Friday, July 12, 2013

God forsaken | Business Standard

I am amused to see the title, "God Forsaken"! Hence, some Random Thoughts :  
  • God & forsake!! Isn't that an oxymoron ? God never forsake anyone, it is we who forsake God. We tend to swing from/to different levels of awareness or even avoid the reality, ostrich-like :) 
  • One of the main teachings of Baba is 'Each one of us is God'.  We are just not 'aware' of it. That is a choice we make! Let us not blame Divinity!
  • The chair occupied by one of our political leaders, is not Vikramaditya's chair ('anyone occupying it had access to the emperor's wisdom'). A businessman chose to go to Puttaparthi to set up & run his business. Just as any normal business is cyclical, his handicrafts & jewellery business is also going through same. It is his choice to stay put or pack off, in search of 'greener pastures'. 
  • It is sad if a resident-businessman looked at PTP as just one of the 4P's of marketing, 'Place'.. For the seeker, PTP is a place where 'Sarva Dharma' is genuinely practiced, an important Sai teaching.
  • For a spiritual seeker, what is Puttaparthi, especially after April, 2011? Check out this video, which was received early this week (no coincidence!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyaRpkz7CCU . For a serious spiritual seeker, the shops & establishments at PTP are not of much relevance. Because, for him/her the journey is within. Also, let us not forget the macro-economic situation, in rest of India & different parts of world. People are in a mood to cut corners.

  • An extract of today's Sai Inspires: The lesson that all spiritual discourses wish to convey is that you must give up your pursuit of sensory objects, if you seek lasting peace and joy. Material wealth brings along with it, not only joy but grief as well. Accumulation of riches, multiplication of wants will lead only to alternation between joy and grief. Attachment is the root of both joy and grief. Detachment is the saviour.- Divine Discourse, Aug 19, 1964. -- -- -- Sai inspires is a daily message from Radio Sai, Puttaparthi (Baba said that in 1964 and He always advised 'Ceilng on Desires')

  • Perhaps the average profile of the traveler has changed, over the years, not just since April, 2011. The crowd during week-ends, festival days, etc are as big as it used to be always, 'over-crowded'. With three canteens inside ( south, north Indian and western, plus few stalls, bakery, tender-coconut etc inside Ashram, less and less people are stepping out!) Many, who have a place to stay outside, prefer to buy fresh fruits & vegetables and cook at home, a holistic and simple meal. (Families that eat & pray together, stick together!) Also, during a pilgrimage, food is not a priority. I reminded of the catering staff in a train from Mumbai to Blore complaining to me few years ago, 'all these Sai Baba people are not buying much from us' !! Hospitality sector is bound to feel the pinch.
  • Real estate sector has had its share of prosperity, just as in rest of India. But they have wrecked havoc on the fragile environment, including the river Chithravathi, in this drought-prone terrain. Sad the author did not step out of the comfort zone to highlight that.  (If our media was more environment-conscious, man-made disaster Uttarakhand would not have happened)
  • Whether the place will become a Shirdi or Tirupathi, is last priority for any genuine seeker. We are better off with the simplicity that prevails there and lesser crowd is perhaps more preferable. Baba always looked for a quality, not 'numbers' ! One who lives by Sai Ideals of Self-less Service...
  • After one of my trips to PTP, after Maha Samadhi, a doctor-friend asked me, 'how is business in Parthi, outside Ashram?' I was taken aback... He had genuine sympathy for the business community outside ashram. BS reporter has a similar outlook and genuinely cares for business community. But may be, sometime in near future, it may be prudent to take a trip back to PTP ('home' for many), wearing the hat of a spiritual seeker, not a business correspondent. Then you will understand what Puttaparthy and Sai Baba is..
  • And may be, BS can actually have a column for genuine seeker, just as BS Motoring, one of my fav :) God Bless 
Pls check out this link, photograph:  Mosque at PTP


Link to the article:  God forsaken | Business Standard

4 comments:

Robustilicious said...

Funny how people connect even spirituality to business - God forsaken is definitely an oxymoron. I am sure the energy of Sai still is omnipresent in Parthi and it is that time for people who visit to embrace that energy and look inwards instead of outwards - sad for the businessmen around Parthi but they did, at times, remind me of vultures...

Vishwanath Seshadri said...

I once visited Kanchi Periyava in a small town about 30+ years ago. There I overheard some other visitor calling it a 'God forsaken place'. And in my mind, I had the exact similar thought then. How can any place be called 'God forsaken'. It is an absurd phrase in English. Moreover, the place he was referring to was occupied by none other than the revered Saint of India...

Unknown said...

God forsaken place.......There is a saying, "You get what you deserve." Those who have come for business, get business. They cannot and they do not go beyond that. Its very sad they could not feel the vibration...spiritual vibration of this place. There is time for everything.....may be the time is not right for this particular person.

Subbu said...

God does not 'foresake'. He came down 'for our sake'. This was a dialogue from a play we held during one of the B'day celebrations. How true!