#Prayagraj Kumbh Parva | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hrk4 · 5 years

Text

The year that was...

Dear Friends:

Season’s Greetings!

Ten years ago, in December 2010, for the first time I wrote my reminiscences of the year. It was inspired by a short photo-blog that my friend Aditya J. wrote after his first few months in Seoul, where he had been sent onsite. Looking at my work over the past decade through my writings should have evoked in me some sort of emotional response, be it joy or disappointment or pride or despair or even disdain. I read through all the older posts (which, in total, came to around 10,000 words) and by the time I was done, there was a strange feeling of “Ok, fine, but never mind. What next?” It was not apathy, for I undertook most of those activities with genuine interest. It was also not dissatisfaction, because I’ve accomplished a fair deal in ten years given my limitations and circumstances. It was more an acceptance of what has happened without any sentimental coloring added to it. There was inexplicable sense of detachment; a feeling that these memoirs are those of a familiar character but not me.

When I started writing these end-of-the-year e-mails—initially to a small group of family and friends, and later online—there was a need for me to prove to the world that I was indeed doing something of value, especially given that I had quit a mainstream career and was pursuing my interests full-time. It was perhaps a plea, a boast, a shout that was aimed at bringing people’s attention to the fact that I was not wasting my life but actually doing something worthwhile. By the end of the following year, I seem to have realized that it was really pointless trying to prove anything to anybody. However, this cute little exercise in self-awareness was captivating for the sort of perspective it offered me. And I decided to write it again. And again. And again. For ten years on the trot. It is now aimed merely as self-reflection and I post it online simply because there are a few people who have shown interest in browsing through these yearly jottings of mine. Maybe there is yet a self-indulgent streak in me but I suppose this annual drill has a modicum of value.

In the grand—and painfully slow—process of the maturing of the mind, I found (to my utter surprise) that a few precepts that I had known in theory for several years seemed to be slowing blossoming into practice. More and more I moved towards my sva-dharma, my innate nature. I began refusing opportunities, staying away from certain people, avoiding particular institutions, putting a stop to certain activities – basically saying No! to anything that took me away from my natural temperament. I was also privy to several episodes in the lives of my friends where they suffered a great deal simply because they went against their fundamental nature. Only now do I truly understand what Krishna said in the Gita when he said, “The dharma of another is dangerous!” I also began realizing the value of being more inclusive and getting work done rather than trying to do everything myself. I ended up doing something that I had deemed impossible when I was a college freshman.

One accomplishment that I’m genuinely glad about this year is losing fifteen pounds (at least it sounds more than seven kilograms!) Mostly thanks to the persistence of my friend Shreesha and the good nature of people around me who allowed me to act whimsical with regard to food and pushed me to exercise. Another is the publication of the Bhagavad-Gita Audiobook, which appears as a series on Shaale. I had recorded this with Jurgen Nigli and Somsubhra Banerjee in 2015–16 but had somehow not found the time to edit and bring it out. I’ve started publishing it from Gita-Jayanti 2019 and it will run as a series with 20+ episodes (a new episode every Saturday).

This year I was involved with the production of quite a few books, the prominent ones being Art Gallery of Memories – Volumes 1, 2, 3 (by D V Gundappa), Evolution of the Mahabharata (by S R Ramaswamy) and Shiva Rama Krishna (by Shatavadhani Dr. R Ganesh). I designed a bunch of books and also worked on the digitization of portions of some Sanskrit texts. I made my Kannada writing debut with an essay I co-wrote with my friend Vikram for the anthology ‘ನಿರ್ಲಿಪ್ತಿ.’ I got a chance to present a few lectures and workshops through the course of the year for variegated audiences on different topics. I also attended two excellent workshops on Indian temple art and architecture.

My unfinished projects and failed schemes are, quite naturally, far more in number but I’ve learnt not to take those too seriously. One year’s failure is another year’s success. One year’s incompleteness is another year’s discretion. This became amply clear when upon the request of my colleague I prepared my curriculum vitae after a gap of seven years.

In April 2019—along with a group of friends—I completed reading the five-volume pièce de résistance of Bharat Ratna Pandurang Vaman Kane – History of Dharmaśāstra, which runs into some six thousand pages. The study group started in October 2016 and met once every week. We read fifty pages before every session and met every Wednesday night for a few hours, discussing the nuances with rich insights provided by all participants. I continue to be a part of several study groups with friends, which is really a wonderful way to spend ‘social time’ without feeling guilty for having wasted the hours and yet having a great deal of fun. As part of these study groups, I got the chance to read two classics – Macbeth and Parva. महापुरुषसंसर्गः कस्य नोन्नतिकारकः? (When has the company of a great person ever failed to elevate the lives of others?)

A few months after I finished reading the History of Dharmaśāstra, I had the golden opportunity to meet P V Kane’s grandson in Pune (along with my friends Kashyap and Raghavendra). He shared wonderful stories about his grandfather and was glad to hear about our study group that read the entire work from cover to cover. Sudha Murty, the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation had invited the Prekshaa team for dinner to her home and we had a great time interacting with her as well as with N R Narayana Murty and Rohan Murty about a variety of topics related to culture. Along with my friends Arjun and Kashyap, I had the great fortune of visiting Dr. S L Bhyrappa’s home twice this year.

I had the remarkable experience of encountering the works of two great artistes of our time: I saw a couple of dance concerts of Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, who is a phenomenon in the world of dance and culture. No music, no film, no drama can come anywhere close to watching her perform live. I say this as an ardent connoisseur of all these arts. I got the chance to see the paintings of Sri. G L N Simha and also meet him briefly. A most unassuming man, he has painted some of the finest works related to Indian traditional texts.

2019 was a year of meeting several friends (who don’t live in Bengaluru) and of making new friends. It was also a year of losing many elderly relatives and friends. We can’t avoid old age and death but we sure can prepare for it better.

As always, my year is incomplete without a certain amount of travelling. Apart from trips to Ajanta-Ellora, Belur-Halebidu, Chennai, Harihara, Hampi, Kanchipuram, Mysuru, Panjim, Pune, and other smaller towns and villages, I had the chance to visit two important pilgrim centers – Prayagraj for the Ardh-Kumbh Mela and Kanchipuram for the darshana of Atthi-varadar. Although I’m rather faithless in many ways, it was fascinating to see the devotion in millions of our people. It is rather discouraging when I come face to face with the truth that simple faith of the so-called ignorant masses is what keeps Sanatana-dharma alive and not the kind of stuff that I do. That said, I can’t not do what I do because my joy lies here :)

I look forward to 2020 with a hope to cultivate more focus, more stillness of mind. Can I be happier for longer? How can I be more mindful on a daily basis? Can I live with lesser? How can I best choose my projects? – these are the sort of questions I shall probably be grappling with through the year.

One more year has whizzed past. Perhaps I’m just getting used to the speed. Or perhaps I’m somewhat more confident of slowing down in the future. Who knows what’s in store! I smile as I look towards tomorrow.

Wishing you and your family a joy-filled, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Cheers, Hari

PS: At the start of the year, India’s political situation was rather dicey. The country was going to have the once-in-five-years Lok Sabha elections. PM Narendra Modi had done a decent job during his first tenure (2014–19) and there was not a single leader in any party (including his own) who came close to him in terms of either integrity or skill in implementation. The opposition parties were threatening to unite across board with the sole agenda of defeating Modi. Inspired by what Dr. S L Bhyrappa told me and my friends when we met him in 2018, I called for a meeting of a few friends on Republic Day 2019. We all had the same goal: to get Modi re-elected in 2019. To ensure that we don’t have a hung parliament and to give another chance to a politician who had done something positive after ten long years of absolute corruption, deceit, and anti-nationalism, we wanted to work in our own humble way. Starting from that meeting on a warm Saturday afternoon, we went a long way in our campaign. It was entirely funded and run by volunteers who came together of their accord. What we did in terms of the details is unnecessary here but it came as a huge relief that Modi & co. stormed back into power in May 2019. The extraordinary work that they have done in the past six months makes me feel that everything we did during those early months of the year was worth it. Things are not perfect but at least we can be happy that the best people among the ones available to us have been elected to the highest offices of the country. I don’t know what value I added in the process but the process added a lot of value to me!

#memoirs #newyear

0 notes