From Prajapati comes the problem, from Prajapati will come the solution...

Greetings dear reader! It feels good when the pen meets paper and what's produced is a little better than scribble and gibberish. Although i'm working on a different story at the moment, this small hint of opinion shared by a fellow traveler in a train could not be deferred for later.

If life be termed a long journey traversing across people, places and emotions; experience would be the keepsake we collect along the path as a memento from the place, like a snapshot in time. Ruminating over this experience over a period of time and perhaps with the collection of other experiences, wisdom can be extracted from the experience. Call it the distillation of wisdom from experience :)

It's too early to talk about wisdom but the experience nevertheless is worth sharing. Returning from a scouting program in a forest near Mumbai with a few friends, we boarded the train at the railhead for Matheran, the popular hill station near Bombay. Boarding the train alongwith me were a motley crew of other travelers. Each driven by a personal motive and requirement, each headed to someplace.

Seated opposite and next to me were three gentlemen of three different yet similar sorts. Let's speak about the similarities before delving into differences. All three were working class men, the kind who'd prefer discussing matters at ground zero with the sleeves rolled up for some hard work. No time for wishy washy and bullshit with them. Two among them were Moslems and one was a Hindu speaking of differences of the religious sort. Seemingly unmindful of their religious orientations and leaving such divine differences to whosoever may care, they shared a common zest for life and exchanged humour ribald and colourful!

Normally, we wouldn't have exchanged anything beyond the slightest of glances and gone about minding our own business but that day wasn't exactly what can be classified normal. A German national (also my friend) was with us and on a rainy day wanted to stand at the train's door and enjoy the cool and wet kiss of the strong breeze. That was reason more than enough to get all the three men curious.

The easiest way to get drawn into a conversation in what seems like a closed group is to listen to what's being discussed and nod in accordance when words of weight are exchanged. I was the new joinee into the conversation and the topic of discussion was feet, women's feet.

"They say the women of Misr are some of the most beautiful on Earth" one of the Moslems, an elderly faithful replete with the skull cap reiterated for the emphasis. Must have arrived at this conclusion either from the Quran which definitely would have texts about Misr or would have heard from fellow travelers.

"The loveliest of feet God could ever create were gifted to the women of Italy. Italian women have beautifully shaped feet." The elderly Moslem's younger neighbour held his opinion.

 "Kaise pata tumko? How do you know?" The third voice erupted rather indignantly from my side. As if you've held and caressed women's feet all these years. Quite preposterous to presume i'd believe you (or so that my neighbour might have been thinking!).

"I have worked with a shoe manufacturer for a while. I used to prepare the dies for the shoes and this meant measuring women's feet. The best i've ever come across were Italian women's feet."

The proof that he'd worked with a shoemaker somehow sounded convincing and the point was driven across and accepted as well. The speaker looked at me mutely expecting a nod of approval or a response in favour but i merely smiled weakly. Never smile when in strange company, they assume the smile to be a sign of weakness. Which they in the end did assume...

"Where's your friend from?"
"Germany"
"What's she doing here?"
"Studying"
"What is she studying?"
"Language"
"She came to India from Germany to study...?"
"Yes"
"Are there no universities in Germany she couldn't find that she had to come to India?"
"..."
"What are you doing?"
"Working"
"Where are you working?"
"Chemical company. The ones who make Baygon"
"Oh! The Baygon company? Where do you work?"
"Powai"
"How much do you earn?"
"Something around 30 grand..."
"You came to India to earn 30 grand? Better to have stayed there in Germany"
"I'm not German"
"Ah, i see. So where are you from..."

Curiosity is a bug bite which cannot be satisfied with a bout of scratching. The more you scratch, the more the feeling to scratch increases. Given a "responsive" chappie quite open to talking, the questions kept coming. Never mind the subtle hint that i wasn't interested in talking. Perhaps they knew and didn't care or simply didn't know from my one word answers.

"How's education in Germany like?"
"They have technical universities out there. Applied Sciences and stuff. You know, everyday stuff which makes you employable."

The conversation meandered as does conversation when the conversants are from completely unrelated backgrounds. It'd be rightful to say there were two conversations, one between the elderly Moslem and his neighbour and me and my neighbour.

"You see the population of India? You see the population in this city?"
"Yes..."
"You see the government tried to stop us. They tried with all their might to control our numbers, but the numbers weren't asmuch dented or scratched. What does it say...?"
"..."
"Which community is the richest community in India...?"

This was a question that could make or break the moment and before you know it there might erupt a sudden flash of steel and crimson if the response weren't what the questioner expected.

"It's hard to pin it to one community. Well, there are people..."

"It's the Hindus. Hindus are the richest among the lot. Don't take me for a Moslem brother, i'm a Hindu..."

"There's someone called God you know? God is the divine string puller. Doctors and their lot pretend to cure and save their patients, but He's the final authority who sanctions life and death..."

"Yes..."

"God made me, God made you. He gave you money and education, he didn't give me education. You must be grateful to your parents. They sweated and toiled to give you life and a good education. Their sacrifice means you have a good life today..."

"Yes indeed. Amen to all parents..."

"God make the rich man, God made the poor man. Some become egotists because of their wealth but what good will that wealth hold before God? It's all the same to Him, nothing at all."

"Yes..."

"I don't have much education that's why i eke out a living. My father could hardly read the ABC. But i've educated my children. My son surfs on the Internet..."

"Good..."

"Everything we have is God's gift. Everything comes from Him ultimately..."

"Yes, i'm with you on this..."

There was a brief interval of silence. These brief spasms of silence can often snuff out conversations (or monologues) such as these which weren't invited in the first place but i wanted to know what divine logic spurred this man to have a family even when he had the most basic of salaries.

"Do you think it's wise for a poor man to have a large family? Don't you think the man must focus on making a living decent enough for himself before taking on a family...?"

(Profound silence. The question has hit a deep vein)

"What makes you think the man supports his family? Do you support your family? No! God supports you and your parents. If you were to die tomorrow, God will tend to them. Do you think He'll let them perish...?He will not do so..."

I was right about the deep vein of emotion being gouged open for the sentiment flowed from the heart.

"God will provide for everyone. Everything is God's gift to us. Children are God's gifts. Don't you think, don't you dare think you support your family just off your money. God will provision money for you no matter what..."

(Wonder where would that money come from if i weren't suitably employed was the thought in my head...)

"When i had my first born, i was hardly earning enough for myself. Today, my son surfs on the Internet. He's an educated man. Educated people (a direct jib at me) think they know everything there is to know in life. They refuse to believe in God. But God exists, God provides. If i were to think i could'nt have a family, where'd i be, eh? Answer me..."

"Hmm..." (Nodding in approval)

"Remember this. God exists and God provides..."

The conversation then wandered back to the original participants as the rivulets merge into the source and i was left at peace. My friend was still at the door while the action took place and ended and silence took over again until they got off the train at their destination.

"From Prajapati comes the problem, from Prajapati will come the solution..." - Ancient Hindu Purana

From the journals of a young man - Event and Experience

One of the benefits of having a cognitive mind is the ability to observe and interpret events that happen in everyday life. Inspiration is seldom genuine when the genesis of the idea can be traced back to a requirement which materialized due to a certain event. This little "fact" attains an extremely high level of importance when you understand and you know, human beings are social beings.

That means we are bombarded by events and experiences every single day. Each experience and event is unique in its own way. The uniqueness of the event/experience depends upon the reaction of the person who acts out the event and also on the perception of the recipient as to how does he/she interpret it. Enough theory for now, let me explain the fact by way of an event...

Event:

After the sun sets, time seems to become pleasant for the simple reason being that there's no more oppression by way of the sun's heat. Evolving around the sun dial, our life also turns around with the sun's movements. Sundown is the time for relaxing, going home, and spend a few hours from the day which has invariably in one way or the other, spent in pursuit of actions which have little relevance to everyday life (the only incentive here being the salary that's being paid!)

One fine evening it was the perfect time to leave the workplace which i did and given the day's worth of effort, a little libation was certainly welcome. Alcohol would be a splendid way of relaxing but impediment occurred by way of the lack of good company and disturbance in the senses (i wasn't home!) Such be the situation, difficulty calleth for suitable measures. In other words, a cup of tea by the road side stall would have to suffice as libation :)

Simple pleasures such as these are by virtue commonly available and do not possess an air of fanciness (cafes and parlours being on a completely different tangent!) A streetside hand cart, bicycle with a small flask and some glass and plastic cups would be more than enough. Rich and poor, people flock to these "momentary messiahs" winding their way back. And this is where the protagonist of our story was present too.

Speaking of events and experiences, its upto the recipient to absorb and interpret them no matter where the origin may be. The protagonist was a four legged resident of the locality and was spending time the way he knew best ( barking, chasing cars without fruit and... :) )

It had been a warm day and the he too seemed to be feeling the effect of it. He was ambling around without much worry or concern quite happy that the day had ended on a savoury note probably. That's when a passerby (human) swung at his tail with his towel ever so gently touching the tail. Uptil then, the dog was ambling perhaps to find a snack or attend some other pressing concern. No sooner did the towel touch the tail, his bearing and sense of direction was completely lost! Totally!

Forgetting what was he originally intending to do, he turned around to see what was it that touched his tail. Ideally on finding no one or nothing, what should have been his reaction? Get back to business right? No!

The man who swung the towel was by then already melting into the crowd from whence he'd materialized but the protagonist was now left without a sense of purpose and direction, at the mercy of Fate akin to a tumbleweed blowing in the wind...

Experience:

You'd be absolutely natural if you paid little heed to this event and probably quit reading the story and perhaps add a cuss word or two as compliment and get back to business. Perfect!

But this is an important event in one way and affects our life too. How? Aren't we equally distracted by inconsequential events, incidents and people? The slightest whisk to our present state of being and we're completly off balance floundering as if the world around us had collapsed. Perhaps if we were living in Neverland and the effect of the magical mushrooms had ended, this might mean the end of our world as we know it. A tragedy it'd be indeed if the magical mushrooms weren't available freely and we weren't able to return to Neverland...

But here's a proposition...

Regarding every event in our life with equal consequence but attaching no weights to it (the weight of attachment), we can live life almost seamlessly, transcending from one experience into the other without affecting our state of mind. Sounds lofty, let's see this with an example.

A person working for 20 years in an organization is suddenly asked to leave (the state of mind is momentarily disturbed). Normal circumstances would mean he'd be depressed, hurt and would be gloomy. Instead, if the person simply finds something else to do in life (which would provide for livelihood) and the central direction of life being (the aim of life) to stay happy, the person would almost be immune to the event of getting fired. For all we know, the person might react favourably too and change the course of his/her life...

Enough said for now, the tea cup's long since run dry and the rumbles in the stomach point the direction homeward :)