Why Indulge?

This being my first post, I thought I should write something about why I chose this header for my blog. I have never really understood, nor ever been able to fully realize the need for the other world. Not that I am an aetheist. Niether am I a pagan. It’s just that not the prettiest, most exotic description of paradise, has been able to give me the feeling I have when the grass touches my feet as I walk in chappals down the dusty road to my grocer. So I am basically an earthy person (maybe the result of being a Virgo).

I have had many discussions with people who say they are spiritual and godly and that sort of thing. I have many times heard their reasons, for the need for sacrifice and taking on pain and worship and what not. And try as I might, each time I have thought that they were fulfilling only their own need. A need to be sad; a requirement for self pity- to tell themselves how infinitely important they and their tears are! God certainly does not require tears; if he had, he would not have wasted so much infrastructure building a Heaven when all the sadness of the world was already here- on Earth.

A few days back my Gtalk status said- The highest point of indulgence is the Devine. My belief is that any indulgence- anything that makes one happy can not be the road to Hell. Be it music, or a daaru party with friends, or cuddling a puppy, or loving someone you love- each of these is a heavenly feeling. On the other hand, anything that makes one feel deprived can not have come from above. But of course, moderation is required. Meditation is different from sleep. One should not have so much daaru that he looses the sense itself which gives him pleasure. One should not fall unconscious while meditating. Senses must be cared for; otherwise one looses one’s Heaven.

Very recently, I was alone in my room musing upon this thought, when a little kid from my neighborhood came in and sat quietly in a corner. He was having a big bar of chocolate quickly and with relish. I asked him why he was hiding, and he said, “Chotu dekh lega.” I said Chotu also has an equal right to it. “Why should he not see it?” “Arrre,’ he said, ‘usko pata chala to sara dabba khali kar dega. Main to ek ek karke khata hoon na. Usko kahna parta hai ki khatam ho gaye.” So, there lies the use of the other world. The ‘Chotus’ of the world need it, which is not a bad thing after all, if it saves their teeth. And when I reached this conclusion, I thought I’ll name my blog ‘Indulge…’, because I am proud I am not Chotu.

I would like to only add those ever beautiful lines of Mirza Ghalib:

'Humko maloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin
Dil ko khush rakhne ko 'Ghalib' ye khayaal accha hai.'