Rise and Shine in 2010

 

As the clock strikes midnight and the famous ball drops down the Times Square in New York, love shall be ubiquitous and pervasive. This moment shall be euphoric across continents and oceans, beyond destiny and design, in destitution and opulence and in sickness and health. This amazing eternal flash would count us all one in a motley, a divine state where grace is shared and realized. Ushering into New Year this time, once again would be enthralling to live life brand new and an opportunity to shed the old us just like a soul that changes garbs through past lives.

A fresh day and a fresh year would be a beam of inner light and beacon of a dream where each of us connects within to connect with others. This envisage of a communion is what we need for brotherhood, peace and global unanimity. This dream today is a desire tomorrow and a predilection thereafter to cast away enmity, impartiality and injustice. Such propensity to preserving integrity and the entirety in humanity shall awaken us to mind, body and soul as one, an idiosyncratic of nature and mankind.

A new year is to rise with time and shine in its bout to see love as a foreknowledge to wholeness and a synergy of five elements that we are made of.  Such clasp of ourselves shall save us from chaos and calamities of man and machine that haggle with nature. A new date today should be worth virtues, kindness, Sacraments (Samskars) of truth and justice, abandoning treacherous ideas and practices, and giving up violence and abuse. Acceptance of such route in life does not mean renunciation of temporal pleasures of time. It instead is an avowal of supreme happiness, which is the hidden heaven in our hearts. Such beatitude is omnipresent, in the young and the old, in able and disabled, in man and woman and in you and me, the power of one heart, one mind and one soul. So let’s make this New Year horizon of the cosmos in reach of our hands the moment we place them on our heart to say a prayer to ourselves. This omen of triumph in our hearts is rise and shine of humanity and the birth of solemnity and sanctity in 2010. As T.S. Eliot, the famous poet and literary critic of the 20th Century once said, “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”

Copyright (c) 2009 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot 
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A Christmas By The Sidewalk

Every year the Christmas bells rhyme like the wind chimes to announce the breeze of a new beginning and a gust of light. White crystals of the yuletide bring along the bustle of life to swing in the nativity of grace. In this holiness, a drum roll to cheer, gaiety and jubilee is our jazz for the season. Amid this pizzazz and panache we loose sight of life’s grey colors, the ones that dwell by the sidewalk. Such achromatic state is a hue of suffering and despondency. A   nest without a shelter as the sad face of humanity nestles glory into gloom. As a cliché of lost hope, such sadness raises churning questions. The thought of an open air Christmas in the chills of the weather and without the warmth of a family or the sparkle of companionship, makes fervor a faceoff with survival.

As a jolt of life, loosing one’s abode is like bereaving a mansion of sentiments and emotions. Being homeless is neither crime nor bad karma. It also isn’t a social sarcasm but indeed our devoir to share opportunity to fill dearth. As a social reciprocal, it opens our eyes to vivacity in humanity and its many prodigious colors under the sun, the stars and the moon. Shiela McKechnie once quoted, “People who are homeless are not social inadequates. They are people without homes.” Such depression of spirits from crippled events of life makes one wandering for care and hope.  

This Christmas like each year is about sharing fervent with family, friends and all our loved ones. It’s about feast and festivities, radiance and wisdom, poise and prosperity. Most of all, it’s about giving back by feeding the hungry, clothing the needy and serving the ill. As the Bible quotes, “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” Veiling the sorrow from Wall Street to Main Street through sharing uncountable blessings shall make Christmas a wreath of our existence. So let’s jingle with the bells in merriment of today and pray that tomorrow the world is a better place to jive, tomorrow we connect with each other as our cosmic brothers and sisters and tomorrow giving glee is grasping the serendipity of our soul. With discovering the many faces of Christmas and the uniqueness of it’s traditions in each heart at home or homeless, shall make this Christmas and every other a destination of joy, triumph and fulfillment.

Copyright (c) 2009 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot
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A Pledge of Hope

The fingers of my hand dissimilar yet alike in their force to conjugate; leave me at ease when I join them with others to hold the light of hope. As cheer of joy, gloom of sorrow, pace of time and symphony of emotions, my fingers behold the calligraphy of my silence. Together as one, my hands share my right to truth and justice, opinion and action, respect and dignity that concoct change, spread peace and conformity to human race as single entity under diversity. My hands as the connection between fundamental thoughts and feelings synergize and energize me to us, a state of fervencies and sanguine. Together with these hands, I withhold courage and care, indulge in adventures, set free abhorrence and endorse the privileges of mankind to liberate ourselves from the epidemics of genocide and violation of Human Rights.  On this date of 10th December as World Human Rights day, my hands consort with the globe to protect this realm of its moral, ethical, social and cultural village. As the torch bearers of my conscience, my hands design a bout against torture and turbulence to protect humanity and preserve the sanctity of amity in our society. With this will and pledge, I support the strength of Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar), Rita Mahato(Nepal), Women of Atenco(Mexico), Birtukan Mideksa(Ethiopia) and many others known and unknown as fighters of rights since the universal declaration of Human Rights in 1950.

Copyright (c) 2009 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot 

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Soul Search - Barkha Dhar - Hindustan Times

My latest article Soul Search has been published in the Inner Voice section of The Hindustan Times,India's leading Newspaper.
Alternative link to the article Soul Search

Copyright (c) 2009 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot

Kids Learn to Give Back

Walt Disney, the man behind the magical kingdoms believed that ‘our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children’ perhaps foundation to catch them young. Our children have innocent emotions that are often exhibited in their tranquil love, laughter and smiles and soulful hugs. They have tiny yet bountiful hands and bright eyes that illuminate our habitat. Children celebrate life through their propensity to compassion. Their imagination and spontaneity often expresses giving through sharing; be it snuggling with pets or feeding birds or even sharing their toys with friends. Lunchtime at school often deepens such emotion.

Encouraging this art of bestowing in our children at young age evolves a chance and not a choice to service. It helps them reach out to the under privileged and oppressed. An education to relinquish or service before self makes them independent and responsible adults worthy of capacity and character. Giving as the first lesson to philanthropy binds children in the cause for humanity. As soul’s comfort, giving promotes nobility in thoughts and actions and carves a route to mindfulness and contentment. Such lessons of life can shape our children as empathetic leaders tomorrow. It can integrate community kinship with better citizenship. As social cheerleaders, learning to give also keeps children away from pride and prejudices. It matures them to distinguish between real and fake, truth or false and needs and wants.

Our children are tomorrow’s time and their today should orient them to life’s roller coaster rides. Nurturing their giving aptitude today helps them learn that life is beautiful, as also deep. This can be learned looking at the homeless or orphans struggling to love and be loved or the starved in the slums and the ones abused and battered. This lesson of life by the sidewalk helps our children to understand the essence of balance and encourages them to share abundance to fill dearth. Such change at a nascent age would be a gratification with life tomorrow; a lesson difficult to adopt at older ages. 

 Our children as the seeds of hope for prosperity in humanity are vital links in the invisible chain that unites us all under the eternal roof. The holiday season is an occasion for all of us to knit together such emotions in our children so that enthusiasm and excitement of childhood is a right equally enjoyed by all kids. An initiative of the holidays can slowly be molded as a regular habit in children to confer at charities of their choice. Giving can nest in toddlers too by reiterating words like help, share, joy and bless. With giving and not just getting, our children shall see this world much bigger than just the love for their mommy and daddy in it.


Copyright (c) 2009 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot
Photo Courtesy:  Barkha Dhar

A Walk Down Memory Lane

It was a chilly Saturday morning yet cars were driving into an elementary school parking lot. I saw men, women, children and even babies in their strollers ready for the countdown. It sure wasn’t a PTA meeting or a book fair or any event on the school’s calendar but obviously something so significant that people were gathered in strong numbers dressed in heavy jackets and rain boots for a cause. Perhaps this was a cue to their emotions and sentiments, as also to their mighty strength that led them stand upright in a crazy whether. As I walked towards the venue, I saw canopies with volunteers signing up people while few others offering hot coffee and refreshments. There were teenagers selling raffle tickets and a local radio station trying to jiggle up the crowd with some good music. The venue even had a kid’s zone and a man masked as a giant Red bird happily taking pictures with toddlers. This place resembled a fair where people gather for fun and good time but the event indeed was deeper than what it appeared to the naked sight. The badge that the attendees proudly wore said, ‘Be the voice of Change’ and nothing could have been a stronger advocacy for a cause than these people themselves as an intervention to change.

In this heap of energy there stood a banner that said, ‘We are on the move to end Alzheimer’s, not just an informational display but a gush of high spirits. It undoubtedly reflected Alzheimer’s Association’s perpetual combat with a human cause in order to keep hope alive and evolving. As I was moving ahead in the crowd, I got the opportunity to intermingle. I saw families and long term caregivers showing their unified courage and posterity for an Alzheimer free world. My mind suddenly experienced an inertia of thoughts to hear the somber sufferings of these care givers who underwent an emotional roller coaster while loosing their loved ones’ to an austere test of time and not just a disease. This event on the day of October 3rd marked no ordinary day in their calendars but a reminiscence of the past to convey that Alzheimer’s is not a parasite of the mind but a continued conflict of emotions.

It was undoubtedly a first hand experience for me to hear some heart-pinching cases of countenance to pain, depression and stress as these care givers remembered how mom/dad or a spouse underwent cognitive and emotional transitions after the onset of dementia. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s is a disease commonly characterized as memory loss. It not only is a slow transformation in the patient’s memory, routine activities, physical and emotional health but also an alarm of an overwhelming remorse for their caregivers as well. This event on the day of October 3rd was an occasion when people from different walks of life came together not just to walk a mile or more on the constitutional trail but to release their fears and show a zest for life. Most families participating in the event had been care giving in the past and some were still fighting all odds to materialize resources and help for their loved ones. I could fairly sense past trembles in some of the voices and see the gloomy expressions on their faces as they tried to calm their yesterday. Most of them feared Alzheimer’s as it is genetic. Some of them even wish for a brighter tomorrow with a hope for its cure just like there is for cancer now.

In this ride through time I apparently forgot the chills from the blowing winds and the drizzle from the pouring clouds as care giver stories were wounding enough to encapsulate my mind. Hard to believe initially yet fatally true in this journey down memory lane, these people who shared their concerns on Alzheimer’s had experienced a sea of anguish. How could one imagine a daughter unfailingly trying to soothe a parent’s behavioral triggers not caring about her own vulnerability to stress? Or a wife losing her social life and companionship to a wave of demented life? My comprehension of these befalling accounts could possibly have been no way near comparison to these caregivers as ‘one who suffers knows it the most’. However as a human I have the right to share my compassion and empathize with intensity of pain named Alzheimer’s, a disease that grossly impacts somebody’s will to a dense and hearty life. I imagined had some of these loved one’s (mom/dad or spouse) been alive and active today, they would have enjoyed the joy of grand parenting or even seeking the charm of growing old with their spouse’s love.

With mixed emotions bundling up in my heart and a mind more inquisitive than ever, I spoke to some caregivers to feel in the stress that wears them out night and day while serving an Alzheimer’s patient. My discussions revealed that care giving for a disease like Alzheimer’s is an emotional toll that affects and influences the mind constantly through stress. It also drains out positive energy and sometimes may even build pent up feelings. However fortunately an event like Alzheimer’s Association’s Memory walk seemed just an appropriate outlet for calming emotions and renewing energy for caregivers to get back to action. It also facilitates expanding care-giving network between patient families and long-term care units. The event is a socialization medium and also a support group for like-minded people. Moreover Memory Walk also helps promote community kinship in a mission against a cause that seems indomitable in the present time. With an opportunity to contribute back to the society, it evolves volunteerism in young children and teenagers as they see their families’ struggle to shell out of the so-called Alzheimer’s cocoon. This event is also a tribute to the indelible loss that our community has suffered over the past years. Most importantly Memory walk conveys fellow feelings for the one’s who in this moment are lying tight fisted, immobile, unable to put their thoughts into words either on nursing home beds or as wander guards in their wheel chairs as if they were nomadic in their own community and country.

Truth remains that our mind is the habitat to our thoughts, emotions and actions. Any disease that takes away this right should not be a cause but a consequence that needs concurrence now. For Alzheimer’s Long term care or rehabilitation should be an option and not just the conclusion. This battle against Alzheimer’s is now two folds, generating hope to release patients/ families/caregivers from surmounted anxieties, as also finding a cure to keep the baby boomers away from the onset of a disintegrated life. The thought of nestling into a stage in life where one contends with their will to survive seems like an unjustified end. As I now try to close the chapter of 3rd October in my life, my mind would still toss with some unanswered questions. I shall try my best to move on, yet traces of this day and this event shall be a part of my memory for a long time.

Copyright (c) 2009 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot

The Moral Predicament of Incest

Ecology has a lot to offer to mankind other than diversity in the balance of nature. The dynamics and correlation of behavioral ecology to human evolution shows how ecological and social factors affect our behavior. This correlation certainly broadens ecology’s meaning towards our habitat and provides a substantial implication towards shaping our habits too. The role of life sciences in human behavior is critical to understanding variations in our cognition and emotions, our growth cycles and adaptive capabilities and more importantly our reproduction, parental care and mate acquisitions. The focus of my discussion is not ecology but an effort to understand the nature of incest through deeper eyes.

The relationship of mankind to mating behavior is ancient. This trait is as natural as life itself, as pure as emotion to love and be loved and as powerful as our mind. Sometimes it even seems as desired as a soul longing for Nirvana. However the sensitive weave of relationships and the science of genetics give a holistic meaning to mating or intimacy other than just a need. Beyond the subject of science, a copulating behavior can also be understood as being aware of our surroundings and exercising sound judgement to the interplay of our emotions under specific situations. Any act or a mode of behavior that overrules such essence of nurturing kin recognition in relationships is incest that changes the rules of the game.

It is intriguing to know how nature defines mating behavior in insects and animals. It shows incest as a characteristic not common in all species unlike the ambrosia beetles and few other species in the animal kingdom. Not many of us would be aware that an animal like tiger shows his pride through mating discriminations and kin recognition, as do some Gorillas. This mating behavior is a guide to the animal’s ego and parental instincts.

The inferences drawn from nature however can sometimes be different than a mind’s scorn reflection for incest even though literacy and advancement have leaded change. Cohabitation or incest is not an obsession or promiscuity but a hideous crime especially when involving children. It is a mental state or delusional feeling and may be even the result of a shadowed past. Incest is not only socially intimidating and a taboo in some cultures but is forbidden scientifically as well. Genetic disorders and birth defects are some major concerns for incestuous relations. However some countries do not prohibit it just as some individuals who perceive it in the light of free expression and mutual consent. It is even more impeding to see chat rooms on the Internet displaying incest as playful. Freedom and play as an excuse for an offending relationship is no way justified. Try telling this to someone’s gloomy childhood lost to abuse by a kin or to someone who is being silently seduced somewhere around the world as seconds change to minutes in a clock. For victims of such abuse life is obscure in the long haul.

Incest is not just physical but an emotional abuse that freezes time and the victim’s ability to accept new and safer relationships. It is an offense of manipulating emotions involved in a natal relationship that pose threat to the equilibrium of life. Similar to a parasite, incest affects the chastity in cognate relationships and damages the perpetrator’s and the victim’s capability to see clear in the mirror. Moreover incest is a mental state of anxieties and phobia, as also an emotional outburst of anger and hostility. It can be a personality disorder that affects the congruence in flow of thoughts, emotions and actions that guide us in the real world. Any such disassociation of thoughts and emotions from the divine norms of life and the ethos of the society can be damaging to a meaningful existence.

Incest as a behavioral disorder and a mental health concern requires therapy or psychiatric help in most cases. However any medical intervention starts with self-help. In my view our mind can be recourse to solutions just as it is to our problems. Incest seems like a situation where the mind is in complete control of the body leading to a gamut of desires that can be otherwise controlled through a normalized behavior. To control mind, other than science, one needs to see strength in the soul’s power that can amaze us through open eyes in wilderness or in city rush. As we continuously unfold to a materialistic lifestyle our desires shall double and slowly cover the face of realities in life. It is important to understand that our thoughts and emotions arise from the mind and so do abuse and other hostile crimes. Buddha, the great prophet once said, ‘It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways’. He also said, ‘Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned’. In the light of these great words, incest is a crime that the mind inflicts on self and others. It is a coercive behavior when one wrongfully exercises power in a relationship that incarcerates one’s own life and of the one’s related through blood. A crisis such as this needs to stop now so that incest does not end up as a moral predicament of tomorrow.

Cases such as Joseph Fritzl and daughter Elisabeth (Austria), Patrick S & Sister Susan K (Germany), John and daughter Jenny Deaves (Australia) or the latest Mackenzie & father John Phillips and the Wesson family incident (USA) are more than just eye openers. Some of these cases may be rare evidences of emotional excitement for some couples while as most others unseen and unspoken simply state an emotional coma and subdued life. With incest as a hidden rage how safe is our habitat from the gravity of our own mind? Learning the lesson from ecology this time however may deeply help.


Copyright (c) 2010 - present Dharbarkha.blogspot
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