On Spiritual Exercise

Often I feel terribly lonely and sad.There is only one way to escape from this. I have to train myself to feel serenity in my lonliess.I should involve in some sort of spiritual exercise which I myself should find totally independent and genuine.Perhaps I may not find a spiritual exercise suitable for me other than the activity of truthful writing.

A HEINOUS DECISION

T.V.Channels report that the Govt.of India will take a stand in the stockholm convention against banning Endosulfan.It is a strange,terrible and shameful decision.All the political parties,social activists and all those whose civic sense is alive should unite to raise their voice against this heinous decision.

On Spirituality

I think belief in God is not essential for the attainment of spiritual experience.It comes from somewhere else.A state of pleasant weightlessness which can only be realised by shedding away the unnecessary burden of hundreds of petty concerns is what one feels in the beginning.It does not happen to everybody.In the normal case the seeds of spiritual quest should be there in you from a very early age.Or at a stage in your life you should reach a peculiar mental state characterised mainly by an indescribable lightness. Or some strange or unbearably painful things should happen in your life which may open your eyes to the knowledge that many things which you once considered invaluable are in fact totally worthless.What do we attain by such an awakening?Nothing but a sort of calmness followed by the pleasure of surging up a feeling or emotion hitherto unknown to oneself, from the unfathomable depths of soul.Who am I to describe this experience with this much authenticity. I am not a learned person,not a seeker of divine happiness,not even a humble student of spirituality. But I think even an ordinary human being can experience that strange and beautiful elevation of mind that we call spiritual ecstasy for a few seconds or an extremely short span of time on certain moments quite unexpectedly.One can’t have the bliss of those moments simply by wishing for it.Long strenuous mental preparation also need not lead you to those marvelous moments.Yoga,breathing exercises and the like also have nothing to do with spirituality.All such things may make you physically fit and mentally strong.But spirituality is an altogether different thing.You may feel it while sitting idly on a beach simply fixing your eyes on the waves,or while watching a lone bird flying back to it’s nest through the evening sky,or while witnessing a small child receiving a prize for participating in a competition.The magical touch of spirituality is felt when your ego or self gets totally dissolved in the immediate surroundings in the most peaceful,natural way i.e without any annoyance ,uneasiness or sense of loss.This is only one among the innumerable ways spirituality chooses for it’s unexpected entry and short time presence in the heart of an ordinary human being .

Novel Attempts

In Malayalam a general feeling has emerged recently among writers and readers
that novel is the medium most suitable for the comprehensive depiction of the human condition of this historical juncture.The close acquaintance with the translations of novels from Latin American countries,Turkey,Portugal and Spain published during the last five years might have worked behind this.More than that the influence of 'Atujeevitham' the novel by Benyamin which has been very widely read so as to become a house hold name among the literature reading public in Kerala might be there. Anyhow it is an interesting fact,and a little bit funny in certain cases that hundreds of people,among them a large majority making their maiden attempt in writing,some of them at the age of 65 or 70, are seriously involved in writing novels.

A meaningless Megashow

In Kerala politics has become something like a drama with a message which is not a message at all. Chief Minister V.S.Achyudananadan is the only character in it capable of arousing interest and enthusiasm among the people.All other leaders of both the U.D.F and L.D.F have lost their credibility.They all miserably failed in attracting crowds in the recent Assembly election Campaign.Even Mr.A.K.Antony whom the U.D.F confided the strenuous job of detaining the V.S wave cut a sorry figure. What in fact do the youngsters for whom V.S has become an emotion expect from this strong old man?I think for them he is a replica of those brave invincible heroes who single-handedly fight ten or fifteen villains and make them flee for life in the big screen.Not only the youngsters but the common people as a whole believe that V.S. would be able to put all those embodiments of corruption and arrogance known as political leaders behind the bars,if once again he is given the chief ministership.
People take no serious interest in political philosophy of the parties and their election manifestos.They know that corruption is rampant among the leaders and they want to see they are punished for looting the public money.They have the strong conviction that except V.S there is none in the political scenario of the state to wage a war against corruption.Their political knowledge and interest end there.It shows that politics is loosing it’s grip over the society.It is loosing it’s meaning.Ultimately it is becoming a big show in which reality is replaced by virtual reality.
One can say that in Kerala finally politics also has become postmodern.