That Forbidden Fruit!

Amazing as it may seem, but I had never imagined myself writing something of this sort. But it became inescapable because of this very simple question: ‘Who is God?’ And before I embark upon defining (rather redefining!) God, I think there is another word which has to be understood first…And if you are toooo busy to relish what life has to offer…ok chill!....then jump to the 6th paragraph. (You will repent! ..You will be cursed! [:P])

Before I start off with the real idea, let me clarify that I am no Preacher, Philosopher or a bhakta of any Swamiji. I am as much in dark about life and its subtle meanings as you are. But being a curious soul and an inquisitive human, I haven’t been able to refrain myself from questioning every answer that life has given me as a taken-for-granted gift…

In this pursuit of answering questions and questioning answers, I was stumped by a blatant fact : What am I looking for? What are we all looking for? Answers which shall answer questions?? To the question of hunger we have the answer food, to loneliness we have company, to despair we have love, to losing we have winning,….Yet, taking a bird’s eye-view of our own lives….we can see these small acts do not fit in well enough as a jigsaw puzzle to give us the complete picture….At least I know I don’t think eating removes hunger completely (u will again feel hungry!) or winning makes you a winner or that a Mercedes makes you happy …You see …underlying all these events is a momentary, fleeting answer…That ceases or evaporates….leaving you and me an empty bowl; still yearning for more happiness, for more love, for more success...and blah blah.

We are always under the notion….I know this has been fed into us…that we must look for that first prize. But can life always be a competition?...that we must look out for happiness in a relationship. But is happiness the only ingredient that makes a relationship work? Isn’t a bit of grief, a bit of sorrow equally important?....then what should we want out of life? What must we look for? What should be the goal of life? And mind you...a goal has to be an incentive that drives you every day, in every moment….edging you nearer and nearer to where you want to be….

Now….its evident that happiness, success or pleasure can never be that forbidden fruit for which we live our lives…and if you do (…and I know most of us do including me up till now!!) you are bound to be disappointed…thoroughly, badly[:(]. It’s like catching soap-bubbles in thin air; the moment you catch them, they burst…and you start looking for more bubbles to catch!

So while I was looking at my Granny putting jhoti (...It is different from Rangoli in the sense that here no colours are used…rather powdered rice paste[:P]), I realized that she wasn’t doing this task out of happiness or because someone would scold her if she didn’t! [:P] Yet, she curved her fingers, squinting at it from a distance and again adding a line here and there….so immaculately…so flawlessly…or so PERFECTLY!

Yes. That’s the word. PERFECTION. Honestly, if there is anything that PRACTICALLY qualifies as an ultimate goal of life...it is PERFECTION! Not the first prize, not what we like or dislike, not success or joy, not heaven (hahahohho...now who says this is?) and not even moksha or GOD (yes..my dear!!!). Even when I am peeling potatoes, writing this enlightening piece (or bull-shit as you may call it!), caressing my dog, loving my love, hanging out or smiling, thinking, eating, talking…just anything!!!....there is just one thing that I am moving towards…or rather trying to…that’s perfection. And this goal applies to every thing that we do in our whole lifespan.

You see…even if you did not realize this, but, your every effort in life has always been aimed towards achieving perfection in what ever you have done….just that you and I and all never thought about it! We were the lost ship, always trying to adjust our sails according to the breeze (which would ultimately land us at some shore!) but never tried to know which shore we WANTED to land at!

Don’t know if this sounds convincing enough…but that’s my hypothesis, my reason …which answers quite a lot of questions and which provokes me to carry out whatever I want to (or have to!) with ease. Sometimes I do fail (and fail miserably! :D). Regardless of my failures, I know what my purpose is and am no more stretching out to catch the rainbow…

PS: It’s very important that you understand this if you want to understand what the next write-up (the one above and not below[:]…it will come up in a short while [:D]) is all about…..Perfection and its purpose in life ….that’s what you need to by-heart[:P]