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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The Fox who lost his tail!

It was in our school lesson... (Must be 'Aesop's fables')..

I have to be very brief with the story (it is too famous, already)...
A fox lost its tail, when it tried to come out of a trap... It saw its own reflection on the still surface of a pool of water and felt ashamed... It cannot appear before other foxes, in an 'as is where is basis'... It called for a Annual General Meeting of all the 'tail-holders' among foxes (like the share-holder's/stake-holder's meeting we have...).. It explained that this tail is a useless burden to carry, especially in the present day 'race' where we have to run away fast from all problems of life, and our speed is not even enough, when problems even overtake us, and wait ahead to pounce on us all-at-a-time, etc... Dump the tail... you will feel free... 'see I have a personal experience too!'
It appealed to young ones who constituted the 'majority-stake-holders' (the tail is that 'stake'!)...
Some where from a corner, an old fox, chose that appropriate pause in the speech, and said, 'Hey, that is because you already lost your tail!... come out and show your true colors, your inner peace-of-mind, after having lost the tail, and let people decide!' And then the other foxes got the message... The resolution failed.. AGM over... Tails saved... Tale served even!

But the foxes are 'original' in their cunningness!
We are only trying to 'copy-paste' their cunningness!... It works, but not for too long!

I saw a few elders around me even at home, criticising 'traditional' rituals as 'out-dated', useless, waste of time, meaningless, blind-faith, false-sentiment etc... And yet, almost a few among them, insisting that I follow some of the 'family-rituals', like mumble a prayer before that photo of the God, but only after lighting the oil-lamp (God-ji is electric-bulb-blind... like we are 'color blind' ... even rich people who could afford those colorful 'series-bulb-decoration' did not do-away with oil lamp!).... Temples in Kerala prohibit electric bulb inside sanctum, but it is okay outside it... Those were childhood memories...
Those who criticised, usually happened to be from 'that lot' who really never tried to experiment with these rituals rigorously (it was a part-time affair for them like some hobby, when there is nothing better to do, try out these rituals.. as a precautionary measure to create a 'case-history')...

That spouse of my neighbourhood uncle... brilliantly justified, “What to do?.. cost of living is spiraling so high! Tomatoes is now 2 annas per seer, last week it was just one and a half anna!.. I personally do not approve my husband accepting bribe, and I have 'very clearly' told him so... Our scriptures have said, we have to one day pay for our sins! But, when somebody 'voluntarily gives a little money, how could he say no?.. And, having accepted that money, how can he delay the 'giver's papers'? ... We have the spiraling cost of living, and we have to save something for kids, education, marriage, etc' ... The next door lady just listens... No harm in 'just-listening'! (The bribe-taker has lost his tail... he is creating a majority!... Very soon, bribe can even be legalised!).

...
As I grew up... I felt, something is not okay with those who complain about our own culture... There are too many contradictions! How did these scriptures stand the test of time? Is it possible that the whole population was totally stupid for 5000 years? Then what happened to that proverb, 'All men cannot be fooled for all the time'? And yet, nothing was tangible like those school's chemistry lab experiment... 'blue litmus turns red'! Even small thing which looked like miracles seemed within the range of explanation! That paper placed on a tumbler full of water, carefully inverted, and the hand gently removed, the water does not fall (the physics teacher did not even sound excited while 'explaining' this miracle!.... My excitement seemed stupid, when the 'learned' teacher delivered this lesson, so casually like the bus-conductor issuing proper ticket, not even looking at the face of the passenger!)

It was then, I decided, best way is to find out for myself, if these ancient rituals, practices, traditions, and scriptures were worth it, or were bogus!

None of these rituals yielded any 'tangible' experience... clipping the nose, mumbling some chant brought no chemical or physical change, between before and after!

The 'nature of declarations' of the scriptures did not seek any kind of patronage, sponsorship, acceptance, adherence or following... they simply declared it in the tone, as we would say 'Sun rises in the East'!.. If the interpretation of its meaning is 'blind' then we are in deep trouble, in finding out which is east, when we are 3 lakhs miles away from earth, and the Sun is still visible clearly!... It may not 'rise' at all, forget 'east'... It has to 'set' first of all, in order to 'rise'! And most of the things that they 'declared' are not easy to understand, feel, see or perceive!

I wished, if only that 'fox story was the other way'! (right now the bulk of present day crowd is already the other way! They have dumped not just one, several of their tails!.. and they are busy, persuading other foxes.. Somebody's girl ran away on the eve of wedding, and now they 'approve' freedom to run away (not using exact words, 'to run away'... but in a polished, diplomatic way, ... even a girl must have freedom to do what they like!.. True! When everybody, right from politicians who play with scams, adults who give and accept bribe, the passers-by ignore an accident victim, the police play the other-role often, why not this girl or boy, do what-they-like? All have the freedom to get their tails removed-for-good!)... During August, 1970 , I had a wonderful experience... the Higher secondary exams got delayed due to 'Telangana-Agitation' and the atmosphere was 'charged'... Mass copying was 'unofficially-official' and allowed... the invigilator's life was more precious than implementing 'no-copying allowed' so strictly! Everybody in that hall where I wrote, cheerfully got their tails cut off... I was the only idiot who did not feel like doing it... And, the only way that poor invigilator found, to very-safely appreciate me was, by bringing the 'extra' answer sheets, and the small piece of thread ('tag' they call it, used to tie up the loose answer sheets), right up to my seat, and perhaps praying silently that nobody notices it.. I too, would not have noticed (the heat was double in my head, trying to compete with a handicap!), had he not brought it unasked, by just noticing that I reached the last line of the paper (anyway, he had nothing better to do, since 'invigilation' now amounted to only claiming an amount stipulated for the day's work!)... I could not convince or explain my close friends with any 'good' reason for my stupidity! (And, at that age, I lacked the courage to spell out my hidden agenda! Spiritual seeking did not need any qualification... just two-times-meals.. for which, at least in those days, a +2 pass was not so essential!)... The small marks did surprise me, it was far more than I expected, because, there was a rumour that evaluation was going to be tough! Now, when I look back, Maya-Madam must have given me 'secret-marks' for my stupid-honesty too!

I could see it clearly... Spirituality is a personal affair, no point in looking at other's tail, whether it is missing or not! Strangely enough... I now seem to be able to 'guess' why those ancient masters just 'declared' and left it! What they said, the contents, the worth of it, does not seem to anyway depend on anybody to sustain!... We can just 'be-with-it'.. we cannot 'depend' on it even, the way we depend on our 'bank-balance' to just 'show-off' and impress an onlooker!.. That 'be with it' is at very deep level! The medical science is unable to define death, beyond 'clinical-death'! Maybe, it has not yet understood 'life' properly!... Good enough reason for me to go within and find out for myself!... (Here I must say, I found the 'genuine' researchers in the scientific-community, slightly better than 'aam aadmi', maybe out of sheer practical experience of years, when they are able to effortlessly curb their 'tendency' to 'justify' their theory in a great hurry!... They have been a great source of inspiration for me, when I read their personal life in renowned magazines like Readers' Digest, etc, where they are 'open-minded' on an on going basis... and not in a hurry to suggest to others to chop of their tails too!)

Somewhere, there was a very strong-structure in place!... Embedded systems... when the intensity of search got heated up sufficiently, the hidden switches got lighted up, and it illuminate a little bit, showing a small path through that dark tunnel, where hither to it looked only like a dead end, in that pitch dark!... Now, it is fun, watching both the sides, 'like that cat on a wall', but with slight difference... ensure that we fall only on to the other side, not this side again, whether it is by accident, we slip, we get pushed, we fall, or even the wall collapses! While on the wall, it is easier to look and be seen too, for yet others who like to 'hear' about what is on the other side.. and then it is for them to take it or leave it... the other side of it was never dependent on 'opposition's outside-support'!!!


psn (24th Sept, 2013)

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