Infantile India: an editorial from the Times of India

LEADER ARTICLE: Infantile India-Editorial-OPINION-The Times of India

In a very well written piece, Jug Suraiya has brilliantly analyzed the reactions of several members of the Indian public. Some of his observations are spot on. But generalizing this to a national and civilizational level is probably stretching it a bit too far.

I tend to agree with his characterization of the typical Indian fan.

"..Many of the most demonstrative of Indian fans would be hard put to distinguish between off-spin and leg-spin. What the Indian fan is looking for is the adrenaline rush of winning, never mind the hows and whys.(Divine intervention is also seen as a legitimate source of victory: on Sunday night/Monday morning, prayers were being offered that Bermuda triumph over Bangladesh, thus enabling India to effect a back-door entry into the Super Eight.)"

He makes a jump after this point. He says that instant gratification without due effort marks most of India. He compares this behavior to :

The child wants a treat, an ice cream, and it wants it now. Not after it has earned the treat, by completing its homework or fulfilling some other form of compensatory obligation, but right now. And if it is denied the immediate gratification of its desire it will resort to the non-rational, magical behaviour of a tantrum: a wordless shriek of outrage which precludes any possibility of argument or negotiation.

It is at this point that he begins to generalize this. He takes this to denote the gain-without-pain attitude that is to be seen as a mark of infantilism or lack of maturation. For his data point, he brings in the examples of Singur and Nandigram and chastises the CPM for getting "fixated on reviving the state's moribund manufacturing sector".

But he has a point. In the system of democracy, where a party can garner votes only by promising and trying to implement such populist measures, both people and politicians look forward to getting something done just like that. But this definitely does not gel with real Indian civilization. For example, there is this famous subhAShita -

"gacchatpipIlikA yAti yojanAni shatAnyapi |
agacChan vainateyo.api padamekam na gacChati ||"

which says that even an ant that is moving can cover hundreds of miles, but even the king of birds, vainateya (garuDa), if he is unmoving, does not cover even a foot.This particular verse, known by several people, indicates the preferred behavior over the non-preferred. Indian civilization has always been for "necessary deferring of gratification" which Jug Suraiya holds to be a sign of "maturation".(I definitely agree with him on this).

When Jug Suraiya says that this infantilism is not compatible with "a republic that lays claim (emphases mine) to ancient civilisational values", it looks like he is actually saying that India just is laying claim to but doesn't really possess ancient values. I don't agree with that. Stupid people have been born at all times. The act of a few stupid people can cause big things. The following image from thinkgeek.com says it all





But as in this picture, stupid people are few. The vast majority of India doesn't care about things such as cricket. They have themselves to take care of.

On the ignominious Indian exit from the World Cup

I've been reading news reports over how Dravid, Tendulkar, Sreesanth and others were weeping upon exiting the world cup at such an early stage.



Poor Sreesanth could never play - but why were Dravid and Tendulkar weeping? They very well had it in them to change the course of the match. They should have knuckled down and played. I know the defeat can be sad, but what is the point of weeping? Or, could that be because of the loss of their potential financial benefits? I have high regard for both Dravid and Tendulkar. On their day, they can easily take an attack apart - but they couldn't do anything against Mortaza and the gentle left arm spin of Bangladesh, who got badly mauled by the SriLankans later. Why did they weep?



And also, our guys were heroes at home. They defeated Sri Lanka at home so easily when it didn't matter and now when it really mattered, they couldn't do much.



So much for the fancy coaching from the great Greg Chappell. Tom Moody, who initially interviewed for the position of Indian coach, must be laughing at the Indian Board. When John Wright could succeed with almost the same team, why couldn't Greg?



I, for one, was sick of his almost stupid experimenting with the batting order. Those things just didn't pay! India should have had a more conventional coach who got his team playing cricket rather than football during practice!



And Dravid -- though he is a good player, he is quite a lousy captain. He insisted upon Uthappa - and contributed to the demise of India in the world cup. A solid opening partnership could have saved India the blushes against Bangladesh and also against Sri Lanka. Uthappa shouldn't have opened at all. He could have been put through his paces in some other tournament. By relying far too much on a debutant, India dug its own grave.



Anyway, I am sick and tired of watching spineless performances by the Indian team. I actually now look forward to Sri Lanka and New Zealand who are the dark horses in this tournament. Now, I can watch the game for its own sake without extra patriotic feelings.

Exam season - a trip down memory lane

When I began to scan today's newspaper, the first thing that I caught my eyes was the note that SSLC exams were beginning today. That took me a trip down memory lane.

Even though the last exam I wrote was quite a while ago, the mention of the word "exam" still brings up a variety of feelings in me. Nostalgia, fear and relief together is a unique combination.

When we undergo an ordeal, it seems most distressing at that moment. But after a while, we seem to enjoy it. And after even more time, we begin to miss it! Exams were just like that. I still remember the ceaseless preparations, late night studies (mostly because I lazed around during most of the year), anxiety and a whole range of what-ifs. What if this question for which I was not prepared appeared in the paper? Just thinking about that possibility made many a student nervous.

I still remember the food restriction imposed at home. I was supposed to eat only light food - not that I had the appetite to eat anything at all! And of course, the unavoidable drowsiness! During other times, I would be able to stay up late at night - but during exams, no, not at all! I would feel drowsy at 8 PM!!

Mid-term exams were never a problem - but final exams were. One reason was that they all happened in the scorching summer. I used to have exams at 2 PM. Imagine walking to school in the wonderfully hot summer sun at 12:30 PM! That too with all that tension!

And can we forget the Divine? Especially during exam times? Such fervor was never seen before and would never be seen till the next exams! How devoutly we bowed down to the pictures of Gods and to the temples on the way to school! How devoutly did several of us apply vermilion and vibhUti on our otherwise unadorned foreheads!

I had pictures of my favorite God Ganesha pasted on my pad! And that pad! That unavoidable accoutrement of the exam season! That faithful companion when all else, including your textbooks, friends and other resources, had abandoned you! That wonderful thing that provided support to your answer sheets! Was any pad other than my lucky pad acceptable? What if I took something else and the question paper became so ponderously unanswerable (shudder) !

And when you went into that exam, you would have friends (would you call them friends then?) waiting around. Some would be better prepared than you and a few others would give you that happy consolation that you had company! Some officious ones would try to check your level of preparedness before the exam, asking about some obscure thing in the text book, which, of course, you would have heard about only then! Then you would spend the rest of the time praying for that not to appear in the paper, or if you were a bit braver, try to finally (and frantically) see those unopened corners of the book where such precious nuggets were hidden.

That usual bell which signaled commencement of the day's classes otherwise, would sound ominous. This would then set off a slowly trudging group of sober students towards their exam rooms. Once textbooks and bags had been laid in that inaccessible corner, students would then approach their seats and sit in them, all the while offering silent prayer or recalling that tidbit which would become useless in a couple of hours.

The wait for the question paper would be a veritable eternity. Once the answer papers were given, several would mark it with their favorite auspicious word - be it Sri or OM or RAM or whatever! And finally would the paper be delivered. Some would begin scanning the papers and others would begin scanning the faces of their classmates. A purposeful smile let out by the second ranker would rankle the first ranker whose position would be in jeopardy if he/she didn't do well. The answering would begin.

There were always those who felt great sadistic joy in requesting for that first additional sheet with a triumphant spring from their seats! These would inevitably draw anxious eyes from the rest of the room. And competition would begin for more sheets amongst the students.

Some would always get out of any exam thirty minutes before the rest. Everybody would look at that person incredulously. "What is with this guy? Is he faster or am I slower?". Some confident guys would think - "Poor guy. Probably didn't know the answers to all the questions". And then there were those from whom answer sheets had to be literally snatched away by the invigilator.

How can I forget that rarely absent, mostly latent, sometimes patent and even blatant tendency to copy? In mathematics exams, one could see the dire desire of several students to check if they indeed had obtained the right answer. Ingenious means of communication would have been developed for this juvenile act. Of course, a few unfortunate ones got debarred at public examinations.

Once the students got out of the halls, there would be this cross-checking with others. These meddlesome ones who wanted to check all the answers of their classmates would be chased away by those sullen characters who would be sure of their dismal performance in the exam even without being sure of the correctness of their answers.

This solemn process would occur on each day of the exam.

This dark cloud of the exam had the silver lining of the last day when everybody knew that their ordeal had come to an end. They would not be subject to any more torture that year. They were free! It is this feeling that evokes a fond feeling of nostalgia even now. Once enmeshed in the real world, things to look forward to are not that easily available; one would have to make them by and for oneself. The exam (and the subsequent long summer vacation) presented a system provided annual event which would be the thing to collectively look forward to.

When elders would tell us wistfully that student life was golden, we would curse them for not being sympathetic before grudgingly looking at our textbooks. How true they were! When I advise students (usually some hapless young relative that I have captured for the time being) to enjoy their student lives, I feel as if I am looking at a mirror that shows my face back in time.

But relief is another feeling that accompanies thoughts about examinations. No more of those cruel "Draw a diagram of the digestive system of a frog. Label the parts" or "Write short notes on Alfonso de Albuquerque". No more cramming useless dates for questions such as "Describe the causes, course and results of the (put your most hated battle here)".

This is something that will never come back in our lives. We may relive the same through our children or reminisce about those wonderful, crazy, funny, young and innocent moments.

"koi lauTA de mere beete hue din" - sings the Hindi part of my brain. Or for those preferring English, Bryan Adams sang - "Those were the best days of my life".

ಸರ್ವಜಿತ್ ಸಂವತ್ಸರದ ಹಾರ್ದಿಕ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು

ನನ್ನ ಬಡಬ್ಲಾಗಿಗೆ ಬಂದು ಓದುವವರೆಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ನೂತನ ಚಾಂದ್ರಮಾನಸಂವತ್ಸರದ ಹಾರ್ದಿಕ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು. ಓದದವರಿಗೂ ಹಾರ್ದಿಕ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು! ಆದರೆ ಇದನ್ನು ಓದದಿದ್ದರೆ ನನ್ನ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು ಅವರನ್ನು ಮುಟ್ಟುವುದಿಲ್ಲವಲ್ಲ? ಆದರೇನು, ಪರೋಕ್ಷವಾಗಿಯಾದರೂ ಅವರಿಗೂ ನನ್ನ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು ಸಲ್ಲುತ್ತವೆ.



ಇಂದು ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಬೇವು-ಬೆಲ್ಲವನ್ನು



"ಶತಾಯುರ್ವಜ್ರದೇಹಾಯ ಸರ್ವಸಂಪತ್ಕರಾಯ ಚ |

ಸರ್ವಾರಿಷ್ಟವಿನಾಶಾಯ ನಿಂಬಕಂ ದಲಭಕ್ಷಣಮ್ ||"



ಎಂಬ ಶ್ಲೋಕವನ್ನು ಪಠಿಸಿ ಸೇವಿಸಿದ್ದೀರೆಂದು ನಂಬಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಈ ವರ್ಷ ನಿಮಗೆ ಬೇವು ಬಂದರೂ ಅದು ಬೆಲ್ಲದ ಜೊತೆಗಿರಲಿ, ತಿನ್ನಲು ತುಂಬ ಕಹಿಯಾಗದಿರಲಿ.



ಸರ್ವಜಿತ್ ಎಂಬ ಹೆಸರು ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿರುವುದು. ಎಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಗೆಲ್ಲುವುದು ಎಂಬುದು ಇದರ ಅರ್ಥ. ಆ ಹೆಸರಿನ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಈ ಸಂವತ್ಸರವು ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಜಯವನ್ನು ತಂದುಕೊಡಲಿ ಎಂದು ಹಾರೈಸುತ್ತೇನೆ.



|| ಶುಭಂ ಭೂಯಾತ್ ||

And that's the trouble with India

And that's the trouble with India

Though the tone of the above well-written article can at some times be seen as complaining, the statements made in that are all, unfortunately, true.

Being a witness to the daily traffic in Bangalore and its horrors, I totally agree with the basic thrust of the article that India has a lot of catching up to do in the infrastructure area. Or, India has to risk going back in time. I felt vexed that several people and politicians look at development of roads as something that harms agriculture.

It will benefit the reader to read the article with an open mind.

Reading this article was like an emotional roller coaster for me. Naturally, a question arose as to what the role of the individual is. This is something that I have to reflect about. It sure means paying taxes and staying honest. But is there something else that we as individuals can do?

Janaagraha is a good movement in this direction in Bangalore. But honestly, I have not found time to check it out even after a couple of years (as a come-back-Bangalorean) in Bangalore. I also don't know anybody who has directly worked with this organization.

संस्कृते आधुनिक-संवहनम् ।

संस्कृतं देवभाषा गीर्वाणभाषा चेति सुविख्याता । संस्कृतवाङ्मयं अनुपमं श्रॆष्ठं च इति तु सर्वविदितम् । तस्यां प्रहेलिका-सुभाषित-काव्येतिहास-वैद्यक-खगोल-रसायन-शास्त्रादयः सुष्ठु निबद्धाः । संस्कृतं तथा अनिर्दिष्टापि भारतदेशस्य राष्ट्रभाषा इव इति सर्वैः अङ्गीक्रियते स्म । संस्कृतविद्वांसः भूरि-गौरव-राजाश्रय-सम्पन्नाः तस्याः सॆवायै कटिबद्दाः आसन् । मृच्छकटिकादिषु नाटकॆषु दृष्टॆन सम्भाषणेन ज्ञायते यत् संस्क्रुतं न केवलं विद्वद्भाषासीत् परं लोकभाषाप्यासीदिति । एतस्मात् संस्कृतं जनादरप्राप्ता भाषा इति तु सुस्पष्टम् ।

तथापि गतद्विशतसंवत्सरॆषु कदापि संस्कृतस्य लोकभाषासु गणनं स्थगितम् । तस्य कारणनानि बहूनि स्युः । संस्कृतम् अस्य देशस्य संस्कृतिस्रॊतः, तस्मात् ताम् अभिभवभाजां(?) कुर्म इति मत्वा सर्वकारेण मतीययप्रज्ञया वा व्यवस्थापितरीत्या अस्यां आदरः न्यूनीकृतः स्यात् । प्राथमिक-संस्कृत-ज्ञान-विहीनाः संस्कृति-नद्याः संस्कृतात् दूरॆ स्थापिताः संस्कृतविमलजलम् अप्राप्य संस्कृतिहीनाः भवन्तः सन्ति । भारतीयसंस्कृतॆः औन्नत्यं वैशाल्यं च अदृष्ट्वा तां संस्कृतिमेव दूषयन्तः स्वदेशप्रतिकूलकारकविषयान् भूषयन्तः "बुद्दिजीवाः" सर्वत्र दृश्यन्ते।

तदस्तु इदानीम् । संस्कृतेन किम् आधुनिकसंवहनं शक्यते कर्तुमित्येव मम जिज्ञासा। प्रथमतः कथमेष प्रश्नः समुत्पन्नः? अहं तु आधुनिक-शिक्षण-पद्धतॆः छात्रः। तस्मात् न संस्कृतं मया प्रौढशालायाः पूर्वस्मिन् काले कदापि अभ्यस्तम् । अपि च संस्कृतं नाम कापि भाषास्ति यस्यां "रामः रामौ रामाः" इति रटनतत्पराः एव परिणतिमाप्नुवन्ति इति तु भावना उत्पादिता सार्वाकारीय-शिक्षण-पद्धत्या। तस्मात् संस्कृतकक्ष्यायाः बहिरागत्य कथम् इदानीमपि संस्कृते आसक्तोऽस्मि इति तु चित्रमेव! अन्येषां गतिस्तु शक्यते ऊहितुम् ।

सौभाग्यवशात् संस्कृतभारती तथा न चिन्तयति । तस्याः कार्यकर्तारः श्रवण-वदन-लेखन-द्वारा एव भाषायाः अध्ययनं कारयन्ति । तस्मात् मादृशा अपि संस्कृतेन विना कष्टं व्यवहर्तुं समर्था भवामः ।

एवं कृताध्ययनाभ्यासाः संस्कृतेन आधुनिकमपि संवहनं कर्तुमर्हन्ति । तत्र तत्र व्याकरणदॊषाः भवेयुः। परं लॊकभाषायाम् एवमेव भवति, भवितव्यमेव। सम्भाषणं विना किं कापि भाषा भाषायते? संस्कृतेन एव किमर्थमाधुनिकं संवहनं करणीयमिति केचन पृच्छॆयुः । उत्तरं मम एवमस्ति - "संस्कृतेन ये व्यवहरन्ति तेषां तु संस्कृतवाङ्मये प्रवेशः भवेत्। अनॆन काव्यकलातत्त्वशास्त्रादीनि तॆषां मनःपटलेषु स्थापितानि भवितुमर्हन्ति" इति । पुनः काव्यादीनां व्यासङ्गेन किं भविष्यति इति पृच्छतः प्रश्नस्य उत्तरं केन वा दातुं शक्यते ?

अतः मम विचारः एवमस्ति । आम् । संस्कृतेन आधुनिक-संवहनम् अवश्यं शक्यते कर्तुम् । मम गृहे मम पत्न्या सह संस्कृतेन एव व्यवहारः क्रियते, कोलाहलोऽपि !! ब्लाग् अपि लिख्यते ! मम सौभाग्यं यत् व्यास-वाल्मीकि-कविकुलगुर्वादीनां ग्रन्थान् विनानुवादं अवगमने यत्नं कर्तुं समर्थॊऽस्मीति ।

॥ जीयात् गीर्वाणभारती॥

ಸಟೆಯೋ ದಿಟವೋ?

ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಬೀದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದುಹೋಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆ. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ದೂರದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಪಾರ್ಕಿನಲ್ಲಿನ ಹುಲ್ಲು ಹಾಸಿತ್ತು. ಗಾಳಿಯು ತಂಪಾಗಿ ಬೀಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದು ಬಿಸಿಲಿನ ಝಳ ಅಷ್ಟಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಆಹ್ಲಾದಕರವಾದ ವಾತಾವರಣ. ನೆಲದೆಡೆ ದಿಟ್ಟಿಸುತ್ತಾ ನಡೆದ ನನಗೆ ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಮೇಕೆಮರಿಯೊಂದರ "ಮ್ಯಾ" ದನಿ ಕೇಳಿತು. ಹಿತವಾದ ವಾತಾವರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುಗಿದ್ದ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಆ ದನಿ ಎಲ್ಲಿಗೋ ಒಯ್ಯಿತು. ಒಮ್ಮೆಲೇ ಪರ್ವತದ ಮೇಲಿನ ತಂಪಾದ ಗಾಳಿಗೆ ಮೈಯೊಡ್ಡಿದವನಾಗಿ ನಾನು; ಕುರುಬನೊಬ್ಬನು ಒಂದು ಮೇಕೆ ಕುರಿಗಳ ದಿಂಡನ್ನು ಮೇಯಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಹಾಗೆ; ಈ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಗಳೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಆನಂದದಿಂದ ನಲಿಯುವ ಹಾಗೆ ಆಗಿತ್ತು. ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಒಂದು ಆನಂದ, ತೃಪ್ತಿ ತುಂಬಿತ್ತು. ಈ ತೃಪ್ತಭಾವನೆಯ ಮೂಡಿಸಿದ ಮೇಕೆಯ ಕೇಕೆಯ ದನಿಯೆಡೆ ಕಣ್ಣು ಹಾಯಿಸಿದೆ.

ಆದರೆ ಕಂಡದ್ದೇನು? ಅಲ್ಲೊಂದು ವಿಕಾರವಾದ ಲಾರಿಯಿದ್ದು ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಮೇಕೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹಿಂಡು ಹಿಂಡು ತುಂಬಿದ್ದರು. ಒಂದರ ಮೇಲೊಂದು ಮೇಕೆಯಿದ್ದು ಅವುಗಳಿಗೆ ನಿಲ್ಲಲೂ ಜಾಗವಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಹೇಗೆ ಉಸಿರಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದವೋ! ಆ ಮೇಕೆಯ ದನಿ ಆನಂದದಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ್ದಾಗಿರದೆ ಆ ಮೂಕ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಗಳ ಹಾಹಾಕಾರವಾಗಿದ್ದಿತು. ಕಟುಕರ ಬಳಿ ಒಯ್ಯಲ್ಪಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಆ ಮುಗ್ಧ ಮೇಕೆಗಳ ದನಿ ಹಿಂದಿನ ಘಳಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಎಷ್ಟು ಮುದ ನೀಡಿತ್ತೋ, ಈಗ ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಕಠೋರವಾಗಿ ಕೇಳಿಸಿತ್ತು. ನನ್ನ ಕರುಳನ್ನು ಕಿವುಚಿದ ಹಾಗಾಗಿತ್ತು.

ಕೇಳಿದ್ದು ಅದೇ ದನಿ. ಆ ದನಿ ಬಿದ್ದದ್ದು ಅದೇ ಕಿವಿಗೆ. ಕೇಳಿದವನೂ ನಾನೇ. ಸಂತೋಷ ನೀಡುವ ಅದೇ ದನಿ ಮರುಘಳಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಪರೀತಕ್ಕೆ ತಿರುಗಿತ್ತು.

ಪರ್ವತದ ಗಾಳಿ ನೀಡಿದ್ದ ಆಹ್ಲಾದವು ನಿಜವಾಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲವೇ? ಅನುಭವಿಸಿದ ಮನಸ್ಸು ಅದನ್ನು ಆ ಕ್ಷಣಕ್ಕೆ ಸತ್ಯವೆಂದು ಒಪ್ಪಿರಲಿಲ್ಲವೇ?
ಕನಸಿನಲ್ಲಿನ ಸತ್ಯವೂ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ಅಲ್ಲವೇ? ನನಗಂತೂ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಯ ಕನಸುಗಳು ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ ಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದುವು. ನಾನು ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಉತ್ತರಿಸಲಾಗದ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳು; ಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಯ ವೇಳೆಗೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ತಲುಪದಿರುವುದು; ಎಲ್ಲ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ! ಎದ್ದ ಮೇಲೂ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತು ಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು ನಿಜವಾದ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿಯನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು.

ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ಸಂಗತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ; ಇನ್ನೂ ಹಲವು ಸಂಗತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅರಿವಾಗುವುದು ಒಂದು ವಿಷಯ. ಇವೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ಕಲ್ಪನೆಗಳೆಂಬುದು. ಇರುವ ನಿಜದ ಮೇಲೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಅಪೇಕ್ಷೆ-ಭಯಗಳ ಇಷ್ಟ-ಅನಿಷ್ಟಗಳ ಲೇಪವನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿ ನೋಡುವುದನ್ನು ನಾವು ಸದಾಕಾಲವೂ ನಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯದ ಹಾಗೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತೇವೆ; ನಮಗೆ ತೀರ ಅಭ್ಯಾಸವಾಗಿಬಿಟ್ಟಿದೆ. ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಅನುಭವಗಾಳಾದಾಗ ಒಮ್ಮೊಮ್ಮ ಒಳ ಸರಿದು ನೋಡುವ ಅವಕಾಶ ಸಿಗುತ್ತದೆ.

ಇಷ್ಟು ನೈಜ ಅನುಭವ ಕೊಡುವ ಮನಸ್ಸು ಎಷ್ಟು ಶಕ್ತಿವಂತವಾದುದೋ ಊಹಿಸಿ ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವೇ ಆಗುವುದು. ಸಂತೋಷದ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ದುಃಖವನ್ನೂ, ಏನೂ ಇರದ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಆತಂಕವನ್ನೂ, ಒಂದನ್ನು ಇನ್ನೊಂದಾಗಿ ಕಾಣುವುದನ್ನು; ಇನ್ನೂ ಹಲವು ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ಶಕ್ತಿಯ ಅರಿವಾಗುವುದು. ಆ ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಈ ಜಗತ್ತೇ ಮನೋಮಯ.

ಇದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯೇ ದೊಡ್ದವರ ಮಾತು ಹೇಳಿರುವುದು. "ಮನ ಏವ ಮನುಷ್ಯಾಣಾಂ ಕಾರಣಂ ಬಂಧಮೋಕ್ಷಯೋಃ" ಎಂದು. ಮನಸ್ಸೇ ಬಂಧಕ್ಕು ಮೋಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೂ ಕಾರಣ. ಬಂಧವನ್ನು ಕಲ್ಪಿಸುವುದು ಮನಸ್ಸು. ಕಲ್ಪಿತಬಂಧದಿಂದ ಮುಕ್ತವಾಗುವುದೂ ಮನಸ್ಸೇ!