Someone asked me – What is it I celebrate most? Initially I did not know what to reply. As I began looking into this aspect, the way I have been looking at this question or my Drishti has changed. Finally, I replied there is only one thing that I celebrate the most – Myself! But firstly, a few words about Drishti. Drishti (Sanskrit) means seeing, a glance or attention. Drishti can also refer to the focus or point of view of the mind. It is a means of developing concentrated intention and to see the world as it is. My Drishti or the way I look at this question in a different way. Hence, I replied in the following manner:
I do not celebrate festivals or visiting temples. All temples are the same. There is no difference at all. There will be a sanctum sanctorum, a priest and a hanging bell. Gods & Goddesses seem to take fascination for the hymns, songs that glorify their own daily lives. This is my Drishti.
Let me explain for example the song: ‘Mata Sati Parvathi Pita Mahadeva’. Through these songs are we not reading the God’s bio data – right? Flowers, incense sticks, dhoop and most of all the coconuts – these are few of those things that populate every temple. The ‘Prasad’ – invariably will be a Laddu / Halwa (both are Indian sweets). I am at a loss to understand as to why the God likes coconut and sweets most! How can I celebrate this rut when I firmly believe that gods do not live in these stuffy, ever stinking and dark temple holes with no ventilation and fresh air? No sir. I do not celebrate visiting temples. Rather I abhor the temples. This is my Drishti.
I do not celebrate the festivals either! All festivals, without exception, are celebrated in the glorification of some god or the other. For the birth of a god, we have a festival. When the god gets married, we have yet another festival. Similarly, when the god kills a devil / demon / bad man, we have still another festival! In a word all festivals are in some way or the other make us to visit the temples. The rest of the activity is but the same as that of visiting temples. I would rather celebrate the festivals of the gods of present day than mythological! This is my Drishti.
Nor do I celebrate wearing new clothes or eating Biryani (Indian synonym for good food) or coming first in the academics. For me what I eat is good food and whenever I wear new clothes, it is festival. When I understand, it is academics for me. Why should I wear new clothes for festivals alone? Or why should I come first in academics? What is wrong in coming second? I would rather win my life; come first in life than in academics. This is my Drishti.
I do not also celebrate drinking alcohol or smoking or social media or travelling. I am witnessing a new unheard trend – for example, people travel in cars, airplanes etc. to visit places of religion, to drink alcohol, social media, and sex etc.
You may ask: Are you then living like a tree or a rock or an animal? What kind of species are you if you do not ‘Celebrate life’? Are you a human being at all?
I am, indeed, a human being. At least I consider myself as the human being. Hence, kindly allow me to put your useless doubts to rest. For me the world is as I see; it is not what the religions, social media, gods or the society says. I follow me, not the gods. For me it can never be the case of ‘Celebration of life’. I always celebrate myself. I celebrate myself because I am alive. I am living. I am living in this moment. I alone can know the depth of the moment, no one else in the world can ever know. Thus, I live in eternity. Can you please tell me what can be greater than ‘Celebrating myself’ of living in eternity? This is my Drishti.
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional. What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
