The Voice Within

"Two roads diverged in a wood and I-

I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference."

Thus spoke Robert Frost, the great poet defining what one needs to do in life when one finds one's self at life's cross road..

Well, my brief experiment in life has taught me the above lesson as well as the fact that one should always heed to his/her own heart's calling... Coz no matter what, if you are not enjoying what you are doing, if your daily work is a like a great burden you have been carrying on your shoulder unwillingly, if work to you mean earning basic means of livelihood for yourself...Then it is time for you to stop doing all that you are doing and reflect on the path so far taken by you and also think whether this is the path you really wanted to take..

Most of the time we do not listen to the inner voice within ourselves which tells us that the road being taken by us may not be the right one but in a world of fixing priorities and jostling with others to get ahead, one either ignores this small voice or is not able to hear it...

What happens with such status quo existence is the fact that though we manage to eke out a living but our soul goes dead and the spark of creativity dies within us... In the absence of that tireless flame which helps us to go ahead in life, we become like mere mechanical robot who work as per specific commands...

Whenever such incidence has happened in my life I actually take the following steps without fail:

1. First of all I try to reflect on what I have been doing and the road I am currently travelling ; is it the one that I wanted to do or travel on respectively
2. The moment I find out that it is the wrong work which I have undertaken or is the wrong road that I am traveling on; I usually suspend all activity and work in all earnest to rectify my mistake and set right my course
3. In this process I generally ensure that I consult people whom I consider my guide/mentor for guidance/advice, talk with my employer (if it is job related) and most of all talk to my family for their opinion and more importantly their support
4. Once when I have the guidance/advice of my mentor/guide, the best option at work given by my employer and the opinion of my family; I retreat to my own 'cave' so to speak and reflect on all all the option available to me in view of the advice/guidance/opinion given to me
5. Based on the best option which best suits and is endorsed strongly by my inner voice, I pick the same and then make a decisive move from which there is no looking back

By following the above method/pathway and always listening to the small voice within me, I have realised that I have been able to keep myself happy and satisfied along with people who come in contact with me.

I read it somewhere ( I guess it was Paulo Coelho) who said that the inner voice is the loudest when a man is in his childhood. That is the time when innocence abounds in the living angel in the form of children. But as they grow up, the parents, society, teachers, religious clergy etc try to impose on them certain regimented way of living in the name of culture, values, ethics, morals, discipline and so on and so forth. 

By the time a person grows up to be an adult, that small voice within is either very feeble or totally inaudible... By making the voice muted or ignoring its message we only help to kill our own personal legend, the creativity, the soul so to say within us... With our soul gone we become nothing more than a living corpse.. an automated robot running the race of life till such time when it finally drops dead...

Hence it is very much essential for us to keep that innocence alive with in us not for the sake of doing a good to the world but for our sake for this is the fire which will goad us to perfection and make us choose profession which becomes a joy to carry out - An extension of one's life itself...An ecstasy to be felt only by the blessed who care to listen to their inner voice...

The Testing Times

Ahmadi youth burying the dead from the Lahore mosque attack

The recent spate of attack on the Ahmadiyya Community in Indonesia again goes to showcase the growing quantum of religious intolerance which is so evident and characteristics of today's new world order.

The Ahmadiyya Community was a small community within the larger fold of Islam which was found in Qadian, India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who claimed to be the promised Messiah and Mehdi as per the original prophecy by the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) who had prohesised the advent of a reformer who will appear after 1400 years of His (Holy Prohet's) advent and will reform Islam of its evil which would have crept in due to the passage of time. He also prohesised some heavenly occurrence (like lunar and solar eclipse in the same lunar year) which would be a sign of the appearance of the Reformer.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, in 1880s claimed to be the Reformer (Promised Messiah) and was also ratified by the appearance of suitable signs as was narrated by the Holy Prophet. In 1889 he started a sect called the Ahmadiyya movement which was joined by a lot of people who were convinced of his claims by witnessing the heavenly signs.

In all his work and deed Mirza Ghulam Ahmad maintained that he is a staunch follower of Islam and the Holy Prophet and exhorted the Muslim to help him bring order in Islam. He also firmly believed in the finality of Prophet hood in believing that the Holy Prophet was the seal of the Prophet.

The community has gone from strength to strength in having a global presence due to its spirit of universal brotherhood, love and humanity in everything that it does. However, as with all nascent idea or innovator, there accompanies a severe opposition from the opponent of old and orthodox ideology as they see the ground beneath them shaking and shifting.

Hence also with the Ahmadiyya Sect the quantum of persecution and torture has only grown multi fold. In this effort Pakistan has been the 'proud' torch bearer. Since the early 60s, Ahmadis have been persecuted, tortured and killed in Pakistan as they performed their usual act of faith. Many Ahmadis were killed on the basis of an ordinance passed by the then President Zia ul Haq which prohibited Ahmadis to perform Namaz, say Adhan (the call for prayer) or even say salam to each other (greetings). A state sponsored pogrom had been initiated against them since the time of Zia ul Haq and before which systematically desecrated their mosque, their community place and other infrastructure. It was such a violation of human civil rights that Ahmadis were asked to identify them selves as Ahmadis or were denied passport. The Mullahs proudly proclaimed in their Friday sermons and their hate speech to kill ahmadis as it is an act of vitrue and killing an Ahmadi will guarantee a person a place in heaven.

The culmination of all these hate campaign was the last year attack on Ahmadis in Lahore where armed people entered 2 Ahamdiyya mosque ans sprayed bullets on innocent people as they offered their Friday Prayer. 

As vice attracts vice and each try to outplay each other in its obsession of being the most gruesome and evil; so also there is an invisible race among the mullahs of various so called Islamic country to outdo each other in persecuting and killing Ahmadis. The latest has been the barbaric attack on Ahmadis in Indonesia where 3 people were brutally murdered by a mob of 1000 people in full public view the details of which was recorded and put up proudly on YouTube for public consumption.

As we see the grotesque dance of religious intolerance and violence in our neighbourhood; we in a secular and peace loving country like India should sit up and take notice of any such intolerance in our society and deal with it firmly to nip it at its very bud. 

Reader will obviously ask the question that is it because I myself am a Ahmadi that I am so concerned? The answer is may be or may not be.. But what is of essence is the fact that it has shaken the secular faith within myself which my country has given me to believe that the ultimate goodness for humankind lies in having an empathetic understanding of each others' view point and making space for each others differences and rejoicing the commonality that we have amongst ourselves. What comes so easy to us is the spirit of "Unity in Diversity" for which India has made a mark for itself in the assembly of the world. Let us celebrate this spirit while ensuring that we zealously nurture it, preserve it and raise voice against forces which threatens to annihilate it.

It indeed is a testing time for us all !