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Sunday 21 April 2019

SonDay


There are some moments which you cherish in your life – the first job, your marriage, moving into a new house, birth of a child. Standing apart from all these crowning glories there are some moments which outwardly appear small and mundane, but have a deep impact on our lives. This Sunday I experienced one such moment. Thanks to Ariel India's sons #ShareTheLoad campaign.

I decided to share the load with my mother. So I undertook the first task of the morning which involved making tea. Every morning my mother would lovingly ask me, 'Beta tea?' and I would reply, 'Yes please. But please remember less sugar and don't forget to add lemon grass as well.' Today I took up the responsibility and asked my mother, 'Mom tea?' My mother smiled and just nodded her head. It was unexpected for her that she would get a ready made tea. She held the cup in her hands for long and had every sip slowly, cherishing the moment.

My task didn't stop just by making the tea. There is another job which follows making the tea. I took the cups to the sink, where the other paraphernalia – tea pan, strainer were waiting. I washed them as well. It was my mother's teaching. 'Every time you have tea immediately wash the cups and pans. So that the next time you have tea, you don't have to scrub the pan first.'
 Another interesting task of the day was washing clothes. I remember telling my mother at times, 'Please brush the cuffs and collar properly. See the stain has not gone.' But today I realized what an herculean task doing the laundry was. Brushing, rinsing, involved lot of effort, perhaps more than the gym. I washed all the clothes and hung them on the clothes line.


I was sweating by now. I am sure I must have burnt at least four hundred calories. When I struggled to rinse the double bed sheet on the clothes line, it was my mother who came to my rescue. I realized how tasking daily household tasks were.


Gandhiji had said every person should undertake some physical activity every day and that physical activity must be productive. I fully agree with him. Household tasks are not best left to the womenfolk. Every member of the family must be actively involved in the household tasks to reap its multiple benefits – good physical health, better relationships and most importantly mutual respect. I have shared the load, have you?

‘I pledge to #ShareTheLoad in household chores in association with Ariel and BlogAdda

Monday 1 April 2019

Aspirations

Disoriented, dejected I am on an unknown strange journey. The winning fire in the pit of my stomach has long been extinguished. I am no longer fiercely competitive and incisive the way I was in my earlier days. I have resigned to my destiny. I have no ambitions left and mind you I am only thirty-six. I am still to earn the badge of renunciate, the one which you get on formal initiation by a Guru.

Begin your story with action, they teach you in creative writing courses. But how can I start my story with an action, when I have dropped all my actions, aspirations and attachments one by one. Who am I? A man with no extraordinary achievements to flaunt of. A banker who was bad at selling the allied products like mutual funds and life insurance. A lover, who walked out of a relationship. Or just a seeker, who is fairly irregular with his spiritual practice. The questions continue to pop-up and the answers as always are evading.

Resting my back against the wall of the twelfth century rock temple, with my blue duffel bag stuffed with all my belongings lying next to me, I view the expanse of river Narmada. Omkareshwar temple is the main attraction for the pilgrims and this Brahma temple is deserted, providing me the much needed solace. The surging water with bluish hue of Narmada is swashing and demonstrating its rebellious in nature. While all other rivers traverse from west to east, Narmada defects the norm and sprints in the opposite direction. Breaking the norm comes for a price, and I have already paid the price.

I close my eyes and start concentrating on my breath. The moment I drop my breath, another one enters my nose with ebullition, akin to my thoughts, no sooner I drop one another crops up. I am supposed to concentrate on the breath and just ignore all the thoughts.

That is when two villagers enter the precincts of the temple through the wrought iron gate. I hear the gong, the clap and the chatter that accompanies pilgrims. They come near me, offer a namaste and ask me whether I read palms. 'No, I don't. I am just an ordinary man like you.' I say. The older of the two bows in reverence and says that it is my humility that I am not acknowledging my own powers. I smile at their innocence and for a moment I am worried about them. These gullible rustics will fall prey to some charlatan, who will fleece them of their hard earned money in exchange of some imitation stone, promising them that it holds miraculous powers. But I put a break to the chain of my thoughts and again concentrate on my breath. I don't wish to get entangled into anything, even if it is for a just cause. Fortunately the villagers leave soon and I am reabsorbed into my
sadhana

Read the next part here