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#DilKiDeal, anger, Bhagavad Gita, BlogAdda, compassion, equanimity, extraordinary, preach, Snapdeal, sorrow, sthith-pradnya, wisdom
Have you ever been on a moral high horse and been kicked off it? Happened to me twice in the same day by 2 different men.
Perfectly ordinary men. A laundryman. A taxi driver.
- Scene 1: Morning door bell. Ever-smiling pleasant laundry man. Today he had a taut half smile, an apology and a regret.
He wouldn’t be around to launder my clothes for a month. Going to his village.
“My son died today morning,” he said in a dazed voice.
As I struggled with the right words of compassion and condolences, he assured me he’d send his brother across from the village to take over the laundry.
Then he went across from house to house with the same message. As he descended the stairs, the lift bell rang. Rang and rang. He stopped halfway down the stairs, came back and checked the lift door. He noticed it half ajar, he closed it shut and then continued down the stairs for his house to house personal message.
- Scene 2: I was returning home from ISKCON’s weekly Bhagavad Gita session. Out of nowhere, a car in front of us backed out. It had stopped at a right turn signal, but it abruptly changed its mind, reversed at breakneck speed and banged backwards into our taxi.
Sickening crunch as our taxi lurched to a halt. The other car was a SUV. It was bigger stronger, sturdier – it suffered no damage. It verved and zoomed off.
I saw the taxi bonnet scrunched up awkwardly. Front right bulb cracked. Engine stalled. My taxi driver did not rail at the other car, did not curse. He steered the car to a shoulder, checked under the bonnet and fiddled around with the wires.
“Rich man, Madam, he can get away with it. If the reverse had happened, I would have been kicked and slapped by public.” he said calmly. He told me he’d repair the car after dropping me home.
“Freedom from material desires, Parth. In the midst of suffering, he whose mind is neither confused nor kindled is equanimous – a sthith pradnya,” I had just heard in the Gita session. Smug on my own spiritual elevation, I had heard the words without listening to them.
Now I wondered. Very much. Would I have been able to practice what was preached to me?
2 ordinary men. 2 extraordinary men.
The laundry man who demonstrated how to carry on a job responsibility in the face of crippling sorrow; and how to stay aware of somebody else’s troubles even in the wake of unbearable heartbreak. The taxi driver who showed how to be a sthith-pradnya through actions instead of words.
Both were MAGICAL gestures – more so because they were neither aimed to impress nor intended for an audience. Spontaneous gestures by 2 simple men.
I was humbled by their gestures, and elated by their gestures. The former because I realized how much room for improvement exists within me. The latter because I realized how much more is humanly possible.
Will I ever get to that spiritual level? I can but try.
Have you ever been tested? Ever been made to fight an emotion you think you have mastered?
P.S: “I am participating in the #DilKiDealOnSnapdeal activity at BlogAdda in association with SnapDeal.”
Out of compulsion or out of habit these two men seem to have balanced their emotions with a practical and rational approach…and that is what made them stand out. Liked the way you correlated your observations with the preaching of Bhagwad Geeta.
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Very true. It takes a rational mind to think of the appropriate response at appropriate time. Otherwise, most people are wise only in retrospect.
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Probably a good way is not to react out of absolute impulse but to wait for sometime till one is in the right frame of mind to react rationally.
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Yes, that would be 2nd ideal response. However, we need to train our minds very strictly to adhere to ideal standards.
very few can resist the urge for a knee-jerk reaction
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Two Magnificent men indeed, my Dear Sweety! Thanks for presenting them, and the thoughts.
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Yes, far too often we only focus on the negative events & negative people. So I thought we should also give credit to the ones who are subtle and strong even in their simple ways.
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Very Good thought, and Very well done, my Dear Sweety! God Bless. Give Us more like that. Love and Regards. 🙂
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Thank you for your wishes and blessings. As I advance in life, I hope to get humbler, calmer and wiser. Every day is a small step towards it.
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Love and Blessings my Dear!
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I do believe that I just had an ordinary extraordinary experience.
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Ah, thank you. Its a pleasure to find ‘A few good men’ in this world. Makes everything worth hoping for.
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well observed!
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Thank you!
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..Reminds me of the time I was taught a lesson when I least expected it.
I was coming back from Santacruz, Mumbai. It had rained. The trains in a mess. Water up to the waist. Crowd out of control.
I was hungry. I stopped at a crowded tea stall. I had to pick between a cup of tea or a slice of stale looking cake as I had only one rupee left. (Those were the pre-credit card days.) They both costed exactly a rupee.
I dropped the coin on the counter, and asked for cake.
“How many?” The guy running the stall asked me.
“The slice costs a rupee. I have a rupee. How many do you think I can get?” I smirked.
He smiled back and said, “Pyar se maangoge to jitna chahiye milega”
Totally humbled and floored…
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nice memories, Sunil. Never knew this before. I remember you returning from your school NCC camp(?), bcos it was flooded or something. You returned home late post midnight, but you had got along a cake slice for me even through that harrowing night.
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extraordinary thought with magical words!!
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That’s a pleasure to hear, Pramita.
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Mala donhi prasanga changale aathavatat.!
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Your amygdala is functioning well, Matashri!
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Great post – much to learn here from you and from these two men 🙂
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Thank you! Its amazing how much one can absorb from our fellow humans. They don’t even have to be renowned celebs or famous to be inspiring. Cheers!
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Absolutely!
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Reblogged this on lovehappinessandpeace and commented:
It is People like these who make the World go Round, otherwise Mother Earth Herself might have rebelled.
And WE can be like them too. Kudos to Dr. Sweety on this her post.
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Thank you so much for the reblog!
Its a revelation to find such evolved men in Kaliyuga. Maybe there is hope for humanity as yet.
Unfortunately, such men get neither front page space nor Twitter followers. They remain in their obscurity. Still, its nice to observe their existence and take inspiration for self evolution.
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Happily, my Dear Sweety, those who reach, and stay on the Front pages are all the ones with Wrong evolutions, (well, MOST of them, anyway).
So NOT being on the Front page might be a Blessing.
But they are like the SALT, that Unseen Stuff in Our Food, without which the Most Exotic dish would be Tasteless!
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Very true. Front pages seem devoted to the sinful, corrupt and perverted.
I wish newspapers made a policy of printing good news on page 1 … to give that feel-good emotion in mornings.
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Hm, the Idea had been tried, but, since Most people seem to be Ogres, reviling in the Nasty stuff, the papers and the media make their money by dishing ‘that’ out!
For the Good Stuff, We always have our tried and tested Blogs! 🙂
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I wonder very much … Does the media dole out the stuff that public likes or is it vice versa?
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It is the media which complies. Because, they have to eat too! And like most, they are not satisfied with bread and butter. They want jam too. That means ‘chup-chap se’ giving what people want, and get the sales and viewership!
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Quite spot on. Its the public to blame, since they google, like, comment and thus encourage such posts. Meanwhile, the good people get pushed to page 17.
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You have put it Very Well! 🙂
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So touching and moving realities. Thanks Dr. Sweety for sharing. Really loved reading and learning from this 🙂
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I’m so glad Darshith. The readers responses assure me that this world still appreciates the ‘few good men’ Kaliyuga has. May their tribe ever increase.
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Yes, they ratio might have dwindled a lot but there are some few good souls out there. Preserving them somehow will be like preserving mankind. I really believe that each sincere teacher belongs to this category 🙂
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That’s a wonderful thought Darshith. We have a treasury of experience and wisdom residing in our teachers – and all we need is the humility & willingness to learn from them.
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Yes correct. Thanks for appreciating 🙂
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