Last light of the day

 Last light of the day

 

The light upon my window tells me

The day is ready to go –

There are so many things left unsaid,

So many things to know.

 

So many things I had to do,

Can’t turn back the clock, just once –

Will have to start afresh again

When the morrow comes !

Durga Puja Festival & The Legend of Durga

 

(Collected from many sources – not entirely my own)

 

Once upon a time there lived a demon (Asura) king of the underworld who roamed the three worlds (heaven, earth and the underworld) in the guise of a buffalo (Mahish). He was thus called “Mahish-asura”. Mahishasura was extremely power-hungry and ambitious. But he became an ascetic and undertook a long and arduous penance to appease the Lord Brahma, who finally appeared before him. Mahishasura asked for a boon that no man or god could kill him, and Brahma granted it.

 

This made Mahishasura virtually invincible and he began to torment the three worlds. In sheer desperation, the gods of Heaven and the people on Earth approached the Supreme Trinity (Brahma – the creator, Vishnu – the Preserver, and Shiva – the destroyer) to do something.

 

The Supreme Trinity combined their powers to create the Goddess Durga to circumvent Brahma’s boon. She was duly armed with all the weapons of the Gods and the lion became her mount. The battle between Durga and Mahishasura lasted 10 days and nights, with the last four days being the fiercest.

 

In the end, as Mahishasura lay dying he realized his folly and repented. He realized that Durga was the combination of all the powers in the Cosmos and asked one last boon from her – that he be worshipped along with Durga for all eternity. Durga granted this boon and that is how the image of the Goddess killing the demon (Mahishasur – mardini) was born.

 

***

 

At the philosophical level, this story represents many things :

·         The Supreme Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva – the Creator, the Preserver & the Destroyer respectively – represent the Supreme, Powerful Cosmic energy of the Universe, where all three phenomena keep happening simultaneously.

 

A particular Sanskrit “sloka” (verse) illustrates this :

        “Shrishti – Sthiti – Vinasanam – Shakti – Bhoote – Sanatani

        Gunashrayee – Gunamayee – Narayani – Namostute”

 

A rough translation would be : (You are the embodiment of Primordial Force that drives Creation, Preservation, Destruction;  O Narayani, we salute thee...)

 

·         Durga represents virtue (dharma) while Mahishasura represents vice (adharma). These two are always present all the time. Even during worship. That is reality.

·         Mahishasura being worshipped along with Durga means that there is nothing in this world as “pure evil” or “pure good”.  Even Mahishasura was an ascetic once and powerful enough to appease Lord Brahma. But pride, avarice and tyranny brought about his downfall. Even a boon from the Creator could not save him.

·         Most importantly it also tells the tale that when crime, tyranny, and evil forces try to overrun the general scheme of things, the Gods put in their best efforts to counter the evil and re-establish the rule of dharma, or virtue.  A sloka from the Bhagwad Gita that talks about the periodic advent of prophets on this Earth, is perhaps relevant here :

“paritranaya sadhunam,   vinasaya ca duskritam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya,  sambhav ami yuge yuge”  -

(To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to re-establish the principles of religion,  I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.)

Masked life

Masks, masks everywhere,

Not a smile to see –

Friend or foe ? You’re challenged there

And none to comfort me !!

A wave of hand, a wink of an eye

Is all that you can do;

Gotta think hard before you try –

Or face problems quite a few.

All the folks are trying now

All the folks, and me –

Trying to read the creasing brow

‘Cause the smile, you cannot see !!

Masks, masks everywhere,

Not a smile to see –

Friend or foe ? You’re challenged there

And none to comfort me !!

8/June/2020

Back to the 70's

It was Thursday evening – the day after the cyclone hit the city. My wife and I were sitting at the dining table, cutting vegetables and planning for dinner. We were chatting – after a long time. We chatted about how to make the planned dishes for dinner, what to use, what not to use, and then shared stories of whose parents used what ingredient in what food preparation... And then suddenly it sounded eerily familiar to me – a sort of déjà vu, if you please – I had heard these conversations before. She felt the same.

And then it struck us – our lives had gone back to the 70’s – no phones, mobiles, internet access, television – we were kind of re-playing the typical conversations our parents used to have in the evenings !!!

Yes, this cyclone has done what the lockdown could not – taken away all those things that took our attention away from all those things that really matter.

Time to sit back and take stock of the “progress” in the last 50 years – are they worth the price we pay in our personal lives through cocooned existence ?

23/May/2020

Lockdown 4.0 - thoughts

Now that we have the fourth extension of the lockdown, the logical question is, “What next ?” Will the entire country remain cooped up behind closed doors to avoid the virus and then die from starvation ?

India’s record of endemic hunger over the last 70 years is worse than that of sub-Saharan Africa. The stoppage of economic activity will make it worse. We will have many more starvation deaths than pandemic ones – the overflowing FCI godowns and the much touted PDS notwithstanding. History is testimony to that.

A government, whatever may be its popularity, cannot take way the citizens’ right to livelihood – the right to earn for a decent, self-respecting life. Putting money in their pockets as a dole, is not a solution.

And it has done precisely that.

***

The lockdown period should have been used to build up healthcare facilities in right earnest – and precious little has been done in that area.

In the bargain, regular patients at many hospitals – diabetics, patients with heart, liver, old age problems have been asked to go home and denied the care they need, while their facilities were forcibly converted to address pandemic patients. This – in the 21^st century ?

And we call ourselves an aspiring super power ?

We must be mentally retarded as a nation to even think on those lines.

***

India was once – not very long ago – the richest country in the world, with thriving local economies and major contributions to world trade, till the colonial masters came and destroyed it all in a bid to sell their products.

We should re-start the process of building “local economies” once again.  All metros in this country should be given a designated 100 KM radius to re-start all economic activities, including the suburban trains to facilitate people and freight movement. After 3-4 weeks of observation, these areas can be expanded in concentric circles to eventually include the whole country in a matter of 3-4 months. Containment areas can be tightly controlled to prevent the spread of the virus.

Domestic flights need to be resumed on a reduced scale – now. Then the scaling up can take place over time, as the demand goes up.

On a parallel note, the healthcare infrastructure should be upgraded by adding new hospitals –albeit makeshift for now – to cater to infections. It cannot and should not happen at the cost of denying healthcare to existing patients !!!  This pandemic is a challenge for us to improve.

In about a year’s time we must aim for having at least one primary healthcare facility with doctors and nurses in every village and small town in the country. How that staffing can be done can be discussed separately – not the topic of this article.

For once at least, the powers that be, all across the political spectrum, should move away from vote-bank politics and do something for the citizens at large.

I wait to see that day come.

***

COVID Nursery rhyme

Some 100 years from now, kids may very well sing this song :
(along the lines of Ol' McDonald)

It was the year the virus struck -

E-I-E-I-O

All those who lived on, were in luck;

E-I-E-I-O

Everyone had to wear a mask

E-I-E-I-O

And keeping a distance was the ask.

E-I-E-I-O

They closed all schools that fine day

E-I-E-I-O

Teachers and classes went away.

E-I-E-I-O

The kids stayed home and could not play

E-I-E-I-O

So they jumped around the house all day;

E-I-E-I-O

With homework gone, they had time to spare

E-I-E-I-O

While their moms and dads simply tore their hair !

E-I-E-I-O

The lockdown went on week after week,

E-I-E-I-O

While a cure for the virus they tried to seek.

E-I-E-I-O

And a cure was found that calmed the fears,

E-I-E-I-O

But all wore masks for many years.

E-I-E-I-O

Dated : 7/May/2020

The unseen enemy

All our wars cause so much misery –

Creating the dead, and the living dead.

Yet the pain and suffering pass with time,

Become stories of valour, instead.

And then there is always another war – 

Fought silently everywhere;

Across the world, in every land,

That of food, shelter and care.

And another war has come upon us

That is killing people with glee,

Mountains and oceans are not the barriers

For this unseen, unknown enemy.

Locking down people is the way they say,

To set the people free !!

Modern science has no answer yet

To this unseen, unknown enemy.

They’ll grope in the dark to find a cure

While locking us in, you see,

Our lives will be stalled behind the wall

For this unseen, unknown enemy.

While our lives stand still with bated breath –

And the battle against hunger rages free;

Paradigms of yore are being blown away

By this unseen, unknown enemy.

With all things closed, we’re learning to enjoy

Things in life that are free –

‘Cause the fear is great and we are afraid

Of the unseen, unknown enemy.

And one fine day we all will ask -

How much of freedom is “free” ?

‘Cause we will have learnt the lessons taught

By this unseen, but known enemy.

***

Date : 21/Apr/2020