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Sunrays: Stay rooted, embrace the new, nurture the old
Just as the New Year stems from the old, everything new in life stems from something in the past. All that we are as a society is also rooted in our past. Indian culture and traditions are one of the oldest in the world and the science behind them never fails to amaze
Happy New year! The first day of the year brings opportunities to introspect, reflect and review old resolutions and make new ones.
Just as the New Year stems from the old, everything new in life stems from something in the past. The roots are always older than the trunk of the tree. Similarly, all that we are as a society is also rooted in our past. Indian culture and traditions are one of the oldest in the world and the science behind them never fails to amaze.
In a new year message to a devotee, Sri Sathya Sai Baba said, “Endowed with long life and sound health, surrounded by children, grandchildren and friends, keep on imbibing joy through devotion and wisdom. I bless that your days be spent in the service of Sarveshwara, the Lord of All. Spend your life in abundant peace and happiness.”
The joint family system where we live with elders, children and grandchildren is a great training ground for imbibing values such as tolerance, harmony, mutual respect, empathy, sharing, and caring. It is a great support system where everyone stands together in good times and bad. A family that eats together and prays together, stays together. Learning to co-exist, while deepening your devotion and acquiring wisdom, leads to abundant peace and happiness.
Blessed are those children who grow up in close proximity to grandparents, for they get boundless love. Here too it is the roots of the family (grandparents and elders) that support and nourish the youngsters. It is good to make new friends, but it’s wise to keep the old ones. It’s good to plant new trees, but it’s wise to nurture the old ones.
While I am all for modernisation and new technology, I would any day vote for the traditional over the modern, on subjects such as family, food habits, values, yoga, and meditation.
I was recently gifted a beautiful plastic toran as part of a gift hamper on Diwali. Traditionally, a toran is made of fresh mango and peepal leaves strung together and tied across doorways in our homes on auspicious occasions. The reason for tying them was that mango and peepal leaves continue to emit oxygen for three to four days after they have been plucked. During festivities or gatherings in the house, there are more people than usual. The leaves ensured an influx of oxygen. How can a plastic toran compare?
Interestingly, my granddaughter came home from school, holding a toran. “I made this!” she said, beaming from ear to ear. I saw leaves cut out of white chart paper, coloured with green crayons with glitter added for effect. They were pasted onto a ribbon to make a toran. It was a great initiative by the teacher as the children who have been taught to make a toran with paper and crayons may make it the real way tomorrow! After all, plastic decorations, whether used for Christmas decor or torans, are pollutants.
Millets, which had been our staple food until the ’60s, have suddenly become ‘super foods’ and are being appreciated world over. So much so that 2023 will be celebrated as the International Year of Millets!
So let us value the treasures of Indian culture and pass them on to the next generation. Just as the Covid vaccine produced by India is proving to be the best, far better than those produced by other countries, we have the best of everything.
We should step into the New Year while taking learnings from the yesteryear with us. Our future is pure as the driven snow. Let’s be careful how we tread on it, for every mark will show!
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