एक विजय यह भी

 

(Picture courtesy: Google Images)

विजयदशमी है ज्ञात हो,

सत्य की असत्य पर, अच्छाई की बुराई पर,

जीत का उत्सव पर्व अनूप यह,

राम जी के द्वन्द का, लंका की चढ़ाई पर |

इससे अलग द्वन्द एक और भी था चल रहा,

चर्चा उसकी की कम जाती है,

क्या हो जब शत्रु कोई दानव-दैत्य न हो,

और समय की गति भी थम जाती है |

एक ओर प्रभु अपने कर्तव्य पथ पर

चलते हुए, अपने भक्तों को तार रहे थे,

 भैया लक्ष्मण संग, वानर सेना,

कर उनके जय जयकार रहे थे |

हर दिन मिलती कुछ नयी सूचना,

नित नित रणनीति बनाते थे,

जब भी विश्वास मन का होता डगमग,

" जय श्री राम " के उद्घोष हिम्मत बंधाते थे |

पर युद्ध जो था दूसरा चल रहा,

उस में न संभावनाएं न ही कोई उन्माद था,

विजय की अभिलाषा से होता उदय सूर्य,

पर रात्रि में पराजय का ही स्वाद था |

शत्रु भी था, सर्वशक्तिमान,

अदृश्य, अनादि-अनंत था,

कालचक्र था नाम उसका,

समग्र सृष्टि का महंत था |

और ये एक बेचारी सी अबला स्त्री,

एक फूल सरीखी राजकुमारी,

ना शस्त्र-अस्त्र, ना साथ कोई सेना,

एक एक दिन पड़ता था भारी |

मन था व्याकुल, और था भय भी,

ना साथ कोई शक्ति का स्त्रोत,

ना कोई रणनीतिज्ञ ना कोई मित्र,

बस प्रभु मिलाप की अखंड ज्योत |

कैसे हे माता तुमने क्षण क्षण निकाला,

अपने प्रभु की आस में,

कैसे संभाले रखा स्वयं को तुमने,

इस जीवन रुपी त्रास में |

युद्ध कठिन वह नहीं है,

जिसमे विजय की आशंका क्षीण हों,

युद्ध कठिन तो वह है बल्कि जिस में,

निर्णय शत्रु के अधीन हो |

जब स्थिति पर नियंत्रण तुम्हारा ना हो,

आशा ही एक मात्र सामर्थ्य हो,

शील तुम्हारा बने ढाल अभेद्य,

उत्कंठा का हर वार व्यर्थ हो |

हे माता यह युद्ध आपका,

राम और रावण युद्ध की परछाई होगा,

अच्छाई - बुराई, सत्य- असत्य से परे,

धैर्य भी विजयदशमी का पर्याय होगा |

संयम के इन आभूषणों को सीते करो धारण,

समय के विर्रुद्ध शस्त्र ये बन जाएंगे,

विजय तिलक कराने, मस्तक ले अपना,

प्रभु श्री राम अवश्य आएँगे ||

|| जय श्री राम ||

- कुलदीप

Social Media : Where are we heading to ?

Today, our lives are entirely different from the ones we had a decade ago. Well, that happens every decade, that's called growth, evolution, change, generational shift, xyz, right ?. Well, wrong.

Our lives have gone through a paradigm shift in the way we interact with the society.

If I told you 10 years ago to have an argument with a person you have never seen, or known, over something as silly as which software or website is better, you probably would have doubted my sanity. How has it all changed and why?

Social media, how it was known, was created to put the internet to better use, to use the internet so that people may engage in life-like interaction, show emotions, maintain groups, have discussions, in a way transpose an image of their real life social network. Well, pretty harmless. People who have been on orkut, gtalk, yahoo messenger, myspace have seen the first generation social media. Those people can testify to the fact that social media was not what we are seeing today.

What went wrong ?

Money. Money got involved.

Social media rose above being just a website or a little windows application. It started evolving into money making platform. That is when the aim of such websites, rather than providing the user a more close to real life experience, started developing into platforms that can keep you hooked as long as possible. The role of a psychologist in the online industry became bigger than ever. User engagement - the key to success of these websites. If a person not turned the "public" feature off. Anyone can comment on what they say. How they look. How they feel about something. One gets liable to get a response to what they post. Public is a default feature, remember. The tendency of humans to reciprocate the majority, to express the better version of themselves in public, the reward mechanism (likes and shares) all woven together, changed the users in such a way, that we shifted from the time we avoided posting any personal information online to times when we have instagram, where we share pictures of every little thing we do. Hardware technology was transforming hand in hand to make this easier. Camera phones were not so easily accessible. Neither high speed internet, nor the one touch apps. But the thing you got to understand is that it's not the technology which gave birth to how social media is today, rather it is the opposite of that. But something to ponder upon, were we sharing information or opinions on our social media with the whole world too ? Did we use to do it in our offline lives ? Sharing how we feel about something in an open space, or blasting our opinion over a megaphone ? No, it would have been ridiculous, right. Yes, right. We could have discussed politics, sports, entertainment, etc. in our closed circles. And we would have been open to get criticized for, or commended for the same from the limited set of people, who know us. But from there it transformed into something where our psyche pushes us to voice our opinion about anything and everything. As soon as we hear a news, we feel an urge to express our opinion over it on social media. This was not our behaviour. We have been manipulated to be a subject of a bigger reward, recognition and punishment cycle. We post something, we wait for people (known and unknown) to react to it, we want to get rewarded with likes and shares and that becomes our dopamine stimulant. And this does not happen overnight, it may take days, months or years, depending on your usage. It just has to be progressive.

You stay hooked to your social media, and they keep making money, To keep you hooked, they will fill your feed based on your interest, people you like to interact with based on your history, relevant topics etc. Well, arguably not a bad business model. I would like to throw light on where I feel it goes wrong.

Let's finally, address the elephant in the room. Social media spaces have become arenas for cyberbullying. Harmless names such as trolling, roasting, etc. have been given to cyberbullying paired with adjectives like savage, lit, etc. said in a positive light to legitimize that. Such acts of cyberbullying bring on user engagement, followers, increasing your "Digital Valuation" or "Influence quotient". This quite naturally inspires others to do the same, and go a step further, because this is what they believe will bring them success, there is no line to it. The "Roasting" in its authentic version is a dialogue, where the participants make fun of each other for acts, lives, behaviour, they did, with mutual consent. It is not shaming, it is not demeaning, it is not abusive (abusive does not mean usage of profanity). Calling cyberbullying roasting, is like sucker-punching someone and calling it boxing. A similar version of it is trolling on social media, twitter specially. A swarm of such trollers, mostly anonymous, bully the user as per their convenience. Some star trollers or tweelebs may even have following in millions. Their reward system is getting boosted by their toxic habit. At the same time their audience is getting inspired to do the same, in order to achieve success.

Twitter recently took a positive step in this regard and has allowed the user to chose who may comment on their posts and who can not but that alone does not curb the one way cyber-bullying served as roasting.

The whole ecosystem that validates someone as successful, has the foundation of monetary benefits. Anyone can exploit your sentiments, build a following, become famous, become "successful" (validations like the verified profile, meeting celebrities, having meet and greet, getting invited to talk shows , get paid promtions, etc. ) in the digital world. And all of it without being creative or adding any value anywhere. Simply by spreading hatred or abuse or bullying. It has become that easy. The more toxic side to this is that such characters inspire millions of their followers to do the same.

Negativity spreads very easily, you can create a hate video on anything, a section of society, a country, a policy, a leader even an app, without any specific matter but just abusing it, and still get views in thousands, because negative sentiment goes far and is more persistent than a positive one.

I would like to bring the focus to one such digital celebrity, all he did was sit in his car, record a video with a selfie camera, exploits the already exploited patriotic sentiments, begins with a jai hind, to validate himself as a good person, and what follows is a series of venomous hatred and slurs for people he disagree with. 10 years ago if someone said Jai Hind followed by Ma ki C*** , that person would have been called out everywhere and asked to apologise. What we see today, is glorification of such acts, invitation to a national tv reality show, because the TV guys know how get audience, awards and rewards. No content created, just abuses and hatred. But he rises to "success" in the digital world.

Ask such a creator to make something original of his own, and he has nothing to give you. Because in the game of likes and shares and subscribes, such content is an easy ladder. Now if you go to youtube you will find a generation of "Roasters, People hating, threat issuing youtubers", all just striving to make a little money and be successful and they are unaware of any kind of ethics, because their heroes are too. Again, Roasting is done consensually, without demeaning or bullying.

Another side of social media changing the way we are, is it peer pressuring many aspiring to be social media stars into being something they are not. Showcasing glittery life like the ones of "who have made it". The pursuit of success has become so ruling that in the US young kids are under debt to showcase their cars, jewelleries, sneakers and what not. Instagram influencers, are not able to make it without showing their skin and being sexually appealing. A talented artist or sportswomen might have followers in some thousand, even though she is providing good entertainment value, but a fake page posting just breasts and bottoms of women with faces cropped out might have followers in millions, and mind you that account is not even a real person. And we as a society then have the guts to say, we should not objectity women.

According to a survey conducted by a lingerie brand between 1992 and 2013, the average bra size in the U.S. has increased from a 34B to a 34DD, and now just seven years later, the average has shot up to a DDD — that’s the largest compared to any of the other countries studied. Where are we heading ?

Sure sex sells, thats one way of marketing when you run out of ideas, but marketing sexually your self, is seriously a big issue.

After that I would like to re-adress how this whole online social media world is impacting our behaviour. The social media platforms did their job by keeping you hooked by easing out your feed, but now what you make of it is up to you. People are induldging in arguments with strangers, those not indulging are spending hours reading others arguments. Then people with more time argue over the internet with a similar stranger who has a difference in opinion with them. People with lesser time will indulge in debates with their acquaintances who disagree with them. Either way, we become more negative, more hateful, more intolerant and hostile toward disagreement. Arguments among friends for causes as silly as whose app preference is better, has become a common spectacle.

The human tendency to say something in person vs through a medium varies by a huge margin. When the person we are addressing is in front of our eyes, we tend to value them more, quite similar to paying in cash or paying online/card, when we don't see the money we tend to value it lesser. Similarly when we are arguing with someone in person, we tend to be more human, more sympathetic, more tolerant towards them. We judge how much we value them, is it ok to let the debate win and lose the person. If it is a stranger we wont argue with them because it is ridiculous and simply not worth our time, also it is not very civil of us to argue with a stranger. But as soon as we limit our debates to our phones and laptops, we turn more hostile, because we are not able to clearly judge the value of the person we are arguing with in our mind and we continue on our journey to become a more toxic person online. We do not give a damn about how sensitive the one on the the other end might be. What has forged their thoughts that there is a disagreement between you two. Is it a self interest or a personal trauma. We never care for all this. We don't have time for all that, We just want to impose our say, thats the whole point of internet arguments. We have become ideological warriors and that is the mother of extreme ideologies. We become harsher everyday.

Blame it all on our human minds, whatever we are becoming, the heroes we have chosen, how we fall into the trap of negativity more easily, how we learn to hate more easily than to love, how we let our sentiments be exploited, How we tend to click on a picture with a sexually appealing model than to someone doing something that requires talent. We can blame it all on our human minds and continue these people manipulate us further, exploit us further, spoil us further for their monetary benefits.

Or

We can chose to realise that we are at a very important juncture of human evolution where we set precedent for how the future generations are going to be in their nature, whom will they idiolize, what will they aspire to become and what society will they make up.

Our thoughts today shape our actions of tomorrow. We live in a society where an african  american man needs to be displayed getting brutally killed on video for making people say Black Lives Matter. We live in a society where a person has to committ suicide to make people realise that mental health is a serious issue, and they love their friends and they are available for them.

 Hope of being more human remains to be more sympathetic, more caring and more affectionate.

Shri Hanuman Ji - A Brutal Beast or A Gentle Giant

Lately, in today's world, where religion is always on the offensive and has been made into something people want to get high on, instead of being a source of motivation, learning and inspiration for the well being of all humanity through right conduct (thanks to the internet, politics and other business thriving on religious values of the masses), it can be observed that one thing which has changed 180 is the depiction of Gods in images being popularised over the internet. The gods now being sketched and getting popularised by the newer generation, look more violent and punishing. Some examples have been listed below.

(All images are taken from Google Image search and their rights lie with their respective creators. Usage only for reference and fair use.)

Looks like gone are the days of painters like Raja Ravi Verma, who pioneered bringing god to a frame, depicting Gods based on the values told by the scriptures and other sources. Below are examples of Raja Ravi Verma's paintings.

(All images are taken from Google Image search and their rights lie with their respective creators. Usage only for reference and fair use.)


The Gods as per their character descriptions wore a mild smile, compassion in their eyes and a gentle and welcoming posture, much contrary to the Gods depicted by new age artists which are seen in Angry face, in an aggressive or fighting posture. Maybe it is due to the fact that these angry avatar gods get more popular. Featuring on people's DP, or wallpapers, or statuses and even some business running printing T-Shirts and watches. Maybe the angry gods have become the new cool.

Most recognizable ones being the Smoking Shiva, the Arrow Shooting Rama, and the most controversial, Angry Hanuman. What intrigued me to write today is that today being Hanuman Jayanti, I am seeing digital spaces flooded with pictures of Hanuman Ji, looking mighty, furious and filled with rage. Why is that that we have started molding our gods into displaying vices they never possessed. Instead of being able to change ourselves into inculcating their virtues, we have started revering them into forms they never took, or took only for a while and was not in their nature. So this blog of mine goes to reminding mine and the readers' humble self of the virtues of lord Hanuman as described by the scriptures.

Hanuman Ji, since his very childhood, has been described as the most innocent yet the most high-spirited of the lot. He has been described as an ocean of wisdom and virtues, the light bringer to all the three worlds. The owner of immeasurable strength, the one who shall break the shackles of ill-mindedness and take his followers toward noble thoughts. He is knowledgable and smart, always eager to serve his lord, Shri Ram. He is said to glorify all the four eons and lighten up mankind. He is the protector of sages and saints and gets them rid of the demons which makes him dear to Shri Ram.

These are the qualities in light of which we need to look up to our gods. Not anger, violence and vengeance. Even when Shri Rama was on his Lanka conquest, his goal was not of taking revenge or kill someone, his goal was to bring Mata Sita. There is no description of him filled with rage ever even during the whole war. His mind was at peace, his goal was ever clear. Even when Shri Hanuman, willfully got captive by Ravan, and set Lanka ablaze, it was not in a fit of rage or to cause destruction, it was done in a playful manner sending a hint about the greatness of the lord. If his follower can be so witty and out-performing the whole empire, what will he do if his lord commands?

If Shri Hanuman was a being, who could get under the influence of negative emotions like rage, he could have never followed Shri Ram. On the other hand, Shri Lakshman, Lord Ram's younger brother, had emotions of rage and vengeance, but throughout Ramayan (Valmiki, Original), Lord Ram keeps moderating him and reminding him to not let emotions rule his decisions. Once eventually, when he did, he got fatally injured, during the battle.

Having said that, it is not that Hindu Gods were never depicted angry. But it is so rare, that only a couple of incidents of it have been popularised since the long span of the history of Hindu religion and Folk religion. The ones I am mentioning here are being Lord Shiv annihilating Kamdev in his attempt to break his Dhyaan (Meditation) and strike Shiva with his Kambana (Arrow of Passion). Another being when Mata Shakti personified into Fury and Wrath on being confronted by the demons Chand and Mund. Even if we consider these rarest of rare occasions, what we must notice is even the Gods later repented for being angry, and it was their momentary form, not their natural state.

Conclusively, the purpose of writing this is to remind the reader and me, that this neo-culture being born out of a religion filled with super-human positive virtues, must not be corrupted by changing how its gods are depicted, and create a false image for them, just because they look "cool" when angry, smoking or fighting. It is good for business and fashion, not for worship.

क्या हुआ मनुष्य ? तू तो बड़ा महान था .

क्या हुआ मनुष्य , तू तो बड़ा महान था
अपने बल और बुद्धि पर तुझे, तो बड़ा अभिमान था,
आज मानवता की सुध ये कैसे, कल तक तो हाथ में गिरेबान था,
क्या हुआ मनुष्य ? तू तो बड़ा महान था .

मोड़ डाली नदिया तूने, खोद डाले पर्वत बड़े बड़े,
जोड़ दिए समंदर, कर दिए ऊँचे ऊँचे ये पुल खड़े,
पूछते ये प्रश्न तुझसे, क्यों है आज खाली पड़े ?
आएगा ऐसा भी दिन इसका क्या तुझे अनुमान था ?
क्या हुआ मनुष्य ? तू तो बड़ा महान था.

मधुर लग रहा है न अब तुमको, चिड़ियों का ये चहचहाना ?
घोंसले इनके फिर क्यों उजाड़े, तारो का जाल जब था बिछाना,
तब तो न तेरे लिए धरती का, हर जीव-जंतु समान था,
क्या हुआ मनुष्य ? तू तो बड़ा महान था.

कहाँ गए ज्योतिष-हकीम तुम्हारे, कहाँ गए पण्डे-मौलवी,
बरगलाते थे जो तुमको, थे कुछ नेता और भी,
याद रखना जब जब आयी विपत्ति, आस सिर्फ विज्ञान था,
क्या हुआ मनुष्य ? तू तो बड़ा महान था.

मानव तो हैं बहुतेरे, पर मानवता तब भी मर रही है,
ज़रूरत से अधिक राशन से जब बोरी तेरी भर रही है,
बाकियो के लिए क्या बचेगा इसका क्या तुझे संज्ञान था ?
क्या हुआ मनुष्य ? तू तो बड़ा महान था.

केवल अपने निज स्वार्थ सिद्ध करके, मानवता का मत विरोध करो,
हर एक का जीवन है हर एक की ज़िम्मेदारी, इस बात का कुछ बोध करो,
आपदा ही नहीं, सामान्य परिस्थि में भी जब, परायों की चिंता कर पाएगा,
उस दिन मनुष्य सच्चे शब्दों में, तू महान कहलायेगा.


- कुलदीप

नन्हा राम, वयस्क रावण

सत्यनगर में भारत के किसी अन्य शहर कि तरह ही त्योहार खूब ज़ोर शोर से मनाये जा रहे थे । शहर में हर वर्ष की तरह इस वर्ष भी नवदुर्गा उत्सव के तत्पश्चात ही रावण दहन के समारोह का आयोजन किया गया । अभी तक जितने भी रावण दहन समारोह हुए थे उसमें कार्यक्रम कुछ इस प्रकार होता था कि शाम से ही नन्हे बालक रामलीला का मंचन करते थे। सबसे नन्हे बालको को राम और लक्ष्मण और किशोरों को उनकी सेना का वेश धारण करा के रथ यात्रा निकाली जाती जो पूरे शहर के मुख्य मार्गो का भ्रमण कर के रावण दहन स्थल पे पहुंचती । उस ही स्थल पर बालकों से पंद्रह बीस वर्ष अधिक आयु के युवक, या प्रौढ़ आयु के पुरुष रावण व उसकी सेना का किरदार निभाते हुए राम सेना के आक्रमण की प्रतीक्षा करते । राम का रथ आते ही रामलीला के लंका काण्ड का मंचन होता और उसके पश्चात मुख्य अतिथि महोदय रावण के पुतले को अग्नि बाण से मार कर दहन कर देते ।

काल कालान्तर से मुख्य अतिथि की भूमिका माननीय विधायक जी निभा रहे थे, पिछले वर्ष तक तो यही होता आ रहा था पर इस बार स्थिति थोड़ी अलग थी । विधायक जी पर कुछ समय से एक मुकदमा चल रहा था जो पंचमी को सिद्ध भी हो गया और कोर्ट से विधायक जी सीधा कारागार में जा पहुंचे थे । कोई छोटा मोटा इल्ज़ाम होता तो विधायक जी पैरोल पे बाहर आ के रावण मार के फिर अंदर चले जाते पर यह मुक़द्दमा भी गंभीर था, रेप और उसके बाद कत्ल । सत्यनगर की जनता ऐसे व्यक्ति के हाथ से रावण का वध करा के रावण के साथ अन्याय करना नही चाहती थी । आयोजक समिति के पास दूसरा मुख्य अतिथि ढूंढने का ज़्यादा समय भी नहीं था, फिर भी कुछ कर्मठ सदस्यों ने कुछ नए सुझावों पे विचार करने की कोशिश की ।

मुख्य अतिथि के रूप में इस बार उदहारण स्थापित करना बहुत ज़रूरी था । समिति किसी भी ऐसे व्यक्ति को ढूंढ के लाना नही चाहती थी जिसके चरित्र पे कोई दाग हो, पहले से ही विधायक जी के कर्मो के चलते उन्हें लोग ताना मार चुके थे कि चलो इस वर्ष तो कम से कम रावण ही रावण का वध नही करेगा ।
सुपात्र खोजने का अभियान शुरू हुआ, सबसे पहला विचार सत्यनगर के एक मात्र डॉक्टर साहब को मुख्य अतिथि बनाने का आया । डॉक्टर की छवि ही भगवान स्वरूप मानी जाती है समिति की मीटिंग हुई, तर्क रखा गया कि डॉक्टर साहब ने तो कितने ही नेक काम किये हैं , वो ही सुपात्र हैं । पर इस तर्क पे भी भारी प्रहार हुआ, डॉक्टर साहब का इतिहास कुछ खराब था, पता चला कि डॉक्टर साहब क्लिनिक में गैर कानूनी रूप से भ्रूण परीक्षण करते हैं , वे इस पवित्र कार्य के लिए सुपात्र बिल्कुल नहीं हो सकते ।
अभियान ने फिर तेज़ी पकड़ी, इंजीनियर साहब पे भी करोड़ो रूपये का घोटाला करने का मुकदमा दर्ज है, स्कूल में प्रिंसिपल बच्चो के मिड डे मील पे पैसा बना जाती हैं ये बात भी किसी से छुपी ना थी ।
एक पुतले को जलाने के लिए किसको चुना जाए ये मामला इतना गहरा जाएगा किसी ने सोचा भी ना था । मंदिर कद पंडित जी फूल वाले और मिठाई वाले के साथ मिल के मालाओ और प्रसाद की रीसाइक्लिंग करते थे, छोटे से नगर में लोग तो काफी थे पर कोई ऐसा नही मिल रहा था जो छवि का बिल्कुल सुथरा हो ।
इस ही विचार विमर्श में दशहरा आ गया पर किसी के नाम पर सहमति ना बन सकी । अंत में समिति ने सर्व सम्मति से फैसला लिया कि जो नन्हा बालक रामलीला के मंचन में प्रभु राम की भूमिका निभाता है, वही पुतले का दहन भी कर देगा । इस साल ऐसे ही कर लेते है अब अगले वर्ष का अगले वर्ष से देखा जाएगा ।

जैसा विचार किया था वैसा ही हुआ । रावण दहन का समय आया , नन्हे राम ने पहले तो रावण की भूमिका का मंचन करते उस आदमी का वध किया और फिर रावण के पुतले को अग्नि बाण मार कर भस्म किया । समिति की इस पहल को जनता ने बहुत सराहा । लोगो ने समिति की बहुत प्रशंसा की कि बड़ी ही गहरी सोच दिखाई है कार्यकर्ताओं ने । जय श्री राम जय श्री राम के उद्घोष से पूरा मैदान गूंज उठा । दर्शकों ने नन्हे राम को नगद पुरुस्कारों की घोषणा भी कर दी । सभी समिति वालों ने अपनी ही पीठ थपथपाई ।

मंच के पीछे नन्हा सा बालक भी बड़ा हर्ष महसूस कर रहा था । वह पहली बार पूरे नगर के सामने ये प्रस्तुति दी थी, और लोग उसके किरदार के नाम का उद्घोष भी कर रहे थे । उसने रावण का किरदार कर रहे उस प्रौढ़ के साथ अपनी खुशी बाँटते हुए कहा - " मेरा रावण को मारना सब को बहुत पसंद आया, अब तो मैं हर वर्ष राम बना करूँगा ।"
बालक के भोलेपन को देख रावण के चेहरे पे एक मंद मुस्कान आ गयी । उसने जवाब दिया - " हाँ, तुम्हारी उम्र में मैं भी यहां राम ही था । जब तक बन सको राम ही बनना"
बालक ने विस्मय से पूछा - " सच में आप भी पहले राम थे ? फिर अब आप रावण क्यों बन गए ?"
उसने जवाब दिया - "जब व्यक्ति बड़ा हो जाता है ना, तो फिर उसे लोग राम के रूप में स्वीकार नहीं करते । लोग उसे खुद ही रावण बना देते हैं ।"

बालक कुछ ज़्यादा समझा नहीं, शायद उसका ध्यान दर्शकों के समूह से आ रहे " जय श्री राम, जय श्री राम" के नारों कि ओर था, पर उसे इतना ज़रूर समझ में आगया था कि नारे लगाने वालों में कोई भी वयस्क ऐसा नही था जो खुद राम बनने लायक हो ।

- कुलदीप

What Makes You Feel Alive, Its meaning.

Its pretty more than often we hear the phrase “He/She/It makes me feel alive” , most commonly when the speaker is overwhelmed with an experience and hence it has become synonymous to saying that “He/She/It makes me feel happy/cheered/good”.

But if searched a little more for understanding what “Making feel alive” means, we first need to know how does it feel when something is not making us feel alive.

When something isn’t feeling alive it is not feeling anything, because to feel is a virtue of the living. Not feeling alive is equivalent to being either dead or a machine, without having any emotion or purpose. Any living thing behaving like a machine or non living object can be said not to be feeling alive.

When one is working tirelessly without thinking about the purpose he is serving, one is not feeling alive. When one is sitting idle and thinking over things which do not serve a purpose, one is not feeling alive. When one is taking an action or going to place just for the sake of it, one is not feeling alive. All the foresaid actions are comparable to the traits of a machine. To feel is the virtue of a living being. To feel in simpler terms can be expressed as experiencing an emotion.

 Any emotion can make one feel alive. Contrary to the popular belief that feeling alive is only about the positive emotions, even the negative emotions like Hate, Anger, Jealousy, Fear etc. can be said to make one feel alive because it’s only the living who can experience these emotions. Any emotion is medium of experiencing life.

Your Loved ones can make you feel alive and so can your enemies or people whom you are not very fond of. The places which seem blissful to you can make you feel alive and so can the places which you don’t like to go to. Anything which provokes a response from you, different from a natural or routine one can be said to make you feel alive. That is why we often hear about sadhus and yogis and mystics that they have transcended life. As they do not feel alive anymore, as they have surpassed their ability to react or to experience any emotion. No object, being, situation, event or place can make them feel alive. Yet they are very much breathing. It is like they have reached a level of super-consciousness where everything is zero and infinite at the same time.

This is also the reason why meditation is considered as a process that helps us maintain our control over our emotions and increase calmness, composure and if practiced regularly and for long term also helps us become a Sadhak or Yogi. Meditation makes us focus on not more than one thing and for that duration nothing makes us feel alive. Which is similar to being a machine and hence often Work is considered as Meditation , at least, for those who get so much into it that they forget about anything else or in layman's terms work like a machine.

So why is it that even when meditation and work serve the same purpose and are yet seen in different light ? It is seen in different light by the ones who are not entirely into the work they are doing and their mind is occupied with something that keeps them very much alive even during working. Ones who are so into their work that they are not aware even of their surroundings  are very much like the meditating sadhaks.

In conclusion, it can be said that “Feeling Alive” is not experiencing only the positives but also  the negatives. And when all the feelings and emotions cease to exist, one can be said to have reached a higher level of consciousness or absolute neutrality, be it through meditation or any other form of it.

रावण का दर्पण

आखिर तुझ में ही छिपा हूँ मैं, तू मार मुझे क्या पायेगा ?
आ दिखलाऊँ दर्पण तुझको, चित्त तेरा काँप जाएगा |

छाती पर लोट जाता है सांप मेरी, जब धनुष राम उठाता है,
क्या चुभता नहीं काँटा मन में, कोई, जब तुझसे अधिक प्रशंसा पाता है ?

सूर्पनखा की नाक काटकर, शक्ति को मेरी था ललकारा,
जब वार हो प्रतिष्ठा पर, तेरा भी तो चढ़ता है पारा |

अपमान का जब बोध हुआ, प्रतिशोध का मैंने था प्रण लिया,
हुआ आहत जब स्वाभिमान, तूने भी तो है यही किया |

मारीछ को मृग, और खुद को भिक्षु, सीता हरने को किये ये छल,
जब होती है परिस्थिति विरुद्ध, तू भी तो लेता है भेस बदल |

स्त्री थी वो किसी और की फिर भी, हरने का दुस्साहस मैं हूँ करता,
जैसे पराई संपत्ति पर मोह से, अपनी दृष्टि है तू धरता |

मंदोदरी का तिरस्कार किया, अस्वीकार कर दिया उसका साथ,
नए अवसर को पा कर जैसे तू, छुड़ा लेता है पुराने रिश्तों से हाथ |

आया चेतावनी लेके जब वानर, उसकी ना मैंने एक सुनी,
अपने मन में स्वयं की शौर्य गाथा, तुझ जैसे ही मैंने भी बुनी |

दूर कर दिया देश और दृष्टि से, अपने ही भाई को मैंने तब,
सत्य का जब-जब प्याला पीया, निगल उसे पाया तू कब ?

पुत्र, प्रजा, परिवार को रणभूमि में, मरने के लिए मैंने छोड़ दिया,
लालच के वश में आके तूने जैसे, कितनो का ह्रदय तोड़ दिया |

सर्वज्ञानी हैं कहते मुझको, और कहते महाशक्तिमान हैं,
सुनने को अपना भी ऐसा वर्णन, तरसते, तेरे भी तो कान हैं |

राम बनना इच्छा नहीं, पर ये है मजबूरी तेरी,
मिल जाये पराक्रम मुझ जैसा, रावण बनने में ना होगी देरी |

पुतले कितने भी जल ले तू, तू मार मुझे नहीं पाएगा,
आखिर तुझ में ही छिपा हूँ मैं, तू राम कहाँ से लाएगा ?

- कुलदीप