MAHATMA ALIVE

A 2005 movie directed by Jahnu Barua, explores the downward spiral of a retired professor, Uttam Chaudhary (portrayed by Anupam Kher) as he falls victim to dementia. He begins to insist that he killed Gandhi by accidentally playing with a toy gun into which someone else had placed real bullets. He keeps repeating the line which is the title of the film: Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (I Did Not Kill Gandhi)!

The roots of his illusion are in a childhood incident of playing darts on balloons filled with red water and placed on someone's picture. That day someone placed Gandhi's picture on the balloon that 8-year old Uttam popped just as his father arrived. The same evening, Gandhi was assassinated. Uttam’s father’s blaming created a permanent scar on the young child’s sub conscious mind.

Uttam’s psychiatrist and daughter use a mock court trial to point to him that he is not the culprit. A gun expert says that a toy gun (which Uttam believes he killed Gandhi with) cannot kill anyone. A relieved and liberated Uttam turns track to ask everyone, ‘aren’t we responsible for the killing of Gandhi on a daily basis?’

While the film deals with the fear and uncertainty that a victim of dementia goes through, it is also a metaphor for Gandhi who is reviled by some. Falsehoods are repeated to tarnish the one who inspires so many across the world. It is pertinent to note that many who justify the assassination of a great man are ignorant of his writings or are fuelled by hate.

How did Gandhi get reduced to just a road, a stamp, and a statue? 'You remember me only on two days, October 2 and January 30,' cries Chaudary on behalf of his beloved leader. We must emulate the one who is worth emulating in terms of his simplicity, courage, and love for all. We can be better human beings by keeping alive the thinking and actions of Mahatma!

It is wonderful to keep the Mahatma alive
His thoughts ensure humanity will thrive!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Discern

Many years ago, on a visit to my favourite barber, I asked him for a ‘Dil Chahta hai’ haircut. The film was had just released and I had seen promotional posters with the three lead actors sporting short hairdos. He immediately asked, ‘‘which actor’s style?’ I calmly retorted, ‘they are all the same!’

He promptly pulled out a film magazine with a poster of the film… and he was able to show me the difference in the three styles. I realized that while I had seen the image only superficially, my friend had looked at the same image with a deep discerning insight!

‘Discerning’ is an adjective that comes from the Old French discerner, meaning to ‘distinguish (between), separate (by sifting).’ Which makes sense, because someone with discerning tastes or a discerning eye is good at distinguishing the variety and noticing the distinctness even in things that seem to be from the same set.

Discerning people pick up on subtle traits and are good judges of quality — they're the ones who can tell if the cakes are homemade from the finest ingredients or totally from a box mix. They can make better choices as they are better informed by their ability to observe the details. They choose to be learners with an open mind.

Often, we jump to opinions and conclusions based on surface insights. We end up becoming know all experts without really being so. Discerning persons have keen insight and good judgement because they have the attitude of observing without jumping to conclusions. They are able to see and understand people, things, or situations clearly and judiciously.

It is so wonderful to be able to discern

Indeed it is the only way to truly learn!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Belief Handicap

Struck by paraplegia after 16 years of normal life, she could not imagine life beyond darkness and misery. The numbness in her body below the waist also involved the loss of bladder and bowel control. However she drew inspiration from her father’s favourite quote- ‘khudh ko kar buland itna ke kudha tujhi se puche- bataa teri raza kya hai’ (empower yourself such that God himself succumbs to your wish).

She understood that staying bedridden was not the solution. What lay ahead was not just physical but also economical dependency. She had to first overcome her ‘belief handicap’. Determined to defeat her predicament, she confronted the odds and experienced encouraging results, a growing self-confidence and an emerging positive outlook over-riding her post paraplegia negative views.

To improve her physical self-sufficiency, she got a wheel chair. She continued her education, obtained a Degree in Economics, got a Government job, and eventually progressed up to the position of Deputy Office Superintendent of Customs and Central Excise, on her own merits. Her tryst with overcoming the belief handicap is chronicled in her Marathi book, 'Chakachi khurchi' (The wheel chair).

Dr Naseema Hurzuk, fondly called Naseema didi, brought together a team of like-minded people, mostly physically challenged, to establish a residential rehabilitation center – ‘Helpers of the Handicapped’ at Kholapur, Maharashtra. Her team offers training and opportunities for the physically challenged to turn self-reliant persons living with dignity and pride. But the first step is to overcome the belief handicap!

We are restricted to despair by our belief handicap. Never mind the severity of the impediment; we can surmount every shortcoming if we rise above disbelief. The human mind needs the catalyst of self-belief to rise above overwhelming hurdles. Naseema didi and many others have inspired us to rise above the belief handicap.

The biggest of them all is the belief handicap…
When we overcome it, the future is ours to tap!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Late Mr I Can’t

Over the last fourteen years, a highly effective experiential activity is used by yours truly for pre-teen learners. It was inspired by an anecdote from the internet.

The children write down sentences starting with the words ‘I can’t’: ‘I can't kick the football into the goal’, ‘I can't swim’, ‘I can’t speak vernacular languages.’… These statements are placed into a box and ‘Mr I Can’t’ is pronounced dead. The kids take turns to dig a pit into which the box is placed. They decorate the grave with flowers and twigs. To mark the occasion, a funeral speech is delivered by yours truly.

“Friends, ‘Mr I Can't’ is no more. While he was alive, he had an immense influence on all of us. His brothers and sisters, ‘I Can’, ‘I Will’, and ‘I shall’ survive him. They are not as strong and powerful as their famous relative. But, with your help, they will make an even bigger mark on the world. May ‘late Mr I Can't’ rest in peace and may ‘I Can’, ‘I Will’, and ‘I shall’ replace his role in our lives."

The children are asked to rephrase the statements they wrote, by replacing ‘I Can’t’ with ‘I Can’, ‘I Will’, and ‘I shall’. Obviously the negative statements turn to positive resolves with the addition of clearly defined choices: ‘I can kick the football into the goal, if I practice’ ‘I can swim if I attend swimming classes’, ‘I can speak the vernacular languages if I listen and converse in those languages’.

The experience ensured an enduring lesson. The process of removing negative belief is not complete without the replacement of affirmative resolves of aligned action choices. We must bury the ‘late Mr I Can’t’ and add life to ‘I Can’, ‘I Will’, and ‘I shall’. Transformation has to first start with our beliefs and then move to actions.

Deduct late Mr I Can’t from the defeating talk
Choose positive belief and the ways to walk…

- Pravin K. Sabnis

A new song

Cast the sadness away
Together let’s walk the way
It is our smile that will bring
The splendid cheer of spring

Sing a fresh tune;
Sing a new song.
A new season,
a new day shall come along...

Let this song be full of play
Like a boat on a wavy way..
Keep up the spirits when down
Dreams rise with the setting frown

The wind that takes the breath away,
‘Dance with me’, it seems to say!
Live life with full-on passion…
Ride the wind with positive emotion!

It is true that we live only once…
Life is constantly altering stance;
Embrace every moment with a cheer
Joy will be found by overcoming fear.

Sing a fresh tune;
Sing a new song.
A new season,
a new day shall come along...

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Onus

Pedro visited his daughter’s primary school for the quarterly interaction between parent and teacher. The teacher was pointing out that the child was speaking incorrect English. She diagnosed the problem occurrence due to speaking the local language at home. She recommended that the parents speak English at home in conversations with the child.

As they continued the interactions on other aspects of the child’s progress, the teacher noticed Pedro’s grammatical errors while speaking in English. When she sternly pointed out that Pedro’s English was ‘atrociously’ flawed, Pedro calmly asked the teacher, ‘so, do you still recommend that I speak in English at home?’

Obviously, the teacher was putting unnecessarily high expectations of performance from a young child. It is pertinent to note that she was also transferring the onus to the parent of her responsibility of teaching. These are harsh realities of the education system but apply to other disciplines as well.

So often, so many of us are like that teacher… making a wrong diagnosis and prescribing a seemingly logical but effectively silly solution. We set high expectations of performance and when not met we shift the onus of solution to someone else. We shift onus as we don’t want to be attributed as the primary contributor for failure.

We must choose to accept the onus of our responsibility and not shift from it. We must avoid the tendency to shift onus to others when things go wrong. The character of a person is displayed when he chooses to retain ownership of the onus that comes from a sense of responsibility.

The onus is only on me to do what is right…
Rather than shift to someone else in sight !

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Missed Sunset

We were returning from a training program held in an area with no connectivity for the mobile phone. My friend, who was driving the car, made a call to his sweetheart and started his love talk. Looking out of the window, I saw a spectacular sunset. I repeatedly urged my friend, ‘look here’ but in vain!

Eventually, he signed off the phone, stopped the car and asked me, ‘where?’ I calmly replied, ‘it’s gone… the sun has disappeared and the sky is no longer the same.’ He laughed and said, ‘so what? The moon will now create a new painting!’ I joined his mirth with my words, ‘no wonder you were caught up in conversation with the moon!’

Interestingly, my friend was named after the sun and his sweetheart was named after the moon. Last Friday, Ravi Shirsat passed away, way before his time and memories flooded my mind, enough to fill up many editions of Monday Muse. The most pertinent one was of the sunset he missed out on as he caught up with his sweetheart, Poonam!

It is true that the same sunset scene never repeats again. But there will be fresh occasions for enjoying a starlit sky or the luminance of the moon or yet another sunrise or sunset. One dark night, Ravi taught my daughter, Sonia to identify constellations in the sky. Ever since, she would tell me that she would see his face in the Orion whenever she would set sight on the night sky!

We must choose to enjoy the true joys of life from a wide variety of choice… the scene as the sun sets… the sight of emotions on the human face… the song of a bird… the expression in the voice of a dear one… the timely investment in our dreams… the time shared as an unconditional gift…

We are often caught up in the dilemma of missing out on one thing as we choose another. Life is about the choices we make. Every selection will mean that we will miss out on something. Eventually, what matters is that we have chosen one rather than none!

The missed sunset doesn’t merit rue…
If the alternative choice was truly true!

- Pravin K. Sabnis