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Changing courses
Mata Pita Guru Deivam. The endurer. The Protector. The Teacher. God, the Being.
Mata, the mother, bears the foetus in her womb for 9-odd months before going through the pains of labor to bring a child into this world. She endures great pain and sacrifices much for that child, becoming the Endurer.
Whoever Mata points to is Pita, the father. There is a difference between a progenitor and a father. While anyone can claim to be a biological parent giving his sperm, it takes a commitment to provide for and protect the child. Whoever does that is whom the Mata would point to as the Pita.
Mata and Pita point to the Guru who provides guidance, purpose, clarity and goal to the child, girl or boy. Apart from Mata and Pita, Guru makes an important contribution in how a child's life pans out. Anyone can teach, but there are very few who can claim to be teachers.
Mata, Pita and Guru, traditionally, point towards Deivam or God, representing our conscience, our self. The Being that becomes a part of, in and for us.
This is the traditional thought of Indian culture, one of the most popular and oft quoted phrases. However, as we advance in time and age, our priorities redefine our traditions and beliefs. God is inconspicuous except in times of dire need and the teacher an archaic entity. Father and Mother hold mutually opportunistic value in progeny.
Today's mantra - in an age where a teacher rapes a 6-year old girl, a teacher is knived to death by a student, a father murders his children in the name of honor killing, children kill their father for money, a mother abandoning her child or children their mother - appears to have taken the form of Nidhi, Kirti, Shakti, Aham. Wealth, Fame, Power, Ego.
It is a shame, yes. Even more shameful is that in some ways we - you and I - have been participants, willingly or otherwise, directly or indirectly, in bringing the change about. We do have our own justifiable excuses to defend our situation, and yet, we cannot help but consciously be aware how we are trapped in the same pursuit of self-excellence where ours matter before yours and theirs.
We sure have changed. For better or worse, one has to wonder.
© Ritesh Nair
Mata, the mother, bears the foetus in her womb for 9-odd months before going through the pains of labor to bring a child into this world. She endures great pain and sacrifices much for that child, becoming the Endurer.
Whoever Mata points to is Pita, the father. There is a difference between a progenitor and a father. While anyone can claim to be a biological parent giving his sperm, it takes a commitment to provide for and protect the child. Whoever does that is whom the Mata would point to as the Pita.
Mata and Pita point to the Guru who provides guidance, purpose, clarity and goal to the child, girl or boy. Apart from Mata and Pita, Guru makes an important contribution in how a child's life pans out. Anyone can teach, but there are very few who can claim to be teachers.
Mata, Pita and Guru, traditionally, point towards Deivam or God, representing our conscience, our self. The Being that becomes a part of, in and for us.
This is the traditional thought of Indian culture, one of the most popular and oft quoted phrases. However, as we advance in time and age, our priorities redefine our traditions and beliefs. God is inconspicuous except in times of dire need and the teacher an archaic entity. Father and Mother hold mutually opportunistic value in progeny.
Today's mantra - in an age where a teacher rapes a 6-year old girl, a teacher is knived to death by a student, a father murders his children in the name of honor killing, children kill their father for money, a mother abandoning her child or children their mother - appears to have taken the form of Nidhi, Kirti, Shakti, Aham. Wealth, Fame, Power, Ego.
It is a shame, yes. Even more shameful is that in some ways we - you and I - have been participants, willingly or otherwise, directly or indirectly, in bringing the change about. We do have our own justifiable excuses to defend our situation, and yet, we cannot help but consciously be aware how we are trapped in the same pursuit of self-excellence where ours matter before yours and theirs.
We sure have changed. For better or worse, one has to wonder.
© Ritesh Nair
