local things you get. You will understand, and also appreciate and sympathize with the people living there, for there hardships. Compare it with our own comfortable luxurious life.  When we look at there faces, we realize that their hearts are actually smiling. They are much happier and satisfied than us, in spite of their tough life. They love nature and they know God is all around them. Talk to them with a smile and you will forget what ‘stranger’ means. People living in the mountains are simply…..simple! Just like the nature around them. God’s original creation!

Rajasthan is another jewel of India with its forts, havelis and sand dunes. Its beauty is unique. You can find mountains and sea anywhere in the world, but not the sand dunes of Jaisalmer. It is like a golden sea with qualities of both the mountains and the sea. One feels the question popping in the heart- what is life? It is so plain, yet it is so mysteriously beautiful. And the Rajputs?…They are so innocent looking and simple hearted. But when it comes to valor, the simplest hearts are the bravest hearts. And these very simple strong hearts can also create such intricate art works in their havelis. Every inch of the havelis, every door and window has awe inspiring carvings.

Then there are places like Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi, Jaipur etc. which have some hidden history in every corner.

Explore India!! Go to a remote village where still there is no electricity. Look at the sky at night! Have you ever seen so many stars and so many fireflies together? Just one hour’s power cut and we get miserable. But nature in her natural self makes us forget everything.

Such is our INDIA. Simple, beautiful, innocent, powerful, and above all NATURAL. We are a single flower with many colored petals. Such variety, such contrasts, is hardly to be found anywhere in the world. There are wonders spread all around. The more we explore the country, the more we feel the urge to go deeper. You get addicted. Go ahead…fall in love with life, with yourself..! The entire world will be yours!!

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