Rahul Writes

Heart melts at this news:  

Sadhu dies after a 73-day fast to save Ganga 

http://tinyurl.com/3wc7cl7 and http://tinyurl.com/68qkndu

Someone asked if there is any difference between killing a hen (chicken) or a cow (beef) for our food. His underlying challenge was to prove both were equal because both have souls. Here is my reply: 

“No one justifies killing hens for food. But when you are forced to eat non-veg because nutritious veg food is not available to you, you would obviously choose the lesser evil. A cow, in its utility and in its service to us, is a far superior animal than a hen. I am sure you would know this too. 

Spiritually too, we can’t say that since both cows and hens have souls in them, both are equal. I believe, and I suggest you should think about it too, a cow is a much more evolved animal than a hen. We keep on rising as species of higher evolution along our birth cycle if we do good karma. Therefore, it is a lesser evil to kill a hen which is much less evolved animal than to kill a cow which is much higher on the hierarchy.” 

- Rahul 

Nature

Touching tale of a baby whale

I hope you all must have heard about this baby whale in Sydney. This month in every year, whales take part in their migration towards Queensland and pass through the Sydney harbor. This 2 week old baby whale was estranged from her mother and lost her way. She was hungry. And what happened next was heart breaking.

She mistook a boat as her mother and started sucking the bottom of the yacht. The whale rescuers were called up. They tried to make her meet some other whales so that some female whale could adopt her, but this didn't happen.  Another morning, the baby whale was found suckling the bottom of another boat. She had not eaten for days and her condition was becoming worse.

Wild life experts and rescuers tied their best to save her. The only option was to her find another mother to adopt her, but this was not happening. Normally, baby whales suckle for 11 months on mother's high fat milk and put on 2 pounds a day. This calf was not getting anything to eat and was suckling the boat desperately.  

They tried to feed her with an artificial device. A mother whale squirts the milk out which goes inside the baby's mouth and is sealed by a specially designed tongue to prevent salty water to go in. Scientists couldn't replicate the nature's design and hence all efforts to save her failed.

This event caused much anguish in Sydney and touched a lot of people across the world who kept a track of the attempts to save her. Ultimately the only thing that they could do was to inject her with a lethal injection of anaesthetics, to save her from the pain.

Nature

Been there, done that

The dream hunter

About one month back, it occurred to me that I should fulfil all my dreams, no matter their size. I told you how I went to watch a movie at Eros near Churchgate; it was my dream of 2 years. Then I went to see the Chhatrapati Shivaji museum (earlier known as Prince of Wales Museum), another dream of 2 years.

And what did I do yesterday? Realised another dream of so many years: plantation!

The beginning

The company where I am doing internship carries out a lot of activities under CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives, collaborating with some NGOs. I asked them if I can volunteer. And the lady in charge of that sent a wonderful note on Thursday. I could join them on a plantation drive!

It was on a Saturday. Once I loved Saturdays so much. Now a day I look with suspicion if they are still the same. This one was great.

Reaching to the starting point

The bus was to leave from the gate no. 2 at 6 am. I had kept an alarm for 4.30, but how can I miss one dream for another? So I got up at 5, and rushed to get ready. It was expected to rain that day, so they had asked us to make lots of preparations, as we were to work out in village fields under the sky. I brought out my rain-proof shoes, a first in this season. But I didn't take my camera; it was risky in the rain to carry

Caught a train at 5.37 am. It was nearly vacant, ok 30% filled - that is the definition of vacant in Mumbai. And I still managed to drop in exactly at 6 am!

There I could meet the angel: she who made this trip possible. I got to know her; she had done MSW (Masters in social work) from TISS, and is born and brought up in Mumbai. Another lady joined in with her little daughter (employees are allowed to bring their family with them in such activities). And she came to know that her mother didn't know any one of us, she shouted: "How don't you know your colleagues? I know all in my class, and I know even my whole school!". Good breakfast for the brain, I guessed. We hardly know or try to know our colleagues, beyond our team members. We spend years and then when we resign, we meet someone for the first time and say hi! Kids are far better

On the way to the heavens

The village was at a 3 hour drive from Mumbai. It was very close to the mountains. The roads leading to it were so beautiful. Nature at its best! Everything as fresh as heaven, greenery everywhere, because of the new leaves on the trees. It rained a little in between, making the weather enjoyable.

And while on the way, we saw some sad things: hundreds of trees, cut just from the ground level; call it deforestation. But some of them were again trying to grow up, given the rainy season. Hope.

In our bus there were a group of employees who had brought drums and they were playing it and singing during all the way. They worked in the manufacturing plant. Now, the pattern in which they switched the songs was interesting to note. First they sang some nice songs in general, then they came to sing songs about love for Maharastra; then the great Shivaji, then some Hindu Gods, next came a shocker: they now moved to sing: "Siv Sena, Siv Sena"! Next a song on India's unity in diversity, and next, Sai Baba! Great! Logical, you see?

Inaugural blues

That village was adopted by an NGO called Bridge Trust. Along with government officials and 2 companies, they were trying to turn the village into a model one. Now, all houses in the village had a pukka house. Our company had donated bricks and cement costs for 35 toilets, and today some of our senior managers had come to inaugurate it. So because of some good organisations, no one will go out in the open

After the inauguration, speeches were held, and they did make use of that. One thing: around 30 of us (except me), 3 senior managers from our company, the government officials, the angel (who was a Tamil originally) and all the 100 villagers, they all spoke Marathi and Marathi only. I was very attentive and tried to make meanings out of the non-verbal communication and through some commonly known words. They lectured the villagers about the need to protect and not to cut trees in the forests. And the need to maintain cleanliness.

In between and after the speeches, people used to clap clap :) A little girl from the audience found that sound amusing, and she started clapping in between the speech all alone, and then she would look at others for their reactions :) :) And another baby boy kept looking at me from her mother's lap and kept saying something in his own language. Great!

Plantation

First, the VIPs planted their quota of saplings, and then we were on our own. We were divided into teams of 4-5 people and planted around 25 saplings. An agriculture consultant was brought in by the NGO, who used to guide the villagers about the better methods and mix of crops. He had arranged plantation scheme in a scientific manner: so we were told to plant a particular tree next to a particular one: the arrangement made use of their compatibility when they would grow up and to use the land effectively. It was impressive :)

Holes were already dug. We put some soil, then put the sapling in there, put some more soil to cover the roots, and then we stamped the loose soil with our feet so that soil gets stabilised well. And then the final soil covering and put some water. Rainy season is the best time to plant saplings, and when we finished the plantation, it rained, making sure that the plants would get to survive.

When we washed hands at the village well, not all soil could get washed off from our hands. Good things stick to you :)

Lunch

The villagers had prepared lunch for us: rice, daal, one vegetable, papad and salad. The rice had many small stones; I found 4 of them. It occurred to me and the angel said that: it is good; unknowingly we would be taking some soil of our motherland inside us! Great na?

On our way back, the villagers and their kids came to the border to see us off. I gave my cap to one kid. He had declined it and then I had put it on his head. As I left, he stood there, smiling and blushing :)

We were taking photographs in between, and a final shoot was taken at the entrance of the village. Good bye, we shall come again we all raised our hands. They reciprocated.

Way back to the realities

While going to the village, I had observed that there were no wild animals in the forest! And I had said to the angel, "Now the earth is all ours, we are the animals, we are the birds " On the return journey, suddenly our bus scratched to a halt. A big python was on the middle of the road. One brave heart went down and picked the python from its tail. It had swallowed some animal, but its mouth was crushed by some passing vehicle. It was still moving. Perhaps it would die in some time. The person left it back in the bushes.

When on the Highway to Mumbai, suddenly we sensed some trouble. Police had thrown tear-gas shells on the road and vehicles were taking U-turns. It was the same protest by some Sikh protestors against the accidental death of one of them by the hands of the Dera Sachcha Sauda sect's bodyguards, which you would be watching on the TV. Because of this roadblock, we had to spend 2 extra hours.

The last thing that I could have expected from this was to get a certificate. I got one, for my participation in '10,000 sapling plantation program' of the company. I will post the link to some pictures of the activity when I receive them.

The next of the Dreams

The next one on the list is: walking on the Juhu beach very early in the morning. Wanna join me? :)

Updated Picture: Now you can see the trees, the mountain, the angel, the cap, and the Thinku too :)

Rainy days are here again

The key to happiness is to like what we have got, and not in longing for what we could have.

The day I arrived in Mumbai, the first rain of the season started. It rained and rained afterwards to the extent that Mumbai lifeline local trains stopped, schools got closed and offices wound up before the usual time. Streets were flooded and newspapers were flooded too with news and views about rains. Water is a great leveler. It makes all the plains and holes to look at the same level. It levels all the different classes, as they are all talking about the same thing. It levels all the religions as all are praying for a common purpose. ‘rain rain, go away… come again another day…’. It has rained to the extent that Umesh says “U for Umbrella” over phone to a client.

I don’t like rains

Frankly speaking, I don’t like rains. So I don’t understand the craziness when some people love to go out in the rain… I don’t call rain a very natural condition for humans, but it does wet-cleaning to some of our managerial skills. For example, in the rainy days we always plan and schedule almost all our activities to remain high-and-dry. We help someone on the streets. We develop compassion for that old lady in all the mess. Some of us become quality personnel, with concern over hygiene. We learn to look the world differently. I feel the world itself is different during rainy season.

Down with the rain

I still don’t know how to counter the argument in a passage from my school book “Don't be like water; it has a natural tendency to go down. Rivers start from mountain tops, go down and down until they end up in a salty sea, thereby loosing their identities.” But when I tell my colleagues here that I don’t like getting wet, that I feel my umbrella is not sufficiently large, that I shall wait for the rain to stop, that we should have a hot air blow in the office to dry our cloths (I even suggested recycling hot air exhaust from ACs for the purpose), they say “It doesn’t matter whether you like it or not; there is no choice!”.

I do like rains

It is true. For much of my disappointment, there is no choice. I can’t control the rains, but wait, I can control my own feelings about rains. So let me say I like rains. Yes, I like rains….. I like everything associated with rains, all those raindrops, rainbows, greenery, sound, paper boats, raincoats, umbrellas, holidays, water, drain, mud; I like anything associated with rains. I like rains.

Surprisingly, it has stopped raining after I said this.

[Kumar Rahul, August 2006, Mumbai]