Man descended from monkeys

All men descended from monkeys.

I am not saying it. It was told by Charles Darwin(1809-1882) long long back in his "On the Origin of Species". To be honest I have not read it. Any bulky book except Ramayana and Mahabharata scares me.

I am sure he must have mentioned somewhere in the book that though intellegent,  monkeys are  imitative. Remember the story of handing over shaving razor to the monkey? Imitating  is aping and monkeys are apes for good.

During the process of evolution, men learnt a lot including  walking on two feet with straight back but somehow remained embedded in aping that is imitating.

If we look around us, we find this nature of our imitative culture everywhere. Our way of living, way of thinking and even the way we want to die-all are influenced by what others do, not what is good for us. Since we are litter better off than our ancestors, we do it on larger scale - Larger bungalows, larger cars, larger wedding pandals, larger gatherings. You know what I am saying.

The lively example is found in political rallies. The loud echo  of Jindabad! or Murdabad! we here on the streets is the fine example of our imitative nature. The slogan mongers do not even know what it means or why it is being done. They have been asked to imitate the voice of the leaders. I asked one such fellow and his answer was 'who cares' ?. True, who cares.

पेट से दिल तक

सदियों पुरानी कहावत - पेट से दिल तक

पुरानी कहावत है कि मर्द के दिल तक जाने का रास्ता उसके पेट से होकर जाता है। मर्द के ही क्यों ? किसी के भी दिल तक जाने का रास्ता उसके पेट से ही होकर जाता है। ज़रूरत है खाना भरपेट हो और स्वादिष्ट हो तो क्या कहने। आदमी को पालतू बनने मे कितनी देर लगती है। अगर इससे भी काम न बने तो डर पैदा करो।

सबसे सामान्य पालतू जानवर कुत्ता है। पहले जंगलों मे रहता था । पेट भरने के लिये शिकार करना पड़ता या फिर जूठनसे काम चलाना पड़ता। मेहनत रास नही आई तो बस्तियों मे डोलने लगा। आदमी को तो ग़ुलाम बनाने का शौक़ था ही। समझता था कि, हड्डी डाल दो, ग़ुलाम बन जायेगा। फिर चाहे कुछ भी करवा लो। इशारों पर नाचने लगेगा। डाँटने पर पूँछ हिलायेगा। अजनबियों पर गुर्रायेगा, भौंकेगा । घर का काम भी कर देगा । गेट पर जाकर पेपर ले आयेगा । बच्चों का मन बहला देगा, बेबी सेटिंग कर देगा। घर की चौकीदारी करेगा। मन, कर्म और बचन से आपका होकर रह जायेगा। बस मालिक दो वक़्त का खाना दे दो और बीच बीच मे थोड़ा सा पुचकार दो। न हो तो डरा दो।

अब घोड़े को ले लो। क्या कमी थी जंगल मे? मस्त ज़िंदगी, भरपूर घास । पर बहकावे मे आ गया । पहले कुछ ना नुकर की पर फिर मान गया। चनों का स्वाद जो ज़ुबान पर लग गया। ग़ुलाम बन कर रह गया। गाड़ी खींचता है, बोझा ढोता है। रेस मे मालिक को जिताता है । लड़ाई के मैदान मे करतब दिखाता है । सज धज कर मालिक की सवारी बनता है। कभी कभी बड़े बड़े साहब लोगों की शान भी बनता है। बस मालिक वही स्वादिष्ट चने डाल दो और थोड़ा सा सहला दो। न हो तो चाबुक तो है ही।

इसी तरह के बहुत सारे पालतू जानदार हैं। यहाँ तक कि शेर और हाथी भी। सब मे एक बात समान है। उनसे बफादारी की उम्मीद तभी की जा सकती है जब तक उनके पेट की ज़िम्मेदारी आपकी है। दूसरे माने मे उनके दिल तक जाने का रास्ता उनके पेट से होकर जाता है । एक बार पकड़ मे आ गये तो डंडा ही काफ़ी है। उपरोक्त कहावत यही साबित करती है।

इंसान भी पहले जंगलों मे ही रहता था। शिकार करके अपना और परिवार का पेट पालता। फिर खेती करना सीखा। पर दाँव कुछ ऐसा पड़ा कि किसान से बँधवा मज़दूर या  मिल मज़दूर बन गया। और एक दिन वह भी आया जब मज़दूर भी नही रहा, बेकार हो गया। ज़मीन तो पहले ही जा चुकी थी, अब चाकरी भी गई। जो चालाक थे मालिक बन गये बाकी मजबूर होकर उनके आश्रित हो गये। मलिकों को जानवरों को पालतू बनाने का अनुभव तो था ही। आदमी को पालतू बनाना कोई मुश्किल काम नही था। उनके सामने चारा डालता रहा और तालियाँ बजवाता रहा। बीच बीच मे डर तो है ही। पेट और डर के सामने किस की चलती है। इतना ध्यान ज़रूर रखा कि भरपेट खाना कभी मत दो, वरना अधिकार समझने लगेगा। आधा पेट आदमी ज़्यादा डरता है।

यह परंपरा चली आ रही है और चलती रहेगी। मालिक वादे तो बहुत करता है पर होता कुछ नही। बीच बीच मे स्वाद बदलने के लिये मीठे के रूप मे बीपीएल, मनरेगा, मुफ़्त का गैस का चूल्हा, टी वी, जैसी आइसक्रीम खिला देता है। आदमी सोचता है बस अच्छेदिन आने ही वाले हैं। दिल ही तो है, पसीज जाता है। मालिक के गुणगान करने लगता है। डरता है कुछ कहा तो यह भी नही मिलेगा।

सदियों की गुलामी आदत बन जाती है। पहले राजा रजवाड़ों के ग़ुलाम रहे, फिर मुग़लों के, फिर अंग्रेज़ों के और अब अपनो के। अपने इस लिये कि हमने ही उनको राजा चुना है। और चारा भी क्या था।

Omnipotent , omnipresent , omniscient , supreme.

Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient and Supreme.

I am the reason and the cause of your existence and your identity. Slightly wanky or blurred and you are done. You live with me and may die without me. You will need the blessings of my favors in every sphere of your life in this world and beyond. Your own children will suffer if you ignore me.

Forget about your bank accounts, property, land holdings and what have you without me. I can make or mar your very existence. I have been reason for the settlement of disputes in the court of modern Chitraguptas. I will be the witness and also the judge when your children claim you.

And don't ask me why? You created me, you trusted me, you used me and you forgot me. I can not forgive you for your indifference. You cannot hide under the pretext of changing times that has revolutionized the very concept of me. I was relevant, am relevant and will remain relevant. You cannot ignore me and play with those new toys you have bought from the fairy land of satellites. You could have and should have kept company with me.

Now, now, don't you cry like a spoilt brat. If the gate keeper is not allowing you to enter your own chamber and open the locker wherein you have hidden all your wealth without me, he is right. It is his job to stop you without proper identity.

Remember those days when you were a kid ! Remember those days your parents had only their thumbs to prove their identity! Remember those days when only a fistful of your race knew to draw lines instead of blackening their thumbs to prove their existence! I sent my messengers to spread this art of drawing the lines as proof of existence and you were one of the chosen.

Okay, okay, now stop it. I cannot bear it any more. Your indifference can not be the reason for my denying protection to you and to all you love. I am not that unkind. I give you another chance. Practice those simple lines I taught to draw when you were young. I assure you with dedication, practice and trust you will find me and then you will,be in a position to enter any door you want to. No gatekeeper will stop you.

THE MATCH MAKER

THE MATCH MAKER

Jagari uncle used to smile mostly to himself. What that cute mysterious smile meant he only .knew. He was a man of few words. Jagari was no not his name, it was his profession by which he was known. Most people had forgotten his real name. Only a few of his contemporaries knew but they too never called him by that name.

Every village has a match maker who can be sought upon particularly in times of difficulty in finding no suitable match for a boy or a girls. He/ she will be handy and make a success story. Normally match making is a well oiled machinery in which the family Purohit or wife of the village barber called Nayin or friends, relatives and acquaintances play a very important role. Sometimes it is just between two families knowing each other for long. One such maker in the hills of Uttarakhand is the Jagariya.

Jagaria comes from the word Jagar which means awakening the gods and local deities from their dormant state to seeks favors and blessings. The jagaria on the beat of music and musical instruments like Hurka and Thali sings stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Jagaria plays the Hurka and always has an assistant with him who plays on the Thali and joins him to sing in chores. They are called to perform Jagar by family in distress and help them come out of it through the Jagar singing that awakens the gods and local deities who bless the family and grants them the desired favors. Thus they keep visiting nearby villages and thus get acquainted with lot of families.

The Jagarias therefore established very personal bonds with such families. Since Jagar is the traditional form of worship, many family perform Jagar one time or the other. This furthers the influence of the Jagarias over such families. Since they travel to many village they have the information about the eligible boys and girls for marriages. This makes them the perfect match makers also.

Our jagaria uncle was one such match maker. Jagaria uncle was not the head Jagaria, he was the assistant of the head Jagaria who plays on the Thali. But in the village he was known as Jagaria. He had been instrumental in a few successful match making. He knew it well that people came to him only when they had exhausted all other options. There were and are boys and girls who for one reason or the other remain unmarried as if they were destined to have no partner in life. Such helpless individuals or families were his clients.

Jagaria uncle was a pillar of hope. He was a relentless seeker of suitable match and always kept his client updated on the progress. One such client was Tularam in our village. Tularam lost his parents early. He grew up under the shadow of his cousins and with the mercy of their parents. He was well built. This was probably the reason he was used as a coolie  for carrying heavy weights or as laborer for working in the fields. This justified his heavy food intake also. His good physique had deprived him of good brain. He had no thinking of his own and as such could be manipulated easily.

Well he was not a fool. What if he did not see the school door? As youth of 25, he was dreaming of having a wife and therefore children one day. He was sure his elder cousins would take care of that. He was not aware that it was and will never be in their agenda. Another five years passed and he was still bachelor. He meekly sounded his cousins many a times but they did nothing. It was not in their interest. Not only the share of Tularam's land was under their possession and cultivation but Tularam was an asset in many other ways. He would cultivate the land, do all hard work in return for food, shelter and discarded clothes. Not only this he worked as a security guard. He was their shield against any physical assault on them by any one in the village. Tularam was feared by all.

One day Tularam told his cousins that he wants to get settled in life, wants a wife and live separately for them. His cousins taunted him -"who will give their daughter to a fool like you?" . This was enough.

He secretly approached Jagari uncle. Jagari uncle saw a potential kill and had a long session with him on the dos and donts. He advised him to seek separation from his cousins and take possession of the land of his share as early as possible. Tularam embarked on the mission and told his cousins in no uncertain terms that he wanted division. The village Panchayat mediated and the land of his share was marked. The village Patwari - the government revenue officer, gave legal approval. Tularam now lived in a part of the house, had land in his name and was, in the eyes of uncle Jagari, a perfect eligible bridegroom.

Days passed into months and months into a decade. Tularam was still unmarried. Uncle Jagari had given him lot of hopes but for some unseen and unexplained reasons, the girls family retracted at the last  moment. Meantime uncle Jagari used him for all sundry field work in his farms in return for hopes and more hopes. Once or twice he took Tularam with him so that he could see the girl for himself. These were nights when Tularam's grew wings in his dreams.

He wanted to get angry with uncle Jagari but somehow controlled himself because uncle Jagari was his only hope. Finally, uncle Jagari was able to find a suitable match. The match a woman, girl, as he used to say was widow of 30 years. Tularam had no objection. Tularam brought that girl home one night. Within three days the woman left him. No one knows from where she came and to where she went.

Things were getting desperate for Tularam. He had put uncle Jagari on notice. Once again uncle Jagari found a match, a girl of 25, orphaned, blackish in complexion and not good looking, no guardians to name, living with a family as a domestic servant and most importantly willing to tie knot with anybody who could accept her as a wife. Tularam saw the girl and then and there itself the formality was completed in the presence of some villagers by the pandit.

Tularam was now married. They lived happily thereafter. He had one son and two daughters. He died after ten years of his marriage and his wife followed five years latter. His sons and daughters are happily settled in life.

Uncle Jagari is no more but his son has taken over his seat in the profession. Another match maker in the making.

The truth

Ye such ki wo such (is this the truth  or was that the truth )?

Yesterday a Bhajan Sandhya (an evening with spiritual songs) was organized by family for a gathering of some 100 people and a local group of Bhajan singers graced the occasion. There were spiritual discourse and heard a story, a parable if I may say, which would I like to share with you. A lot has been written and spoken to find out the answer to that eternal question "who am I?".

King Janaka is awakened by his security and told the kingdom has been attacked and the enemy is at the borders. He immediately orders to assemble the solders and goes out to drive away the enemy. A fierce battle starts in which the king is defeated. He is badly hit, bleeding all over and spent some days in the forest. Hungry and crestfallen he enters his kingdom but no body recognizes him. He tells them he is their king and begs for some food and water. Some recognize him and tell him that they have now another king who has ordered them not to serve you any food and help you. 

He moves around hopelessly for  days and finds a place where food is being doled out to hungry. He stands in the queue and gets some food in a platter. He moves to a corner and the moment he tries to take the first morsel a huge kite whirls around and snatches the platter from his hands spilling the food. 

He gets a big jolt and suddenly wakes up from his deep sleep. He realizes that it was only a dream and he is safe in his kingdom. But he is highly disturbed and invokes God to ask "ye such ki wo such " but gets no reply. From that day as if in a delirium, he keeps on saying "ye such ki wo such". His ministers are worried his subjects are worried but do not know what ails the King. The king's Vaidya is also clueless. 

One day a realized hermit visits the town and is told about the king's ailment. He desires to meet the king. He is taken to king's court.

The king asks him the same question "ye such ki wo such" and the hermit replies "na ye such, na wo such'  bas tu such"( neither this is the truth nor that was the truth  only you are the truth".

The king realizes the truth and finds answer for his question. The only truth is I. Brahmamasmi. I am Brahmam. I am the God. I am this and I only am that rest is all untrue.

My enjoyment and your predicament

My enjoyment can be your predicament.

What can be a source of enjoyment for me can be a great inconvenience for some one else. Mostly it is related to nature but there are some man made toys of pleasure and torture. 

When I posted some photos and video of season's first snowfall in Memphis, I was holding the local newspaper in my hands. It carried lot of stories of people inconvenienced due to this. While on one column it said about how kids were enjoying it in their front yards, it also reported the number of cases of fatal crashes when roads becomes too icy to negotiate, power cuts and jams on roads. When snow fall turns into snow and sleet pounding creating like a blizzard like situation, it is no more enjoyment. 

Those living in the hot climates go to hills to experience and enjoy cold and snow fall. They would never know the hardships faced by people living there when there life is totally disrupted by heavy snow, land slides and cloud bursts. Nepal and Kedarnath are fresh in our minds. 

Similarly people living away from oceans crave to go to beaches to enjoy. They would never know the hardships faced by the people living in coastal areas. Almost every year the high tides or angry oceans in the form of tsunami creat havoc in their life. Similar fate is reserved for people living on the river banks whose life is annually devastated by floods.

These are natural calamities and humans have to endure them.

What about man made situations where a late night party or a wedding procession or a political rally disrupts the life of people? Then there are road blocks caused by VIP movements inconveniencing the public at large. At least some order can be maintain here. 

But then as I said my enjoyment can be your predicament. 

When I failed my students

Xxx When I failed my students. 

Xxx My first assignment was as a teacher also called lecturer in an Intermediate College immediately after completing my M. Com.  In addition I was also a class teacher for the 12th class of commerce faculty. By all means it was a senior position allotted to a new recruit and therefore an object of envy too. It is another issue that I was only a temporary teacher about which I came to know a month latter.

I always wanted to be a teacher. I had a fanciful idea of this profession as a student who alternated as a tutor for making some extra pocket money. It gave me ample opportunity to revise the course material. It also gave me the feeling that I knew more than my pupils and they depended on me for their success. More importantly I thought I was making citizens of tomorrow. 

However this fantasy was shattered when I was to teach the senior classes of 11th and 12th grade who would be aspiring for graduating in commerce and then continuing their life in the vast world of business and commerce. It was no more a fantasy, it was now a responsibility. The would be chartered accountants and commercial professionals were looking at me as a friend, philosopher and guide. 

I should not fail them. I must answer each of their questions to their entire satisfaction or else they will loose faith in me. I did my home work before I faced them in the class. I re- read all what I had read some four years back. I consulted books other than those prescribed as text books by the school. 

I could say they had invested their faith in me and even the most inattentive of them took my class seriously. I was ready and preparing myself to give the best candidates to the world of commerce. 

And then after one month, one fine morning I came to know that my appointment was purely temporary and could be terminated at any time without notice. I asked the management what it meant and they said it was just normal and I need not worry. Some knowledgeable souls told me that some one connected will be appointed in my place after one year and I had no chance of getting confirmed. 

I was down but not done. Meantime, there came an offer from the leading industrial group through my alma-mater and after formal interview was offered a much lucrative job in their organization.  I submitted my resignation at the college which came as a surprise to the management and they did everything to keep me but I was firm. They had no choice but to relieve me. I won the battle with the unscrupulous management.

But I lost the war. I failed my students. I preferred a better paying job to the job my liking. I did not put enough fight to stay. My work and popularity with the students could have justified for the management to confirm my job after one year. Entire 12th class came to see me off at the railway station with garlands. Their gift of mother Saraswati's photo mounted on a glass frame still adores my Puja room.