The Whispers Of My Heart

 On Sundays, instead of going for evening wogging ( walking + jogging ), I prefer late morning walk with my wife.  Being the only daughter of an Indian Air Force Officer, my wife's parents doted on her, treated her like a princess.  Although her parents have died few years back, she still misses them profusely.  Last Sunday, my wife made an unusual request, "Sanjay, today I want to visit Air Force Officers Residential Complex. Let's take a walk inside it."  Astonished by her insistence, I took her inside the heavily guarded complex, with the help of an officer friend of mine.  After walking for some minutes, she stopped before quarter number 3126A.  "Sanjay, I have spent three years, from 1987-90, with my parents in this quarter, before we moved to Jorhat ( Assam ) - our new posting.  I want to see again the rooms of the quarter, backyard. Is this possible?" she asked.  The occupants, Squadron Leader Vijay Gurung and his wife were kind enough...

 I have seen people in hill areas putting huge wood logs in a flowing river so as to transport them to some other place.  The strong current of the river ensures that heavy logs reach their destination, swiftly.  Along the way, these logs accidentally abut each other.  But after a fleetingly interface, they disconnect, go their separate ways.  In the same way, one encounters many people during one's lifetime, fortuitously. Some of them become one's relatives, some become friends.  But like logs, one has to separate from one's near and dear ones, eventually.  In this world, nothing, nobody ever stays!  Every gloominess gives way to joy.  Believe me, seeds of sorrow are already deeply ingrained in every worldly happiness.  This, quintessentially, is the intrinsic nature of this world, my dear.  I have penned :  जिसने समझ लिया इस संसार का सार  हंसी उसकी संगिनी है, आंसू उसके यार  When one understands the gist of this mund...

 All the living beings as well as inanimate objects undergo transformation, incessantly.  An egg becomes an embryo that metamorphosis into an infant. Infant grows to become an adult.  Adulthood paves the way to old age.  Finally, the total bodily destruction takes place which is called death.  Likewise, the world that we see before our eyes changes rapidly and after an era it is annihilated completely by the Supreme Being.  According to Hindu scriptures, there are four eras (युग) - Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dvapara yuga and Kali yuga.  These yugas repeat themselves forever in a succession after every 4,320,000 years.  Now is the Kali yuga - an era in which people shamelessly, without compunction perform immoral, unethical activities.  About 4,26,879 years remain of Kali yuga.  So this world will be decimated wholly after 4,26,879 years.  Then again there would be Satya yuga - an era of truthfulness, honesty, kindliness and love. ...

 "Srimad Bhagavad Gita" holds a very special place in my heart.  Infact it is the only book that I always keep beside my pillow.  Whenever in a distress, dilemma, I invariably turn to Lord Krishna's gospel.  Like bright sunshine, the श्लोक (stanzas) of "Srimad Bhagavad Gita" dissipate the gloomy clouds that envelope me.  In the following stanza, Lord gives the secret knowledge of soul to His disciple and friend, Arjuna :  नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः।  न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः।।   Weapons, fire, water and air are incapable of cleaving, burning, wetting and drying the soul or self.  The self is eternal.  It is stable, immovable and primeval.  In other words, it is unchanging, unshakable and ancient.  "Srimad Bhagavad Gita" has inspired many of my compositions, like the following one :  नादान हो तुम जो कहते हो कि मैं मर जाऊंगा  बहता दरिया हूँ साहब, समंदर में उतर जाऊंगा  You are naively thin...

 A deeply spiritual person, once my father counselled me, "Son, any material thing or being that provides some solace, is also the fountainhead of manifold miseries. Beware of this dangerous trap, my son." I ruminated over my father's wise counsel, astonishingly found it absolutely faultless.  Though airconditoners provide transitory relief from sweltering heat, they also cause many diseases like arthritis, respiratory problems, allergies, wrinkles.  Inflated ego and indolence invariably accompany wealth, causing one's downfall, poor health.  Pampering their children pleases parents.  Often these very children either flee to foreign countries to earn dollars, leaving their aged parents behind to fend for themselves or dump them in old age homes. This is especially true in the contemporary times.  I believe, have written :  हरि के नाम को भूलकर, तू जो करे है भोग विलास  खारे पानी से बुझी कब मूर्ख, आब-ए-हयात की प्यास  आब-ए-हयात : nectar.  O ...

Renowned हकीम (physician) Lukman was the pioneer of Unani system of medicine. He had deep understanding of maladies, their effective cures. Lukman intensely admired, respected Mother Nature, from whom he learnt many a thing. He often caressed, conversed lovingly with plants for hours. It is said that the plants reciprocated his affection by revealing their uses, medicinal properties to him! One can enrich one's life only by venerating, living in harmony with Mother Nature. In her peculiar ways,  caring Mother Nature also warns human beings about the imminent perils. Various studies have proved that animals, birds become aware of the impending catastrophe beforehand, give warning signals. Birds start flying low before a hurricane. Ants start leaving their mounds before an earthquake. I believe, have written : नदियों की कलकल, भौंरों की गुंजन, तितलियों की गुनगुन यक़ीनन ये सब कह रहे है कुछ, ज़रा ध्यान लगा कर सुन The burbling rivers, the soft whispers of the butt...

The spate of suicides across the country has upset me. Not only the celebrities, even the ordinary people are mindlessly resorting to harakiri. I consider the people who have chosen to bid adieu to the world, not only cowards but also unenlightened. Hindu, Buddhist, Jain religious scriptures explicitly state that happiness and miseries in one's life are the results (फल) of one's own deeds (कर्म). Suicide simply means destroying body. The life or the soul (आत्मा) is indestructible. With the destruction of the body, a soul takes another abode so as to enjoy or suffer the remaining consequences of good or bad karmas. Believe me, there is no way to escape from the effects of one's actions! Eminent poet Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq has aptly written : अब तो घबरा के यह कहते हैं कि मर जायेंगे, मर के भी चैन ना पाया तो किधर जायेंगे Now you are saying that you are very miserable, will end your life. But tell me, if you do not find solace even after death, then where would ...