Be The Miracle

Hi !

 

Money is the flavour of the season. Everybody is out to earn money. Its affiliation is international. Even its nomenclature, earlier the prerogative domain of a few cash cows called money bhais and money bens, is now being taken over by Ramonies and Subramoneyyums. Thespians of the film Indian industry are called Dada Money, aka, the legendary late Ashok Kumar. And if that was not enough, movies nowadays are made by Money Ratnam.   

 

The days of hard cash are gone. Debit the ledger and credit the giver. Take it or leave it. Plastic is in. Credit cards are swished out of crouching pockets and hidden wagons. Credit ratings soar less by the bulge in your pockets and more by online accounts. And if something goes wrong there, then there is always credit repair. Though how you would repair credit is beyond the ken of an ordinary man. According to him, you can repair discredit and that in itself is credit worthy. But how do you repair credit? Leave that to the moneylenders. There we go again.......... It's all about money, honey. A smile is flashed, a card exchanged, debit or credit, and the deal is struck. If not, it's stuck.

 

While we are sticking our necks out as far we possibly can, there is another breed of money consciousness moving in our midst. The movie makers. Their films revolve around money. Scenes, fights, effects, all revolve around plots well designed and directed to bring in the megabucks. But a change is taking place here. While the world is going to the dogs, the Oscar winners are all going to the Gods. Wellness, spirituality, and a holistic vision is the new genre of the day.

 

Take Shibumi, for instance. The book written by Trevanian has criss crossed continents and engulfed the psyche of the people. The Matrix series is another bold venture into Oscar winning status, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. So many of them ........  

 

Try sitting down at home for a relaxed evening, insert a CD or a DVD into your DVD player, or watch the TV. Think of nothing but the storms in your life and plug, play a Kungfu movie. Watch it roll in front of your eyes as it slowly gravitates towards Shaolin and meditation techniques. That is, if you are watching Hero or House of Flying Daggers or even Shaolin Soccer.  

 

Throw all these out. Switch to comedies, run away from God, and play a safe Jim Carrey Bruce Almighty. It hits you again from the most unexpected source. "God? Are you there?" Morgan Freeman in a divine avatar. Morgan Freeman? Who would have thought? But he continues and cautions Jim about the tediousness in playing God and makes it simpler. Don't look for miracles to happen. Don't wait for them to occur. Rather, Be The Miracle.

 

What's that?

 

The drug addict who gives up drugs, the truant schoolboy who gives up his waywardness, the failure who works hard to make a success of his life. Now, that is Being The Miracle.

 

In short, improving yourself by yourself.

 

Taking the hint from all these great masters I too decided it was time I did something with my life and sat down to meditate.

 

Nothing simpler, nothing serious. Just lift yourself by yourself. Fine? Fine.

 

An early morning hour was picked. Lights switched off, eyes closed as I sat down in the lotus position. My wife is still waiting for me to give her the lotus.

 

The air was calm and quiet. A gentle breeze blew across my face. A dog barked in the foreground. Then another, and another. The chorus helped me keep awake. For them it was the sound of music. To me, well .......  Listen, I was supposed to be meditating.

 

After sixty or seventy aeons of such continuous and rigorous meditation........(To a meditating newbie  every second is an aeon. For those who  are floating in the Mediterranean Sea it may be just a way of life.)

 

 ......... I could feel an atmosphere of peace enveloping me. The body felt light. The breath was calm and serene. The universe seemed to have become me and me, the universe.

 

A halo of light engulfed my being.

 

Still.

 

Quiet.

 

Motionless.

 

I sat.

 

An aura of bliss descended upon me.

 

You thought I had gained enlightenment?

 

Wrong.   

 

The wife had just switched on the tubelight.  

 

Imagine a Curvaceous Beauty on a Flat Screen

Hi !

 

We were in the process of buying a television set for the house. But if you think buying a T.V. is a breeze these days, you've got another think coming. First and foremost are the number of schemes available with which you may buy your own T.V. set. There are a plethora of loans and finance schemes on the block. Only when you try to avail any of them do you realise their unavailability, unviablity, unsuitability or uselessness.

 

For one, how do you match the television of your choice with the luxury of a finance bundled up with a TV set not of your choice. A product mismatch. And on top of that the list of documents to be submitted if you want the loan or the instalments in place. Makes you feel pretty loanly.  

 

Is that the end? Sorry. There are TVs and TVs. Not just the brands. The types, the shapes, the sizes. You now have LCD TVs on the block whose prices have fallen from celestial heights but are still dangling just above the gravitational pull of the purse. You purse your lips. Curse your luck and start all over again. Plasma TVs come next. Well within your budget but they are already waiting to exhale out of the market courtesy the LCDs. Deep breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Deep breathe again. Next?

 

Well the regular TVs. There were the various brands, Sony, Samsung, Onida, Hyundai, Videocon, Sansui, LG, Haier, Panasonic, Viewsonic.

 

"Viewsonic?" asked the kids. "They are into monitors." 

 

"Oh yes. but they have also started making TVs since long." Said the salesman. "Of course, you may opt for the 21 inch models, the 29", 39", or just a plain and simple 14" one. Would you prefer the curved screen or the fully flat screen?"

 

"The fully flat screen, please." cried out the wife in utter glee. The glint in her eyes lit up with an intensity of pristine purity and dignity coupled with the frills of room service.

"Imagine a Curvaceous Beauty on a Flat Screen." She giggled merrily nudging me on my rib. 'Twas the same rib bone that had sparked off the genesis of creation many centuries back and Eve was doing it again. Searching for the helplessness in my eyes she prodded me further.

I tried to match the flatness in my voice with that of the screen, er, sorry, with that of the salesman's voice and offered to go in for the flat screen. "Good. You can now listen to Free Music and Watch as many Movie Videos as you llike without any hindrance.at the click of the link or the click of the remote control."

So the link was clicked. The movie started, The music played on. All for Free.  

And while we were watching the screen play a thought cropped up. Funny, how life imitates Art. All roles are pre-written, predefined. The actors enact them as though they were meant for them. Different roles for different people at different times. The show goes on. You and me, we all play on. To the best of our abilities.

This is a way of life.

This is Shibumi.