Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 26.
11. 23
Free Prasad
Prasad
(read food) is distributed free, in several religious shrines often
irrespective of faith or background. In Tirumala Balaji Temple besides the ladoo, delicious lunch is served free to
all. I have taken that food. It is served in a clean and hygienic hall. The
langar (common kitchen) in almost all Gurudwaras including Dantun Sahib and
Patthar Sahib in Ladakh offer free food to all. The largest among them is
located in The Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib, first constructed in 1604 and
was later rebuilt in 1764), located in the city of Amritsar. It typically feeds roughly 40,000 people a
day for free. On religious holidays and weekends, the langar feed upwards of
100,000 people a day. About 90 per cent of the staff is made up of volunteers
(known as sewadars) who can help out
for as long as they like. The sewadars
help in cooking, serving food and also cleaning the utensils.
In
Tirumala Balaji Temple also there is a tradition and institutional system of
volunteering. In both the places the system runs mostly out of donation made by
people.
I
often wonder why such a system has not been adopted in Puri Shreemandira, at least during the month
of Kartika? During the month of Kartika several hundreds of widows
observe habisha. They are usually
called ‘habisali’s. They take food (usually the anna prasad of the temple) once a day. Many of the widows are poor. During Kartika the rate of the anna prasad is hiked. Can’t the temple
provide them prasad free for this
month like Gurudwaras do or in Tirupati Temple? I am sure many would like to
donate for this, if pilferage-free delivery is assured.
The
State government has taken some steps to provide them shelter and food. But an
institutionalized robust system has not yet emerged.
Happiness
Recently I was
invited to speak on ‘happiness’ by a philanthropic organization. I do not why
they invited me. Probably I always look happy, though my wife tells me otherwise.
So I read about
happiness. Happiness has been studied from sociological, psychological,
theological, spiritual perspective; also from medical angle. It is interesting
to note that though we covet happiness, many people are actually scared to be happy,
lest it brings something bad on them.
One school of
psychologists believes that some people are genetically wired to be happy. Some
are not. It is a trait. The other school believes that one can learn to be
happy. It is a skill that can be acquired. So much so that several known
universities across the world are offering courses on happiness that teaches
how to be happy.
Recent research
on happiness from psychological and neuro-science domain, focuses mostly on
functional neuro-anatomy of pleasure. Interestingly, both have some strikingly
common points:
1.
Happiness does not lie in amassing wealth or materials or
even in its complete absence.
2.
Your happiness is deeply connected with everyone around you.
3.
Social isolation/rejection causes pain. Good social
relationship is a critical factor in happiness.
4.
Positive surprises make us happy.
Early morning
train journey
Early morning
train journey has always been fascinating for me. As you have to get up very
early to get ready to reach station, there is always that tension of the cab
not reaching in time, or the alarm bell not functioning. As a result you keep
awake the whole night or have a fitful frequently interrupted sleep.
Then, as you
reach the station, even the familiar one also looks so different at early
morning. It is like meeting a prim and proper gentleman you are accustomed to
see in business suit in lungi. You
see people sleeping on the platforms, some just waking up. The smell of freshly
brewed tea floats lightly with winter mist. As the train chugs into the station
in what seems like slow motion, passengers scramble into compartments. In unreserved compartments there is a rush to
grab the window seat. Luggage shoved under the seat or piled overhead beans,
passengers settle down as the dawn just breaks over the corrugated tin
dome of the platform fighting the tenacity of darkness.
Tailpiece: Lesson that we learnt
The
single most important lesson that we learnt from the recently concluded world
cup cricket final is: Kamala Pasand is scented elaichi dana.
Tailpiece-2: Question
Sunny
ne doctor se poochha: Kya doodh pine se rang gora hota hei?
Doctor:
Yes, isme calcium hota hai.
Sunny:
Phir, bhains ka bachha kala kyun hota hai?
++
No comments:
Post a Comment