KAYAKAVE KAILASA... WORK IS WORSHIP
One of the most perplexing pieces of advice I have
received, from almost all the doctors who treated me recently – my surgeon, oncologist, nephrologist, urologist
and the cardiologist – yes, all of them advised me to ‘go back to work’… Yes,
as soon as possible. In fact, immediately once I was discharged from the
hospital....
Well, it sounded very strange and funny, even stupid and cruel, at
first. “What? Go back to work immediately after two major surgeries? I need to
recover fully… regain my strength.... and, you know, all that self-comforting
dialogues inside!
When I slowly began to feel bored and depressed lying on bed, I realized
as to why my doctors did not want me to overstay at home… Yes, I decided to
resume my work ‘as soon as possible’!
Almost all the doctors, who treated me, worked ‘crazily’… I have seen
how my surgeon, a friend and a well-wisher, works in his OPD and performs surgeries
in hospitals all across Mumbai city and beyond… I have seen how my nephrologist
and urologist work… My oncologist, a well-known name in major hospitals and a
very gentle soul, has a mind-numbing way of working at his Cancer OPD… People
come from all over and line up to consult him on two nights – on Saturdays and
Mondays… and, hold your breath… It goes on from 9 in the night to 4 in the
morning! Crazy! Yes, this was how my wife and I first thought when our turn had
come at 12 in the night to walk into his cabin… And, I remember how my cardiologist,
an amazingly compassionate lady doctor, would do her hospital rounds… She has
woken me up as late as at 12 in the night… “Hello Gerald,” she would warmly
make me open my eyes, “how are you feeling now?”
Yes, while everybody around me thought I had to cut down on my work, my
doctors never thought so. Probably, they all knew, that it was not the work which
brought disease to us, but the attitude with which we worked. Surely, I did not
work the way my doctors worked. I was more organized and disciplined in that sense…
The social reformer and revolutionary philosopher of 12 th century,
Basavanna, in the present state of Karnataka, preached the simple doctrine of
‘Kayakave Kailasa’… ‘Kayaka’ means ‘work’ and ‘Kailasa’ means ‘Heaven’. It conveyed
– ‘Work is worship’… It was he who made the statement – ‘Body is the temple of
God’ – popular among the masses.
When I was a little boy in my village (in Mangalore),
I would hear about the free eye-surgery camps organized my Dr. Modi. This
doctor was like an evangelist… He toured across the length and breadth of our
country, especially remote villages, and performed eye surgeries – cataract, cornea
implant etc It was mind-blowing…
sometimes over 700 surgeries a day… he handled almost four patients at a time… He
examined over ten million patients and performed over seven lakh eye surgeries through his missionary zeal…
All free of cost… including giving free spectacles and food for the patients.
Just a three things drove this doctor’s life… the sight of blind people begging
on the streets… a speech he heard at one of the payer meets of Mahatma Gandhi
and Basavanna’s guiding philosophy – ‘Kayakave Kailasa’… ‘Work is Worship’!
Dr. Modi lived till the ripe age of 90, and, surely, he did not die of,
what to lesser mortals seemed to be, his ‘insane work’…
The work, even I believe, doesn’t’ kill us. Our attitude does. To me,
work is how we express ourselves through our specialties. For example: I love
teaching, writing, mentoring etc. It’s so close to my heart and it comes so
naturally… I did not start any of these as a ‘Job’ to earn money… Money came as
a by-product of my work… I continue to do all my activities, because I feel
very, very joyful and fulfilled doing what I love…
And, I, also, firmly believe, that’s how many of the finest
professionals - doctors, lawyers,
engineers, architects, artists, actors, musicians, singers, teachers,
businessmen etc – view their ‘work’… They work ‘crazily’ and earn ‘loads’ of
money… But, most of them make that money through a small portion of their work,
while they do a major portion of their work free of cost… And, yes, they do it quietly
without making any noise!
Unfortunately, some of us only see the ‘bags of money’ these
professionals make… We don’t even bother to scratch the surface!
Last night, I happened to watch a video, in which
I heard Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, the well-known Head Neck Cancer surgeon from
Tata Memorial Hospital, convey a wonderful message to other doctors…
Well, what Dr, Chaturvedi tells is what we all know, but tend to forget…
That, our work need not be something we should do only to make money (‘Kriya’)…
It can be something we need to do in order to nourish our souls and touch
people’s lives, letting money come just as a by-product of that joyful work (“Karma’)…
And, every Karma Yogi knows it… That, work never kills, the attitude
does…
Yes Sir, ‘Kayakave Kailasa’… Work is Worship.
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: Chetna Shetty
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