THE LOGIC OF THE LAMP














“You cannot defeat darkness
by running from it.”

Seth Adam Smith

Ever since our Prime Minister came on TV, yesterday, and urged us to switch off the lights at our homes and light a lamp – a diya, candle or a torch – most of us have been flooded with very interesting messages: Why we all must follow our PM’s advice, and what is the ‘logic’ behind this advice, particularly,  why  he has chosen 5th  April, Sunday, at 9 pm and for 9 minutes!

The last time, when it was on a Sunday at 5 pm for 5minutes – with taali, thaali or ghanti – we saw how it all ended up… how deeply grateful  we all had been to our medical staff… and, above all, what a transformation of hearts that has come about!

Yes, this time, too, most of us seem to be needing the Prime Minister of our country to remind us to light a lamp to dispel the darkness from our lives! Yes, most of us seem to be, once again, waiting for 5th April, Sunday, 9 pm to self-create a darkness and dispel it with diyas, candles and torches for 9 minutes!

Yes, it seems, we all are waiting to scream – like the last time – “We did it” … “We did it”!

Everything we do in life – including our religious rituals – has a ‘logic’ behind it. So, you and I can justify our rituals with the scientific or astrological logic behind them. But, I can’t understand this simple logic, Sir: Why do we need our Prime Minister to remind us to light a lamp to dispel the darkness in our lives? Why do we need to wait till 5th April, Sunday, 9 pm and keep our lamps lit for nine minutes?

Yes, are we not wise enough to understand, that the need today is the light within; that it is urgent and cannot be postponed till Sunday 9 pm?

Lamps lit on our balconies may be able to dispel the outside darkness for nine minutes; but, to dispel the darkness within – and not just for nine minutes - we need to be ever vigilant – awake, alert and alive!

This old story comes to my mind… It may be helpful, now, when ‘darkness’ has fallen upon us:


THE BLIND MAN
AND HIS LANTERN 

 Once, a blind-man had been to another town to visit his friend. Late that evening, when the blind-man was ready to leave, his friend lit a lantern and handed it over to the blind-man, saying, “My friend, soon it will be dark outside; please carry this lantern along.”


The blind-man was amused. “I am a blind-man, my dear friend,” he laughed at the suggestion of his friend, “for me, a night and a day are both same.”


“This lamp is not for you,” the friend explained, “this is for others to see a blind-man walking in the darkness.”


“That makes a lot of sense,” the blind-man agreed, “I will carry the lamp with me to wade safely through the darkness.”


Thus, that night, the blind-man, holding in his hand the lantern given by his friend, was on his way home. Along the way, a passerby saw the blind-man with lantern in his hand and asked curiously, “Tell me O stranger, what good can that lantern serve you in this darkness?”


The blind-man had a ready logic packed and parceled by his friend while leaving. So, he quickly replied, “This lantern is for you so see a blind-man walking in the darkness.”

“But, my dear stranger,” the passerby pointed, “the light is long out of your lantern!”





GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: www.istockphoto.com

Video: Vishnu Vasu


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or pain...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...