The other day my daughter was asking me why I was writing all the depressing stuff. I thought to myself I wished I could help not to and write something else that could bring solace to the stressed-out minds and smiles on gloomy faces. Seeing her in very pensive mood looking at my recent pieces on one grim news after the other unfolding almost every day since the dawn of the New Year, I could not muster courage to tell her that there are other events happening around the world which are equally distressing but less visible and there are more painful facts which are more disturbing. The gory ethnic violence in Dominic Republic of Congo, anarchy in Somalia and Zimbabwe is on the brink of collapse are some of the other humanitarian crises staring at the world. Back home in India, starvation deaths, abject poverty, world’s largest population of malnourished children, caste, class, region and religion conflicts and its abysmally low ranking on Human Development Index, lower than even Bangladesh and Rwanda, are some of the greater concerns for the sustainability of the very idea of India as one nation and functioning democracy. Among this dark valley of despair, how to find that even faint flicker to ignite hopes and smiles? I can’t cease to wonder.
And then suddenly a thought came to my mind. I logged into internet and typed Mahatma Gandhi in Google search and a whole new world unfolded before me. It was a world full of wisdom. Just by reading some of the Mahatma’s quotes, I felt reassured and refueled with new hope. I began to see things through Mahatma’s timeless words of wisdom. It immediately alleviated my mind besieged with tragic events in the world and levitated it to a place from where I began to see light at the end of tunnel as not probably a train rushing on me but a bright sun shine. I recommend that you read his philosophy of life if you want to divert your mind away from the world torn with strife, terror and humanitarian crisis.
I am giving below a few of his quotes which would give you a sense of what a peace of mind I was experiencing when I began reading them on the net.
“Three-fourths of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world will disappear if we step into the shoes of our adversaries and understand their standpoint.”
(A perfect prescription for communal harmony?)
“The world is weary of hate. We see the fatigue overcoming the Western nations.”
(In today’s context, we can see the fatigue in America’s war on Iraq, Israel-Palestinian conflict, India-Pakistan relations, Kashmir imbroglio.)
“The whole world is in the throes of a new birth. Anything done for a temporary gain would be tantamount to an abortion.”
(How true today! The present economic meltdown was a result of the greed or temporary gain. The world may see emergence of a new world order as it tries to tackle a global recession.)
Above are just a few sprinkles of wisdom. You can log on to www.mkgandi.org for further reading and experiencing uplift of your gloom.
And from Mahatma, I went to the man who admired Mahatma the most, Martin Luther King, Jr. I found his following quote, among so many other interesting ones, so refreshingly relevant today as Americans rose on November 4, 2008 to give the true meaning of its creed by electing first ever African American in Barak Obama as its 44th President.
“Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was another noble soul that graced our planet and in whose renderings we can find that elusive peace of mind. Then there is Rabindranath Tagore in whose philosophy and poetry one can seek shelter from otherwise traumatic life.
I have started reading these and other great philosophers and believe me I am able to find peace with myself and others. I know that it will not end miseries around me. But it will teach me how to cope with different situation in life and, more importantly it will open up my mind to a new outlook of life and world around us, cleanse it of prejudices and negativity by unleashing positive energies. Even those who have suffered and those who lost their near and dear ones in mindless acts of terror and violence, I would advise them to take recourse to reading and understanding works of the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Soon as you start exploring their works just an hour a day, you will find, as I did, that it has power to lift your spirit and it is the most effective stress buster.
And then suddenly a thought came to my mind. I logged into internet and typed Mahatma Gandhi in Google search and a whole new world unfolded before me. It was a world full of wisdom. Just by reading some of the Mahatma’s quotes, I felt reassured and refueled with new hope. I began to see things through Mahatma’s timeless words of wisdom. It immediately alleviated my mind besieged with tragic events in the world and levitated it to a place from where I began to see light at the end of tunnel as not probably a train rushing on me but a bright sun shine. I recommend that you read his philosophy of life if you want to divert your mind away from the world torn with strife, terror and humanitarian crisis.
I am giving below a few of his quotes which would give you a sense of what a peace of mind I was experiencing when I began reading them on the net.
“Three-fourths of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world will disappear if we step into the shoes of our adversaries and understand their standpoint.”
(A perfect prescription for communal harmony?)
“The world is weary of hate. We see the fatigue overcoming the Western nations.”
(In today’s context, we can see the fatigue in America’s war on Iraq, Israel-Palestinian conflict, India-Pakistan relations, Kashmir imbroglio.)
“The whole world is in the throes of a new birth. Anything done for a temporary gain would be tantamount to an abortion.”
(How true today! The present economic meltdown was a result of the greed or temporary gain. The world may see emergence of a new world order as it tries to tackle a global recession.)
Above are just a few sprinkles of wisdom. You can log on to www.mkgandi.org for further reading and experiencing uplift of your gloom.
And from Mahatma, I went to the man who admired Mahatma the most, Martin Luther King, Jr. I found his following quote, among so many other interesting ones, so refreshingly relevant today as Americans rose on November 4, 2008 to give the true meaning of its creed by electing first ever African American in Barak Obama as its 44th President.
“Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was another noble soul that graced our planet and in whose renderings we can find that elusive peace of mind. Then there is Rabindranath Tagore in whose philosophy and poetry one can seek shelter from otherwise traumatic life.
I have started reading these and other great philosophers and believe me I am able to find peace with myself and others. I know that it will not end miseries around me. But it will teach me how to cope with different situation in life and, more importantly it will open up my mind to a new outlook of life and world around us, cleanse it of prejudices and negativity by unleashing positive energies. Even those who have suffered and those who lost their near and dear ones in mindless acts of terror and violence, I would advise them to take recourse to reading and understanding works of the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Soon as you start exploring their works just an hour a day, you will find, as I did, that it has power to lift your spirit and it is the most effective stress buster.
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