Sometimes, we come across something on social media that affects us deeply. With Diwali having been celebrated with traditional fervour recently, and the buzz surrounding the newly released magnum opus Ramayana, Ram seems to be the flavour of the season.

A video forwarded by a friend recently caught my eye. In it, the speaker explains the different meanings the word “Ram” acquires depending on the context:

• As a greeting: Spoken once, “Ram” is a name, while “Ram Ram” becomes a warm greeting.
• As an expression of awe: Said three times, the phrase transforms into an expression of wonderment.
• As devotion: When chanted repeatedly, it becomes an act of devotion—and sincere devotion leads to a fulfilled life.

Even in day-to-day parlance, the name adapts to every human emotion and stage of existence. We use phrases like Ram Ram, Jai Shri Ram, Hai Ram, and Hey Ram in our daily lives, right up to the final chant during our journey to eternity: “Ram Naam Satya Hai.”I found the speaker’s interpretation of the name Ram truly unique, and I wanted to share its spirit with you all.

All our festivals and the rituals associated with them have a deep underlying philosophy. However, over the years, rituals have taken such strong precedence that the core philosophy stands considerably diluted.

This Diwali, I wish and pray that:

• Along with our homes, we light up our hearts to banish the darkness of hatred, enmity, and narrow-mindedness.
• We burst crackers mindfully as per the guidelines, but burst open our hearts toward the deprived sections of society.
• We eat sweets to our hearts’ content, but spread contentment around us by speaking sweet words.
• We pray to Goddess Lakshmi for affluence and wealth—not only for ourselves, but for all of mankind.

Only then can we truly claim to be celebrating Diwali in its truest spirit, as beautifully encapsulated in this shloka:

Happy and prosper Diwali to all!

Victory of good over evil
Is the underlying spirit of the Dussehra festival;
We celebrate it with great energy and cheer,
After days of fasting and abstinence during Navratri!

Devils and demons continue to flourish
All around us in various shades and hues;
Our annual ritual of burning their effigies
Seems to no longer be paying its dues.

But as long as there are angels in this world,
The rise of demons will only be temporary;
Lords like Rama will continue to be reborn
To serve them a punishment that is exemplary!

Happy Dussehra to all!

Today is the first day of shardiya navratri and my mobile is bursting at its seams with messages that started yesterday itself on the day of Mahalaya.

The occasion took me down the memory lane in my childhood  to remember the celebration in Delhi. My subsequent stays in Kolkata and now of course in Mumbai exposed me to an altogether different experience of Navratri – Durga Puja pandals and pandal hopping and garbha and dandiya along with colours of Navratri! All the experiences have been unique, but as I mentioned in one of my earlier writings, as we grow older, nostalgia of yore  overwhelms all the other experiences, including the more recent and current. I turn to pen a few memories of my childhood Navratri celebrations in a verse in Hindi that reads:

दशहरे की वो छुट्टियाँ
रामलीला की वो रातें,
विशालकाय रावण का दहन
और लौटते समय गरमा-गरम जलेबी खाना!

मीठी ठंड की वो दस्तक
शॉल में मारी वो दुबकी,
गर्म मूंगफली का स्वाद
और मिट्टी के कुल्हड़ की चाय की चुस्की!

न ठंड में जाने से लगती थी सर्दी
न जलेबी खाने से बढ़ती थी शुगर,
दस दिन शारदीय नवरात्रि के बीत जाते थे
ऐसे ही ख़ुशियों के समुद्र में डूब कर!!

Happy Navratri! Let this pious period bring peace and prosperity to all, our country and this world. 

I noticed a middle-aged gentleman on a swanky bike, quietly waiting at a signal for the light to turn green. He had stopped perfectly behind the zebra crossing. My heart swelled with respect for him, and I enthusiastically waved.

You might wonder why I attached so much importance to such an ordinary gesture. It is because everyday, I see road hogs speeding through city roads with scant regard for traffic rules. Bikers and scooterists often act as though rules are meant only for four-wheelers, treating a traffic signal as the absolute last thing they need to obey. Under these circumstances, this gentleman emerged as a true hero!

This brings me to a question: what do law-abiding citizens actually get for obeying the rules? They likely reach their destinations later than the road hogs, consume more fuel while waiting at lights, and earn the wrath of aggressive drivers blocked behind them who want to jump the signal.

If we expand this to other intangible virtues—honesty, punctuality, discipline, and environmental concern—what does imbibing them give a person? Tangibly, perhaps nothing. A rule-following driver is not automatically the most expert driver; an honest and sincere professional may not be deemed the most valuable corporate resource; and a disciplined soldier might not be the bravest in battle.

However, these old-world virtues definitely make one a better human being, a law-abiding citizen, and a helpful neighbour. Ultimately, they grant something far more valuable: a deep, heartfelt satisfaction from knowing that you, at least, tried to do the right thing.

You grow up with certain festivals, and the traditions and rituals connected with them. In our childhood, Dussehra meant 10 days of Ramlila and the burning of Ravana’s effigy (Ravan Dahan) on Dussehra day. It also marked a 10 days’ autumn break, or Dussehra holidays. Further, it meant the onset of the Diwali season, marked by bursting crackers days before actual Diwali. Other important festivals that were awaited were Holi and Rakshabandhan, interspersed with religious festivals like Janmashtami and Shivratri.

Years of stay in Kolkata exposed me to the fervour and passion of Durga Puja. Virtually the entire city came to a standstill from the sixth Navratri (Shasthi) onwards.

Mumbai introduced us to the Ganesh festival, an extravaganza lasting 10 days from Ganesh Chaturthi to Anant Chaturdashi. Our first year in Mumbai, we moved with the crowds to Juhu beach and were overwhelmed by the experience. Then itself, we decided to bring home Ganpati from the next year onwards—a tradition that we have continued now for almost a quarter of a century. Of course, celebrations have changed from a mass scale to a personal level, courtesy of the unavailability of help for cooking or catering. But the never-say-die spirit of the festival, and the belief that this very special guest would take with him not only our woes and problems but those of the entire world, makes this festival very poignant and pleasurable.

Happy Ganpati festival to all, with a prayer to the Vighnaharta to bestow peace upon this highly disturbed world!”

Every first of September, one cannot help but think of the evergreen romantic 1961 movie Come September starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida and its immortal tune to which the lead stars perform an unforgettable dance. 

Actually, September means so much else. After months of heat and grime followed by humidity and discomfort of the rainy season, September heralds the advent of Autumn and much awaited festival season with Rakshabandhan, Janmashtami, Ganpati, Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali following in quick succession. 

This year that started with an ongoing endless Russia- Ukraine war and saw very damaging Iran-US-Israel war and natural disasters across the globe, including the most recent Nepal tragedy where the death count is still not complete, let September not only come but come with hope, peace, happiness and general good of the humanity. May the timeless melody of Come September tune soothe the frayed nerves of those adding misery to the nature’s havoc. 

A few ISKCON devotee families in our building organised Lord Krishna’s Abhishek yesterday on the eve of forthcoming festival of Janmashtami on the 4th of September. Apart from Abhishek, kirtan and chanting of “ Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare”, there was katha by HG Ramrup Prabhuji, the head Juhu ISKCON temple, whose words of wisdom have inspired several blogs by me in the past. 

In yesterday’s discourse, Sri Prabhuji touched the important topic of our faith in Krishna and his Leelas. He made a very fine distinction between Sadhu and Asura and described who would qualify to be a Sadhu. During the course of his discourse, he cited a very interesting example of an apocryphal witty exchange that supposedly took place between George Bernard Shaw, the great Irish playwright and critic and Isadora Duncan, American dancer and choreographer. 

 The story goes that Isadora  proposed to the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. She allegedly suggested they have a child together so that the offspring would possess a unique combination of “my looks and your brains.”Shaw reportedly replied, “But madam, what if it were born with my looks and your brains!”

The story re-emphasised the humanity’s inability to control any outcomes and his solemn duty is to have faith in Krishna, the Supreme Godhead. It also highlighted the important reality of matches being made in heaven and only solemnised on earth. As the matches are made in heaven, the progeny born out of such union is also solely in God’s hand.Every time I listed to Ramprabhu, I feel richer in my knowledge of karma and belief in the the lord almighty.

Rakshabandhan was a festival to look forward to as on the previous evening itself, my brother and I  would accompany my mother to her mother’s place ( my Nani’s house). It was a big household comprising my grandparents, my mother’s brothers and their families. My aunt ( mausi) would also join the gang along with her children to make it a real big gathering. 
The morning always started early because my maamis also had to visit their brothers to tie Rakhi to them. And a special breakfast would be followed by even more special lunch. Children would flaunt their big Rakhi’s on their small wrists and after the festival, these were preserved for days thereafter. 
All that’s gone with the family members moving to their own respective abodes, a few leaving the world and a few like me, having moved to a distant place, being cut off from others. But those special childhood memories linger on, coming back to haunt on the festival day. However, this nostalgia doesn’t depress me but on the contrary makes my heart happy with those sweet memories of the yore.

I think Gurus are slightly different from teachers. Those who teach us – subject, matter , conduct, discipline etc are teachers and merit all our respect. But a Guru goes slightly beyond direct teaching. Guruji ( Nirmal Singh baba), Neem Karauli baba and others who cease to exist but still inspire devotion and dedication amongst the followers who probably never met them in person. Even living gurus like Swami Premanand, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sadguru, Shankaracharyas, heads of Nirankari and Radhasoami groups, saints, pirs – all invoke feeling of faith abd devotion from the followers who might not have seen them in person or have had any direct interaction. 

I see myself unfit to be in any of the above categories- either a Guru or a teacher. I have neither been a specialist in any subject, teaching seekers of knowledge in that subject nor given any general gyan or awareness to anyone ! However, on every Guru Purnima, several of my close friends, former colleagues and other acquaintances shower me with their love and affection for which I can only express my gratitude. 

I also bow to all those living and ceasing to exist who influenced me in my formative as well as later years to make me a slightly better person than what I would  have been in their absence from my life.

Happy Guru Purnima.