मृत्युचिन्तन - कलाकार स्व. गणेश रसिकको सम्झनामा

आज कान्तिपुर दैनिकमा लोक संस्कृति र संगित क्षेत्रका मुर्धन्य कलाकार गणेश रसिकले इहलोक परित्याग गरेको समाचार र त्यसमा व्यक्त भावुक भनाइहरुले यी पंक्ति लेख्न उक्साए । पारिवारिक वियोग र वेदना झेलेर बुढ्यौलिमा क्यान्सरको ग्रास बनेका रसिकले निराशा र दुःखका बीच 'मृत्युचिन्तन' का कुरा गर्थे रे । मेरो उनिसंगको सम्झना एक प्रशंसकको रुपमा रह्यो । ४० सालको दशकमा विद्यालयमा पढ्दा एउटा राष्ट्रिय गीतको रचनाकार गणेस रसिक भनेर कुनै साथिले भनेपछि उनको नामसंग पहिलो परिचय भयो । स्वाभाविक रुपमा उनलाई भेट्ने सुअवसर कहिल्यै जुरेन, आफ्नै प्रयास नभएर एवम्उ नको र आफ्नो उचाईमा रहेको आकाश जमिनको फरकले पनि । तर रेडियो नेपालमा गुञ्जिरहने उनका कालजयी लोकगीत, राष्ट्रिय गीत, आधुनिक गीत तथा 'रोधि' लगायतका कार्यक्रम मार्फत उनको कला र गलाको पारखी बनायो । आलय बनाइरहनेछ ।

भनिन्छ मान्छेले मृत्युलाई बिर्सन्छ । बेलाबखत परिवार, आफन्त वा अन्य चिनेजानेको कसैको मरण हुँदा मृत्युको घण्टी बज्छ तर दुनियादारीमा फर्किने वित्तिकै फेरि विर्सिन्छ । संधै मरिन्छ भन्ने मात्र सोचेर जीवन चल्ने पनि त होइन । आफ्नो नियत समय त गुजार्नै पर्‍यो, सकेसम्म खुशी र सुखका साथ र स्वभावले दियो भने सत्कर्मका साथ । तर पनि एकान्तमा वस्दा, गहिरिएर सोच्दा, आध्यात्मिक विचारहरु आउँदा, भविष्यका तर्कना हरु गर्दा, पुर्खाहरुका कुरा गर्दा मृत्युचिन्तन भैरहन्छ । सायद यो स्वाभाविक होला र सबैलाई हुने होला । २-३ दिन जति अघि मात्र घर छिमेकका एकजना दाजुलाई आफ्नै घरनजिको सडक पार गर्नलाग्दा एउटा अल्लारे मोटरसाइकल चालकले तिब्र गतिमा हिर्काइदियो। ती दाजु अहिले अस्पतालको सघन उपचार कक्षमा इन्तु न चिन्तु छन्, होस आएको छैन । छोराहरु हुर्किसके, एउटाको पोहोर बिहे पनि भयो । तर श्रीमतीको रोएर बेहाल छ ।  जीवनको उत्तरार्धमा झन जीवनसाथिको खांचो हुने । त्यसमाथि पनि अकल्पनीय रुपमा हट्ट कट्टा मान्छे दुर्घटनामा पर्दा यो अवस्था हुनु स्वाभाविक हो । 

यी दुबै घटनाले फेरी आफ्नो मरणशिलतालाई उजागर गरिदिएको छ । सामान्य रुपमा दैनिक जीवनका आरोह, अवरोह, तनाव, समस्या आदि ठूला लाग्छन् । मलाई मात्र हो कि जस्तो लाग्छ । पल्लो पाखो आफ्नो भन्दा हरियो लाग्छ ।  तर जब यस्ता घटना घट्छन् र मृत्यचिन्तन हुन्छ, यी सबै स-साना कुरा गौण लाग्छन् । आफू भाग्यशाली भए झैं लाग्छ । सायद यी घटना र तिनिहरुसंग जोडिएका भावनाले जीवनलाई नर्मलाइज गर्न र आफ्नो परिस्थितिसंग बांच्न सिकाउने रहेछन् कि । 

कलाकार गणेश रसिकको आत्मालाई चीर शान्ति प्राप्त होस्  । उनका सिर्जना नेपाली आकाशमा गुञ्जिरहुन् र हामीजस्ता पारखीले रसिकका सिर्जनाको मीठो रस पान गर्न पाइरहुन् । 

सोमबार १९ जेष्ठ २०८२

Shankaracharya - A Genius Who Must be an Incarnation of the Divine Himself

 Every time I encounter something written by Shankaracharya, I am awed. He has created works of seemingly contradicting philosophies such as non-dualism and deity worship at the same time. But he has done them with equal amount of poetic mastery, philosophic profoundness and cute description of the beauty of the deity or the nature or anything that he is describing. 

In works from as simple as Achyustashtakam or Shiva Panchakshar mantras to his inventive Saundarya Lahari or Moh Mudgar (Bhaja Govindam), his unbelievable grasp of the Vedic philosophies, a notion of bodily as well as spiritual beauty, idea of emancipation etc are vividly illustrated. 

He describes as easily the ideas of Brahma and Emancipation as he does the beauty of a female's body or, for that matter, of any deity or a work of nature. See the way he describes Mahadev in Shiva Panchakshar or Krishna in Achyushtakam, utmost combination of easy verses with profound description of beauty and devotion. 

In Moha Mudgar, he describes travails of a worldly, family life as well as that of a ascetic. He vividly describes the beauty of a human body while also lauding the life of renunciation. 

I was watching the video by Sri M (Soundarya Lahari | Part 1/2 | Sri M) on Saundarya Lahari and there the scholar describes how Shankaracharya constructs the profound idea of beauty, bhakti and even the tantric tool of Sri Yantra through his exquisite verses. 

Seeing all this while also noting that he passed away in a prime young age of 32, one can't imagine him as any ordinary human being but an incarnation of the divine himself.  

Reflections After a Week in Singapore

I am just back from a weeklong stay in Singapore. Once upon a time (btw it was in the early '90s when we had a fresh political system and the new leaders selling stupendous dreams), a political heavyweight sold the dream of turning Nepal into Singapore. More than 30 years after that reckless prediction, the dream is long shattered and we are not much better off. Meanwhile, Singaporeans have transformed their land of dreams into even more developed, prosperous and beautiful mix of modernity, nature (oh!! the amount of greenery!!) and a popular sentiment laden with discipline, direction and dedication. 

While our natural beauty and resources have not been properly used to gain prosperity of any kind, Singapore has been galloping with technological development, adoption of modern ways of living & doing things, enhancing natural beauty, preventing pollution while at the same time promoting trade, business ventures, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. A far cry from Nepal's doldrums in our effort towards development, our lackluster vision, poor planning, chaotic implementation and a financial ecosystem prone to abuse, corruption and exploitation. 

I have dared to draw a few conclusions:

1. Each and every person needs to be professional, dedicated, honest and willing to do their bit. 

2. Political system should be stable and led by a person of high integrity. It does not matter how free a society is if it is led by a good leader, and operated based on system, rules of law and enforcement of law uniformly across the spectrum. 

3. Inculcation of love for the nation, pride about the country, discipline, dedication, enterprise and a tendency to take up challenges from a very young age. 

4. A business environment that is based on modern technology, devoid of personal self-interests, pragmatic and well-defined so that people willing to invest here are not deterred by red tapes, nepotism, corruption and surprise rules/regulations. 

5. Control unnecessary luxury and high-value imports such as expensive cards and divert that forex for goods needed for infrastructure development. Airports (one good international hub) and roads are most crucial for Nepal. Railway (especially commuter system in big cities) a big boon but can be longer term as it needs large investment.

6. Have a good public transport system to discourage unnecessary import of vehicles. This helps in controlling import as well as reducing pollution. Short term: bus networks driven by technology and no syndicates. Long term: railway and metro in major cities. 

7. Invest in tourist attractions and make them self-sustainable. 

8. Implement technology based service delivery - especially g2p services along with wide adoption of electronic payment. 

These are not things that are out of the ordinary or impossible to do. Simply because people have done these things in Singapore and many other countries, including our next-door neighbors. We can very much do that, on a gradual basis. If we do not start, we shall be nowhere. If we have a good start, the process can propel itself forward once we start to see the impact and feel the benefits. 

Better start now. And we can do it. Just need to think that it is possible and be honest with ourselves. We have all the exposure, inspiration and desire. Just need honesty and self-evaluation in terms of commitment and contributions. If they can, we can too. We just need to behave like them. 

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A comparison based on worlddata.info

	Nepal	Singapore
Gross domestic product:	41,183 M US$	498,475 M US$
Gross national product:	40,940 M US$	378,815 M US$
Exported goods:	2,733 M US$	925,952 M US$
Imported goods:	15,462 M US$	733,876 M US$

मश्तिष्क, चेतना र लेख्‍ने अभ्यास

 कम्प्युटर विज्ञानमा रहेका विविध आधारभूत अवधारणाहरु मध्ये जानकारी अन्तर्गमन (इनपुट), प्रशोधन र वहिर्गमन (आउटपुट) को विधि पनि पर्दछन् । सम्पूर्ण परम्परागत कम्प्युटर प्रणाली यही आधारभूत पद्धतिमा काम गर्दछ । मश्तिष्क पनि लगभग त्यस्तै पद्धतिमा काम गर्छ । विभिन्न इन्द्रियहरु मार्फत मश्तिष्कमा पुगेका जानकारी, सूचनाहरूको प्रशोधन निरन्तर जीवित मश्तिष्कले गरिरहेको हुन्छ । जागृत अवस्थामा मात्र होइन सुतेको अवस्थामा पनि सपना लगायतका प्रक्रियाहरुमा मश्तिष्क सक्रिय रहेको विज्ञहरु वताउँछन् । हिन्दु शास्त्रले पनि जागृत, स्वप्न र सुसुप्ति गरी तीन अवस्था बताइएको छ जस मध्ये जागृत अथवा नसुतेको अवस्था तथा स्वप्न अर्थात सुतेर सपना देखिरहेको अवस्थामा बिभिन्न गतिविधि हुने गर्दछन् भने सुसुप्ति अवस्थामा सपना समेत नहुने र गहिरो निद्रा अवस्था हुने भएकोले मश्तिश्कमा जानकारी प्रवाह कम हुने मानिएको छ । आधुनिक वैज्ञानिक र मनोवैज्ञानिक शोधहरुले  सुसुप्ति अवस्थाले मश्तिष्कलाई पुनर्जागरण र पुनर्ताजगी गराउनको लागि सूचना तन्तुहरुलाई पुनर्व्यवस्थित गर्ने अवसर प्रदान गर्ने देखाएका छन् ।

समग्रमा सचेतन प्राणीका रुपमा मानिसका हरेक गतिविधिमा मश्तिष्कको ठूलो भूमिका हुन्छ । हिड्ने, सवारी चलाउने, खाने, अनौपचारिक कुरा गर्ने जस्ता वाहिरबाट हेर्दा दिमागको उतिसारो काम नहुने गतिविधि पनि परोक्ष रुपमा मश्तिष्कद्वारा नै नियन्त्रित भएका हुन्छन् । स्वाभाविक रुपले कुनै गतिविधि वौद्धि हुन्छन् र दिमागको गहन काम हुन्छ भने कुनै भौतिक हुन्छन् र दिमागको नियामक भूमिका मात्र देखिन्छ । भनिन्छ जसरी शरिरका जोर्नी, मांशपेशी आदि जति प्रयोगमा ल्यायो त्यति गतिशिल र लचिला हुन्छन् । त्यसैगरी दिमाग पनि जति सक्रिय राख्न सक्यो त्यति स्फुर्त र चनाखो हुन्छ । 

पढ्ने, लेख्ने जस्ता कामहरू नितान्त वौद्धिक अभ्यास हुन् । तर शारिरिक अभ्यास जस्तै नियमित गर्दा सहज हुने र कहिलेकाहिं मात्र गर्दा असहज हुने तथ्य मानसिक अभ्यासमा पनि लागु हुन्छ । गरिरहेको काम पनि केहि दिन गर्न छोड्यो भने असहज र गाह्रो हुदै जादोरहेछ । यसका साथै शरिर जस्तै मश्तिष्क पनि उमेर बढ्दै जाँदा शिथिल र कम क्षमतावान हुने पनि स्वाभाविक छ । 

धेरै समय भएछ यो पृष्ठमा केहि नथपेको । यहाँ केही सामग्री थप्ने वहानामा नियमित हावादारी नै जस्तो लाग्ने भएपनि केही कुरा फुर्थे र तिनलाई शब्द अनि वाक्यविन्यास गरी लिपिवद्ध गर्ने अभ्यास हुन्थ्यो । थोरै भए पनि दिमाग चलायमान हुन्थ्यो । लेख्ने र सोच्ने हतियारमा सांध लाग्थ्यो । तर प्रयोग नगर्दा टांडमा बर्खाभरी फालेको हँसियाको धार वा सन्दुक भित्र धुलोमा फालेको बन्दुकको नाल जस्तो बोधो र काम नलाग्ने हुँदो रहेछ वुद्धि र मानसिक क्षमता पनि । 

राम्रा, नराम्रा, सस्ता, गहकिला अनेक सोच, विचारहरू दिमागमा आइरन्छ्न्, गइरहन्छ्न् । कहिलेकाहिं आफ्नै सोच र विचारले आफैंलाई अचम्मित पार्छन् । कहिले दिक्क पनि पार्छन् । अझ फुर्सदमा र एकान्तमा त राम्रा नराम्रा सोच विचारहरुको वाढी नै आउँछ । जान्ने बुझ्नेले ध्यान बाट त्यसमा नियन्त्रण र एकरुपता ल्याउन सकिने कुरा गर्छन् तर त्यसको विशेष अनुभव नभएकोले विचारहरुको बाढीला समयसमयमा बगाएर टाढै पुर्‍याउँछन् । यिनै विचारहरुको बाढीमा प्राय फोहोर मैला र ढुंगा माटो बग्ने भएपनि कहिलेकाहिं राम्रा कुरा पनि बगेर आउँछन् । यसरी राम्रा कुराहरुको तरङ्ग उठेका बेला केही लेख्न र वचाउन सके पछि हेर्दा पनि रमाईलो लाग्ने रहेछ । ठूला लेखकहरुले आफू संधै लेख्ने साधन लिएर हिड्ने गरेको र जतिवेला केही राम्रो फुर्छ त्यसलाई तत्काल टिपोट गरिहाल्ने गरेको कुरा वारम्बार बताएका छन् । यो पनि अत्यन्त सानो रुपमा त्यहि अभ्यास हो । 

दिमागी क्षमता (वा वृहत अर्थमा भनौं विद्या) जति खर्च गर्‍यो त्यति बढ्छ भन्ने पुरानो सुक्ति अनुसार पनि खर्च नगरेको र चलायमान नगरेको वौद्धिक क्षमता ह्रासोन्मुख हुुनु आश्चर्य होइन । सोहि अनुरुप यो हरफकारको हरफ बनाउने जांगर र सोचहरुलाई निर्वाध रुपमा वाक्य र परिच्छेदमा परिवर्तन गर्ने क्षमता तथा गति पनि जति बानी छुट्यो त्यति अधोगतितिर लागेको अनुभव भयो । त्यो अझ खाडलमै पुग्ला भन्ने डरले पनि आफूलाई अलि जोडजुलुमसित उत्प्रेरित गरेर यी हरफहरु बनेका हुन् । यी अनुभवका छिटाहरु हुन् । ज्ञानका पेटारा हरु होइनन् । न हरफकार ज्ञानी व्यक्ति हो न उंसंग अरूसंग नभएको कुनै विशेष जानकारी नै छ । यी वाक्यहरू त केवल आफ्नो सोचहरुलाई विस्मृतिमा जानु अघि भविष्यको संस्मरणार्थ चमत्कारिक प्रविधिको प्रयोग गरी सुरक्षित गर्ने जमर्कोका परिणति मात्र हुन् । 

तर निरन्तर कुरा चलिरहने दिमागबाट निस्केका यी उद्गारले कसैको मन छोयो भने त झन सुनमा सुगन्ध जस्तै भैगयो । 

(( धेरै समयपछि यहाँ केही थप्न परोक्ष रुपमा झकझक्याएकोमा मेधावी सहकर्मी अमृत नेपाललाई साधुवाद सहित ...)

बुधबार २२ कार्तिक २०८०

 

Rule-breaking, Reacting and Regretting

 Most motivational and spiritual thinkers advise this: do not react, respond. It is simple but profound. It is very apt for everyday life. It is easy to remember but hard to implement. It is easy to advise but hard to adopt. Same is true with me. I am not a spiritual preacher or a motivational speaker or any of that sort. Still, I oftentimes find it hard to resist the temptation to advise others, to respond and not react spontaneously. Especially with my kids, junior colleagues and close-to-heart friends, I feel compelled, competent and confident to share those words of advice. 

Alas, when it comes to walking the talk, I more often than not slip and sometimes completely flounder. And when that happens, I spend days contemplating what transpired, thinking it over from every angle possible. I churn it, dissect it, analyze it and scrutinize it. Though I often try to blame the other side for the turn of events, upon much reflection it turns out that I am the one to blame. Had I not reacted in a certain way, the situation would have been entirely more positive. With a little prudence and in-situ compromise, I would have avoided the days of regret, head spinning churning of events and a sense of insufficiency as a responsible person. In short, most of the times, I find myself at fault. A fault that could be avoided without much effort and sacrifice or compromise on my part. 

Today, something similar happened. I was to drop my better half at an outlet in town and since the place did not have parking, I opted to move 200 meters ahead and wait on the side of the road. That side is often used for short-term parking and I have seen many vehicles standing there almost daily. I sidelined and waited, the engine of my Swift still revving. While I was thus waiting, two traffic policemen approached. One banged rather hard on my card and nonchalantly gestured me to move ahead as it was not allowed to park there. Perhaps it was the rather rough banging of his that put me off. I immediately 'reacted' and tried to counter him. I should just have moved on without entering into argument with the lad but all my prudence was subdued by my pride at being so called 'sophisticated sane man' and I thought small of the officer. That officer was doing duty and the duty of a traffic police on the roads of Kathmandu is perhaps among the most stressful ones. It is a fact I did not consider then. 

After my rather aggressive counter-argument, he opted for his ultimate weapon - use his authority on me. Still, I could have mollified, appreciated his diligence and won his favor but my pride got better of me and I was adamant. As a result, I was ticketed for a Rs. 500 fine, a compulsion to visit their outlet to reclaim my license and a prospect of red-face among so many others I often belittle silently belittle and deride for breaking the traffic rules. 

Finally, I had no option but to relent and move on, with a sky-blue ticket with my name on it, my license in the pocket of the policeman and me left with a train of thoughts and a pulsating chain of emotions. 

I know I should not have reacted that way. The officer was also slightly to blame as he could have politely asked me to move on but to expect such politeness from a stressed out police officer on the black-topped, hot tarmac of Kathmandu on a mid-June summer day would be much more to ask. In comparison, it was much easier for me just to accept my fault and move on as the place is not a designated parking area and anyone parking there would be breaking etiquette. It is not important whether I get punished or not but it was simply wrong. It is also not that important whether everyone else gets punished for similar offence because on my way back, I say at least 3 vehicles parked linearly on the same side of the road. As I was passing on, how would I to know whether they got away with it or not. But the fact is that I broke the code, got cautioned, was adamant, did not acknowledge fault and got punished. 

If it was a matter of an instantaneous fine of Rs. 500, it would have been easier but for me it is a matter of days of contemplation and regret. May be that is a process of learning for me. I wonder when I would act on all that I learn through these circumstances. 

Perhaps, it was for good as well. If it was not for the mishap, I would not have material for this piece. 

 

Book Review - A Promised Land by Obama

 Former US President Barack Obama is an inspiring leader. Not just for his constituents or political followers but for people across the world. A mixed race person with joint African and American ancestry, he  defied all odds to rise meteorically through the US political ladder to become its first African-American president in history. 

A man of extraordinary oratory skills and a considerable aura of personality, Obama surprised me also as a writer of great skills. In the 700-page tome 'A Promised Land' he walks the reader through his life and philosophy. Naturally, the book is dominated by his political odyssey starting from a state senator to federal senator and then the president. But for me the book would have been uninteresting if it were only a journal of his political endeavors. I found the book interesting because Obama mixes his political views, details of his journey with deep and sometimes surprising touches of philosophy, his wide sphere of knowledge of society and humanity, his outbursts of empathy for ordinary people and his willingness & ability to think from other person's perspective even in the most prejudiced situations. 

While the book gives a wide perspective of the current US political complexities, it also connects to the reader's own life. Obama, through is stories of family, relationships, early life struggles and even the inner turmoil he went through while trying to find best course of action as the world's most powerful man, connected to my own life challenges. The wide gamut of emotions as a son, spouse, father, friend, colleague and other aspects of a public life frequently overwhelm him in the same way as a layperson like me. He shows that despite once being the most powerful person on earth, he is still a human.

Incalculable Fun of Old Buddy Reunions

People talk about mid-life crises. The not-so-young body and a still young mind that can come to its youthful vibe when those old buddies are around. I had a similar rendezvous recently. These reunions happen time and again, specifically when one of those 'abroad-dwellers' comes back and wants to catch up. One or two folks coming from abroad prompts a few of those locals to catch up with the returnee as well as those around town. The travails of modern life, the rush to scale one steep hill of modern life after another or getting busy in those petty and never-ending chores of a mid-life situation do not provide a lot of opportunities to be together and have a light moment. Perhaps, specially for me, there is a level of deterrence from catching up with same old face too frequently. One finds not enough material to talk about or has too few items of news to share. And there is the social media that tends to keep others updated about what you do in your kitchen to what you talk about in your boardrooms. There is simply not much interersting stuff to talk about. Or my mind is simply too shy to socialize too often and repeat those same mild-profanity-laden gossip among friends. 

But whenever the occasion presents itself, there are a few of us who are really 'close' to each other who do want to make good of it. The 'closeness' is such that the talk often becomes noisy, full of those college-day dirty words, benign back-biting of colleagues, sharing of experiences, talks of fulfillments and regrets, those crests and troughs of family & professional life, and, indeed, making plans for future. Some wild, absurd plans and some pretty serious ones as well. 

Above all the sharing and mutual enlightenments, the thing I like most about these college buddy reunions is the feeling of boyish (or girlish, for that matter) mischievousness that is most fun and gratifying. That one can talk any crap and the people around will not give a damn about it. They might even  revel in it. Add a few shots of that golden booze and the talk gets even more euphoric, enthusiastic and energetic. Suddenly, many dreams come to the fore and collide with each other. Lightheartedness overcomes the sense of heavy boredom caused by the hectic modern, middle-class life of rush and half-met aspirations. We become the same old college kid with some shades of grown-up enlightenments. 

With almost all the close buddies abroad, these reunions are becoming even more rare. However, the prize of rarity is that whenever it happens, it causes the utmost level of unabated ecstasy. Altercations, mutual bashing, ear-to-ear smiles, devouring of limitless plates of snacks and downing of uncounted classes of drinks all amalgamate to create an experience that, with some snaps shared over social media, ends up causing immense sense of pain and loss for those who are left out of it. That one can create that feeling of loss and envy on those missing out, ironically, is another matter of joy and glory for those who participate in the event. 

I have to confess I am not the one to make such reunions happen. But it is my great luck to have a few pals who remember not to forget me. Poor me that I still miss almost half of those. But whenever I am able to make it, it really overhauls my system, charges my batteries and makes me ready for another bout of rough ride through that perilous road of middle-aged professional family person's boring, hectic and anxious life. 

It is a stage of life when one thinks more about family, kids and future rather than about oneself and the present moment. It is a stage when there are more regrets and feelings of misses than those of aspirations and achievements. It is that stage of anxiety and uncertainty that is very aptly called 'mid-life crisis'. It is when one stops dreaming about changing the world but still wants to make some kind of impact. It is a stage when one consoles oneself by repeating the old adage that it is never late to start something good but one still has the gut feeling that it is already too late. Even in this torrid stage of life, these rare gatherings give me and (i dare to claim) others like me a moment of joy and genuine, wholesome refreshment. It's all because of those handful of people among billions that one can really call 'buddies'.

Thanks buddies. You make my day and many days following the one I am with you.  

18 December 2022