Republic Day

I just finished watching the Republic Day Parade on TV! It was as usual a wonderful and colourful spectacle. It gave me a sense of pride at moments to see the parade . But while I watched it, I realised how my feelings had changed over the years.

As a kid, I used to love the parade ! I remember sitting and watching the parade with a great sense of pride and joy and a great wave of patriotism engulfing me! Today when I see the parade , I enjoy it but see it merely as a gigantic spectacle but somewhat amateurish! Especially the tableaus and the school dances.

Today, since this event is being projected to millions of Indians across the country and many other people world wide; we need to use this opportunity to show case our country better. Instead of such a focus on the state tableaus and the amateurish dances of the local schools, we ought to utilise this event to project the major technological , social and economic advances of our country and change our poor and developing image among our own and other citizens of the world.

We can easily showcase the changes which we have brought about our country through IT and Science and Technology . Eg. we can talk about the IT enabled e-chaupals, the  improvement in milk production, the growth of tourism, cities, the modern infrastructure, etc.

Each state can talk about the extent of development and showcase something dramatic which is relevant today and not keep talking about past heritage. We can talk about the big and ambitious projects at the state and  also at the national level. This will bring about a greater sense of pride among people, especially the younger generation who are looking at the rest of the world and are comparing! This will also bring about a  not-so-bad sense of competitiveness amongst the states to showcase real excellence.  The schools  too can be trained by professionals so that what we showcase is excellent and projects a good image of our society and our future generation.

The Meaning of Life

What is the meaning and purpose of life? We think it is to have a good education, get married to a nice person , have children and lead a wonderful life, full of joy and laughter. Nothing wrong with that. But life is not so smooth. There are plenty of hiccups along the way. We have all kinds of experiences which leave us unhappy and upset- financial troubles, relationship disasters, illnesses, job troubles, etc. So, we realise that life is not smooth sailing. But our belief is that we will be happy once these troubles are over. We also believe that we will be happy if we were to marry somebody rich and successful (if we are women). We will be happy if we have lots of money , travel the world, have a great job and have loads of fun. Sometimes we do too. But whenever trouble hits us, we are upset and sad as we don't often know what to do to overcome our difficulties. And so we feel that once we overcome these difficulties, we will be happy.

So, most of our adult life we are running after the trappings of what we believe will make us happy- money, job, relationships , success, etc. In the process, if we have to trample over others or hurt others, it does not matter.  But does it truly make us happy ? No. But we learn after getting  many of the things that we covet,  that they do make us happy temporarily! Soon, we are chasing after some other goal and the cycle continues.

So, what then is the meaning of life? Are we going to chase after new goals all the time? Are we going to just suffer and not want these things? No. I have understood it as the universes' way of teaching us lessons of life which will always remain with us . And that is why we are born each time. In different avatars, in different milieus. Only to learn some important lessons. If we don't learn them we continue to suffer till we learn them. And this process continues across many lifetimes , till we learn all the lessons. Such persons who have learnt all these lessons are called Avatars, enlightened beings, mentors, gurus, Buddhas, etc.

So, its important for us to ask when we are suffering, what is it that I need to learn from this situation? Once we learn that particular lesson, we are free from such problems as they no longer frighten us. Then we move on to learn another lesson. And that is the purpose of our life. To become strong and wise human beings who are able to see the situations in life and understand why they are happening and what to do in this situation. It is also to understand why people behave the way they do. In other words , we start to have a lot of compassion for others or tolerance for others. This also prevents us from having to resort to violence or negative behaviour to lead a successful,  happy and fulfilled life.