Faith

1. Faith sometimes can be a controversial subject. The word faith means different things to different people. Faith can just be a belief without any reasoning. It also sometimes tends to become a blind belief. Some people think faith as a positive force able to move mountains.Yet others understand it as a kind of superstition. Some others think that faith and reason are opposed to each other and take great pride in referring to themselves as rational thinkers and have a rather condescending attitude towards people of simple faith.People given to emotion, think that the rationalists are dry intellectuals given to meaningless talks with no foundation. The interesting point here is that even what they expound is based on their beliefs alone.
2. In order to gain knowledge we need faith and thereafter, in action or response also we need faith. We need to have faith in what we are doing; faith in the instrument being adopted or used to accomplish a goal and lastly faith in oneself. Blind belief or superstition is something for which there is no desire to confirm, nor is it subject to verification. Similarly before doing something faith is required. True faith is open to experiment and verification and is confirmed by your knowledge and there is no person without faith. Even rationalists believe in their reasoning and ability to think. A communist may not believe in the Vedas, the bible or Koran, but he believes in Karl Marx. Everyone has faith in some theory or other. Man is his embodiment of faith and this guides the very vision of his life.
3. In my opinion it does not matter where Rama was born or where he died, what matters is that people have faith in Rama and this faith is all that matters. No history book, historian, religious leader or books can conclusively prove that Rama was born . History is what has been written by people after reading what others before them have written or their own interpretations. In my opinion they are like blind men trying to describe an elephant. Conflicting views will always exist. But if people have faith that Rama was born, then so be it. Nobody can change this faith. Faith can only be increased, enhanced, reaffirmed or confirmed. It can decrease in the face of well defined arguments . Faith can be broken but cannot be erased.
4. It is this faith that keeps a man and woman together during their lifetime, it is this faith that keeps the family together the society, the community and the nation together. The faith is the building block as well as the cement that keeps the basic foundation of all relationship firm. If one looses faith then everything is lost because then the basic foundation will collapse. How can a structure stand when its foundation no longer exist. Faith can move mountains but let us first have faith in ourselves. Let us be faithful to or own self and then to the society and community at large and when this happens then the question of Hindu and Muslim will fade out into the distance.
5. People often ask me questions whether I believe in God or not. I do not know how to answer this question. If they mean God by that rock or the photograph then I certainly do not. But if they mean by that God which is within me then the answer is yes. I believe in myself, my existence and hence I believe in God, in its existence
6. The other day I listened to a presentation where the speaker quoted the Confucius " The only thing that cannot be taken back are spoken words". Spoken words can not be taken back but they can be amended, changed, or simply saying "I did not mean that". They can be modified so that the whole meaning changed. In the end the whole effect can be negated by simply saying "Sorry". These five magical words have the power to change the whole effect of the said words.
7. I believe that the only thing that cannot be changed or taken back or recreated again is "Faith". Faith is like a clear glass where both sides are clearly visible. It is a two way process where both sides should be able to clearly see each other with no distortion and no ambiguity. Both sides have to have faith on each other. In a mirror you can only see your own reflection but not the other side; it is a one way process. It takes years or sometimes ages to build faith but it may just take a moment to break it. A small mistake can destroy what had taken years to build. A small amount of mistrust whether actual or perceived or wrongly projected can break what had taken years to build. This faith can never be restored back. Once you break the glass that glass can never be replaced back. You can put another glass but can never bring the old one back. The new one will always be different. It can be better than the old one or worst but it can never be the same. The same faith can never come back. A broken faith is something like a soul leaving a body. What is the purpose of living when there is no soul? Similarly what is the purpose of having a relationship when there is no faith? A relationship without faith is like a river without water, rain without water, a rainbow without colors, and a sun without warmth and light. Can two people live together when there is no faith, can a relationship exist, can a family, a society, and a nation exists? I do not think so but people may not agree with me. I believe that if you have to live then it has to be with dignity, respect, honor and humility and without these it is not worth living. To me the words " Living with honor and dignity" are more than mere words. They represent a way of life, a commitment to one's own self. A number of times people ask me whether either I have faith in god or I have faith in the existence of god. I do not know how to answer this question or how to satisfy them. If I have faith in myself and I have faith in my own existence then the question whether I have faith in the existence of god or not is ridiculous, irrelevant and illogical and only reflects he immaturity of the person asking the question.
7. The other day I was standing in a queue at the railway station waiting for my turn for the reservation. The gentleman ahead of me suddenly realized that he was running short of money. Obliviously he had left the house in a hurry in the morning. The clerk offered him that he will hold on the tickets till he can go back home and bring the money. The gentleman was obliviously in a hurry to meet an urgent appointment. He was reasonably well dressed and appeared to be a decent soul and was in a hurry to go someplace. He had obliviously a prior appointment to go to some place and had come early in the morning to be the first person in the queue for reservation. I was standing right behind him. Seeing his plight and the miserable feeling and the predicament he was in I offered to lend him the small sum of thirty rupees. The gentleman took my name and address and promised to return the money at my residence in the evening. After he had collected his ticket and left the gentleman standing right behind me asked whether I knew the person. On my negative reply, he offered me an advice that it was a mistake to lend the money to strangers and I should not trust people. He also gave me his firm opinion that it is the last I will see of that gentleman and my money. My only reply to his unsolicited advise was that I had lend the cash in good faith and have tremendous faith in other people also. I have had setback in the past also but it has not shaken my faith in people and I have always believed that god will never harm me and in each of his deed there is something good for me. I have not given him the cash with the hope that he will return it back to me or he will do something for me in return but with a feeling that I was helping somebody who needed help at that time and I was in a position to help. What you are saying may be true that I will never see that gentleman or my money again but it will not shake my belief in other people and in me. I am reasonably sure that the gentleman will return my money. After doing my reservation I left and returned back to my house and forgot the whole incident. In the afternoon of the same day somebody rang my bell. When I came out I found a well dressed gentleman standing at my gate. As I did not recognize him and was slightly apprehensive and seeing my discomfort he offered me an envelope and politely informed me that he had met me in the morning at the railway station. Inside the envelope were three new crisp ten rupee notes. I genuinely felt very happy and pleasantly surprised as the gentleman must have taken time off from his work to return the money even though he had promised to return it back only in the evening. The happiness was not because he had proved the gentleman standing behind me at the reservation counter wrong and proved me right but because he had given me the courage and hope to have faith in other people. He had enhanced my conviction to have faith in myself and my actions and not to be misled by other people. One bad fish does not make a pond dirty if you have faith in the pond and in other fishes. We have to have faith in god, in humanity, in society and most important in the people that make this society. Thank you very much (To that gentleman who returned my money) for enhancing my faith in myself and in other people.
8.In another instance, We were traveling by air from Delhi to Bombay on way to Coimbatore. At Delhi airport at the final check counter just before boarding the bus to take us to the aircraft, my friend kept the folder on the table and was getting the hand baggage checked, as the last bus was about to leave we hurriedly boarded the bus and forgot the folder containing the tickets for onward journey and return journey on the table itself. As we were the last passengers the bus left immediately as soon as we boarded the bus. As the aircraft was about to close the door one of the staff from airlines came and asked me my name and gave me my tickets back. I felt that even a thank you was too small for such an act. The happiness did not come from getting the tickets back but from the fact that my faith in people was again reaffirmed. There will always be some instances that will shake your faith but they are not important and was is important is that you keep your faith in people alive by reaffirming it again and again.

Letter To A Teenage daughter

My Dear Teenage Daughter,
The letter may come as a surprise and I know it is just a little bit too late, but firstly it took me that much of time and courage to do the thinking, take up the pen and pen down my thoughts and feelings. Secondly, and most important it still has not dawned on me that you are no longer a child but a teenager.
I can still remember, as if it was only yesterday, that you would insist sitting on my lap in the morning, while I was reading the newspaper, with the bottle in your mouth and trying to understand what was happening in the world around you or you would insist on being swung while going on your usual walk in the evening inside the camp rather than sitting in your pram. It was only yesterday, you wanted to perch on my shoulders to get a bird’s eye view or it was just that you wanted to be taller than your father. Probably, these are the few things I might tell your children when I can no longer walk, sitting in my easy chair outside in the morning sun.
I have been harsh, sometimes strict and sometimes indifferent but probably in my mind I have not got used to your growing up. I still feel protective and wish that you do everything right. The over protectiveness is another name for love in the dictionary of parents. Love as I understand is creating an atmosphere, where each can flourish and achieve those things, which one can not achieve alone. Probably I wanted you to achieve those things, which you dream of, but find it just outside your reach. The over protectiveness comes here to shield you from the harms, ill effects and misdirected efforts so that you can guide your energy towards the important things which matter most to you rather than trivial issues.
In the coming years, you will be amazed to find out how little your father knows, you may be disappointed at times, heartbroken at others, at times frustrated, but it is a fact you will have to face it on day or the other. It is quite possible that you may not like what I like, or I may not like what you like most. You may find me embarrassing at times, when I cannot talk to your friends, the way you expect your father to. I might say no to you when other teenagers are permitted to do the same things. It is possible that you might find your father stupid, dumb, orthodox, mean and even hate me, but even in those moments you may wish to remember that I can risk to being called names because I love you and want the best for you , now and always.
Sometimes when I am in the depressed mood I might say , go ahead and do whatever you feel like, spoil your life, but what makes a father's task difficult is that he knows that there is no road or bridge while transiting from childhood to adulthood. There is no way I can hold your hand and help you cross the dividing line or barrier between childhood and adulthood. It is something you will have to do it yourself, all by your own, faces the problems, pick up the pebbles, remove the thorns, surmount the barriers and achieve your dreams. I can only give you moral support and may be some guidance but you will have to choose the path and walk alone, with he head held high and dreams in your eyes. Just remember that there are always dreams to be fulfilled, promises to be kept, goals to be achieved, rivers to be crossed, mountains to be climbed, contests to be won and happiness to be earned. But, all this cannot happen overnight and it is a very slow and gradual process and not an easy journey, even though you may wish it to be so. Your dreams are your own, your actions are yours and your life is to be lived the way you wish it to be lived. I can only advise and guide you. It is up to you to accept them or reject them, listen to them or close your ears, take them with a smile or with a frown, accept with humility or defiance.
You have always been a dreamer, a poet, a writer. You have always tried to find the rainbow at the end of a rainstorm. Just remember that happiness can not be given but it to be earned. It is not a station you arrive at but it is the way of traveling, it is not the end result but the manner of doing or achieving it. It is not a match to be won but the way of playing it rightly. Life is meant to be lived, enjoyed but not at somebody else cost. It is more fun if you enjoy it as your own. Just remember, when you cannot see with your eyes, sense it out with your senses then in the end go by your heart.
With all the best wishes in the world
Always your
Papa