People, Clock and Time

There are people who keep their watches always 10 to 15 minutes ahead. They want to conquer time. Little do they know, by setting their clock ahead, they have lost 10 minutes of precious time of their lives. Clock may stop, man may stop, but time keeps running. You can neither fast forward it nor rewind it. So cherish every minute, maximise the utility of every second. Look forward for that nano second of BLISS.

Pain : Real and Imaginary

You have met an over assertive person. He refuses to listen to your reasoning. His attitude towards you and the world in general is supercilious. You had a tiff with him. You are well brought up, you don't normally react vehemently. But your mind starts a torrent of profane abuses. You are so angry that your mind becomes violent. Now it starts hurting you physically. Your Blood Pressure has shot up, your pulse rate has risen, you start trembling. You realise that this man has in fact punished you physically using your own anger.

On such occasions your spiritual learning and practices should come in to play and help you. If you realise that without the help of your own mind, such a punishment cannot be metted out to you.

I witnessed a medical procedure called FNAC wherein very fine sharp needle was inserted deep inside the throat of a patient and the doctor rotated the needle inside the throat probing tissues. No anaesthesia and the patient felt the probing needle inside his throat. He was punched thrice in the area of examination. First think of the courage one has to summon when told that a fine needle will be inserted inside the throat. It will only be a small pricking, assures the doctor. But the pain is patient's. It is real. He has to endure the pain. Here also his mind has played a vital role. It has assured him that the doctor means no harm. It has helped him by distancing itself from his body. The doctor, the technician nurse, the ultra sound equipment, the bed he was lying in, the room, the pastel coloured curtains, air vent above blowing cool air pumped from a distant air conditioning plant; all looked surreal. So did the pain. It pained as though in a dream.


Here I recollect the advice of a jain monk. He advised not to have fear while facing problems for fear confounds the problem further. To have courage and faith to accept things that happen as it is which helps in overcoming the problem.

What I see is not What You get to see

Last Friday we had a hectic day. Woke up 5,30 am, daily chores, dropped my wife at school (she teaches physics 10+2)had a depressing day at office picked up wife from school and caught up in traffic jam while returning home. It was too late to prepare dinner at home. We entered a restaurant on the way. Both of us were totally exhausted. Waiting for our order to materialise, we started reflecting on life. To make her come out of the dark mood, I took the salt & pepper pots and told her she is not seeing what I am seeing. She grew even more irritated and hissed, "what are you talking?".

The pots exist as matter and recognised through our sense and perception. Added to that are individual's mental formation and consciousness about articles of matter around them. For instance, if I say there is a table behind a closed door to a group of people, each one will perceive a table differently. As men are different from women I truly do not know how your mind is truly perceiving the pots.


The Physics teacher chipped in, "even as matter, the pots are different from as they existed few minutes back because particles in matter are constantly get changed as the electrons are shared between atoms".

Then I told her about an article I read in the newspaper about people who are left handed (the physics teacher is left handed) that they have diametrically opposite views from right handed people, which I said is not news to me! Well my temperature dropped down to 0-deg by the icy glare. I was saved by the arrival of the dishes we ordered.

I checked whether the dishes are same as we ordered. The taste of the pudding is in eating it.


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Grief

I was driving upto my office. It was about 8.30 early morning. Lazy sun and cool wind made traffic negotiation bearable. I was appreciating the majesty of two imposing structures, one on the right and other on the left side of the road. On the left stood the Southern Railway HQ building, built with grey sandstone during the colonial era. On my right stood Government General Hospital and Madras Medical College estabilished in 1664 and 1835 respectively. The Govt. Hospital is one of largest in South Asia and the Medical College was where one of the first European women student , Mary Scharlib was admitted in the year 1878. With these thoughts in my mind I stopped my car for the signal. Suddenly a shrill wailing sound jolted all the motorists. Those who regularly use the road know that the Hospital mortuary's outgates are right on at the signal intersection. I turned to see and was instantly agrieved to see two teenage girls inconsolably wailing. Their relatives' efforts could not calm them down. I felt heaviness in my heart and tears welled in my eyes. Long after arriving at my office I felt sad at a person's death whom I did not know, the gender, age, occupation, family, nothing was known. My sadness perhaps was only for the two wailing frail children who lost their dear one and not for the dead person, for whom all the worries have ceased to exist.