Whenever I try communicating with myself, I hear the voice of the consciousness reminding me that I’m in a war with the universe. The inner voice could be right! Everything in this universe is here in its innate nature. Scorpion attacks with the sting on its tail, the elephants tramp people and attacks them with their tusks. Though lions are the rulers in the forest, they don’t hunt alone, while leopards and tigers are different. When it comes to human beings, it takes at least 10-12 years for a baby to grow mature enough to live alone. A human child is one among the longest-trained babies on earth. When he or she grows up, may be his dhoti from Coimbatore, shirt sewed in Gwalior and shoes from Jaipur. His curry spices from the High Range, corn from Andhra Pradesh and Sunflower oil from Uttar Pradesh. Nature’s design for human beings is tuned to interdependence and not independence.
Nobody can become a mother or father or guru without the help of others. Even when the universe converses with someone, it is through other elements of the universe only. God has installed individually programmed genes in every particle and it works according to the scripts coded in it. Still, we are busy educating others. The fight is against God!
Today’s India or Kerala …, everywhere what we hear are cries of division and partiality. There are prohibitions on eating what some people have cooked, sitting on what some people have made and so on. My opinion is that none of that kind be allowed to speak on God. This is an existential issue! Open your eyes and look around. The Sun is there, the moon is there, wind, rain…. insects, animals, plants …. everything keeps serving its purpose without any complaint. Know that human life on earth would have been very difficult, if just honeybees alone had gone extinct.
Tukaram Bolhoba Ambile was a great saint of India – poet, philosopher and an ardent devotee…. He lived in the 17th x century Maharashtra. Very poor was his living conditions. Still, he could demonstrate consistency in faith and discipline. Many times, the whole family of wife and children had to spend days starving. The story says that because of heavy compulsion, Tukaram went to a sugarcane farmer, far away. He gave a bundle of sugar cane to him. He distributed one each to every child he met on the way and at last when he reached his house, all that he had with him was just one sugar cane. Quite angry at his irresponsible behaviour, his wife took the cane and beat him with it. The cane broke into four pieces. Tukaram, quite unperturbed, turned his eyes upwards and prayed with folded hands, “Oh…! Almighty God, I understand that your love for your devotees is unlimited. You have divided this sugarcane into four equal parts.” He then gave two pieces to his children, one to his wife and took one for himself. He is said to have danced in joy for a while with the remaining piece in his hand. This could have happened here – India was always the land of incredible people!
But now, our journey is in search of an Indian.
