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Authors: Minakshi Chaudhry
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by others. These kept him engaged for years after his retirement.
Dadoo, who would stomp forward with gusto and energy to do something new and exciting every now and then, is no more there. Oh, how I miss him: He is still here but I miss him so very much!
18
18 July 2010
There are days when he is so different and we have delightful conversation, without anxiety and despondency.
‘Is there a destiny? Fate?’ I ask.
‘These terms are invented by humans. There is nothing. What is destiny? Look at this plant there it will prosper if it gets proper rain and sunshine and if there is no rain it will wither away. Where is destiny in this? What is the role of destiny in Nature?’
‘But humans have called this destiny,’ I say unsure.
He shakes his head, ‘There is no such thing. It is Nature’s rhythm that makes the world move … world is … without destiny. People say meri kismat hi kharab hai [I have a rotten luck] , what is kismat but a name given to what happens, the chances of life. It is all a chance … and we call this destiny. If something good happens we say we are lucky and if something bad happens we say we are unlucky. Lucky and unlucky are the words coined by us. Happening is independent of this. We forget that we did not create the world; it is Nature that has created us. We are not bigger than Nature.’
‘But still, Dadoo—’
He interrupts me, ‘—Lord Rama died, Lord Krishna died. This is the fate of a human being! Everyone dies. People call their heroes God. Those who did something great were made into Gods. There is no God in physical form, God is matter of our thinking. Idea and thought of God gives you support. There is no God sitting somewhere waving his magic wand. Our thought has created God. It is a creation of mind.’
I am quiet, trying to analyze, he goes on, ‘There is no God. Only Nature. Yes, there is our internal self, our conscience that tells us that we have done something wrong – that can be called God, but that too is not a separate entity; that is also us, if we listen to this inner voice. When you pray and say to yourself that I have to do good, that is God. God is not a physical form.’
‘Everyone has fears. It is this fear of punishment when we do wrong that scares us. Those who cannot think deep, and those who cannot realize the truth, believe in a punishing God. God is inside our soul, whatever we speak to our self, we speak to God. Remember our conscience is God. We must listen to our inner voice. Sense of good and bad is God.’
‘But—’
‘—We say it is God’s creation when kids are born. But look at the plants and trees, they too are born and then die. Humans are like them only. No difference. It is Nature. It is a cycle which has to be completed.’
Dadoo sees God in a totally different way: Now as I write about his understanding of God, I realize that my inability to believe in a physical form of God comes from him. My idea of what religion is was shaped by him when I was a child, which I had not realized until now.
I had never seen Dadoo pray; he was always busy, always on a mission and never had time for prayers. Mamma, however, would pray daily but I don’t think any of us took her prayers seriously. In fact, she too is a very liberal kind of believer. We children were never forced or taught to pray.
I vividly remember when we came back to India from Nigeria in the mid-1980s, Mamma had become a devotee of a baba. She would always be attending kirtans and talking with her friends about chamatkaars (miracles). I don’t think that Dadoo ever paid heed to this and neither did we. And then on a holiday we travelled to the baba’s ashram in South India. It must be Mamma’s doing; Deepu was hardly ten-year-old, I was about sixteen, and Vikram chose to stay back at our grandparents’ house.
I remember the huge temple complex. We stayed there for three days. Mamma and I slept in a hall meant only for ladies; and Dadoo and Deepak stayed in a
Dadoo, who would stomp forward with gusto and energy to do something new and exciting every now and then, is no more there. Oh, how I miss him: He is still here but I miss him so very much!
18
18 July 2010
There are days when he is so different and we have delightful conversation, without anxiety and despondency.
‘Is there a destiny? Fate?’ I ask.
‘These terms are invented by humans. There is nothing. What is destiny? Look at this plant there it will prosper if it gets proper rain and sunshine and if there is no rain it will wither away. Where is destiny in this? What is the role of destiny in Nature?’
‘But humans have called this destiny,’ I say unsure.
He shakes his head, ‘There is no such thing. It is Nature’s rhythm that makes the world move … world is … without destiny. People say meri kismat hi kharab hai [I have a rotten luck] , what is kismat but a name given to what happens, the chances of life. It is all a chance … and we call this destiny. If something good happens we say we are lucky and if something bad happens we say we are unlucky. Lucky and unlucky are the words coined by us. Happening is independent of this. We forget that we did not create the world; it is Nature that has created us. We are not bigger than Nature.’
‘But still, Dadoo—’
He interrupts me, ‘—Lord Rama died, Lord Krishna died. This is the fate of a human being! Everyone dies. People call their heroes God. Those who did something great were made into Gods. There is no God in physical form, God is matter of our thinking. Idea and thought of God gives you support. There is no God sitting somewhere waving his magic wand. Our thought has created God. It is a creation of mind.’
I am quiet, trying to analyze, he goes on, ‘There is no God. Only Nature. Yes, there is our internal self, our conscience that tells us that we have done something wrong – that can be called God, but that too is not a separate entity; that is also us, if we listen to this inner voice. When you pray and say to yourself that I have to do good, that is God. God is not a physical form.’
‘Everyone has fears. It is this fear of punishment when we do wrong that scares us. Those who cannot think deep, and those who cannot realize the truth, believe in a punishing God. God is inside our soul, whatever we speak to our self, we speak to God. Remember our conscience is God. We must listen to our inner voice. Sense of good and bad is God.’
‘But—’
‘—We say it is God’s creation when kids are born. But look at the plants and trees, they too are born and then die. Humans are like them only. No difference. It is Nature. It is a cycle which has to be completed.’
Dadoo sees God in a totally different way: Now as I write about his understanding of God, I realize that my inability to believe in a physical form of God comes from him. My idea of what religion is was shaped by him when I was a child, which I had not realized until now.
I had never seen Dadoo pray; he was always busy, always on a mission and never had time for prayers. Mamma, however, would pray daily but I don’t think any of us took her prayers seriously. In fact, she too is a very liberal kind of believer. We children were never forced or taught to pray.
I vividly remember when we came back to India from Nigeria in the mid-1980s, Mamma had become a devotee of a baba. She would always be attending kirtans and talking with her friends about chamatkaars (miracles). I don’t think that Dadoo ever paid heed to this and neither did we. And then on a holiday we travelled to the baba’s ashram in South India. It must be Mamma’s doing; Deepu was hardly ten-year-old, I was about sixteen, and Vikram chose to stay back at our grandparents’ house.
I remember the huge temple complex. We stayed there for three days. Mamma and I slept in a hall meant only for ladies; and Dadoo and Deepak stayed in a
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