NATURE

Who is the one who created nature?
Man or God?
Who has created the lovely flowers,
And the huge rain showers?
The beautiful birds flying in the open sky
And the lovely little roses standing by.
The big trees standing by the roadside,
The small nests in them create a beautiful sight.
The wind blowing, the stars shining,
Day after night and night after day.
What is this you hear?
Its nature my dear!

TECHNOLOGY THREATENS

Technology Threatens

Today, we are obsessed with becoming not man but machines. With T.V.s and computers at our command, we are losing the command of the natural resources within us which are lost ultimately, wasted because of our ignorance. The knowledge that we get from the T.V. and computer is fragmentary, plasticized and something that does not smell good. We are losing involvement in life, involvement with the living species.

Technology has bombarded the cellars of human consciousness. Irresistible as its charm has proved to be that man has become a willing victim of its magic and an unquestioning slave of his own unruly passions. Technology can bring about physical and material prosperity, but it cannot elevate the human mind, purify it or enrich it with nobler thoughts. Technology may have created very complicated machines which startle common intelligence, yet the feelings which a sunset scene inspires in the heart of man cannot be paralleled with visual media.

The onrush of technology has overwhelmed man to the extent that he has lost human perspective. Man, thinking of his future, is experimenting with technology, spacecraft and genetic engineering but these very explorations are turning him into an inhuman species, for the direction of this research is diabolical, demonic.

Man in his progress towards the next century, has lost the vital direction of his attempt. He has undertaken a voyage on the ship of technology which will ultimately blast itself.

We have denatured our existence; we live an artificial life of tele-adventures. We spurn social life as we are seduced by the relative unsociality of the T.V. We are depending so much on technology, machines and science today that we cannot imagine any life outside them in the same intense way as it would not be possible without oxygen. Such attachment with technology is bound to prove suicidal for man.

How can we reverse this drift which is dangerous to the extent that man can survive only if he is stripped of his humanity? For an answer, we need not go far beyond. Let us consult our scriptures. Let us consult our heroes that we or our parents have seen in flesh and blood.

At present, the most urgent need is to give a human direction to the forces of technology. Up till now, and if we do not accept the horrific reality, human history has been nothing but a trudge from Adam to atom, from universe to miniverse, a fall which has been hastened by technology. Let us step further our research, switch back and try to retrace the point at which the human thread was lost. If technology gets a spiritual dimension, if it loses the aura of a deadening force, and if it subserves, not subverts human interest and remains a servant, then, with this very technology, we can end our problems on the earth which so far have resisted all solutions.

How can the nervous system be rebuilt? Surely, not through T.V. and certainly, not without it. T.V. is an instrument which, if not given a constructive direction, will go on to destroy everything that is fine in man.

Anything that cuts at the human interest must be cut short. Every idea which engages man against man should be torn away from human mind. If we just do this, all the missiles of the world shall become irrelevant overnight, making irrelevant the direction of human progress up till now, and thereby making poor the ‘amirs’ of yesterday. If this shift in human attitude takes place, the already produced nuclear power would be sufficient to light up even the darkness of the Hell.

THE BLACK BEAUTY

On a cold winter evening, seventeen years ago, my elder sister and brother got home a Labrador pup cuddled into the jacket of my brother. My father was strictly against keeping a pet and we guys really wanted to keep this one. So now began the process of chalking out ways to make her stay. None of us had the courage to tell dad about it or to ask him if we could keep a pet but now the issue was that we had brought one and now where to keep it!

We made a bed for her in a corner of the washroom attached to my sisters’ room. Every now and then when we moved out from home, we would take her along cuddled in our pullover or jacket. But it had to come out someday. One night, while we were all asleep, dad heard some whooping sound upstairs. Wondering what it could be, dad went upstairs and followed the sound to the washroom and there she was, looking at him with her face turning all around.

Next morning when we got up and went to the washroom to fetch her, she was not to be found! We could smell what would have happened and went downstairs terrified. Sheeba was sitting next to my father. Yes, that’s what my mother had named her eventually as she was black in colour, our black beauty, though this all was after we got a good scolding from our father. That was the day when Sheeba became a part of our family.

Sheeba soon caught the attention of all our friends and people in the neighborhood. People might forget to enquire about how we were, but they would never forget to enquire about her. Though she was an animal but she definitely had a real sharp brain. She would understand whatever we said, never had a formal training, could express herself, the only difference being that she could not speak. Her sixth sense was such that whenever I used to come home from work or play, I would find her wagging her tail at the door even before I could open the gate of the house.

My father, who was initially not willing to let us keep her, would take her out for a walk every morning and it was he whom she never disobeyed. If she was scared of someone, it was my father and obviously so, we all were! 

Sheeba stayed with us for fourteen long years. During these years, she meant family to us. Wherever we used to go, she would go along. Whatever we ate, she would eat the same. She would climb onto our beds or to the sofa and spend the whole night tucked in and the moment dad got up in the morning, she would cautiously move back to her bed.

She was really fond of non-vegetarian food, as all dogs probably are, but there was something she was more fond of than that too, and that was raw potatoes and maggi! Every now and then she would go into the kitchen and pick up a potato. There were times when one of us would come home in a bad mood, or we would have a fight at home, and then Sheeba would come up and stand in front and it all used to vanish. The very sight of her made us forget all our blues and we would move out to the lawn and start playing.

Three years back she died of cancer, but, to this day, when I reach home, especially when I am feeling low, I wish her to be there at the door, to receive me and to make me forget my melancholy, and my craving remains so till date though I know it will not happen. The night she bled to death due to her tumors haunts us all, deep within, till date.

It was no less than a mourning at home for days and days. Until then, I had heard that love and attachment can change your life, this was when I experienced it. Now I have endless number of dogs outside my home to whom I feed but Sheeba was for sure much more than a pet.

LEARNING TO LIVE

It was time for the summer vacations. One fine morning, reading through the newspaper, I came across an advertisement regarding ‘Summer Adventure Camps’ with a tag line underneath, “Gift your child the 3 C’s to last a lifetime – Courage, Confidence & Character’. The very moment it occurred to me, this is what I am looking for! Now the problem was to make my parents agree to send me for one. I called at the number given in the advertisement and told them about my desire to be on the camp. They took my address and contact details and said that they would send across the details soon.

Next morning, I had just had breakfast and gone back to my room that mom shouted, “Karan, come downstairs!” I could sense that something must be terribly wrong but could not make out what. I could see through the grill of the staircase that someone was sitting next to mom waiting for me perhaps. The moment I reached downstairs, mom said, “Did you call them regarding the summer camp?” I responded nervously, “Yes m… ma…… mama.” Mom looked towards the gentleman and said, “See, he cannot even respond properly to the query he made. You really think he would be able to go for the camp?” The gentleman responded, “Madam, give us a chance to serve you. I assure you that he would be a different boy once he returns. To make you aware of the things we do, I will take you through a brief presentation if you so permit.” Mom nodded and the gentleman opened his laptop and played a video. After watching the video, mom asked me if I wanted to go. I said, “Yes.” In the meantime, my father arrived as well and after listening to the entire conversation he said, “Let him go if he wants. You cannot keep him tied to you all the time. He needs to learn how to be independent.” He asked the gentleman about the formalities, filled the form, paid the charges and went to his room. The gentleman got up and walked towards the door to leave. At the door he turned back and said, “Karan! See you at the camp.” He smiled and left. As soon as the door closed, I jumped in excitement, “Yesss!”.

A week later it was time to leave for the camp. I packed my stuff as per the list given by the organizers and waited for the pick-up van to come. Mom was telling me what to do and what not to, what all she had kept for me to eat, to wear etc. The car came and when I was about to leave I told my mother, “Mamma, don’t worry, I will be fine.” I could see the love through the tears in my mother’s eyes as this was the first time I was going somewhere on my own and believe me, I was scared.

We reached the camp site after a 3 hours drive from Chandigarh. There were around 40 children along with me at the camp. Our instructors briefed us the moment we reached about what to do around and what not to. After an introductory session we were taught how to pitch tents and divided into groups for the activities. I was excited but nervous too. The fear within of being alone and away from home was catching up on me. To my bad luck, the same person who visited my place and was one of our instructors sensed that out and told me that I will be leading my group during the activities, the first of which was a night trek in the woods. I felt like running away form the site, back to home, onto my bed and cover myself up as if I would not be visible to anyone. Just as we were about to begin the same instructor called me and said to me holding me by my hand, “Look, we all have some hidden fears but to move ahead in life, we need to overcome them. The same place where we roam around freely during day scares us as it gets dark because we fear darkness as we cannot see things around. We fear the unknown. It is your perception of things that makes you afraid. We all have two options in life, either to fear from our fears or to make them fear us.”

I was wondering what he told me but now it was a question of ego that how could someone think that I cannot do something! I started leading my group into the woods and suddenly I heard another child scream. I started to shiver. I was actually scared now. Our instructors told us to stand still and not to make noise. After a while they led us back to the camp site. After dinner, I walked down to the instructor who had told me what I mentioned above and asked him if I could talk. He said, “Yes, of course.” I asked him what happened in the woods. He calmly responded that there were just some wild animals around. I shouted, “What? Wild animals!” He could sense from my voice that I was terrified at the very thought. He said, “Karan, I told you earlier. Do not fear things because its these inherent fears that would never let you grow up in life. If you fear something, you would hesitate to do it. This hesitation would soon make you avoid things and you would start loosing your self-confidence and at the end you would realize that I have been nothing but a loser.” I told him that this was the first time I was out from home, away from my parents and how scared I was. He said, “All I want you to do is to keep in mind what I have told you and do the activities with courage even if you fear some.” I said yes though I was not sure if I would be able to do all that I had seen in the video.

The activities began and I could see the myriad expressions on the faces of the children while doing the activities and soon it was my turn. I looked towards my instructor. I thought that he is right It is going to be now, or never. While coming down the rock, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and the shivering of my hands but I soon realized midway that they were gone! I then did all the other activities during the remaining three days of the camp and I do not remember looking back towards the instructor even once. At the end of the camp, I could not control myself and went and touched the feet of my instructor. He hugged me and said, “Always remember what you have learned and never forget that fears are your own creation.”

On reaching back home I told my mother and father of all the things that I did and the friends I made and what I learned. I was visibly excited. Father told mother, “He seems to have grown up in 4 days!” I walked towards dad, held his hand and said, “No Papa, I have just learnt how to face myself.” Mom and dad hugged me and said, “That’s our boy”.

What I wondered to be my bad luck once, ironically, turned out to be the best I could ever come across.