My heart reached out to the victims of the fire which has engulfed a Kanwar yesterday, and to their families. One year on, when the families of last year’s victims are still mourning their departed loved ones, and for whom this wonderful celebration to Lord Shiva is probably mixed today with painful memories, the victims of yesteryear will have died in vain. Lessons have not been learnt. There must be a few people who conceived and constructed this no doubt impressive kanwar, but who may find it hard to sleep at night, in the knowledge that they have failed family and friends and put hundreds of lives at risk. That’s also a tragedy.I have read the translated version of the Bhagavad Gita 25 times. Each time, the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjun reveals yet more truths and pearls of wisdom which I have been able to relate to life’s daily challenges. My late mother who passed away last year used to read to me and my siblings from the Mahabharata and Ramayana when we were small.
Nowhere in the teachings of these sacred texts is there the notion that “bigger” is the path to salvation. Firstly, Hindu Dharma is about one’s ethics and duties. Then, the pursuit of Moksha, liberation from the senses and pleasures of the physical and the material world, is contrary to the pursuit of bigger, taller, wider, bulkier, etc. Moksha is precisely the opposite, it’s about detachment from these earthy considerations. I believe we the elders of the community have a duty to dampen the energy of youth with sound advice. My humble submission is this:Let us learn from past tragic events.I will not tell you to carry on, mindless and regardless. That would be irresponsible.Let us heed the tenets of Hindu Dharma, and reflect on our duties to the loved ones around us.Let us use our undoubted creativity to prove that Small is, and indeed, Small can be, more beautiful.And finally, let us ensure that those who tragically lost their lives yesterday will not have died in vain.