Be Happy

In Goa, youth prepare for the advent of Diwali by making effigies of Narkasur. The burning of the effigies heralds the celebration of the festival of lights. The preparation involves collecting of funds to cover the cost of the effigy, the setup, the music, the fireworks and the revelry. Many organised groups turn the occasion into a big event.

One group however decided to make it bigger on the happiness quotient. They went around collecting gifts of sweets, stationary and utility items. On Diwali eve, they went to an orphanage and spent the time illuminating the lives of the children there. Kabir Naik captured on film (https://youtu.be/RAmlgleWhrA) what he and his friends did.

Kabir calls it ‘Sweet Diwali: a story of self-realization’. Indeed it captures the way to realise that the best way to ‘be’ happy we must ‘make’ others happy. We know joy grows when it is shared. But it is pertinent to note that enduring happiness comes when we can make others happy.

Happiness is not really about material gifts. It is about the gift of time… a kind word, listening to others, playing together… sharing not just what we have but accepting what they have… Besides the joy that comes out of thoughtful giving, happiness returns as a gift with meaningful sharing…

Look around to notice the underserved. Not just in defined spaces like orphanages, old age homes or ghettos. We must notice them wherever they are and involve in ways to make them happy with gifts of love, concern and care. When we give happiness, it comes back to us!

When you give your joy away

Be happy, it will return to stay

~ Pravin K Sabnis

Two & Two

Through an intercom in a classroom, the headmaster announces that there will be ongoing changes in the school, and that the students are to follow to all instructions from their teacher. The teacher writes ‘2 + 2 = 5’ on the board. When the children protest, he immediately silences them, calling for order in the classroom.

The teacher continuously commands the students to repeat the equation after him. One timid student raises his hand and carefully suggests that two plus two is four, not five. The teacher calmly commands him, ‘don't think, you don't have to think!’ The teacher demands the class to copy the incorrect equation into their notebooks.

Another student stands up to insist that the answer is four. The teacher asks him, ‘who gave you permission to speak?’ The rebel holds his ground. The infuriated teacher brings in three senior students, bearing red armbands and an army-like stature.

The rebel remains determined, and is felled by the seemingly invisible rifles held by the three senior students. The rest of the class is silent, stone faces processing what they had just seen. The teacher orders the students to write down ‘2 + 2 = 5’ in their notebooks. One student is seen scratching out ‘5’ and replacing it with ‘4’.

This plot is from the 2011 short film – ‘Two & Two’ directed by Babak Anvari. Similar to George Orwell’s 1984, the film is an allegory for the absurdness of dictatorship and tyranny. However it also showcases the resilience of the human spirit of the two rebels who defy – one in an outspoken manner and the other quietly but surely.

Check out the film https://youtu.be/EHAuGA7gqFU

We must ask ourselves whether we easily accept blatant absurdity just because it comes from the mouths of the powerful. We must ask ourselves why we succumb to the obnoxious when we should be in defiance of it. We must choose to stand out when forced to line up in unacceptable uniformity based on obvious irrationality.  

Two & Two is about the brave two:

One vocal… the other resolute too

Which one is me? Which one is you?!

~ Pravin K Sabnis

Watch Yourself

A pair of acrobats were preparing for an act that consisted of the senior man balancing a tall bamboo pole on his head while the little girl climbed slowly to the top. Once on the top, she would remain there while the man walked along the ground. Both performers had to maintain complete focus and balance in order to prevent injury.

The senior told the junior: 'Let’s watch each other, so that we can help each other maintain focus and balance and prevent accident.' But the little girl disagreed, 'Sir, I think it would be better for each of us to watch ourselves. By doing so, we can ensure that one does not fumble and compromise on the other’s safety.'

Taking care of yourself is the most important thing you can do to take care of others. So often, so many of us focus on helping the other and ignore our self and crucial needs. While our intention may be good, when we lose sight of self, we lose control. When we lose control, we endanger the other.

When you fly on an airplane, the flight attendant instructs you to put your oxygen mask on first, before helping others.  If you run out of oxygen, you can't help anyone else with their oxygen mask. You must watch yourself before you watch others. Indeed it is about being mindful.

When you nourish your mind and body, you are in a better position to treat others with more compassion and create a positive impact on the world around you. There is no division in taking care of yourself (in a spiritual sense, not in a material context) and taking care of others. You must watch yourself first to fulfil the onus of the other.

Watch yourself first to truly focus

That’s the way to balance the onus!

~ Pravin K Sabnis

Plogging

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) organised an inclusive plogging run in the Fit India program of the Government. It was a joyful opportunity to be with the amazing inspiring personalities of DRAG.

We walked together, picking litter on the way and clearing up the access path for the disability at a major building that hosts many offices. Besides the satisfaction of doing a good deed collectively, we learnt a new word: plogging!

Plogging is a amalgamation of jogging with picking up litter. It started as an organised activity in Sweden around 2016 and spread to other countries. As a workout, it provides variation in body movements by adding bending, squatting a nd stretching to the main action of running, hiking, or walking.

The main purpose and result of plogging is to clean up the path travelled by. In trekking too, we carry a waste bag to carry the litter on the trek route. What a beautiful sentiment to leave the path in a better way than we found it. Most importantly it is about taking the responsibility for clearing the mess created by others.

So often, so many of us only find faults of others, valid ones at that. We correctly identify that others are responsible for the disorder. We must move beyond identifying the problem and the problem makers. We must remember what Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world!’ One such way is plogging!

Leave every path better than you found it

Plogging cleans the mess & keeps you fit!

~ Pravin K Sabnis