Say a little prayer

Every night as I put my little Smera to sleep, I say a prayer thanking god for the things he has blessed us with. Now that she has become big she has started saying her prayers herself. It goes something like this. “Thank you God for the food we eat, thank you god the playground we have, for cheese and chocolate milk Mamma gives and for the Lego that daddy will get me on my birthday. Could you also give me Queen Elsa dress and a big cake? Thank you for everything!!”

Much as it sounds funny, but she is god’s blessed child to have a good childhood for she has good health, good school, healthy food and a home to live in. There are so many who are struggling for their sustenance of the very basic called – Life!

Image: corbis.com

What angers me the most is that we humans are ready to kill each in the name of our religion. And I don’t believe in religions, I only believe in the existence of God and humanity for all. All these religious upheaval happening across the world makes me wonder what are becoming into. I am a Hindu by birth, married to a Christian, lives in an Islamic country but in all of this religion has no importance in my life. I do go to the temple, church, mosque or gurdwara only for one reason they give me peace.

The Quran says, ‘There shall be no compulsion in the matter of faith. Distinct is the way of guidance now from error.’ There is great wisdom hidden in this line, our actions defines our intention and we people will receive only what we intended. Then why not wish for good things for everyone, peace and happiness, wouldn’t the world become a better place then?

We humans fight in the name of Allah, Jesus, Ram, Krishna but have we ever thought what the god wants from us. Whether one believes in a religion or not, but we all appreciate true act of kindness and compassion. To truly understand the God we people should stop debating about scriptures and religious texts; this only lets down our faith in the almighty!

Dalai Lama once said, “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

If we have lost our feeling of peace and harmony, it is because that we have put out of our minds that we all are a part of the very same god. I was reading something Bulleh Shah, the great Sufi philosopher once said,

“Break down the mosque, break down the temple

Break down whatever there is besides;

But never break a human heart

That is where God himself resides.”

Let's keep our eyes and ears open, help those who need us. Stand for what is Right and I am sure our good intentions will somehow find the right path! But if this to happen it has to start with me and my family! 

Mary and Martha made me feel really helpless tonight

Just finished watching a movie called Mary and Martha - watching the movie has made me feel really small in my own eyes.  Sometimes just surviving life is enough for some people and we are lucky to have good education, jobs, kids, happy families, bank balance, annual vacations and much more! There are some movies that are just meant to shake you up, get you out of this dream and that is what this movie has exactly aimed at doing.

The movie plot if you may ask is - The two women turn their grief into action, hoping to thwart the disease, which the World Health Organization estimates killed 660,000 people in 2010, most of them African children. The movie builds to a scene in which the women testify before a Congressional subcommittee. In the process, Mary and Martha come to realize that the losses experienced by two comfortable white Western households are atypical, and that the real impact of malaria is on parts of the world that few people in their circles know or care about. 

 

Image: Telegraph.co.uk

But what it meant to me is that, sitting and cribbing about the government would not help. We need to make little steps, in our lives to make our environment a better place. Each one can teach one, or you could sponsor somebody’s medical cost, fund a child’s education. Imagine if we all did just one good thing what a better place it would be.

As a ritual, we don’t celebrate in family my birthdays or other big occasion with grandeur, have lavish parties or expensive gifts. We give that money back to the community where it could be used more wisely. Even then I felt so small after watching this movie, leaving me with the feeling that I am not doing enough.  And so I urge you watch this movie, with your kids, spend sometime doing a little for your community. If nothing else it will surely give you peace in life, which is what we all are craving for in our lives.

 

Image: Mirror.co.uk

Don’t go looking to far, you can start from home – give lady who comes to clean a little extra money, give the watchman who guards your building some groceries, buying books the ironing lady’s children or just spend time at an orphanage or an old age home.

We can play a little part, let us not wait for the change to happen, let us make it happen!

Credits:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_and_Martha_(film)