Monday, March 06, 2006

The Story so far(5)

And it Starts..
It all started with a small get together at a friend's place. I met a lovely young girl who was on her way to being a journalist with a leading paper in India. That was thrilling and I said, "Well, journalism is one of my alter egos. There is so much to talk about, that people don't want to read and no one wants to waste column inches on.. but they are important issues, and I wish some journalist in India would start talking about them as sensationally as the P3 parties..At that point, something in my head went, "So, you do it!" That was how this blog started.. so now, you know the general direction..But of course, if I want someone to read it, I'll have to try and make it interesting..a little like adding salt to food.. and dessert to boiled vegetables..

Nice Quote
Saw this nice quote today and could not help posting it on the blog..

What is it in you that brings you to a spiritual teacher in the first place? It's not the spirit in you, since that is already enlightened, and has no need to seek. No, it is the ego in you that brings you to a teacher. - Ken Wilber

My Take: What is it in you that makes you a spiritual teacher? perhaps, it is the ego again.

And if the ego of the learner seeks the ego of the teacher, where is the spirit in that?
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The Sky is the Limit
They always told us, "The Sky is the Limit."
And one day we found out: There is no sky. There never was.[ 13:30 ] [ Sep. 15, 2005 ]
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Lao Tzu Quote
Always we hope someone else has the answer.Some other place will be better,some other time it will all turn out.This is it.No one else has the answer.No other place will be better,and it has already turned out. --Lao Tzu[ 12:26 ] [ Sep. 19, 2005 ]
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To add for its own sake
To say something for the sake of saying something, is to invite being ignored when you do have something to say.. have been thinking of this for some time now.. any thoughts?
[ 02:35 ] [ Oct. 11, 2005 ]
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The Pagal Khana..
We have an annual decoration contest in office on Diwali.. this year, my department chose the theme of pagalkhane mein Diwali(Diwali in a mental asylum).. they were trying to be innovative. In the process,they thought up things like people doing weird things, each in his/her own world.. and thereby adding to our entertainment value..

Someone once said, "At the end of our lives, we are more likely to regret the things we didn't do rather than the things that we did do."
I regret not standing up for issues I believe in.. this was not going to be one of those times.

Pagal khanas are not full of people holding up lanterns, or shouting "Aaj holi hai!" on diwali, or pretending to be poojaris.. or so on.. they are full of people who spend their whole lives in 6*8 cells, that are not cleaned. Ever. Unless a sane inmate takes pity and cleans the cell.
Sane people who are fed into a pagal khana bcs their families do not want them.
People who got away from criminal proceedings by pretending to be insane and are lodged here instead of the jail.
Women who are sexually abused without even being aware of what is happening to them.
And people who are actually insane enough to act weird. Really weird. But mostly, people who will be found brooding, muttering to themselvss, and usually, not the kind of entertainment that my colleagues expect to find.

That is the picture of the pagal khana. Which is different from the picture of the average person who needs a mental health professional. The 2 are intersecting circles, but they are not the same.

Today, a lot more people need mental health help, because we have gone the famous nuclear family and "I live for myself" route. But no one acknowledges the need and what we are left with is a BIG set of people who just need someone to talk to, but are too brave to get help,bcs of the social stigma attached to seeking help.

And great shows like this, "Pagal Khane mein Diwali", will convince someone in the audience, who might be listening to some of us trying to tell people that its better to get help than to suffer in silence, that counseling is ALWAYS confidential, that not even the family needs to know, someone who might be thinking of it as being less of a stigma, will come to this show, and go back into his/her shell again..

CAN I PROMOTE A STEREOTYPE THAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DEMOLISH?

NO!

Hence, the decision to not participate in the show. [ 12:32 ] [ Oct. 27, 2005 ]
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The Zahir
I don't know who it was who got here and advised me to read "The Zahir". Thank You! I did.

If the book has lessons, they are only for those who choose to take them. Centuries after the Bible, the Geeta and the Quran were written, telling us to do simple things like being honest, being good etc., we still read the Deepak Chopras.. why? Because it is so much easier to read, to talk and to think, than it is to DO!

Such a simple thing.. do not lie..even simpler.. do your duty. And what do we do? Write 300 page commentaries on what do means, what not means, and what lie means... do not lie.. do we really need a 300 page commentary on the Geeta?

Do not lie.. try doing this. Not lying. Its easier than you think.

or, try doing something simpler.. do what you are supposed to do, do not worry about tomorrow.. or, simpler still, try writing a 300 page commentary on what "supposed" does and does not mean...
[ 18:45 ] [ Nov. 6, 2005 ]
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