Time travel

While everyone in the family is asleep, my mom insists that I get up early in the morning to practice singing. She does not know anything about singing herself, yet she wants me to sing like Lata Mageshkar. On the other hand, my dad constantly pushes me to excel in academics.

My interest in both subjects turned into hatred. I am fearful, any sudden change in the situation can irritate me. Even a minor discomfort makes me react as if the world is ending. 

I wonder why there is so much stress and fear in this world. I decided to find the answer.

Suddenly, my eyes fall on a family picture on the wall, where my grandfather and my father are enjoying my uncle’s wedding.

I kept staring at the picture, and my concentration crossed its limit, I found myself inside it. How did that happen? How will I go back? Anyway, there was no charm left in my present life. I decided to stay and enjoy the wedding.

I notice how particular my grandparents are about getting things done in a certain order. My grandmother keeps correcting my parents with sharp comments. My mom uses the same words when correcting me. Suddenly, I realised stress had been passed down – from my grandparents to my parents and from my parents to me. Oh my God!  But who started this conflict in the first place? How did it enter the human mind?

Just then, my eyes catch another picture on the wall. Gods and evil forces are fighting. Before I know it, the picture pulls me inside again. 

I greet God and ask, “If you, being God, are fighting, what should we expect from common people?”

God replies, “Evil forces do not let us live in peace. They bring resistance to our work. We don’t want to fight, but they leave us no choice.”

Evil said, “We just want the same privileges as God. We are fighting for our rights.”

God responds, “Then do good work and prove your worth.”

Evil counters, “Are you out of your mind? We are not God, we are evil, made like this, and we do best.” 

God said, “Then you don’t get the privileges we have. ”

Evil shoots back, “Who are you to decide?”

The fight resumes. I step forward and shout, “Stop” 

They both look at me.

I continued, “I am just a little girl, I don’t understand all this. But I do know that this conflict has been passed down from generation to another for so long that my parents have become both – sometimes good, sometimes evil“.

I told them my whole story. They are surprised. We decide to go to the Supreme Being to find the answers.

The place was so beautiful. There was no sun, yet there was light everywhere. 

I ask, “Oh Dear Supreme, why there are so many miseries in the world?”

There is no reply. 

We wait and wait. It seems that years have passed. 

While waiting, the gods say, “We lead a luxurious life… best wine, best food, beautiful ladies, best clothes – yet we are not happy!”

Evil agrees, “Yes, everyone fears us. Humans and Gods are no exception. We have powers, yet we are not happy.”

I say, “My parents say our ego, anger, and desires are the cause of our misery. We all try to stay humble yet nobody on Earth is happy.” 

Suddenly, Supreme Being utters a single word, “Da”

Everyone is surprised, “Just Da… what does it mean? 

I am confused.

All gods and evil say, “It has a hidden meaning. We must contemplate it to find the truth”.

Days passed, and I don’t know what Gods and Evil understood, but I realised something. Evil and Gods are aware of what is inside them and they are always truthful. When they are angry or full of desire, they don’t hesitate to declare their weakness. But, we humans firstly are unaware of what is inside us and secondly, we act opposite to our nature. 

Suddenly, I start questing everything- 

• We are told not to hurt anyone, yet we must fight bad people. The definition of bad is someone who does not follow our religion and concepts, what is this? 
• Take care of dogs, cats, or specific animals, but eat many other animals?
• We are taught that everyone is equal in the eyes of god, yet in holy books, gods are projected as superior to Goddesses.
• Scriptures tell us to live in the moment, yet we are constantly asked to perform rituals to secure a place in heaven after death. Most of the actions are based on the fear of our future. 
• There are many stories about how children should behave with parents, but nothing about how parents should treat their children.  

We are not ready to accept that we all have more or less ego, anger, and desires. Forget dealing with it. And then it hits me : Da means Denial.

Suddenly, I was at home.