THE NARROW DIVIDES

When we step out into the world, there are various parameters on which we are judged by the society. It was not until I reached college that I came across the most “significant” criteria of evaluating a person’s worthiness – the caste to which he or she belongs to.

Contrary to the prevailing social practice, my childhood remained oblivious of this essential feature of a person’s worth. But once I ventured out of the sheltered environment of home, I was bombarded with frequent and often annoying questions and remarks like, “Your surname sounds a little unfamiliar”, “Which state do you belong to?”, “Are you a Christian?”, “Your mother’s accent sounds different?” or sometimes a straight enquiry, “Which caste do you belong to?”

I was then forced to reason out why we in general try to assess people’s abilities, their affability and their goodness based on the irrelevant and extraneous gauges of caste. I don’t want to go into the origin and evolution of the caste systems, but I am sure no system ever established could be a good one if it disregards the inherent virtues of a human being, and tries to go against the very tenet of equality of men.

Does just belonging to some definite caste make you more equal than others? I don’t think so.

When God created this beautiful world he made all men alike, then why do we wish to divide it into segments and sectors based on some irrational and inconsequential parameters. Leaving aside the more brutal and inhuman deeds that are committed in the name of caste, the least we can do is to give respect to each other and stop judging a person based on some pre-conceived and often spoon-fed notion.

Why not embrace each other regardless of these narrow divides which discriminate between fellow human beings? How does it matter which caste or religion we are born into? Why not celebrate the fact that we have been given this beautiful opportunity to make our presence felt by our actions and words and appreciate each other’s company in the true sense. The importance of benevolence, compassion and companionship is not confined to the matters of caste or religion. These are values which are quintessence of a good human being and should not be discarded…..

LADAKH – The Ultimate Destination

It was for quite some time now that a journey to Ladakh was on my mind. Finally this June I had the chance of visiting the place….. a long awaited trip. This journey was a revelation in itself, a test of physical endurance as well as of mental toughness. But once these impediments were overcome, the entire experience culminated in a feeling of triumph and in an admiration for the exquisiteness of nature.

Our journey started on the morning of 23^rd July, when we took a flight from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. The flight was short, and took just 50 minutes to reach the Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport, in the beautiful city of Leh.
   

  

The initial view of the huge barren mountains with all their folds and crevices explicitly visible created an impact which no electronic media can duplicate. After a break of one day, which was necessitated due to the fact that we had ascended a height of 3500m above sea level in about an hour and needed to acclimatize to the low oxygen level prevailing there, the adventure began.

The next day we visited three important and quaint monasteries: the Shanti Stupa, the Hemis Gompa and the Thiksey Gompa. The presence of myriad monasteries dotting the city can be explained by the fact that the population of Leh comprises of about 77% Buddhists.

On the 25^th of July we ventured out for the most exciting and adventurous part of our trip which was to reach the world’s highest motorable road (now the second highest, after the Mana Pass), the Khardung La (La meaning Pass in Tibetan) situated at a height of 5602 m above sea-level. After the initial 24 kilometres or so, the road consisted of primarily dirt, loose rocks and intermittent rivulets of melted snow. Altitude sickness medicine is a must which has to be taken along, as no medical facilities are available at the top. After about three hour drive on the treacherous route we reached the Khardung La.

The excitement on reaching the summit after undergoing such hardship was worth celebrating. The scenic beauty along the entire journey climaxed into even more beautiful surroundings on reaching the Khardung La. Snow covered peaks glowed in the afternoon sun and created a magical sight. We were overwhelmed by the effort put in by the Border Roads Organization and the Indian Army, who work under such challenging conditions throughout the year for the construction and maintenance of the roads and bridges. This pass is strategically important as it is the only supply route to the Siachen glacier.

After passing the Khardung La we reached the picturesque Nubra valley interspersed by the Shyok and the Nubra rivers. We stayed at the comfortable night camps (Desert Himalayas) in the midst of the natural magnificence.

The second most important part of our trip was the visit to the famed Pangong Tso (Lake), the route to which passes through the world’s third highest motorable road – the Chang La located at a height of 5360m above sea-level. The road to Pangong Tso was even worse than what we had experienced en-route Khardung La. The Chang La, like the Khardung La, has extreme cold weather with chilly winds blowing all through the day, but the breath-taking views from the pass leaves one speechless.

After crossing the Chang La we reached the Pangong Tso in about two hours. The first view of the lake interposed between the magnificent mountains was inexpressible, as if heaven itself had descended on the Earth. The lake makes one forget the adversities faced on the way. The lake which stretches 134 km long, being one third in India and the rest in China, reflects the various shades of blue in such a splendid manner that very few places on the earth can parallel. Even though I tried to capture its brilliance through the camera, but the effort paled in comparison to what the eyes had witnessed.

As I bid farewell to this amazing land of beautiful mountains, splendid lakes and high passes, a part of my heart refuses to return, and I silently promise to myself to visit the place again….

The search for happiness within….

Sometimes life brings us across someone special, who teaches us the most important lesson of our lives; changes us and makes us aware of the true significance of our existence. In my case, that special person was my father.

As a child I had always admired my father. All through my childhood, I had seen him as an efficient and successful administrator, equally loved and respected by the public and the police force; a doting father who would somehow manage to squeeze out time from his busy schedule to read out stories to us, listen to our progress in school and play with us; an avid reader and an eloquent speaker. He was an ambitious man with dreams of carving out a niche for himself in the society. Through his hard work and incessant zeal to help the common man he achieved his vision, and much more.

But then life does not always unfold itself in the manner we want it to. Destiny had some other plans for him, and at the peak of his career, he was afflicted by several life threatening diseases. Life for us suddenly came to a stand-still. I was heart-broken, but it was only then that I learned the most important and tough lesson of life through my father.

Even though the world around him was crumbling down and friends as well as well-wishers suddenly started diminishing, he maintained a dignified stance. The excruciating pain of regular dialyses and accompanied health problems never lowered his zeal for life and he continued to attend to the call of duty till his last breath. I was amazed to see him laughing and cracking jokes, although he knew that he did not have much time in hand. His faith in God and the feeling of gratitude never faltered.

It was through him that I realized that happiness in life is a decision you make, before-hand; a state that you decide to be in whatever the circumstances. Happiness is never because of possessing a beautiful painting or having a big house; it is always because of the way you align things in your mind, the way you prioritize them. It is a decision you take each day in your life; a choice of whether you want to lament over the things that went wrong; panic over the diseases that you might have acquired; whine over the worthless job that you are clinging to; feel miserable because your children are somewhere far away due to their jobs – or be thankful about the many things that went right; of not being among the ones who perish on the streets with no one to attend to; of having a respectable job while many are jobless; of having the joy of raising the children while many are childless.

Good times and bad times are unavoidable parts of one’s life – and these external factors should not be allowed to dictate the internal state of one’s mind, which should always strive for serenity and happiness. Everyone has the power to extract true happiness from within, and the thoughts of past or present good things should be used as an anchor to withstand the storms of bad times.

रहिमन वे नर मर गये, जे कछु माँगन जाहि। उनते पहिले वे मुये, जिन मुख निकसत नाहि॥

It was just a normal day. While returning home from office I stopped the car at a traffic light, and saw a man limping towards me. His ragged clothes, dishevelled hair and bare feet were declaring him to be a beggar. My instant reaction was to look to the other side, pretending not to have seen him. He almost thrust his head inside the car and begged for some money. I don’t know why I felt a sudden urge to preach him about the merits of hard work and to earn his livelihood; may be because I have been seeing the same reaction from people around me since my childhood.

So I was going to act like a counsellor and narrate to him the virtues of being independent, but then I noticed his eyes. I had never seen that much pain and unhappiness in any pair of eyes; perhaps I had never cared for looking in the eyes of any such person before. At that moment I impulsively changed my decision and stopped my car beside a fruit-cart standing nearby. I purchased half a dozen bananas and gave them to him.

That was a special moment. The man ravenously ate the bananas, moving his hands over his starving stomach, mumbling something incoherent, but certainly conveying his happiness and satisfaction on getting something to eat, perhaps in days.

So many times in life, in our hurry to move ahead and to attain our dreams, we overlook others who may need a little help from us. We never bother to see life through their eyes. For us our problems, our worries and our needs are paramount, and we live in that narcissistic world of self-pity; unaware that there are millions of people out there struggling for mere survival. We become so hard-hearted and conceited that for us even a little effort to help the needy becomes tough.

This life has been given to us only once, and it is the only chance we get to show compassion and love to fellow beings who may not be as fortunate as us. So before ignoring the plight of such people, try to understand that it is not a life they have chosen willingly. But we as the lucky ones can choose to help them, lend them support, or at the least try not to be judgemental.