Sunday, August 13, 2006
Good undoing the evil…
Dear friends and family,
Sometimes you seek out actively to do good things. Sometimes they just come at you and you have the opportunity to serve. This past week, I have not seeked… and neither has an oportunity to serve, come to me.
But I do have a couple of small pleasantaries to share this week. Nice things that I personally experienced.
I handed off the last of the dozen or so plush toys that my sister brought from Philadelphia. I had talked about my little project (in my group E-mails) of how I give these stuffed toys away to street kids (at traffic signal stops) as and when I see tthese poor (beggar) children and have a toy to give away in my purse. I saw a little girl crying on the narrow street, where cars and lorries (trucks) and autos go by. She seemed very sad with tears rolling down her cheeks profusely. She sat next to a heap of sand and granite stones close to a construction site just next to the main street. Not safe at all for little kids to be at this type of a location. But, it is this way all over Bangalore city – esp. in spaces that are growing at a fast pace. As soon as I handed her “Winnie the Pooh – with the honey pot” she stopped crying, almost instantly. Her wondrous look and smile was worth a lot that morning. There was another toy I had and gave away to a another little boy who came running towards me. And then, suddenly there was a flock of children. But, unfortunately, I had no more giveaways :)
I had another pleasant surprise on Friday morning (Aug 11th). I got a call from the travel agent from whom I had booked a huge number of tickets (including our trip to Mauritius last year and a whole lot of tickets for my relatives recently for a North-India trip). They were going to send me a “thank you” gift on this their 10th year of service. A travel voucher of sorts I think. I will find out when I receive the parcel in the mail. A small gesture for a good customer they said.
On a different note, tomorrow, Aug 15th is India’s Independence day – 59 years of being a free nation! I bought 3 flags and a pin for Rs. 15 (from a vendor at a traffic signal on my auto ride to work). I did not have Rs. 2 change to pay the auto driver after giving him the rupees notes. So, I just handed him a flag and he displayed it patriotically in front of him in his auto :)
The rest of my very brief update this week does not have any of my own personal experiences of “good things happening around us”. None the less, they made me feel good and I wanted to share with you.
Not sure how many of you saw the front page quote in “The Times of India” Bangalore on Tue, Aug 8th 2006.
“Our earth is degenerate in these latter days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching”
– Assyrian clay tablet 2800 BC
Every era has it’s problems, but it’s not so bad after all, is it? It’s not the end of the world, at least not quite yet :) It’s a wonderful life, in fact.
The Tue paper front page also has a photo of super famous Indian criketeer, Sanchin Tendulpar along with Team captain Rahul Dravid posing with an autographed bat which was presented to Corporates who supported the 7/11 (Aug 11) 2006 Mumbai blast victims at a charity dinner in Bangalore. (ASIDE: There is a restaurant in our food court at work called Sachin – yes named after the criketeer. It has labels on menu items to indicate Sachin’s favourites and the place also sells Sachin memorablia). The stars raised in excess of Rs. 25 lakhs which will be part of the Maharastra Chief Miniter’s relief fund (to support victims of the recent Mumbai train blasts). The criketeers also did a “Mumbai Not Out” wristband launch. Proceeds of sale of these will go to fascilitate rehabilitation programs of the insurgency ravaged metropolis, Mumbai. For every atrocious act, there seems to be a thousand good deeds springing up all over the place. This is a good feeling, indeed! So, after all, life is good.
While it’s hard to turn away from the tremendous atrocities (Bombings in Israel and Lebanon, the intent (on Aug 10th), to blow up many planes from UK to US using liquid explosives…), one is left to deal with it and tackle the extreme hardships and “inconveniences”. And wonder why there is one set of humankind that is that way – wanting to hurt a whole lot more than wanting to love and care. Wonder IF they know the feeling of caring, love and happiness hence derived. Have they tried experiencing that kind of joy? It is a millions times more joyous, I'm sure.
Good Vs. Evil. The battle has been raged for eras and eons; Kurma (tortoise) avatar --- churning the ocean for the nector of immortality – triump of Gods Vs Demons in the end; Narasimha and Rama avatars to overthrow the heinous Hiranyakashipu and raging Ravana respectively. In the present day, we see good being spread out. We hear about a good act here and a nice deed there. A grassroots movement of sorts which should spread like wild fire to wipe out the evil of our days.
[ASIDE: Dasha Avataram : http://www.panchangam.com/dasha.htm. The Avatar concept is closely related to the measurement of time in Hindu theology which has its basis on one working day of Brahma. Each creation or Kalpa is equal to one day and each dissolution or Pralaya is equal to one night in the life of Brahma. A Kalpa and a Pralaya last for 4,320 million human years each. Every Kalpa has 1000 cycles of 4 Yugas (ages). Each cycle of 4 Yugas is completed in 4,320,000 human years. The Yugas are called Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali.]
Have you noticed that people who do good deeds (what the “general world” terms good), do it with pride and a clear conscience, although sometimes they prefer to do it anonymously. On the other hand, evil or bad deeds are always done incognito, in a hush-hush fashion, in a very unscrupulous manner and with an inner fear of “getting caught”. So, good must be so much easier (and prouder) to do than bad? Is it not?
-Sri
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi
“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?” Mahatma Gandhi
“Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense” Amelia Earhart
Sometimes you seek out actively to do good things. Sometimes they just come at you and you have the opportunity to serve. This past week, I have not seeked… and neither has an oportunity to serve, come to me.
But I do have a couple of small pleasantaries to share this week. Nice things that I personally experienced.
I handed off the last of the dozen or so plush toys that my sister brought from Philadelphia. I had talked about my little project (in my group E-mails) of how I give these stuffed toys away to street kids (at traffic signal stops) as and when I see tthese poor (beggar) children and have a toy to give away in my purse. I saw a little girl crying on the narrow street, where cars and lorries (trucks) and autos go by. She seemed very sad with tears rolling down her cheeks profusely. She sat next to a heap of sand and granite stones close to a construction site just next to the main street. Not safe at all for little kids to be at this type of a location. But, it is this way all over Bangalore city – esp. in spaces that are growing at a fast pace. As soon as I handed her “Winnie the Pooh – with the honey pot” she stopped crying, almost instantly. Her wondrous look and smile was worth a lot that morning. There was another toy I had and gave away to a another little boy who came running towards me. And then, suddenly there was a flock of children. But, unfortunately, I had no more giveaways :)
I had another pleasant surprise on Friday morning (Aug 11th). I got a call from the travel agent from whom I had booked a huge number of tickets (including our trip to Mauritius last year and a whole lot of tickets for my relatives recently for a North-India trip). They were going to send me a “thank you” gift on this their 10th year of service. A travel voucher of sorts I think. I will find out when I receive the parcel in the mail. A small gesture for a good customer they said.
On a different note, tomorrow, Aug 15th is India’s Independence day – 59 years of being a free nation! I bought 3 flags and a pin for Rs. 15 (from a vendor at a traffic signal on my auto ride to work). I did not have Rs. 2 change to pay the auto driver after giving him the rupees notes. So, I just handed him a flag and he displayed it patriotically in front of him in his auto :)
The rest of my very brief update this week does not have any of my own personal experiences of “good things happening around us”. None the less, they made me feel good and I wanted to share with you.
Not sure how many of you saw the front page quote in “The Times of India” Bangalore on Tue, Aug 8th 2006.
“Our earth is degenerate in these latter days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching”
– Assyrian clay tablet 2800 BC
Every era has it’s problems, but it’s not so bad after all, is it? It’s not the end of the world, at least not quite yet :) It’s a wonderful life, in fact.
The Tue paper front page also has a photo of super famous Indian criketeer, Sanchin Tendulpar along with Team captain Rahul Dravid posing with an autographed bat which was presented to Corporates who supported the 7/11 (Aug 11) 2006 Mumbai blast victims at a charity dinner in Bangalore. (ASIDE: There is a restaurant in our food court at work called Sachin – yes named after the criketeer. It has labels on menu items to indicate Sachin’s favourites and the place also sells Sachin memorablia). The stars raised in excess of Rs. 25 lakhs which will be part of the Maharastra Chief Miniter’s relief fund (to support victims of the recent Mumbai train blasts). The criketeers also did a “Mumbai Not Out” wristband launch. Proceeds of sale of these will go to fascilitate rehabilitation programs of the insurgency ravaged metropolis, Mumbai. For every atrocious act, there seems to be a thousand good deeds springing up all over the place. This is a good feeling, indeed! So, after all, life is good.
While it’s hard to turn away from the tremendous atrocities (Bombings in Israel and Lebanon, the intent (on Aug 10th), to blow up many planes from UK to US using liquid explosives…), one is left to deal with it and tackle the extreme hardships and “inconveniences”. And wonder why there is one set of humankind that is that way – wanting to hurt a whole lot more than wanting to love and care. Wonder IF they know the feeling of caring, love and happiness hence derived. Have they tried experiencing that kind of joy? It is a millions times more joyous, I'm sure.
Good Vs. Evil. The battle has been raged for eras and eons; Kurma (tortoise) avatar --- churning the ocean for the nector of immortality – triump of Gods Vs Demons in the end; Narasimha and Rama avatars to overthrow the heinous Hiranyakashipu and raging Ravana respectively. In the present day, we see good being spread out. We hear about a good act here and a nice deed there. A grassroots movement of sorts which should spread like wild fire to wipe out the evil of our days.
[ASIDE: Dasha Avataram : http://www.panchangam.com/dasha.htm. The Avatar concept is closely related to the measurement of time in Hindu theology which has its basis on one working day of Brahma. Each creation or Kalpa is equal to one day and each dissolution or Pralaya is equal to one night in the life of Brahma. A Kalpa and a Pralaya last for 4,320 million human years each. Every Kalpa has 1000 cycles of 4 Yugas (ages). Each cycle of 4 Yugas is completed in 4,320,000 human years. The Yugas are called Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali.]
Have you noticed that people who do good deeds (what the “general world” terms good), do it with pride and a clear conscience, although sometimes they prefer to do it anonymously. On the other hand, evil or bad deeds are always done incognito, in a hush-hush fashion, in a very unscrupulous manner and with an inner fear of “getting caught”. So, good must be so much easier (and prouder) to do than bad? Is it not?
-Sri
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi
“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?” Mahatma Gandhi
“Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense” Amelia Earhart
# posted by Sri Renganathan @ 10:50 PM 
