A New Look (sans the hair on my head)
- By Keya (Sharmila Murthy)
- Published 11/29/2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
7:01 AM PST )from Sharmila’s heart to yours – unedited J)
Phew! A deep sigh – is it one of relief, or a new beginning?
Yesterday I was visiting my friend Janet and she is undergoing chemo. Her hair had been falling off, so she had her husband and friend of 30 years, shave her head off. She laughed and pulled off her white woolen cap and said “look Sharmila, this is my new look.” Her hair had been falling off in lumps and so this was a better way out than having to pick up lumps of hair around you all the time.
Like most citizens of the world today, she is part of the new beginnings. She is consciously creating change in her life, in calculated controlled measures, one step at a time, and it is all beginning with cleansing.
I shared my grief with her about the horrific attack on Mumbai, my beloved city, my lover city. Mumbai loved me back as much as I loved her, if not more. She to me has always been a symbol of hope for every Indian. I know there are many people in India who have in the past told me, how much they hated or despised Mumbai, but I let them voice their opinions and left it as part of them. Mumbai has been the icon of financial freedom for most Indians. People in Mumbai come across as people who have the best of the best, they can do what they want when they want. Mumbai is the house of the famous Bollywood, the city which churns out the most cinemas every year.
Every Indian identifies themselves with their corner of the country, but every Mumbaikar identifies themselves as a Mumbaikar. They are no longer a Bengali, a gujarati, a marathi or a malyalee, they are all from Bombay, from Mumbai.
Sitting today after my early morning meditation I still grief the pain and loss of India and Mumbai. I cannot fathom what the residents of Mumbai are still experiencing mentally and emotionally. The city was shut down for a day from business and on Friday morning, the stock market and every business office in Mumbai was reopened.
Yesterday morning when I showered, I sat in the bathroom with my towel wrapped around and I noticed the tag which said “Made in Pakistan, exclusively for Walmart Inc., Bentonville, AK”. For the first time in my life, I ripped up tag, looked at it, and dropped it in the trash. I sat and I wondered how could I have done this, when for 42 years I felt that Indians and Pakistanis are brothers and sister, Hindus and Muslims are brothers and sisters. And no matter how our government operated politically, ethnically we are one. I have been firmest believer of this thought, idea and opinion. I speak Urdu and I have had a Pakistani colleague who became my friend too and it was always very pleasant times I shared with him and I still have beautiful memories of our times together. He was born in Bangladesh and during the Bangladesh independence movement their family migrated to Karachi in Pakistan. His parents were born in India and during Indian / Pakistan partition, they moved to Bangladesh, since Bangladesh was East Pakistan and they were from an eastern state. So how can you say Pakistanis and Indians are different or separate from each other. It is just like saying my brother is not me and my sister is not my brother. When we walk next to each other on the street, no one could tell one from the other, except when we flash our passports to mention our country of origin or nationality.
Pakistan’s president Mussharaf was born in India and India’s prime minister Mr Singh was born in Pakistan. So it is like “let’s smack the left arm for hurting the right”. Each time we try to smack the other, we hurt ourselves while trying to hurt the other. So where does it end, now that we are here? More importantly where do we go from here?
Hatred never ends hatred only love dissolves hatred. This love must be unconditional in nature, absolute unconditional love, with no strings tied, attachments or expectations.
I know in my heart that every human being who is sane, wants to be loved, wants to be happy and wants to be at peace. When I say sane, I mean sane. There are those who are insane and not undergoing any treatment or receiving assistance in getting back to functioning normally as a contributing member of the human society.
All acts of violence comes from unstable mental attitude. Violence surpasses all forms of rational reasoning. So in order to combat and dissolve violence is love the answer? Can we love someone who is hating us. Socrates in Dan Millman’s biographical movie (The peaceful warrior) said “Love who is the hardest to love.” How profound! Yet, so simple! …. To be continued.
7:01 AM PST )from Sharmila’s heart to yours – unedited J)
Phew! A deep sigh – is it one of relief, or a new beginning?
Yesterday I was visiting my friend Janet and she is undergoing chemo. Her hair had been falling off, so she had her husband and friend of 30 years, shave her head off. She laughed and pulled off her white woolen cap and said “look Sharmila, this is my new look.” Her hair had been falling off in lumps and so this was a better way out than having to pick up lumps of hair around you all the time.
Like most citizens of the world today, she is part of the new beginnings. She is consciously creating change in her life, in calculated controlled measures, one step at a time, and it is all beginning with cleansing.
I shared my grief with her about the horrific attack on Mumbai, my beloved city, my lover city. Mumbai loved me back as much as I loved her, if not more. She to me has always been a symbol of hope for every Indian. I know there are many people in India who have in the past told me, how much they hated or despised Mumbai, but I let them voice their opinions and left it as part of them. Mumbai has been the icon of financial freedom for most Indians. People in Mumbai come across as people who have the best of the best, they can do what they want when they want. Mumbai is the house of the famous Bollywood, the city which churns out the most cinemas every year.
Every Indian identifies themselves with their corner of the country, but every Mumbaikar identifies themselves as a Mumbaikar. They are no longer a Bengali, a gujarati, a marathi or a malyalee, they are all from Bombay, from Mumbai.
Sitting today after my early morning meditation I still grief the pain and loss of India and Mumbai. I cannot fathom what the residents of Mumbai are still experiencing mentally and emotionally. The city was shut down for a day from business and on Friday morning, the stock market and every business office in Mumbai was reopened.
Yesterday morning when I showered, I sat in the bathroom with my towel wrapped around and I noticed the tag which said “Made in Pakistan, exclusively for Walmart Inc., Bentonville, AK”. For the first time in my life, I ripped up tag, looked at it, and dropped it in the trash. I sat and I wondered how could I have done this, when for 42 years I felt that Indians and Pakistanis are brothers and sister, Hindus and Muslims are brothers and sisters. And no matter how our government operated politically, ethnically we are one. I have been firmest believer of this thought, idea and opinion. I speak Urdu and I have had a Pakistani colleague who became my friend too and it was always very pleasant times I shared with him and I still have beautiful memories of our times together. He was born in Bangladesh and during the Bangladesh independence movement their family migrated to Karachi in Pakistan. His parents were born in India and during Indian / Pakistan partition, they moved to Bangladesh, since Bangladesh was East Pakistan and they were from an eastern state. So how can you say Pakistanis and Indians are different or separate from each other. It is just like saying my brother is not me and my sister is not my brother. When we walk next to each other on the street, no one could tell one from the other, except when we flash our passports to mention our country of origin or nationality.
Pakistan’s president Mussharaf was born in India and India’s prime minister Mr Singh was born in Pakistan. So it is like “let’s smack the left arm for hurting the right”. Each time we try to smack the other, we hurt ourselves while trying to hurt the other. So where does it end, now that we are here? More importantly where do we go from here?
Hatred never ends hatred only love dissolves hatred. This love must be unconditional in nature, absolute unconditional love, with no strings tied, attachments or expectations.
I know in my heart that every human being who is sane, wants to be loved, wants to be happy and wants to be at peace. When I say sane, I mean sane. There are those who are insane and not undergoing any treatment or receiving assistance in getting back to functioning normally as a contributing member of the human society.
All acts of violence comes from unstable mental attitude. Violence surpasses all forms of rational reasoning. So in order to combat and dissolve violence is love the answer? Can we love someone who is hating us. Socrates in Dan Millman’s biographical movie (The peaceful warrior) said “Love who is the hardest to love.” How profound! Yet, so simple! …. To be continued.
