Swadharma

Two nights ago, a small but powerful storm passed through my area. There was so much lightning that the electric company shut down the electricity for our town as well as neighboring towns for a good 10 hours or so. It was pitch dark everywhere in the house. At first, I was annoyed because I wasn’t getting internet and because the cell phone reception only allowed emergency calls. A few minutes after the electricity had been turned off, everyone in the house was forced to stop his or her daily routine (going on Facebook, talking to friends online, watching TV shows, or talking to someone or the other over the phone).

We decided to all sit together in the living room, eat some chocolates and relax until the electricity would come back on (at that point, we didn’t know it would take many hours to get back the electricity). Using our cell phones as lights, we were able to find candles to light up the room. Once the three candles we found had been lit, it felt like such a beautiful moment. Everything was quiet. There were no humming air conditioning units or blaring TVs or computers playing loud music. There were just three candles, four people and a box of chocolates.

I tried to take in the scene as much as I could. I looked at the small statue of Krishna in the corner of the room and couldn’t help but smile as I saw the candlelight gently caress his face as he stood in his classic pose of playing the flute.  Next to Krishna was another small statue, this one of Shiva the form of Nataraja performing the Thandav Nritya (dance of destruction). The moving flame of the candle made the shadow of Shiva seem as if it was actually dancing. I then saw the faces of my parents and of my brother, all glowing from the light that emanated from the candles. We joked around, we laughed, we reminisced. This was like a mini-vacation for me, where I could free my mind of troubles that had been bothering me, allowing me to enjoy the simplicity that was in the air.

What I learned from this experience is that all of us are so eager to find something that we can enjoy in our life, when that something we are looking for is what many of us take for granted every single day. As Albert Schweitzer had said,

In hopes of reaching the moon, men fail to see the flowers blossoming at their feet.

I also realised that sometimes, if situations are too stressful or tense, it may be best to get away from everything and just take a mini-vacation. Try it out! When you’re feeling stressed, do some meditation or japa, or creatively vent out your worries through art such as painting or singing. If all else fails, go to the electric box and switch off the electricity!

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4. Meditation and musings about attachment
5. Govinda