Nomadic Wanderings

Nomadic Wanderings

It's a question of faith. Nothing More, Nothing Less???

It's a very pleasant morning in Delhi. Sunny, Cold but not the one that eats into your Bones. So I am feeling happy. To be alive, to see all the glory, participate in it and in a very limited way contribute to a masterpiece created by the unknown.?

For the past 10 days I have been following the progress of a person I met on the internet-a Ukrainian emigree now settled in the USA, a successful fund manager, speaker and an author. From the eyes of a rootless white guy I see despair, happiness and thrill in one clean sweep of the Northern crescent that began with Delhi and took him to Abu, Ranakpur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Dhora and now in Bombay.?

The most important, and bewildering message I got was that India is home to some 330 mn Gods. In his words, a simple math would mean 10 years of recitations just to remember them all. The most interesting was a temple shrine dedicated to a "motorcycle" in the vee corners of Rajasthan. To which I replied, "it's a matter of personal faith". Nothing more, nothing less. How much freedom does an individual want, to live life the way he feels is correct for him?

Vague memories

I have vague memories of myself, the banks of the River Yamuna back and beyond the footfalls that lead in, and down the backyard of Gurudwara Majnu Ka Tila sahib. My head getting tonsured. Surrounded by my parents and grand parents. Joy, sublime, peaceful. That initial lock of hair, placed on the leaves of the mighty Bargad Tree, a few rotis, an earthen lamp all let into the swirling waters and seeing them go away. A new beginning of life, leaving aside what I was born with and looking so far into the future. Endless, indomitable like the River on who's banks I sat that cold morning of 1963 or 1964. Then there is "Samay", the time-keeper, the master chronologer who leaves nothing, forgets nothing.?

Time Goes On

I fell in love with literature. Great authors, great writers, composers, poets-verse and prose all shaped into a mysterious mix. My earliest memories are of a prayer, that I recite even today when I am inclined to be charitable. It goes like this;????????????????????????????????????

Gurur Brahma,?

Gurur Vishnu,?

Gurur Deva Maheshwaraye,?

Gurur Shaksat par Brahama,?

Tasmayi Shri Guru Dev namah

To you the Gods and my Gurus I owe everything, so take me away from the Darkness and into Light. For this I offer my obeisance and koti koti naman.

A grand old man at 60

I look back over the past six decades. So much gained and so much lost, pain, suffering and for what. I just needed a quiet corner to myself. There was no need to lust for the wife of another, of money beyond sustenance, of craving for resplendent cars, big houses, a crude display of wealth. For what purpose-to lose that all one day, and the process neither benefiting me, my soul or the World at large.

Now I have traversed the World many times over and it just does not interest me any longer. I keep coming back a full circle to reading and writing, mostly prose and listening to people who's thoughts are in consonance with mine.?

Seinfeld

This sit-com is my all time favorite. Nine glorious seasons that encapsulate my life. I wish I was Jerry Seinfeld. But i feel I am closer to Kramer. A mere 5 people I can call my friends in a world of 8 Bn and a failure at everything else. Yet, smugly delighted. So here goes an excerpt from a Seinfeld interview, I hope it pleases others, as much as it pleases me;

"I am my job. Everything else in life pales by comparison to the interpretive experience. Everytime something funny is discovered, it's an absolute miracle. I have learned that when I really need to think of soemthing funny. i'm often able to do it. I never knew I could do that. I always thought it took hours. But I found out that sometimes the mind can work faster when it's under pressure, even comically.

"You need talent, brains and confidence. Those are the three things you need to do virtually anything." "Confidence is a fascinating commodity. There's no upper limit on the usefulness of it, as long as it does not bleed into arrogance. You need as much of it as you can get".

To realise all of the above I needed to understand, "I did not want a successful TV series. I did not want money, fame or the simple things everyone else desires. I wanted the confidence I would have if I could do it."

Clifford Asness

In purely investing terms, Cliff says, " I talk about the long term all the time, and I am wired to understand what one has to do. But I am not wired to be relaxed about what one has to do. What i have ended up with, is a perfect torture machine."

Joseph Campbell

"If you follow your bliss, you will always have your bliss, money or not.?On the other hand, 'if you follow money, you may lose it and you will be left with nothing".

O my dear Daphne

I would like to conclude Nomadic Wanderings, with these gems from the Disney Hotstar series, "White Lotus". Daphne says, " I feel sorry for men. It's like, they think they are out there doing something really important. But really they are wandering alone". Man I felt that. Not the pity. But the challenge of being on your own journey yet remaining connected somewhat.

The hero's?journey can be lonely. It is the departure when the hero feels something has been lost and goes to find it. You are to cross the threshold into a new life. It is a dangerous adventure, because you are moving out of the sphere of the knowledge of you and your community. Go on that adventure by all means and do what feels important. But do remember that the purpose of the journey is not just personal growth but to return that treasure to the community. To return, reconnect and share.

Over 60 years I have lost many people I began my life with. Time did not stop, as it should never. The God's remained, the dreams remained, the Sun kept shining, the Dark came too, but human resolve came paramount. Above all was Faith, Dear Vitalyy-never ever forget that. Even if that resides in a Motorcycle.