10 Oct, 11 :
Last evening, as I sat for my evening prayer, I was struggling to focus. Quite Unusual, I thought…
After few minutes, a totally unexpected thought surfaced. Master says - ‘a negative thought re-surfaces at the most unexpected time’. The thought was of the scene at Murudeswar, Karnataka, when we visited the famous temple, couple of years ago..
Two men, while swimming, were swept away by the waves. From a distance, as we saw with horror, it left a deep impression… of helplessness of man, against nature. It remained in subconscious mind for some time, occasionally surfacing. But remained out of my thoughts for few months now, only to re-surface! But, why now ??
Was it the impact of death of an icon, Steve Jobs. I admired Steve for truly 'changing the rule of game', who always wanted to give the best to the customer.
This morning, there was another news of death, of my favourite ghazal singer, Jagjit Singh. I was introduced by a friend to ghazals, while in my early-teens. Perhaps the first ghazal I heard intently was ‘kagaz ki kashti’… thereafter more songs, soulful-rendering, meaningful/interesting meanings, simple music, got me hooked. Jagjit was like Kishore da – you feel you can almost sing like him… but he was in a different league. I thought, one more icon goes from the face of earth.
I rate Steve Jobs’ ‘iTunes’ as his biggest contribution, way ahead of his gadgets and other initiatives. Jagjit Singh's ghazals is an important part of my itunes!
As I got ready to leave for work, as always, checked if there was sufficient water for dog, gave her some biscuits, made her run around a bit (to enable her to handle the loneliness till lunch-time). Then checked the hamster cage – it was not inside the toy-house within the cage; food kept last evening remain untouched, it was breathing heavily… something was wrong, I felt. My effort to wake up did not help. Even the smell of a piece of cheese, did not have any impact. I put some vibhuti on it… put some vibhuti in water and kept couple of drops of water ( with vibhuti) in its mouth. It showed no sign of response, except breathing. Was I going to witness a death ?
Felt very sad, though I always thought I was not very attached to these pets, and maintained little contact with them – just feeding them, taking care, replenish stock of food/treat/, give vaccinations, etc were done religiously, to fulfil my duty as a responsible "owner" ! Perhaps it was to ensure minimum detachment ??!!
I played ‘Vishnu sahasranamam’ on IPad, with prayers for the hamster….
The hamster had lost its partner, few weeks ago. My family was around at that time, now on vacation. It became lonely? We thought of leaving at pet-shop, so that it had company. Pet shop friend said there was no problem, they could carry on alone !! I thought if loneliness was not a problem, it will be better-off in our loving care…. How can I leave a hamster @ "old age home" ? Or, Was it attachment ??!!
During the day, there was another news about a death of a relative – but he had not been well for some time . At work, occasionally I remembered the hamster & prayed.
I reached before time for lunch - to feed dog & hamster, as always. As I entered, 'Vishnu Sahasranamam' was still playing on IPad. I thanked Steve & Apple, mentally... When I checked the hamster, it was lying in the same position, as it was in the morning.. but was not breathing. With head towards north, it was still. Very peaceful... listening to 'VSNamam', with vibhuti on body, the hamster 'moved on'... God bless.
The pair was Koffee & Kannan, christened by my son. The cage that was used by K & K is now cleaned up. The hamste-treat, lettuce, seeds, etc still left. May be I will feed the hamsters at the pet-shop.
I am aware death is just physical - the soul moves on... but still, death is a tragedy for people affected by it. And so many deaths happen around us. There is be so much of sorrw. Also, so much negativity….
‘karma binds all’… need to raise sadhana for improved ‘samastha loka sukhino bhavanthu’
RIP, K & K
