
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
Literary and Cultural Writeups .
A
DOHA (TWO-LINE POEM ) AND A WEDDING COUPLE
A
friend sent this painting to me and requested that I write two lines for this
work of art that shows a wedding couple. I wrote this:-
Pehle nag ke saath rakha nag
Jeevan bhar ka mail...
Ab to parkho jaano phir bhi
chaar dinon ka khel ...
(
Avtar Mota )
LOADING
UNLOADING CHARGES
“The soul is not liable to birth nor
to death; neither does it take its origin from any other or from itself; hence
it is unborn, eternal without reduction and unchangeable; therefore the soul is
not injured by the hurt which the boy may receive.”…Katha Upanishad
Jagan Nath (age 80 years) died in his
Jammu house where he lived with his wife Raj Rani, while his only son had moved
to Canada permanently. As this sudden tragedy struck the old couple, Raj Rani
didn’t know what to do or where to go. Both Jagan Nath and Raj Rani were
patients of hypertension, diabetes and painful osteoarthritis. They could not
walk. Jagan Nath had been confined to bed for about six months before his
death. Hearing the sad news, Chaman Lal (age 75 years), their neighbour, came
running and sat on a chair. He was suffering from painful varicose veins and
hypertension. Sitting on the chair, he directed all arrangements at that
critical juncture. Some more elderly neighbours and relatives arrived limping
and seeking chairs to sit in. There was none to weep for Jagan Nath. Then, Raj Rani believed that death had favoured Jagan Nath. It had ended his
suffering. Looking towards the ceiling of the room, she sat near his body.
The neighbours and some elderly relatives
gave the ritual bath to Jagan Nath’s body before the departure to the
crematorium. There was no young person among the mourners who could lift Jagan
Nath’s body and put it inside the vehicle sent by the crematorium. Finally,
Chaman Lal requested the driver and his two helpers to put the body in the
vehicle. In the evening, Jai Shankar Bairagi, the caretaker of the crematorium,
sent a bill of rupees 8750/= to Raj Rani that read like this:-
(1)
Timber for the pyre
3800
(2)
3 Helper charges 1500
for burning
(3)
Vehicle 550
(4)
Loading and unloading 900
of the body
(5)
Donation 2000
Total
8750.00
( Avtar Mota )
PS
Known as ' tchhaayi naar zaalun' or the practice of burning "Death Shadow" symbolically at a crematorium, is still practised by Kashmiri Hindus. Before returning from a crematorium, a bundle of dry grass is burnt, and those who had come with the dead body make three rounds around this fire and leave for their homes. Poet Farooq Nazki uses ' tchhaayi naar zaalun' as a metaphor in his heart-touching poem about Kashmiri Pandit exiles. I quote the specific lines ," Chhe draaga-mokal yemberzalan tchhayi naar zalaan, Yimav qadam kaed garav neibar, tim na aayi pheerith ,na zchhendi sontan". If the lines are read in context, Nazki intends to say," When the narcissus flowers were not seen in the garden, greedy brokers arrived, burning even their shadows to thwart their return to the garden. Alas! Those who stepped out of their homes neither returned nor did the spring season seek their whereabouts."
ANGER AND OUR KARMA
( Photo Swami Ranganathananda 1908-2005)
‘The ones who do not know the secret are the ones who get angry, ’ An ancient Indian Proverb
Like a smile, anger is also a part of our Karma. The Upanishads say that anger gives birth to Tamsik Karma: a Karma that has to be repaid. It always engulfs the angry man and his surroundings with negative energy. In Buddhist teachings, anger is often metaphorically compared to an “out of control forest fire” or a “rampaging elephant.” Never ever has anger been without Karmic consequences. If your rage has hurt someone, there is the very real Karmic consequence of “retribution.” Swami Ranganathananda, Head Monk of Ramakrishna Mission, says this:-
“Emotions like anger are based on forecasts and overestimations, not on impartiality and understanding, and hence basically incorrect. Uncontrolled anger causes much harm to others and creates Bad Karma for the angry person. Anger is a powerful energy that pierces the energy of the person you are angry with like an arrow, causing pain and wounds. The misery that we cause to others is bound to come to us.The angry man always holds a false belief that he is in possession of Truth and he can never be wrong.Accordingly , rarely can one enter into a settlement based on empathy and mutual understanding with a person who never dowses the blaze of his anger."
What Swami Ji has said in the last lines of his above quote is exactly what Mirza Ghalib conveys through ,' Kya bane baat jahaan baat banaaye na bane or what settlement can be arrived at with a person with whom you are unable to initiate a dialogue or communication '.
Anger deprives a person of many things. Unfortunately, one among these deprivations is the truth. Truth rarely comes closer to an angry man. Quite often, the angry man remains surrounded by falsehood. The plant of truth grows and flourishes in the soil of humility alone. And the fragrant breeze of truth keeps visiting the areas where it finds humility.
Anger may also make you loud and foul mouthed perpetually engaging you in observing others and quite often commenting hurtfully . That is why people tend to move away from a compulsive angry person .
"Nashwa-o-nooma hai asal sey Ghalib farooh ko,
Khaamoshi hi sey nikley hai jo baat chaahiye .”………( Mirza Ghalib )
(Leaves and branches grow due to water and nutrition from roots,
So does the much-needed and real expression emerge
from silence and not from words or speech .)
( Avtar Mota )