Serenity and Bliss

I am back after my trip to Kukke Subhramanya, a magnificent sacred place nested whtin the picturesque hills of the Western Ghats. I was a little hesitant to visit it at first, but I lost my apprehensions once I reached the place.

I really enjoyed watching all the greenery that surrounds this truly unique place. My face and lungs, conditioned to breathing dirty air here in Bangalore, welcomed the atmosphere that bathes Kukke. I am convinced that it is delusion that we lead comfortable lives in our cities. Nothing could be more further from the truth. We live in concrete jungles, with little affection for greenery, and afflict our bodies to the mercy of all dreaful chemicals imaginable. This is a great disadvantage, for man was never born to live like this. I have decided therefore to get back to nature - to appreciate greenery and spend more time with it.

The devout fervour with which the people come to Kukke is really inspiring. They come early in the morning, after their bathing ablutions in the holy river, dressed in pure vasthras that gleam white. They come with folded hands, offering their prayers to him. They pray not only for themselves but for all who are dear to them. They pray for health and happiness, two of the most important purposes for a man's existence. And when they eat his prasada and head back, their faces glow serenity and bliss, for they must feel self-assured that their prayers have indeed reached God.

I earnestly pray and hope that I become a better human being after this trip.

The importance of Hope

Great thinkers have always vouched for it. Great leaders have used it to inspire generations. And all great revolutions are based on it. It is a force that exists in all of us, however oblivious we may be towards it. It is a sweet gift that all humans are blessed with. This is our ability to hope.

I have learnt a lot of things during the course of the last year. If there is one thing that I have gained from it, then it is the importance of hope in my life. The last year was in many ways an eye-opener for me, and I have come to realise the root causes of many of my problems, both personal and academic.

There are ups and downs in everyone's lives. But the difference between the happy and the sad is essentially this: how these ups and downs are viewed and dealt with. For too long now, I have dwelled endlessly on what I perceived to be failures on my part. Reflecting on one's failures is generally good, but when it takes too much of your time, it is dangerous - for it soon becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that will very quickly break every slice of confidence that you have in yourself.

So the first step for me is to realise that failures are often the stepping stone to success. Whoever became what they did without facing failure? It is clear that he who quickly learns from his failures and gets on with life unperturbed is the one that will triumph.

To hope then, is to breathe life - to free the mind from negativism and fill it instead with a lifting, positive attitude. I am so glad that I have come to learn of this all because of my own experiences. Three cheers for hope. Its hit me, and here to stay.