Siddhartha

         

The novel originally written in German language by Hermann Hesse during the year 1922 had been translated and published into English by many. The one I read was published by Maple press, Noida, but it doesn’t mention the translator’s name.

I had heard and read a lot about the book far back, but couldn’t get a chance to read until recently. Even though late in reading, it was an enthralling experience.  

If the original Siddhartha opted to renounce worldly life to become Gautama Buddha, the enlightened, it was vice versa for this Siddhartha, who is a contemporary of Gautama Buddha. The young Siddhartha renounced his so called spiritual entity and chose to live with Kamala, a courtesan, who prompted him to amass wealth for a comfortable and luxurious worldly life. The highly intelligent Siddhartha could do it with ease. But after sometime, he chose to abandon his *‘Garhasthya’ to seek fulfilment and finally attained it but not from any guru but a simple ferry man Vasudeva and the river which he used to ferry. 

Siddhartha’s journey through life symbolises the Hindu belief to attain fulfilment through the four aims or rather stages of life, viz Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. He practised Dharma or righteousness during his childhood and youth, Artha and Kama during his life with Kamala, and finally attained Moksha during his old age.I have always loved the concept of Vanaprastha(embracing the forest) after Grihasthashram, though it is very difficult to be practised for one who is entangled in human ties.

Siddhartha’s father had no difficulty in raising his son as a righteous young man, but Siddhartha himself failed miserably in bringing up his only son properly after Kamala’s death. The boy-again Siddhartha named after his father-raised by his mother in the absence of his Dad had become a spoilt brat who abused his Dad like anything and one day he ran away from his Dad.  

The relationship between Vasudeva  and Siddartha, is worth mentioning. An ignorant lay man turned out to be an intellectual’s spiritual guide, so to say!. So impressive is Vasudeva’s and later Siddhartha’s fondness towards the river, which ultimately symbolizes mother nature herself.

What I understand from the book is that life should be a proper blend of spirituality as well as worldly pleasures. Denying either of this totally or indulging in any one state alone will not satisfy your inner self; Or else Siddhartha would not have left his early spiritual life of youth; Or else he would not have fled from Kamala and the luxurious life he led with her. I feel that spirituality is something above and of course very different from devotion;It has nothing to do with chanting of prayers, pilgrimages and the like.

Hermann Hesse is the grandson of Dr.Hermann Gundert who had well known Kerala connections.  

Now certain quotes from the book:

Siddhartha to Govinda:

 "What is meditation? What is leaving one's body?What is fasting?What is holding one's breath?It is fleeing from one's self, it is a short escape of the agony of being a self, it is a brief numbing of the senses against the pain and pointlessness of life."

"We find comfort, we find numbness, we learn feats to deceive others.But the most important thing, the path of paths, we will not find."

Siddhartha to Budha, mentioned in the book as Gotama/the exalted one:
"O, exalted one, no body will obtain salvation by means of teachings.You will not be able to convey to anybody, O, venerable one, in words and through teachings what has happened to you in the hour of enlightenment! "
 

You can read more about the book, of course in a more sophisticated language here  in wiki.

*Four stages of life

The 3 mistakes of my life

Author-Chetan bhagat
Publisher-Rupa
Price-Rs:95/-(You will get 20% discount if you are lucky.I bought all his 4 books together and got the discount).

At the outset, let me make it clear that neither am I a voracious reader nor a literary critic to attempt a book review, that too on one of India’s best sellers. And I don’t have sufficient language skills required for a critic. But the down to earth theme and narrating style prompts me to !

The novel revolves around three young friends Govind, Ishaan and Omi living in Belrampur, Ahmedabad, Gujrat, the state of businessmen.. Reading the book was a real big experience, so to say. Very lively , characters from middle class families. I was all for Govind until his second mistake, which I found difficult to digest, may be because I am a girl’s mother! Even his suicide attempt could not win my sympathy! Forgetting the dislikes let me bring out the likes.

1.The simple language- It definitely is written in the language of the masses without using high handed jargons. It makes you feel that the characters are living in your immediate neighborhood and you know them all.

2.Depth of friendship- I am all for the strong bond of true friendships where one emotionally supports, corrects and extends all sorts of help as and when required without being sought by her/his friend. The book shows you the beauty of friendship and the emotional trauma through which one goes at the point of breaking up.

3.Positive energy-It shows how an ordinary Indian can achieve his goals by simply using available resources in and around his/her place. Govind planned his business observing that cricket and badminton are the popular games in Belrampur. Moreover, Ishan was the top cricketer during his school days and G counted on utilizing his skills by starting training sessions for students. The sports goods shop amassed profit as he planned.

4.Intricacies of relationships-between dad-son(Ishaan and his dad), uncle- nephew(Omi and his uncle ) ,friend’s sister transforming to girl friend, friends turning foes ,the intimacy developed between Ishaan and the little boy Ali etc etc. The efforts, the trio put in under the leadership of Ish to rescue Ali from hindu fanaticism consequent to Godra incident was terrific. The riot stricken Ahmedabad was horrifying to read.

5.Vision –It gives what India is now and what India should be.

I liked Govind most ,because of his clear-cut ambition and the flawless planned efforts to achieve the same. He is a perfect professional who does not mix up profession with sentiments. I have noticed the absence of this professionalism among us . We are adepts at spicing each and everything with sentiments even in pure official matters at workplace, of course, according to me. Things have changed a lot, I admit, among the newer generation.

Ishaan, Omi ,Ali, his dad, all are real life characters. Vidya , Omi’s sister is representative of the typical new age fearless Indian girls. But the doubt of illicit pregnancy scares her too! But I love Vidya inspite of her impulsive behaviour!

More quotes from the book ,in case anybody wishes to read further.

Listen to what the agnostic Govind, who tells the story-

“I was never good with emotional stuff.I love maths, I love logic and those subjects have no place for emotion”

“My love for business began when I first started tuitions. It was amazing to see money build up. With money came not only things like coolers and sofas but also the most important stuff-respect. Shopkeepers no longer avoided us, relatives re-invented us to weddings and our landlord’s visit did not throw us into turmoil. And then there was the thrill-I was making money, not earning it under some boss or getting a handout.”

“I don’t want to be an Engineer, mom. My heart is in business”.

“I hate a display of emotion more than emotion itself”

“people called me Mr. Accounts, greedy, miser, anything”
“I am no Mr. Nice and I hate people who are not focused.”

“if Ish’s passion was cricket and my passion was business, was Omi’s passion religion? or may be like most people he was confused and trying to find his passion. And unlike us, who never took him seriously, Parekh-Ji gave him a sense of purpose and importance.”

Ali’s dad, on Hindu Muslim fights (The words which haunt me always)

“Male chimpanzees of the same pack fight violently with each other-for food, females, whatever. However after the fight, they go through a strange ritual. They kiss each other on the lips. The point is, this ritual was created by nature. To make sure the fight gets resolved and the pack stays together. In fact any long-term relationship requires this”

“Yes, take any husband and wife. They will fight, and hurt each other emotionally. However later they will make up, with hugs, presents or kind understanding words. These reconciliatory mechanisms are essential. The problem in Hindu-Muslim rivalry is not that that one is right and the other is wrong. It is that there are no reconciliatory mechanisms.”

Ish-“The young generation in India from the 60’s to the 80’s is the worst India ever had.These 30 years are an embarrassment for India...My point is, that the clueless sixties to eighties generation is now old, and running the country”.

The discussion among the 3 friends really throws insight into the present state of affairs of our country.

Omi & Govind-(at Australia where the trio took Ali for training cricket at their own initiative)

Omi-“There is an unspoken rule among Indian men and you broke it........You don’t hit upon your best friend’s sister. You just don’t. It’s against protocol.”

G-“protocol? What’s this, the army? And I didn’t hit on her. She hit upon me”

O-“But you let her hit upon you. You let her”

G-“well, it wasn’t exactly like being hit. It didn’t hurt. It felt good”(But I never felt good- I was thinking of Vidya's fiture and the plight of her innocent parents)

Australian cricketer Fred who is training Ali-“ If I don’t break their ( cricket practicing kids) pride, they will stay hoons for the rest of their life. Sportsmen aren’t movie stars, mate. Even though your country treats them like that!”

Little Ali on being asked to be an Aussie(Australian citizen) for better coaching and facilities-“It’s ok, if I don’t become a player, but it’s not ok if I’m not an Indian” ( I hugged Ali and kissed him on his forehead!)

“Don’t get so sentimental about politics. Emotional speeches are fine, but in your mind always think straight” Parek-Ji’s lecture to Bittoo mama, Omi’s uncle.

“Who you are, what do you want verse what people expect of you. And how to keep what you want without pissing off people too much.Life is an optimization problem, with tons of variables and constraints.” G to Vidya during a tuition class

Vidya to Govind at ATHIRA campus lawn-“why, why is it so unfair? Why do only I have to deal with this? why can’t you get pregnant at the same time?”

the P-word which freaks men out-Pregnancy
the A word- abortion ...

And stopping for the time being or else I”ll copy the whole book! It has become too long. But you always have the freedom to skip, don’t you?

TIT BITS

These are the jottings from one of my old literary notebooks. But , who said, seems to have been overlooked in most cases.....

“..January 2nd is the day when most people find that it is easier to break a resolution than a habbit.”

“ To handle yourself, use your head; To handle others use your heart ”.

“Ideas should be received like guests-in a friendly way;but with the reservation that they are not to tyrannize their host!”

“Two things indicate weakness-to be silent when it is proper to speak and to speak when it is proper to be silent.”- Persian Proverb

"When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience gets the money and the man with money gets experience."

“ He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help”-Lincoln

"Criticism should be malice towards none and charity towards all"-Lincoln

A sentence with all the 26 alphabets-
“Quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog!”

“Silence is deep as eternity ; Speech is shallow as time.”-Carlyle

“Some books are to be tasted, others are to be followed, and some few to be chewed and digested”-Bacon

“Some men are great because their associates are little”-Johnson

“Begin not with a programme, but with a deed”-Florence Nightingale

"One who knows not that he knows not is a fool, neglect him
One who knows that he knows not is humble, teach him
One who knows not that he knows is innocent
On who knows that he knows is wise, follow him"

"Everyone wants to be wanted."

Neither Materialistic Nor Spiritual.......

Yes, now I’m on the road to spirituality! But that doesn’t indicate the least that we were too materialistic till now.

In fact we were and are leading a very simple life .We had professional degrees, held good offices in tune with our times, and we had everything to act big if so desired by us .But costly dresses, make up and luxurious living never allured us. It was not at all our style, so to say. We were quite contented too. Live and let live was our motto. We never interfered with other’s beliefs and we didn’t permit others to intervene in ours. A very silent and peaceful way of living. Very much sincere, dedicated and bound to duty to the extent of work holism at times. So did we take up our house hold duties and responsibilities as well.


But when we look back, we do realize one thing....We were not at all spiritual!!!. We were following a path in between materialism and spirituality. As the mistress of the house, I am to be blamed for that. I never used to light up the sandhyadeepam (the lamp lit in the evenings at hindu homes), offer prayers to God, go to temples, and observe rituals like vrathams (penance) for the betterment of family. We have read all the sacred books right from childhood days. But the reading had nothing to do with Bhakthi or religion. Any Indian should read these irrespective of his religion caste etc etc as rightly said by many learned people.

Similarly, we have visited many famous temples, stood wonderstruck before the huge structures........admiring the sculptors.......Praying to the lords inside the temple were the most unimportant part then....... But now I realize God must have smiled sympathetically at us who, got trapped in the external luxuries and failed miserably to find him/her inside the sanctum sanctorum .It was just like going to meet our Parents and enjoying the luxuries of the house without paying any attention to them! i.e. simply forgetting the very purpose of the visit.

Now I am experimenting.... But it is really hard.....had we been spiritual earlier, I'm sure we could have improved the quality of our lives and helped to make this place a better place to live.. The word spirituality itself has varied meanings.......

Late realisation in life.....Anyway better late than never!!!