Wisdom with Lakshmi

Mondays are never welcomed by anyone in general and Monday after festivities and long weekend are even dreaded more. So it took me also special courage to come to office. The festival of Diwali was celebrated with the signature grandeur and fun. The occasion of Lord Rama’s return to hometown saw people immersing in the details of festival with shopping, eating and sharing love and friendship being the main modes of celebration. Sahi  mein Diwali gives us the certified legal reason to indulge in extremities of eating and I Love this part the most. With all these one more main event of Diwali is the Lakshmi Pooja. The pooja is performed in each home as per their traditions.

While I have to perform the auspicious ritual in my home, this year the activity drifted my thoughts to some piece of writing I had read way back. I don’t remember the wordings but the writing can precisely be summarized as in “Beware!  Her arrival, my dear Son may be your long cherished dream; She may come with all gold and glitter but see the hidden threat that comes along. As she come riding on her vehicle the infamous Owl, the not so desirable attributes of this creature do also come. Beware of this wisdom erosion.”

When I read it I might have been in some high school years and the article seemed more of a spiritual scholastic piece of writing but today it seemed to show me the mirror. This is exactly what is happening. People have money but their wisdom has left them; hence leaving them more of the mammals in the human form devoid of the most precious gift of almighty to human. The owl of the deity has virtually penetrated in our lives and established itself in mainstream of our lives.

Recently in the Gurgaon expressway toll plaza shooting case the reason for murder as told by the accused is that his anger burst on being asked to pay the duty. And why should he be not questioned, what are his prized attributes that earn him this super credit? He has the MONEY (not necessarily hard earned may be the price of the land sellout that has happened in NCR). I am sure the speed with which the anger rages in the people today must leave Lord Shiva behind. Do we really need such wealth that will make us so blind that we are unable to see the importance of earning youth in a middle class family and shoot at him mercilessly?

We all aim for high pay packages and hence more money, but what are we planning to do with all this earning of ours? Buy ourselves a multi bedroom multi storied house. And then buy interior decoration items for these rooms that are priced illogically. And now that we have well furnished house, what next? I mean the space you need to sleep, stand, sit etc is fixed and add a few inches for comfortable zone. We still have lot more space left. Our family size will be 4 in generic and max 6-7. So what about the other rooms? What use will they be put to? I don’t know about others but yes they will earn us the curses of our servants for sure as they have to keep them in order even if nobody pays a visit to them. Well for girls we can indulge in our favorite pastime. Yes, all you smiling ladies you guessed it right; shop our way through more luxurious malls and shops. But we all know that the real enjoyment comes to us when we hear this: itne ka nahi bhaiya bahut jyaada hai kam karo, kahaan se liya mast hai , itne mein to sahi hai yaar, gud hai main bhi wahin se loongi. These words may sound against our lifestyle than but we all cannot deny the fact that these words have the soul of our shopping.

I don’t know how it is like being rich but I know I am not going to like it. The thought of riches bring to me the thought of over obsessed, more plastic lifestyle. May be my thought are not so very correct and may be missing full story but as of now I just pray to Godess lakshmi

Sain itna dijiye jaame kutumb smaaye, main bhi bhookhan na rahon sadhu bhookha na jaaye…

Sad Demise of the Gentlemen’s Game

‘Lo, iss light ko bhi abhi hi jaana tha, radio kahaan hai, cell kahaan rakhe hain, jaldi dhoondon ek bhi cheez thikaane nahi milti. Last overs hai, har ball important hai jaldi karo …..’, these lines uttered by my anxious , worried  and curious for the result of very important match of cricket, papa are still fresh in my mind.

They take me back to the times when mobile phone era was yet to set in and radio channel was not synonymous to FM. There was AIR and the old transistors provided all respite to the radio lovers. And this commodity became even more sought after whenever the Thomas Edison invention left us midway a one day match or the series was an abroad one, not being telecasted on the TV channels(DD).

But even when, resource crunch and difficult access was there, listening to commentary or watching live the maestros of strokes was a cherished experienced. Everyone planned for the upcoming series in their own way, students praying for no exam colliding with matches, senior lot of house avoiding any reason for the visit to somebody’s place or someone paying visit to their abode. The season of the series has its own ambience and the effect staying on for few days even after it was over filing the life with joy if INDIA won or leaving all sad and cursing in case of loss.

The series were awaited eagerly, they were few in number but enjoyed to fullest. Everything that is available in limits is always cherished. Abundance usually erodes the quality out of an item. This very principle seems to have affected the gentlemen’s game. The time when there were fewer cricket matches, it was filled with gritty performances by the superb players. The excellence of game remained supreme and hence attracted all.

Today cricket has become virtually 24*7 commodity. Loads of new championships are invented and people are fed so much with it that the taste is lost. The players are either not fit or are tired enough to give their best to the game.

Business minds who saw huge prospect of profit in the game seems to forget that the game they are investing is being played by not machines but the humans who have the same body limitations as we all have. Stretching the same is neither good for them nor for the game. And in fact it won’t be correct here to point only to the investors and the business lobby when the players themselves have chosen the path of extra earnings risking their fitness and longevity in the game. It is not my intent to say that the expansion or widespread of the game is bad but we still have a good amount of the skilled players still waiting for their chance. Why are we not able the release their potential even when we are literally feeding cricket to masses daily. The need of hour is rotation policy and much more sane management to save the grace of the game. Else we are nearing days playing with 11 injured players and have all retired hurt.

Money it seems has taken the centre stage from pitches and wickets. My heart just worries that the glamour, the money and the mahanga tamasha surrounding the game make take the soul out of the game. I can still bet on a 70’s test match for most of the 20-20 IPL or CL matches for the sake of technique execution, grit determination, skill display and sportsmanship. With each new stupid venture to sell the game, my heart weeps for the sad demise of its one of the favorite sport.