HOW TO LEAVE BAD HABITS ?

 

It was evening time and Jack was heading towards home just then he saw bar right across the street.  The bright lights attracted him as if they were inviting him to come and have a drink.  Jack couldn’t resist the temptation and continued walking towards the bar instead of home.

He entered the bar and sat on the stool next to the bartender.  Bartender smile, “Sir, what would you like to have?”  Jack said, “The usual.”  Bartender filled a pitcher of beer and moved it towards Jack.

Jack after having one after another was now disoriented to time, place, and person.  He was like translated into some beer land where there were just pitchers of beer all around.  It was time to close the bar and the bartender looked towards the assistant, as if he was saying “Just check out on him, is he in sense of walking to his home or we will have to assist him?”

Assistant tapped on Jack’s shoulder.  Jack moved his head around with his droopy eyes looked at assistant and said, “Yeh, I know it is time to go now.”  He got up from his seat and started walking towards the door.  Opened it and went out.  It was pitch dark now.

Somehow Jack reached home.  He just opened the lock and went straight to the bed and passed out.

Next day, he woke up at 11 o’clock in the morning.  When he saw the time he got worried as he had meeting in the office early morning at 8 a.m.  He had missed it.  Quickly, he called the office.  Jennie, his secretary, picked up the phone and she said, “Sir, client waited for an hour and then went back.  The deal is canceled.”  Jack was totally shattered by what Jennie had told him.

Jack after thinking for some time just went to the phone when he kept his black dairy.  He picked it up and started to find out the address once someone had given him.  It was of Stephen Jones.  He was the one who could help him.

Jack was attending rehab for intoxication, but to no avail.  He was a very bad drinker, sometimes binging and not able to recover for many days.  Because of this habit he had lost several jobs, people could not recognize him socially, tagged him as drunkard.  Jack knew he had to leave this habit but where to start and how to start as he was also into rehab but it was no use.  He couldn’t resist the temptation last night and again had gone to the bar for a drink and as a result suffered a loss at his job.

He knew Stephen Jones was the only person who could help him.  He just picked up that black book and turned some pages, found his address.  Jack quickly got ready to go.  Stephen’s place was quite far from where he was living.  He packed his bags and got in the car and headed towards his place.

The concrete had vanished and the greens had started on both sides of the highway.  He took left turn and he saw a little cottage near the river.  He knew he was heading right way.  Just little bit far from cottage he stopped.  He got out from the car and started walking towards the cottage.  Just then he noticed some sound as if someone was chopping firewood.

He went towards the back of the cottage and he saw an old man wearing brown shirt and white pajamas was chopping firewood with his back towards Jack.  Just then the man said, “I was expecting you Jack !!”  Jack was astonished as to how he knew his name, but not too astonished because he had heard from the people that Stephen was having some powers.  He could feel the presence of other people.

Jack just stood there and Stephen turned and said “I know why you have come here.”  Jack said, “I want to leave it at any cost.  Tell me what do I have to do for it.”  Stephen said, “Just pick up this firewood for me and put in the cottage, would you, then we will talk on this.”  Jack followed what Stephen had said and went into the cottage with firewood.

It was night now.  Jack and Stephen were sitting on the table having their dinner.  Stephen said, “Finish your food and go to bed.  Tomorrow you and me have to do lot of work in jungle.  Be ready for it.”  Nodding his head Jack responded as he was pretty exhausted.  He went to bed early that day.

Next day morning Jack woke up.  He stood up and freshened himself and went out of the cottage and there was Stephen sitting down on the grass meditating.  He just kept looking at him.  There was a sort of halo around Stephen.  Jack was not able to understand what was it.  He just called “Stephen, I am ready.  Let’s go.”  Stephen opened his eyes and just smiled.

Both of them headed towards the woods.  After they had walked for quite some time, there came a Bannayan tree and no sooner Jack could say a thing Stephen just went and clinged on to the tree.  Jack paused for a while and then looked at Stephen, he thought that he will get down on his own but he didn’t.  He was just clinging to it as if the little monkey baby clings to his mother.

Jack said, “Stephen why don’t you just leave this tree, so that we can walk on and do the things we came for.”  Stephen said, “What ! do you think I am holding on to this tree.  It is the tree who is not leaving me.”  Jack said, “What the heck are you talking about?  Tree is not leaving you?  This can’t be.  How a tree can hold you back.  It is you who is clinging to it not the tree.”  As soon as Jack said this Stephen left the tree and was standing in front of Jack.  He said Jack that is the answer to you problem, “It is you who are clinging to alcohol and not alcohol to you.”  He said, “You are as strong as your will.  The stronger the will, more stronger you are able to resist.”

Habits are nothing but part of human nature.  Unknowingly, we tend to develop some good ones and bad ones, but it is up to our will whether to leave it or stay with it.  Let a habit be habit and not a need or else you are completely destroyed.  When it becomes a need then you can’t see anything beyond it.  It camouflages your mind, your will, your inner strength and makes you useless, worthless soul just a walking blob, nothing more than that.

 

It is just up to you what you want to be as, “You are as strong as your will.”

POTENTIAL

 

Reggie was just walking down the aisle which led to the mall.  It was the shortcut from his residence.  Just then he heard sweet voice as if some bird was chirping.  He turned around and looked to right just near the garbage can were two eyas (babies of hawk).

 

He was very kind hearted.  He picked them up and took them to his residence.  He lived near the river and his residence was the last after which the dense forest started.  He thought that he can not bring up eyas and thought of giving them to his friend who was an ornithologist, Jack Palmer.

 

He went to Jack and handed over the young ones to them.  Time passed by, Reggie was just sitting on the porch one day and was thinking what might have happened to eyas which he handed over to Jack.

 

So, he went to Jack.  He was very excited to see that they had turned into beautiful, elegant hawks by now.  He requested Jack that he wanted to see them fly.  On Reggie’s request Jack let them loose and they took flight.  One of them was flying sky high and the another one, he just took one round and went to the tree nearby and sat on the branch of the tree.

 

Reggie after seeing this asked Jack, “what has happened to this one? Why he is not flying like the other one?”  Jack had no answer.  He also said that whenever he let them go for a flight one of them used to fly high in the sky and the other one just took one round and sat on the branch of the tree.

 

Observing this Jack thought of consulting his colleague who was like him an ornithologist, Augustus Pablo.  Augustus told Jack that he would like to come down and observe both hawks.  Jack agreed to his decision.

 

Next day, Augustus came, Reggie was also there with Jack.  All three of them sat inside the room discussing about the hawks.  Just then suddenly Augustus stood up and said, “You guys stay here, I will just come in a second.”  Saying that he went towards the cage where the hawks were there.

 

Then after some time he called Jack and Reggie screamingly, “Jack !! Reggie !! guys come here.  You will just like to see this.”  Reggie and Jack ran outside and to their amazement they saw that both the hawks were flying in the sky very high.  All three of them look at them and just started laughing.

 

Reggie and Jack asked Augustus, “Hey man, what did you do?  How are the both hawks flying so high in the sky?”  Augustus replied, “Guys, nothing.  I just cut the branch on which that hawk was sitting again and again.  So, now his favorite place is gone where he was used to sitting for a long time that is why he is flying high with his fellow hawk in order to find new one.”

 

We all have potential to fly high and dream big, but sometimes in the life we are so used to sitting at one place that we are afraid of taking risks and moving ahead in life.  By doing this, we are just becoming our own obstacle.  We stop to grow, forget our potential, what we are, what we can be, and what we should be.

 

So, if you are at one place for so many long years and you feel like this is the place where I should not be then cut that branch and move ahead because there is much more potential in you than what you think of yourself.  Motivate yourself towards progress, never be stagnant.  The day you are still you fail yourself, you fail to grow, forget your worth, your potential, your strength.

 

So, stop being a zombie, get up and move ahead.  I know you still have it in you.

 

ONE WORD THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE !!!

 

 

It had been several days now, but there was no improvement in grandma’s health.  Doctor’s tried every option on hand still the prognosis was grave.  Grandma was not showing any signs of recovering, just lying still on the bed, not able to respond to any commands, as if just a stone sculpture was kept in the corner of the room with all the ER machines beeping around, nurses trying to attend, it was clear that there was no hope.

Three days past without being able to eat or take liquids, just staring at the walls and thinking when all this will end — doctors now felt the need to contact the family.

The telecaller from the hospital team called up the residence, a full ring — but no one picked up the phone.  Answering machine started and the caller left the message.  The telecaller informed the hospital staff of not being able to contact the family and hence had left a message.

The physician in-charge got desperate and checked who was the next of kin and tried to contact again but in vain.

Next day morning, a young man in his 30s, Fred, came to the hospital.  After inquiring on the help desk, he turned towards the room where grandma was there.  He went in slowly so as to not disturb grandma, but as soon as he opened the door and stepped in the nurse sitting by grandma saw that the fingers of grandma move and she blinked, as if she knew who was there in the room.

Fred sat down and asked the nurse about the state of grandma.  She said all the things that were in the chart note.  Hearing what the nurse said there were tears in the eyes of Fred.  The nurse requested Fred that he should talk to grandma and ask her to eat and drink so that she could improve and be out of here.

He talked to her, but she was just staring on his face.  He said to her many times and in return she babbled some words that he couldn’t understand.  Fred said many times but to no avail.  Everything seemed so still and listless.  There was complete silence in the room.  Fred’s mind had stopped working now — he wanted that grandma should become healthy and come with him but what he was not able to understand that why she was not able to listen him and why he was not able to understand her ?  This question was constantly running in his mind.

Just then Aunt Claire arrived to the hospital.  Claire lived across the street where grandma and Fred lived.  Claire saw that Fred was sitting near grandma; a smile came on Claire’s face, but was halfhearted.

Fred talked to Aunt Claire, he said that he told grandma to eat and drink but she is not listening at all.  Nurses are trying to make her eat and drink still she is not responding. “She just keeps of babbling.  I just cannot understand her !!  What she is trying to say?”  Listening to what Fred was saying Aunt broke into tears.

Wiping her tears she said dear Fred, you say that you are not able to understand what she is saying.  She is the one who brought you up when your mom and dad died in car accident when you were 1-year-old.  At that time you cried, you babbled, but she knew every little gesture of yours, what you want and what makes you happy.  Now when she is in a state that she is not able to speak and is babbling you are saying ” I can’t understand what she is speaking !!!”

Fred, my dear, she does not want anything else than love, care, and a will to survive that his grandson is there by her side.  Just go and sit besides her, make her sit, give her something to eat and drink, and you will see the change.

Fred following the advice went and did the same.  After few days the doctors saw the miracle.  Grandma who was not willing to eat, who was just staring at the walls, was now hale and hearty, wanted to go home again and wanted to live.

Will is very strong in a person’s life as are love and care.  Love and care gives us the will and strength to fight against all odds in life.  No matter how difficult the time is, no matter how dark the night is, the dawn beckons.

 “A will will find a way.”

HOW MONSOON AND MYTHOLOGY ARE RELATED ?

Just the name of it plays sweet, soothing music in the hearts of lovers longing to meet each other; just the smell of water droplets touching the soil and mixing with it gives us the sense of satisfaction that Rain Gods are going to be there to satisfy the earth from the blazing, scorching, sun of the summer.

 

ORIGIN

The word monsoon originates from Arabic word “mausim” meaning the season in which certain winds prevail, which are, named from the places situated in the direction where they come from.

 

HISTORY

Monsoon and mythology have been quite related in the sense that the great poets in the Indian history have always portrayed lovers in exile in the backdrop of monsoon.  One of such is the narration from the great Kalidasa, who has in “Meghadootam” (Cloud Messenger) narrated how the monsoon approaches and many love-struck hearts long to be with their beloved.

Mythologically, it goes like this — Long time back nearly at the time of Mahabharata there was a sage named as Ayan.  Hetook brahmacharya and went into solitude to complete his tapasya (hermitism) in Himalayas.  On the other side, there was a king name Kashiraj, a good ruler.  He was blessed with a girl child who he named as Amba, but Kashiraj had always dreamt of having a boy, a prince, to rule his throne after him.  So, he decided to bring up this girl child in disguise of boy so that no one should know that the child was a girl.  But as the time passed by Amba reached the age of marriage, Kashiraj was in dilemma as how to face the consequence of revealing that Amba was not a boy but was a girl instead.  At that point, Kashiraj approached to Yaksha (nature-spirit) and requested him to lend his male gender to the girl child “Amba“.  Somehow Yaksha agreed upon and lent his male gender to Amba and in turn Yaksha himself turned into Yakshi “a female gender“.

Yakshi hid herself not able to reveal who she was and kept crying constantly in the clouds.  The conversation between Yakshi and her wife was narrated by the great Kalidasa in “Meghadootam” (Cloud Messenger).

This Yakshi one day met the sage Ayan who was continuing his tapasaya in the Himalayas and to lighten her heart she told her story to sage Ayan.  Ayan was deeply moved by the melancholy and dilemma of Yakshi and he decided to lend his male gender to Yakshi and he did it.  Thereby the sage Ayan was turned into Ayani and remained the rest of her life as female and Yakshi again was turned into Yaksha.

 

CHATAK (Jacobin Cuckoo, Pied Cuckoo, or Pied Crested Cuckoo )

Chatak is a well known bird, also referred as Jacobin Cuckoo, Pied Cuckoo, or Pied Crested Cuckoo.  This bird drinks water falling from sky.  It does not drink at all from the water bodies on earth.  It is a symbol of devotion, love, will, and strength.  Great people give example of this bird and say the way it waits for the rains to come and quench its thirst is comparable to a sage doing his tapasya to please Gods.  Unmoved by its determination of not drinking the water found on earth makes this bird more significant and a poised soul.  With the sight of clouds in the sky it starts singing so as to please the Rain Gods to rain and quench the thirst of the earth as well as hers.  In Hindi elders say “Bhakti karo to aisi, jo ho Chatak jaisi” means “show your love to god in such a way in which Chatak does“.

These birds are found in the Himalayas, Sahara in Africa, Myanmar, and some parts of Sri Lanka.  They lay eggs in other birds nest and leave them there to hatch.

This bird has significance because it is thought that with the singing of Chatak and persuasion, the Rain Gods become happy and do the rains on the earth.

 

FOLKLORE – CURSE OF THE BUFFALO

There is a famous folklore associated with Chatak as to its origin, but how much it is true I do not know.  It goes like this — Once there was an old woman who had a daughter.  They lived in a small village.  They used to provide milk to the villagers.  Everyday the old woman would take the buffalo for grazing and to drink water from the pond.  The daughter on the other hand was very lazy.  She did not do a single thing to help her mother.  Whole day she would just lay around or play with friends.

One day the old woman was very ill, so she called the daughter and told her to take the buffalo for grazing.  She gave the girl some sweets so that she would not feel hungry en route.

Daughter took the buffalo in the jungle where her mother used to take, but instead of grazing she tied the buffalo to a tree and sat in the shade eating sweets.  Buffalo was thinking in the mind that when this girl would finish sweets and let me allow to graze and quench my thirst as she was very thirsty, but the girl instead of releasing the buffalo took back home without grazing.

When they reached home back, her mother asked has the buffalo finished with the grazing and drinking water.  At that point, the daughter lied to mother saying, “Yes, she ate a lot and drank too.”  The buffalo got very much angry and cursed the girl that she in the next birth will become Chatak and feel the same way as the buffalo has felt.  The girl wept and begged for mercy.  Buffalo was kind and said that you will not be able to drink water from the earth and only you can drink is the water which falls from the sky and hence it was done.  Thereafter the Chatak could only drink the water which was from the sky — i.e., rains.

Monsoon is what people wait for whole year, for crops to grow, for new life, for satisfaction, peace, and prosperity.  It has its own significance, a whole life cycle revolving around the water.  Still the cuckoos are out chirping and singing, clouds have surrounded, thunders are on, will this time they will be able to please the Rain Gods ?