இஷா யோகா - வாழ்க்கை புரிதல்

நெடு நாட்களாக என் மனதில் ஒரு வெறுமை குடி கொண்டு இருந்தது.வாழ்க்கையில் உண்மையான நாட்டம் குறைந்தே காணப்பட்டது.என் மகள் பிறந்ததும் சிறிது அதிகமானது என்னவோ உண்மை. இருப்பினும் வெறுமையே வென்றது. அதனால் உண்டான தேடலில் நிறைய படிக்க ஆரம்பித்தேன் - கண்டிப்பாக டெக்னிகல் விஷயங்கள் இல்லை:-) முற்றிலும் ஆன்மிக விஷயங்கள் தான். படித்து குழம்பி தெளிந்து மீண்டும் குழம்பியதில் சில - Gospel of Sri ramakrishna, bhagavad gita, selections from the complete works of vivekananda, Can humanity change? - J.Krishnamurthi, An end to suffering - pankaj mishra.இவை எல்லாவற்றிலும் நான் நிறைய கற்றாலும் கூட, என் வெறுமை என்னவோ வழக்கம் போல் என்னை பார்த்து சிரித்தது. நாத்திக புத்தகங்களும் சிறிது படித்து குழம்பினேன். ஆனால் சத்குரு ஜக்கி அவர்களின் "ஞானியின் சந்நிதியில்" படித்தது மனதிற்கு ஒரு ஆறுதலாக இருந்தது. அவற்றில் சிலவற்றை அனுபவபூர்வமாக உணர்ந்ததும் தான் சத்குருவின் மேல் மிகுந்த மரியாதை பிறந்தது.பின்னர் என் தம்பியின் மூலம் இஷா யோகாவின் 13 நாட்கள் "சக்தி சலன கிரியா" வகுப்பில் சேர்ந்தேன். என் வாழ்க்கைக்கு ஒரு அர்த்தம் கிடைத்தது போல் உணர்ந்தேன். நாட்பட நாட்பட, நான் தினமும் யோகா செய்ய செய்ய, அந்த எண்ணம் மிகவும் வலுபெற்றது. என் உடல் மற்றும் மனம் என் கட்டுக்குள் சிறிது சிறுதாக வந்துகொண்டுஇருக்கிறது(இந்த பயணம் எளிதில் முடியாது).
வார்த்தைகள் is a poor substitute for the actual experience. ஆதலால் ஒவ்வருவரும் இதை அனுபவபூர்வமாக பெற இஷா யோகாவின் 7 நாள் வகுப்பில் சேர கேட்டுக்கொள்கிறேன். http://www.ishafoundation.org/Schedule/Isha-Yoga-Programs.isa இணைய தளத்தில் எல்லா விவரங்களும் உள்ளது.

Believe me, this is a gr8 oppurtunity to experience life.

அன்புடன்,
TR (எ) ராம்கி.

Long due

My daughter vivegha is chatting with her friend "You know, we(India) should have finished in the top 5.I dunno how we can finishat 6? I'm really disappointed". Her friend says "Yeah, the bar has gone down, hopefully india will finish in top 5 in the next olympics".I am listening to their conversation and i say - "Hey, 6 is not such a bad position, you know...". I am interrupted by my daughter - "Appa, 6 may be ok for another country but not for a country like us - so big in area, such a huge population,leaders in IT & research...", she goes on & on.I smile noddingly and i slip down the memory lane....
"Abhinav Bindra creates history, wins the first ever individual olympic gold" - screams all newspapers, people are jubilant, filled with ecstasy beyond words.I'm very happy as i get the news from my colleagues.I chat with my friends -"How many more do you forsee?". All of us agree anywhere between 3-5 medals and we are happy at that thought.
I come back to the present, oh, this is 2020 and the olympics just concluded.I just travelled down memory lane to 2008 when it all started...

Indian Muslims

Early days:

My view of muslims, during college days, was that of a typical hindu.They are anti-india by nature and for them religion comes before nationality.But one difference in my view was that i accepted any muslim provided he exhibited true loyalty to india.My anger was fuelled by some incidents given below:

a) one of my muslim friend(i really liked him for he was a good friend) openly supported pakistan during cricket matches.

b) one of my senior(muslim) again supported pakistan indirectly i.e., he used to speak ill of indian players, incl. sachin who was probably at his peak then.It made me even more angry as this person was really a noble person otherwise:-)

c) During an india-pakistan cricket match, a group of local muslims were openly cheering every indian wicket. All these instances were tied to cricket as i was a crazy fan(even now, but mellowed down considerably).I've to say here my room mate during the last two years was a muslim.I was lucky to have a muslim roommate as i got a first-hand chance to observe a muslim.I never had any problem with him over these issues - probably b'cos i was ill-tempered,would not hesitate to pick up a fight and my friend was aware of it:-) My friend was a very hard-working person, came from a lower middle-class and was very responsible.He did not watch any film with us ( we used to watch atleast one per week) thoroughout the 4 years of college life, except in the last semester.Since he did his schooling in tamizh medium, he worked doubly hard.He was also very religious, did namaz on every friday and fasted during ramzan piously.I was really impressed by his dedication for the almighty - i really felt hindus, on the whole, never had such dedication. But nevertheless, i never believed in any ritual, i only believed in heart-felt bhakthi.This association had a real impact on my view of muslims as i clearly felt that they are very much like hindus - with good family values, good manners etc.

Change of mind:

My opinion of a muslim or for that matter any non-hindu, has undergone a sea-change in the last few years.The reasons are many.To quote a few - the biographical book on gandhi(presented by my bro), Hey-Ram film, the documentary on Gujarat riots,my association with AID-India all helped me see the truth.I understood the danger of communal politics played by some of our national parties thru' the age-old divide & rule policy. Why this hatred? Why does an hindu, generally, not have a good opinion on a muslim?

1) Maybe b'cos most of the terrorist activities are carried out in the name of islam.

2) They support pakistan more than india as their religion gets higher priority than the

country.

3) Historically mughal kings were barbarous in nature - looting & killing many hindus.

I don't claim this is an exhaustive list but just what comes to my mind.Now,on the outset, all 3 above seems factually correct, so where is the problem? The problem lies in a simple fact of generalization.

1) How many % of muslims support terrorist activities? Probably fewer than 1%, if not there will be no safe place anywhere in india as it is the second largest muslim population in the world after indonesia.

2) Again what is the statistics for this one, should be less than 5%.Kaif, Zaheer khan, irfan pathan all have represented indian cricket with the same spirit as any other player.More & more youngsters opt to play for the country with the same zeal & enthusiasm like any other player.Many muslim armymen serve us in the border as well.

3) Here, i don't have much knowledge but i can say for sure that Akbar was a secular mughal king who had birbal, an hindu, as his minister.Of course there is an aurangazeb but still..Moreover, it is highly unlikely that every hindu king was noble & pious.

Finally i would like to end my argument with a simple question - how many of your muslim friends have similar aspirations like you w.r.t getting a good job & taking care of their family? How many do you think will end up as an anti-national?