Arun Shourie

Quotes

1. One must reflect deeply on the nature of the adversity, and on how it may be converted into an instrument for growth. The routine Gandhiji set for himself was always so much stricter and so much more demanding than anything that a jailer would have thought of imposing on anyone. Similarly, picture Vinoba in solitary confinement in that cell, 8 feet by 9 feet in dimension: how he converts imprisonment into ashram life; how in that tiny space, in forced and complete isolation, he retains his mental discipline by meditating for two to three hours every day; how he disciplines himself physically by walking every day for eight hours inside that suffocating cell, and thereby covering ten miles—covering ten miles in a cell 8 feet by 9 feet every single day! In both cases, control remained in the hands of the prisoner, not the jailer—a very important factor in dealing with adversity.

2. 

   The rituals—for instance, those we go through during a marriage ceremony—were devised to imbed certain values into us: the experience of centuries had led thoughtful persons to see that going through those steps, that reciting those mantras and reflecting on them would help us internalize those values, and mould our lives accordingly. But what do we do today? First, we outsource the ritual—to a pandit, say. As he goes through the motions prescribed for solemnizing a marriage, as he chants those mantras, we don’t have a clue about the meaning of the words that he is reciting, nor of the steps—‘Now pour some water on the earth, and then on . . .’ Nor do we care: ‘Panditji, puja zaraa jaldi khatam kar deejiye. Guest dinner ke liye wait kar rahen hain’—‘Panditji, please conclude the puja a bit quickly. The guests are waiting for dinner.’

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