home!
the word in itself gives us a feeling of enchanting settlement. no matter in which corner of the world we go to, home will always be the place where we want to go back. even after stepping on the moon, neil armstrong would have wanted to go home. home holds such an aura to it.
i am not writing about the comfort of a home here. i want to talk about the horror of displacement. my mind is heavy and i want to let go of what is bothering me in words.
lanka is the dream land i would wish to go to anyday. i have seen pictures of the place which make me long for that moment in that awesome landscape. but now for the past few days i have been coming across pictures of lanka that makes me feel happy that i am not born there.
i have a friend of mine from lanka, who goes on and on about the abound beauty of the place. he talks as if there is nothing wrong at all with that place, as if it is the place next to heaven which the gods would choose. once when i asked him about why he was here and not there in his god's own country, he came up with reasons that shook the ground on which i stood. surprisingly this same friend of mine is back in lanka now.
i can understand the reason why. anyone from even a moderate home town would want to go back to the place that they belong to. why not a person who is from that place where the gods come to live.
i am reminded of the interesting story that my friend tells me about his home land.
ravana was a great shiva bhaktha. he worshipped lord shiva as though it was the only reason he was living. he penanced regularly for his lord. and as any penance this was also aimed at a reward.
lankapuri was the most beautiful place which shiva had constructed for his dear wife parvathi. he built it with all his love. he took great care to see to it that nothing was lacking. it had nothing deficient. all was well.it's beauty had no bounds. it was the reward that ravana had his eyes on.
pleased by ravana's penance, lord shiva appeared before ravana and offered a boon. ravana jumped at the offer. he asked for lankapuri. shiva was at a loss. he did explain that it was built as a gift of love to his wife parvathi with all his love. but ravana would not go back.
shiva was tired of arguing. he went to convince parvathi.
parvathi was very ipset with this matter. she allowed ravana have the land but avowed that there would never be peace in that land of lanka.
it is said that this is the reason behind all the endless mutiny.
believe it or not! this story has its own significance. it is the greed of people that is not letting them rest in peace. they do have all they need. but still they are moving away from their home; in search of safety for their lives.
greed blinds people. it wrecks havoc not only in one's own life but also in the life of people around because today we are in a world in which each one's safety depends on the other person.
one can not just bear the sight of the people who are made to evacuate for fear of lifes. some refuse and prefer dying too.
let us open our eyes to the needs of other person.
let us live and let live.
