The pivot called soul

 I believe in soul. My faith, lineage, religious upbringing and a resurgent personal spiritual realignment all aside, I believe the concept of soul is a major life-critique. The idea of a soul, in my opinion, gives us the ability to project our life out of the physical realm of the body it inhabits and makes us reflect on our inner self with a critical lens. And when we examine our lives that way, the good and the bad are easily discernible. We cannot escape our own critique. We cannot force the mirror called soul to reflect what is not in us. From those innumerable reflections of all our actions, qualities and character, we are able to chisel away our imperfections to bring out the best of the goodness in us, step by step. Truth is the only source of life for the soul. Anything done in accordance with the eternal truth of the natural laws is the pivot that holds the individual self on its course without deviating from its path to the supreme truth. It is the only way to guide the soul effortlessly on to its merger with the supreme, to the individual jeevāthma to merge with the paramāthma, to the path of the adhvaitin

The hand sanitizer man

Nearly two years ago, I met a stranger at the Guindy Snake Park. I had taken my nephews, 9 and 6, on an exhibition there that included handling of reptiles including some rare kinds of lizards, snakes and tortoises. There was this man, probably older than me, with his son who was about the same age as my elder nephew. As the exhibition began, kids were encouraged to handle the reptiles and were given turns. As soon as my nephews finished their turn handling a tortoise, a rock python and a sand boa, I applied hand sanitizer and made them rub it all over their hands for a good minute. This man was curious and asked me what it was. It was quite a surprise to me. I would've normally expected someone like him to know what it is. When I told him what it was briefly, his face lit up and he asked 'How does this work? Is this available generally or in pharmacies only? Is it safe? Is it costly?' and so on. That it needed no washing with water was a revelation to him. But more than the questions themselves, it was the look on his face that I can never forget. It wasn't his questions or his lack of knowledge that was surprising to me. It wasn't his ignorance of the thing, but the innocence of his demeanor that unsettled me. For being generally taciturn to strangers, I felt surprised at how long I spoke with him on this small matter. After he admitted that he was actually excited about this and was going to buy some for his son, we went our own ways. I felt a tinge of joy, maybe even a tinge of unnecessary pride, that I taught a stranger a small new thing.

Since the start of COVID-19, whenever I have had to apply some hand sanitizer, his face pops up in my mind promptly and briefly. But today, he's lingering in my mind more than I want him to. I hope he and his son are safe. I hope he got to buy it and use it for his family. If he did, that's enough joy for me from this simple thing

A friend in need

A friend in need is a friend indeed, not because (s)he is available in times of need, but because (s)he preempts when (s)he might be needed and is always ready! A true friend is always prescient and lives inside the minds of the needy, but it should not be a matter of pride. One should never take pride in the fact that (s)he has been a needed friend. Pride kills the spirit of true friendship

The exercise called gratitude

Gratitude is an exercise for the soul that's just as important as physical exercise is for the body. Just as training against gravity strengthens the body, training gratitude daily against the gravity of life strengthens the soul

Of common man's clichés and truth

Is it because the common man's life is a journey of clichés that the clichés become his truth, or is it because his many paths to the truth in life are so clichéd that the truth itself becomes a cliché?

Of struggle & strengths

The point of any struggle is not overcoming the struggle itself, but acquiring the courage to withstand it while it lasts, and the will to see it through while it passes. For the actual point of the struggle passing is but a fleeting moment, but the courage and will acquired are lasting strengths

Of constancy & curiosity

Life is a game of opposites & compromises, of constancy of personal principles and a curiosity for social change. In most of the human endeavors that deal with the matters of the heart, it's either the constancy or the curiosity that gains the upper hand, but one does not win over the other, and almost always need each other to appreciate both the presence & absence of each other. And in these testing times, we need a constancy of gratitude for all the blessings bestowed upon each of us, and a curiosity for the betterment of oneself and humanity as a whole. Those of us who are lucky to be in good health, have a job and are taken care of with the necessities of life need to feel the gratitude for the good things that life has bestowed on us, while constantly striving for our betterment, and being curious and caring for the unlucky ones to change their lives one day & one thing at a time.

The loop of acceptance

As much as we have convinced ourselves and accepted the fact that these are tough times, for work, for businesses, for families and for the communities, and that the new normal is totally abnormal, I retrospect a little bit in a differnet frame of mind and find that this has been a time of blessing. There has never been a better time to count the true blessings in life for what they teach us about life, and death. Life is only meaningful because the discerning eye defines purpose. Because in death, there is no discrimination or purpose.

It's surprising, and worth retrospecting, how our perspective of life changes in a short time. In the sixty days since the lockdown and other controlling measures kicked in and have been in place, I have been going back to the Stoic basics and it has never made so much sense as it has now. I have crossed ocenas and am now on the othe side of the world. Life changes for me as I speak. And I have indeed risked coming in contact with and getting infected through unknowns (God knows who had what virus in those cramped airports and fully-packed flights!). But I had to take the flight even in that dire situation. And I can't emphasize enough that somewhere in all that chaos, it was all pure luck and timing. Back home, I hear from friends and family that the virus has caught on to their neighbors. It gets personal this time, doesn't it?

All this does nothing to assuage the fear that life is totally unpredictable and unplannable, and acceptance is the only way forward. We can whine all about bad luck or we can accept life with equanimity. Hence there is a perspective shift from 'plan for the worst, hope for the best' to 'live for good, the here and now'. There is no plan that cannot be disrupted. Our plans may appear too good to fail, but never underestimate the power of luck and timing, and Karma.

We propose. Karma/Luck/Timing disposes. We accept. We strive. And with enough practice of acceptance, peace bestows herself upon us.

And the loop plays forever.

Reality & beauty

The reality of life is made up of our choices and compromises. The beauty of life is in finding meaning and contentment in those choices and compromises. For reality comes from the mind and is a result of logic & reasoning, while beauty comes from the heart and is a result of acceptance and wisdom

Learning how to die - A will

What isn't original or customary to our ways of living or dying need not always remain so. Among my family, extended family, friends, and social network all spanning roughly three generations, I have never once heard of any will written by anyone. But in my mind, I think it's one of the simplest ways to learn how to die, and probably live after one dies too. Not that I have read a will before or that I have been where one was read, but I have always wanted to and tried to write one myself. It's not that I'm leaving behind an empire and legacy that warrants a will to be written so that my recipients do not find it difficult to settle my estate equitably after I'm gone. I want to write one simply because I believe there is some peace to be found in it. Now that we have cleared the part about me leaving behind a non-existent empire and legacy, I don't think I need a lawyer to draft my will. I'm the master of my words! And I am just getting started!