Praying for a Better New Year

The year of 2007 was special for me as I started recognizing the happiness, gratitude and the joy residing within me. I felt blessed to discover this new alignment, due to which I am NOW able to “see” what was invisible to me all these years.

I grew up and lived in Delhi for the first 27 years of my life. After getting married I moved to US in 1997.

I visited Delhi in 1999 with my 1year old daughter. It was then that the following memorable moment happened.

I was sitting with my daughter at the back seat of the car. Our car stopped at the red light. Just next to our car stopped a “3-wheeler” in which a 1-year-old baby was sitting on his mother’s lap. The baby’s torn and dirty clothes, running nose and the flies around his open wounds made me immediately turn my face away in disgust. But my daughter did not see anything disgusting. All she “saw” were the “eyes” of that unkempt baby and therefore started smiling and waving to that baby. The baby smiled back. It was obvious that the two babies had shared a joyful moment.

Looking back NOW, I feel that whenever I genuinely try to “see” and “listen” through my heart (like my 1-year-old daughter did), I am able to “see” the same “divinity (which is within me)” residing inside people around me. These people could be the not-so-respected maids working at home or the poor-dirty-unkempt children on the street side.

As a result during my recent visit to India in December 2007, I could NOW “see” my dear-old Delhi as a complete-new-source of inspiration. An inspiration I could not “see” while I was growing up in Delhi.

When our flight reached Delhi on Dec. 14th early morning, there was a thick fog over the city. Therefore, the flight was detoured to Bombay air port, where there was no fog. As a result all the passengers of my flight and other flights destined to Delhi were “stuck” at Bombay airport for 6 hours. The frustration and disappointment was visible on the face and body of all the passengers. Most of the male adults started panicking about the next possible flight to Delhi. But of all the passengers, best were the children who started running around merrily on the ground after being confined inside the plane for over 20 hours. They were audibly and visibly happy to discover a wider playground. The mothers started worrying about arranging food for their children. But the children themselves were too busy (having fun) to feel hungry. Then there was another passenger, who started playing guitar and enjoying his waiting time. I could “see” how under the same frustrating circumstances, different people “chose to react” differently.

On an extremely cold winter night, I was crossing through the park with my worrisome thoughts. Just then I “saw” this poor child wearing a thin sweater full of holes. The child was happy and busy eating. On seeing her “outfit”, my hands instantly moved to feel the thick-black shawl around my body. In that moment, I thanked God for that shawl. I realized that I have so much. I have clothes to keep myself warm, something most of the people in this world do not have. I immediately shifted the “focus” of my thoughts to “what I have” from what I do not have.

One evening we were getting late to reach the birthday party of my brother’s son. I was sitting inside the car with my sister’s son and the driver; waiting desperately for the car to move out of the traffic jam. To distract ourselves we started playing rhyming words games inside the car. Suddenly I saw beautiful balloons (formed by clouds) spread all over the sky. With great excitement I shared this discovery with my 10-year-old nephew. As we all started scanning the sky (at that beautiful dusk time) and the pink-orange colored balloons (created by the clouds), we felt our car drifting. We reached the birthday party “admiring nature”.

I had gone with my family for a formal lunch at a fine restaurant inside a reputed club. After eating I came out to “enjoy” the Sun with my children. Just then, I noticed a poor laborer basking on top of a pile of ropes in the winter Sun. He was fast asleep in a safe corner amidst the loud noise created by the people and the traffic. I could “see” that he was actually relaxing both in mind and body, something I am sometimes not able to do even inside my own cozy bedroom lying on a comfortable bed. I was inspired by his ability to block his mind and “relax” anywhere.

At the same place outside the restaurant (inside that reputed club), I was searching for a play structure for my children to play on. As I turned around I noticed that they had already started playing on a pile of bamboos. It was once again surprising for me to notice that they did not “miss” the play structure. They were enjoying their newly invented balancing games by trying to walk on that pile of bamboos without falling off. In that moment I was amazed with their creative and unblocked minds to “create happiness” anywhere.

I had gone to a party where I met a lot of family members. During the same party, after the great lunch and wonderful conversations, I decided to create some fun, something I have always missed in US. I gathered all the kids and started playing “antakshari”, a fun musical game, without seeking approval from the adults or requesting them to come inside and join us. As the game picked up, the fun multiplied and the animation increased. The musical magic attracted each and everyone from age 4 to 70. Some of them decided to be the audience but most them came out of their shells and participated. I am glad that I could “create that moment of memorable happiness”.

Today, I wish to be blessed with many more “such” thoughts, words and actions in the coming year(s). Since 2007 was definitely better than the others (gone by) in terms of “perspective”. Therefore, in the first month of this year (2008), I pray for a BETTER NEW YEAR for each and everyone.

Sincerely,
Gunjan

Jan.24, 2008