He was one of the van/bus/cab aggregators responsible for transporting students between home and school. Not just an aggregator, but like a true businessman, he worked himself and was a driver too.

He hailed from the town of Mangalore in India. Flora Aunty, his wife also supported him in this business. They had two children who resided and studied back home in India.

Michael Uncle was extremely punctual and trusted person and was recommended by many to me for pick-up and drop services from my home to school and back. My father and I met him, and he explained his business and the timing for pick-up and drop.

We mainly heard him speak two languages to his customers and employees- English and Arabic. Of course, with his wife he conversed in Konkani. With us students, he mainly spoke in English. His English was a Shakespearean marvel. He hardly knew about 50-100 words in the English language but the way he used those words, he could communicate anything in the entire universe. For those of you who think, perfect grammar and fat vocabulary is required to communicate; Michael Uncle will prove you wrong to ashes.

Michael Uncle was not just an excellent communicator but a storyteller. He was a very talkative person- he spoke so much that white saliva would accumulate at the corners of his lips and as and when he became aware of it, he wiped his mouth.

On our first meeting, he said he was never late and he never took a day-off. My father asked him- but school is only 5-day week from Sunday to Thursday. (Islamic countries of West Asia had Friday as a part of the weekend; thus, weekend was either Friday and Saturday in some countries or Thursday and Friday in others).

In his reply, he told the story of ‘Modern Mummies’. He said:

“Modern mummy send child to school 5 day. Then weekend come- modern mummy send child to swimming class, piano class- child busy and modern mummy going to gym, beauty and shopping. Mummy-child busy so Michael busy- Michael no weekend. Michael get extra money and send India.”

Didn’t I tell you – you don’t need vocabulary or grammar for story telling; you need imagination and a heart of gold.

Anyway, everyday my father and I would wait for the arrival of Michael Uncle’s van at the designated spot near our building (since school timings in West Asia begin at 7 pm; the transport arrives in the early hours of the morning). While waiting; invariably my father would be reading the newspaper – either Oman Observer or Oman Tribune. I, of course, would peep into the newspaper, for I enjoy reading the newspaper when it is held wide by someone else! Michael Uncle would come, greet my father while I took my seat in the van. This continued for many months and became a routine.

Then came the time for the dreaded Class 12 Board exams. I was one of the few students who had opted for Commerce branch of study and my timetable was different from most of the other students. Thus, to inform my timetable to Michael Uncle, I called him a fortnight before my board exams, but his phone was not reachable. Attending school was optional at that time and these days were mainly considered as study holidays so I couldn’t meet Michael Uncle even at school. Further, as I never took any extra tuition classes, I couldn’t connect with him.

While we were just considering some other means of transport, Michael Uncle had called my father and informed him that another driver would be arranged just for me (as my timetable was different) and that he wouldn’t be able to come himself. He hung up without giving any reasons.

The driver that he sent was Salman who was from Bangladesh. As if he had imbibed some of Michael Uncle’s genes, he too always arrived dot on time during my Board exam days. He would take me and bring me back from the exams and would never be late. Salman did not know the whereabouts of Michael Uncle.

The board exams were over but there was no sign of Michael Uncle. His phone too was not reachable. I wondered where he suddenly disappeared.

Meanwhile, during this period, the Omani government began the implementation of Omanisation- a government strategy aiming at replacing 50% of expatriate population in all skilled and technical jobs. This economic strategy would ensure that the Omani youth were not unemployed while reducing Oman’s dependency on its expatriate population.

Then one day, out of the blue, Michael Uncle got in touch with my father and explained that he wanted to give thousand books to us. He said he would come on the weekend.

A thousand books! Why?

Michael Uncle arrived the following weekend and as soon as he arrived- we asked him not about the books but about his sudden absence. Where was he all these days? He replied:

“Sir, Ominisation happening. Police say- you Al Hind (الهند – India is called ‘Al Hind’ in Arabic). You no drive car business- but I drive car- I drop and pick up children- one day police catch me- police put me jail – I out now.”

It was sad to hear all this; about how he suffered. One thing did not change- his smile and his attitude towards life. Being the storyteller that he was, he even narrated stories about his brief stay in jail.

Michael Uncle said that when he had called me few days before my board exam to inform about the new driver, he was just caught by the police. However, he wanted to make sure that I had no trouble during the board exams and requested the Omani police to hand him over his phone so he could plan transportation for the children towards whom he owed responsibilities.

Of all the things that Michael Uncle could gave done when he was in police custody- he decided that a 16-year-old girl’s board examination was more important than his arrest in a foreign land. Just as you promised me during our first meeting – even in your absence you were never late.

Then, he showed part of the thousand books he brought, as all could not be adjusted in a single trip in his vehicle. We asked him why he was giving us these?

He said these books were left back by a British expatriate who worked with a petroleum company and he had had to suddenly leave the country. He told Michael that he cannot take these books back to his home country and that he should take care of them. Michael then said:

“I watch you two read newspaper waiting me in morning- you think book important- you take care of books- so I give to you. You Ustaad (Professor in Arabic is called Ustaad (أستاذ) and father worked as professor in those days). You no give Rial (Omani currency)- you take book.”

Michael Uncle could have easily sold these books for a few more Rials (considering his arrest affected his earnings) but his 100-word vocabulary was enough for him to understand the importance to knowledge.

These were no ordinary books – perhaps the British expat was an ardent reader because it was clear that these were carefully collected books over years.

I returned to India for higher studies after the declaration of the results of my 12^th Board examinations. During my visit in summer vacations, I learnt that Michael Uncle was caught a few more times by the police.

I wonder if I will ever be able to meet the angel called Michael Uncle in this lifetime. ‘Thank you’ will be a very insignificant word for you. You thought about me at a time when even sane people forget their senses- in police custody.

Michael Uncle, we still have the thousand books that you gave us. We have built a library that grows each year. Every time I pick up a book from the books that you gave me, I remember your smiling face and eyes. Thank you for your thousand blessings.

Yes, I wonder whether I will ever be able to be able to do justice to your thousand books; if I will ever be able to read them in this lifetime of mine….

May God bless you Michael Uncle!

The post ANGEL MICHAEL UNCLE first appeared on Whomsoever.

Real Analysis is a branch of mathematics that deals with the study of sequences and series, mathematical functions and is also the foundation for calculus. (It is a different matter that calculus is often taught before real-analysis in the regular school/college curriculum)

I would, however, define real-analysis as anything but ‘real’; it does not deal with any real-world problem as the subject title misleads. All the concepts in the subject seem abstract and is a shock to the regular student of mathematics, who progressed through SAT-levels, under the impression that he/she knew math!

Anyway, if you happen to find yourself pursuing a course in mathematics or statistics or any other allied subjects- your fate is tied with such subjects.

The subject starts with theorems and will go on-and-on to define concepts to prove these theorems. To top it all; when you find yourself at the juncture of feeling to have understood these concepts and re-construct the proof of the theorem; you will find your vanity shattered into a thousand pieces when you read the proof of the theorem that – ‘It’s trivial’.

Yes, trivial! – of all the words that mathematicians could find to define a concept that’s intuitive or relatively simple- the word they choose to mock you – is trivial as if murdering your new-found ego.

There are certain other subjects similar to Real Analysis that also follow a similar pattern of mockery such as Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra, Complex Analysis, Numerical Analysis, Topology etc. etc.

Anyway, while studying these courses, I recollect an incident that has stayed with me over the years.

Any lecture of theoretical mathematics or statistics involves extensive use of the white-board or black-board. I remember one professor at my graduate-school who wrote down a theorem and reconstructed the proof of the same on the black-board and was waiting for the students to understand it, perhaps write-it-down if they so wished and ask questions.

Strangely, whenever a particular student asked a query about a certain step; the professor would point at that step, take a few-steps away back from the blackboard and say,

“Let us stare at it for some time.”

What?! Stare at it?!

No explanations, no ifs, no buts, simply stare at it!

Not even, the usual mockery that we were accustomed to – ‘it’s trivial’! As if textbooks printing, ‘it’s trivial’ was not insulting enough, we had someone say, ‘stare at it’!

There were a few chuckles and giggles; but at the end we did that – we stared at it!

After a while, one of the students raised his/her hand and explained the step – sometimes it would be the same student who asked the query in the first place.

Thus, complex theoretical mathematical problems were solved not by referring to any fat books written by authors of repute or even by googling; they were solved by the simple technique of learning how to stare.

I laugh at my younger self who giggled at this phrase and thought, “ Stare karne se solve ho jayega kya? (will it be solved by staring?)”

I was too naïve to understand the depth of this phrase.

The truth is that staring is a universal mantra for problem solving. Please note the word is ‘stare’ and not ‘watch’ or ‘observe’. Staring means prolonged gazing or fixed look.

And just like that, when you find yourself staring; either one of two things can happen – either the answer becomes ‘trivial’ or you grow out of the problem.

After all these years, I have finally learnt the art of staring.

The post STARE AT IT FOR SOME TIME first appeared on Whomsoever.

While most of us had arrived with our parents/relatives being the first day in a hostel; Vinita had entered the hostel alone like a tigress. I remember her asking the girls in the neighboring rooms about the whereabouts of the various amenities. I remember her walking about her room memorizing where each thing was while feeling the surroundings with her touch.

She was blessed with immense courage and sense of direction. Perhaps it was this blessing that overpowered the fact that she was visually challenged …. She could not see with her eyes. I had made a casual acquaintance with her.

Meanwhile, I had volunteered for the National Service Scheme (NSS) and was working for an NGO for blind students that resided both within and outside the campus.

Volunteers like me were each allotted a student to assist in their studies for the entire academic year. While filling out the form for volunteering, I had mentioned that I am comfortable in reading and writing the language Hindi as well. I later learnt that many of the other volunteers had only selected the option for English.

It was this selection of option that allotted me to assist Vinita, for she was pursuing honours bachelor course in Hindi- B.A (Hons.) Hindi.

On our first meeting after this allotment, she was happy that I lived next door and that she could contact me anytime. However, she knew that I had a south Indian surname and asked if I could really read Hindi. I assured her that I would try my level best and if not satisfied, I would myself request the NGO for a replacement on her behalf. That’s how we both started off this journey….her with doubts about my knowledge of Hindi and me with a doubt about whether I could really pull off graduate level Hindi reading.

We met a minimum of 2-3 times per week and I would read to her the required readings for her course. Over a period of time, I read the following to her the following:

• हिंदी उपन्यास (Hindi Novel)
• हिंदी साहित्यका इतिहास (History of Hindi Literature)
• आधुनिक हिंदी कविता (Modern Hindi Poems)
• Many other topics that I cannot readily recollect.

Sometimes, I would make mistakes in pronunciation while reading and she would correct me like a younger sister. She would ask me to spell out certain words for her and while I spelled out, her expression changed as if it was she who was reading the spelling through my eyes.

While I read, if she found a point interesting or wanted to note down something; she would ask me to pause while she took out her Braille writing kit which consisted of thick pages, a Braille writing slate and a Braille stylus (or a sharp object).

Most of us might have come across visually impaired individuals reading Braille. However, observing the writing of Braille language is a totally different dimension of experience.

While I read, she would ask me if she could record my voice in her phone so she could hear it later too. She owned a small feature phone which had certain features like telling the time out loud and telling the names of the contacts saved etc.

During the session of reading, if the author mentioned another reference in his writing; Vinita would request me to check if that material was available on my next visit to the library.

During the second year, she gave feedback to the NGO that she wanted to continue with the same volunteer…..ME….a Statistics honours students very far from words in any language with a south Indian surname over other Hindi scholars.

Therefore, I continued to read to her. At the end of the session, we would chit-chat about college life and future. Her attitude towards life and independence was one to learn from. Perhaps it was for scholars like her that LSR is known to be one of the biggest feminist colleges.

During exam season, she would enquire about my exam timetable and accordingly add possible slots in her timetable where I could read to her.

In the final year, our interaction was limited to greeting each other in the corridors and the dining hall as our rooms were changed and the earlier physical proximity was no longer accessible. Further, now audio aids were provided to her.

I wonder where you are today Vinita didi*?….Will you be able to read this article (or hear it)?

Do you still have the audio recordings in my voice? Do you listen to them?

Are you happy in life? Have you become even more brave?

I was allotted to Vinita as her teacher by the NSS….but the truth is that I was allotted as a student to Vinita. I just read out to her, but her presence made me learn what any University could never teach me.

I wish that one day, the way I read so many things out to her- I can read this article to her which is dedicated just to her – this article about my teacher, Vinita!

*Didi meaning Elder Sister in Hindi language

The post THANK YOU, TEACHER VINITA! first appeared on Whomsoever.

Most of us might have come across autobiographical works- either through books or movies. Demian too is in some sense an autobiographical work, but not in the regular sense of the word. Most autobiographical works, span the life of a person marking his professional achievements and failures with a backdrop of his/her personal life. Demian, on the other hand, is a spiritual autobiography of a person named Sinclair. Belonging to a well-to-do family in a protective environment, Sinclair does not need to delve into the spiritual side of himself. However, Hesse, displays that his inspiration is Gautama, the Buddha and pushes his protagonist Sinclair into situations which leaves him no viable option other than the spiritual one.

Demian is the inner awakening of Sinclair. Of course, initially, it seems as if it is just another character. It is this spiritual awakening of Sinclair that serves him throughout his inner struggle during his childhood and youth.

It saves him from bullying during his childhood and following the crowd blindly during his youth. There are times when he ignores this voice. However, as he grows older, he becomes increasingly aware of the magnitude of prominence of this voice inside him.

Sinclair’s search for God can be summarized beautifully in the following excerpt from the book:

“We not only need church service but a devil’s service. That’s what I think. Or else we need to create a God who includes the devil too, and whose eyes we don’t need to cover when the most natural things in the world take place in front of him (refers to sexual feelings).”

Years later, Sinclair comes across such a God known as Abraxas – the God and the Satan. He knows that the path is not an easy one and he spends years in the search for himself. Hesse beautifully puts it through the following words:

“Nothing in the world is so distasteful to man as to go to the way which leads to himself.”

Unfortunately, the end of the book seems rather abrupt and out of place. However, perhaps at the time it was published, ending the book with a World War II theme might have seemed the most obvious thing to Hesse.

Demian is a great short read just like Camus’s Stranger. Hesse excels the train of thought that he began in Demian through his ultimate classic called Siddhartha.

The post HESSE’S SINCLAIR, DEMIAN : a two-way route first appeared on Whomsoever.

“Appreciation is a good thing, it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well”

(Voltaire)

These were the words I said when I was given the opportunity to say the morning Thought For The Day in the morning school assembly. I remember memorizing these words the night before to appear confident.

However, it was not what happened on stage that deserved applause- that was just the tip of the iceberg. I had spent a week finding the quote that I could say as the TFTD. Those were the times when internet was not so common or pretty expensive and simply googling for the ‘best inspiring quotations’ or something on those lines was not an option.

It was then that I decided to maintain a notebook on the Thought for the Days or simply the book of TFTDs. I continued to fill into the pages as and when I came across a quote or a statement that was worth penning down.

These thoughts could either be from the books, newspapers or magazines that I read or television series or movies that I watched. At times I also wrote down parables or short stories with profound meaning. I wrote down dialogues from movies and also certain personal one liner conversations that were suitable to be written.

Given below are some of the thoughts from my TFTD book:

• “A diplomat is a man who remembers a women’s birthday but never her age”

(Robert Frost)

• “And our philanthropists, instead of providing work for them (beggars), give them alms.”

(M.K Gandhi in his autobiography ‘My Experiments with Truth’)

• “Coffee, chocolate and men – some things are better rich”

(seen at a students t-shirt in college)

• “So if you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready and that’s how I run my life.”

(Will Smith)

• “If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem to be wonderful at all”     

(Michelangelo)

Over a period of time, I also included my own thoughts and conversations. An illustration is given below:

Classmate: What are you doing nowadays? Studying a lot aaa…?

Me: Nowadays I am minding my own business, what about you?

This website ‘ Whomsover…from the Goddess in Exile” is a digital extension of that book of TFTD with the added element of myself.

The post The book of Thought For The Day (TFTD) first appeared on Whomsoever.

I still remember my teacher of Bahrain History class mentioning that 33 islands form Bahrain. I just stayed on one of those thirty-three islands. Upon reaching Bahrain by flight, this fact does not seem that obvious and what’s more – most of the major islands are connected by road! In fact not only is there intra-island road transportation but also intra-country transportation available. After all, a sea-bridge known as the King Fahd causeway connects Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. What a wonder it is that both these countries that are scarce in water have overcome the limitations of the sea and constructed a 25km long bridge.

But why… after all these years do, I suddenly remembered Bahrain?

The countries of West Asia are usually not in the news much (in a good sense- as no news is good news). To be frank, most people I know, don’t know that there exists a country called Bahrain. Thus, when I saw the headlines, “Drone strikes down US military base in Juffair”, I stood stunned and numb.

Juffair….the word brings waves of memories to me. The beauty of a desert city surrounded by sea water is the beauty called Juffair. Juffair is not the capital of Bahrain but it is an important city for the country.

The country Bahrain, in general, has a unique town plan. According to this plan, the authorities locate all schools at one location (island), locate all colleges at one location, locate all companies at one location (island) and earmark several residential locations. Thus, even if one wanted to stay close to the school or the college or companies; you simply could not. Juffair was that middle part – between my father’s workplace and my own school at Isa Town.

I stayed in a sea-facing apartment with my family in Juffair. No, I am not boasting about sea facing- as wherever you stayed in Juffair you would always see the sea or at least smell it. Despite being a medium-sized flat, it had really huge windows. I remember always taking some time of my day to watch the sea and the activities of the port. This was my peaceful pastime.

You may ask- were there no activities on the streets or roads that captured my attention? The answer is NO – there was absolutely no activity between 10 am to 4 pm on the roads apart from the casual vehicle passing or a worker or maid coming out to throw the garbage in the bin. So, everyday when I returned from school at round 2:30-3pm, I would observe the sea.

The port was a navy base of USA. Thus, most of the residents of Juffair were mostly Americans apart from Bahrainis of course. All the restaurants were either American or gulf-themed or a fusion of both. At 6:30 am every day, I remember myself standing in front of these restaurants awaiting my school bus while US navy soldiers were jogging or exercising.

To think that this entire area is perhaps now in ruins pains me. True, the city may be rebuilt in future, but it will not be the way I remember it.

Will I ever be able to meet the Juffair I loved, in this lifetime?

*‘Al’ means THE in Arabic

The post WHEN WILL WE MEET JUFFAIR? first appeared on Whomsoever.

Even though I had learnt driving 7 years ago, I began proper serious driving, which cannot fit under the category of mere practice sessions, only 4 years ago.I would like to list down here certain driving mudras that no driving school teaches but drivers use widely worldwide.

• The ‘what’ mudra– This is hand gesture where the palm and fingers are placed in a flower shape pose and mouthing the word, “what??” This hand gesture when supplemented with the raising of eyebrows becomes more powerful. This is usually performed by drivers when the other driver incessantly honks at him/her.

• The ‘dead stare’ – Consider this: you use all your might to overtake another vehicle and you both meet at the next signal parallelly. What conspires between the two drivers until the red light turns green is what is called as the dead stare. This expression is not for the ones with a weak heart and only seasoned drivers perform it well.

• The ‘head nod’- I often wonder how those drivers who wish to take a U-turn end up on the farthermost left of the road…do they take the last moment decision to take a U-turn or do they have faith in the fellow drivers that all traffic would be paused for their one sweet U-turn. Anyway, this mudra or expression is perform by that optimistic driver in the vehicle at the farthermost left of the road wishing to take a U-turn; the driver makes a head-nod in a constant motion as if requesting or persuading all the drivers from the divider to the left to allow him to perform his sweet little stunt.

• The ‘four fingers and thumb in a bunch’ gesture – This is done when the driver knows it is not his right but all the same appeals to your ‘good-faith’ and requests you to allow him to pass. The fact that he happens to be coming from the wrong side on a one-way road is a matter of discussion for another day. The mudra coupled with a pleasing expression on his face does the trick. The mudra resonates with the Italians when they taste a good pasta.

• ‘Calling names’ expression – Even though this is not exactly a hand gesture or a mudra, I wish to include this item in this list. During my early days of driving, I was blessed to face this expression a little too frequently. It happens when you have almost caused a minor accident. The opposite driver dismounts his car and comes over to me. He sees me (being a member of the opposite sex) and mellows down his expression and the loud words are reduced to mumbling. This is what I call the ‘name-calling’ expression. I thank all those men who mellowed down their utterances for me- you have made a confident driver.

Happy Driving to All!!

*In Sanskrit mudra means gesture or mark.

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“Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God”

                                                                                (MATTHEW 19:24, LUKE 18)

This is one of the most popular Biblical quotations that people interpret as those who are rich do not have a way to God and only the poor can enter the kingdom of heaven. But is it really the true meaning? To decipher this, one must understand the context from which this phrase is taken.

So, the story is that a man ran up to Jesus and asked him the way to inherit eternal life. First, Jesus tells him to follow the ten commandments. To this the man replies that he has never broken any of the commandments. Jesus then asks the man to sell everything and give it to the poor. Upon hearing this, the man is crestfallen and it is then when Jesus makes this statement.

Thus, it is not that simply a rich man cannot enter the kingdom of God. Any man who yearns for an eternal life should be able to give up whatever he has. When Jesus choses fishermen as disciples, he does not say the same thing to them – in contrast he first shows them to catch abundant fish and then asks them to follow him. He doesn’t talk to them to give up anything because they have nothing to give up.

The rich man, on the other hand, has a lot to lose or at least that’s what he thinks. Thus, the question of giving up arises for him. It is not a question of being rich; it is a question of possessiveness.

The heart of the statement is that Jesus never tells them to leave their art. The fisherman need not give up his art of fishing, and the rich man need not give up the art of being rich. Just as a fisherman never forgets fishing wherever he is, a rich man too cannot forget the art of being wealthy. A rich man will be rich anywhere. However, when a rich man identifies himself with his riches alone, is where the problem arises.

To understand the true quality of a successful rich man, who has truly ascended beyond his riches, I remember a quote from Herman Hesse’s book Siddhartha:

“He always seems to be merely playing with our business affairs,

they never fully become a part of him,

they never rule over him,

he is never afraid of failure,

he is never upset by a loss.”

A truly wealthy and rich man is one who is oblivious to his riches – who does not think of his riches every waking moment; he is one whose job is creating wealth full stop.

The post A TRULY RICH MAN first appeared on Whomsoever.

• STORY I – Lord Vithoba and Pundalik

Lord Vithoba is the Maharashtrian word for Lord Krishna (deity in Hinduism). This is a story of how Krishna became known as Vithoba. (apologies in advance if any part of the mythology is incorrect). Pundalik was a big devotee of Krishna. He was poor but he diligently looked after his parents. One day, Pundalik’s mother became very ill and he was busy attending to her. Watching all this, Krishna decides to visit Pundalik and console him and say that Krishna will always be there with him.

However, when Krishna came and was waiting at his doorstep, Pundalik was still attending to his sick mother. Without looking up, Pundalik gave a brick to the visitor and asked him to stand on it and wait. That’s how people came to know Krishna as ‘Vithoba’ meaning ‘the one who stands on a brick’. There are many temples in parts of Maharashtra which depict Krishna as standing on a brick. The story ends with Pundalik apologizing to Krishna, who of course was not displeased with him at all.

• STORY 2: Mahavir delays renunciation

(Mahavir is the last Tirthankara of the Jainism religion and my sincere apologies if any part of the story is wrongly portrayed)

Mahavir lived in a palatial house and had all the luxuries that life could offer. One day, he told his mother that he wants to renounce everything and attain diksha (sanyas or saint, i.e., renounce all the worldly luxuries), she did not agree and asked to wait till her death. He continued his life as if he had never told her his wish at all. Even Mahavir’s mother must have thought – what kind of an urge for renunciation is this that is dropped the moment I express my displeasure!

Life continued and one day Mahavir’s mother passed away. While returning from the crematorium, he told his elder brother that he wishes to proceed on sanyas. His brother looked angry and said that the family has just suffered such a huge loss, and he must not think of it now. Mahavir continued to live his life as if he never expressed his wish. Slowly his family realised that Mahavir was living in the house as if he was not there – despite being present, he was absent – like a ghost or a shadow. Finally, his family conceded in his wish for sanyas/ diksha.

At the core of both these stories, it is, ‘asking the Supreme One to wait’. In the first story the devotee is so engrossed in life and service that he asks Him to wait. In the second story, Mahavir truly displays the true meaning of ‘ahimsa paramo dharma’ meaning ‘ahimsa is the first tenet of religion’. Even if the thought of his sanyas/diksha stirred an iota of displeasure to his family, he did not argue because even that displeasure stirs violence and that would defeat the basic tenet of his dharma. In both the stories, it is the Supreme One who has waited.

Perhaps, it is never about seeking for the Supreme One through pilgrimages – He is always there- smiling and looking at you – until you give Him the nod. But, before that, can you whole-heartedly become so involved in your life and beliefs and say:

‘WAIT PLEASE – I AM BUSY LIVING’

(The content is inspired from Rajneesh Osho’s discources titles ‘Mahavir Vani’ and ‘from Personality to Individuality’)

The post will You wait please? first appeared on Whomsoever.

Thus, in the context of when people quote their philosophy or principle of life as ‘Work is Worship’, they mean they keep reproclaiming that the work they do is worthy….worthy of their time or conscience or morals etc. However, in its true sense, is it really a rational principle that people can boast about it, that fables can be narrated about it?

This is actually a very poor and a third-grade principle that any person can adopt. This principle is like a weak table with extremely weak legs that constantly keeps shaking with the weight of the important things kept on it and is liable to fall at any point of time, thus, dropping everything that is worthwhile – the sweet, the sour, the salty, the tangy -everything.

Mathematically, let us quantify this:

Assuming a person lives for 80 years, the total number of hours he lives would be:

365 days x 80 years x 24 hours = 7,00,800 hours

Assuming a person works for 50 years (adding the years in studying) of his life for 8 hours for 300 days (subtracting the holidays or vacations), the total number of hours he works is = 300 days * 50 years * 8 hours = 1,20,000 hours

So, the percentage of life that your consider worship or WORTHY of living = 1,20,000/ 7,00,800 = 17 %

Thus, those who live and even die for the principle of work is worship consider only 17% of their lives worth living!! What about the remaining 83% of their lives – since it is not worthy- it deserves to be tossed into the bin.

Instead, a rather better principle and which is my principle is that ‘My LIFE is WORSHIP.’

Not just the 8 hours a day for 50 years, but ever every moment from the moment of my first breath is worthy – every moment is cherished by me. The Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent One has given be 100% of life to be cherished and I do consider each moment to be a blessing.

Yes, it is true that there will be moments with a taste of sadness or dullness or anger- but this too I cherish because I have been gifted a life that has made me capable of feeling all of it.

I consider every breath of mine to be worthy –

I – HEREBY- DECLARE – MYSELF – TO – BE – WORTHY.

The post work is worship??? first appeared on Whomsoever.