कबीर साहब का एक भजन और चैट-जीपीटी से संवाद - A Dialogue with ChatGPT and Kabir Saheb's Bhajan

नमस्ते पाठकों,

हाल ही में मैंने कबीर साहब का भजन संग्रह पढ़ा और उसमें एक भजन पढ़ा जिसके शब्द हैं "घूँघट के पट खोल रे, तोहे पिया मिलेंगे"। इस भजन को लेकर पहले से ही काफ़ी गहरा चिंतन हो चूका है और इसके कई बड़े और गहरे आध्यात्मिक अर्थ मुझे जानने को मिले। लेकिन आज के इस ब्लॉग में मुझे जो बात करनी है वह है इस भजन से जुड़ी मेरी बातचीत जो मैंने "चैट जीपीटी" से साझा की। ब्लॉग शुरू करने से पहले कबीर साहब के इस भजन को अच्छे से पढ़ लेते हैं। हो सकता है आगे का ब्लॉग पढ़ने से पहले ही भजन में से जीवन के कुछ गहरे सत्य किसी को समझ में आ जाएं और इस ब्लॉग की निरर्थकता को समझ कर वे खुद ही प्रेमवश या करुणावश यह ब्लॉग पढ़ना छोड़ दें।

"घूँघट के पट खोल रे, तोहे पिया मिलेंगे"

घूँघट के पट खोल रे, तोहे पिया मिलेंगे।

घट घट मै तेरे साईं बसत है, कटुक बचन मत बोल रे।

घूँघट के पट खोल रे, तोहे पिया मिलेंगे।

धन जोबन का गरब ना कीजे, झूठा इन का मोल।

घूँघट के पट खोल रे, तोहे पिया मिलेंगे।

जाग यतन से रंग महल में, पिया पायो अनमोल।

घूँघट के पट खोल रे, तोहे पिया मिलेंगे।

सूने मंदिर, दिया जला के, आसन से मत डोल।

घूँघट के पट खोल रे, तोहे पिया मिलेंगे।

कहत ‘कबीर’ सुनो भाई साधों, अनहद बाजत ढोल।

घूँघट के पट खोल रे, तोहे पिया मिलेंगे।

- कबीर साहब

हालांकि हम सब जानते हैं कि लोग चैट जीपीटी का इस्तेमाल कई अलग अलग मस्लों के लिए करते हैं। लेकिन आज जब मैंने चैट जीपीटी से बिना कबीर साहब का नाम दिए इस भजन के शुरुआती शब्दों को ध्यान में रख कर इसका अर्थ माँगा तो चैट जीपीटी ने कहा: इस कड़ी में स्त्री को यह सुझाया जाता है कि वह अपना घूँघट यानि की मन के द्वार खोल दे तो उसे अपने पति की भेंट होंगी।

इस उत्तर को पढ़कर मुझे बहुत हंसी आई जबकि दिमाग में ऐसे खुराफाती विचार इस तरह के जवाब पढ़कर ही आते हैं कि अब इस चैट बॉट से आगे क्या ही पूछें और क्या ही जवाब की उम्मीद रखें।

आगे के प्रश्न, उत्तर और मेरी प्रतिक्रियाएं कुछ इस तरह से थे,

प्रश्न: वह पुरुष कैसा होता है जिसके सामने कोई भी स्त्री अपने मनके सभी द्वार खोल देती हैं?

चैट जीपीटी: ऐसा पुरुष वह होता है जो केवल आकर्षण या चतुराई से नहीं, बल्कि अपने व्यवहार, व्यक्तित्व और ऊर्जा से स्त्रियों को इतना सहज बना देता है कि वे बिना डर, बिना संकोच और बिना झिझक अपने मन की गहराइयाँ खोल देती हैं। उसके कुछ प्रमुख लक्षण इस प्रकार होते हैं:

१. सुरक्षित आभा (Sense of Safety): वह स्त्री को यह एहसास दिलाता है कि उसके सामने कुछ भी कहने-करने पर कोई आलोचना, उपहास या शोषण नहीं होगा।

२. गहरी संवेदनशीलता (Deep Empathy): वह केवल सुनता नहीं, बल्कि पूरे मन से महसूस करता है। स्त्री को लगता है कि उसकी भावनाएँ सचमुच समझी जा रही हैं।

३. निर्मल पारदर्शिता (Transparency): उसमें दोहरापन या दिखावा नहीं होता। उसकी बात और उसका आचरण एक जैसा होता है।

४. निर्लिप्त लेकिन अपनत्व से भरा (Detached yet Warm): वह अपने अहंकार, स्वार्थ या वासनात्मक दृष्टि से मुक्त होता है। अपनापन देता है लेकिन जकड़ता नहीं।

५. गंभीरता और परिपक्वता (Maturity): वह न तो सतही सवाल करता है, न ही गपशप में खो जाता है। उसमें ऐसा गाम्भीर्य होता है कि स्त्री को लगे – “यह व्यक्ति मेरी आत्मा तक को समझ सकता है।”

६. विश्वास की क्षमता (Trustworthiness): उसका चरित्र ऐसा होता है कि स्त्री को यकीन होता है कि उसकी बातें कभी उसके खिलाफ इस्तेमाल नहीं होंगी।

७. न्यायपूर्ण दृष्टि (Non-judgmental): वह किसी भी भावना, कमजोरी या अतीत को लेकर निर्णय नहीं सुनाता। वह स्वीकार करता है।

संक्षेप में, ऐसा पुरुष “दरवाज़े खोलने वाला नहीं, बल्कि ताले पिघलाने वाला” होता है। उसकी उपस्थिति ही स्त्री के मन को विश्वास दिलाती है कि यहाँ मैं बिल्कुल सुरक्षित, समझी हुई और स्वीकृत हूँ।

क्या आप चाहेंगे कि मैं आपको यह भी बताऊँ कि ऐसा पुरुष कैसे बना जा सकता है?

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(अब यहाँ बात बीइंग और बिकमिंग पर आ चुकी थी, मुझे यह पहले से ही पता था की चैट जीपीटी का एल्गोरीधम हमेशा सब्जेक्टिव अग्रीमेंट को लेकर बड़ा उतावला रहता है। ऊपर लिखे उसके जवाब पे संशयात्मक दृष्टि रखते हुए मैंने हाँ कहा।)

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प्रश्न: हाँ

चैट जीपीटी: ठीक है 🙂

ऐसा पुरुष बनना अभिनय नहीं है, बल्कि अपने भीतर कुछ गुणों को साधना है। यह धीरे-धीरे जीवन में उतरता है। इसके लिए कदम इस प्रकार हो सकते हैं:

१. सुनना सीखें (Art of Listening): जब कोई स्त्री बोल रही हो, तो बीच में न काटें, सलाह न ठोंसें, बस गहराई से सुनें। उसे लगे कि उसकी बात सचमुच किसी ने समझी है।

२. निर्भय उपस्थिति (Fearless Presence): स्त्रियाँ उस पुरुष के सामने खुलती हैं, जिसके चेहरे या नज़रों में कोई भोग की वासना नहीं, बल्कि सम्मान की रोशनी हो। अपनी नज़र और ऊर्जा को शुद्ध रखें।

३. भावनाओं को समझें, तर्क से न दबाएँ: स्त्रियाँ अकसर भावनाओं से बोलती हैं। पुरुष यदि हर भावना को तर्क से काटेगा, तो दरवाज़े बंद हो जाएँगे। भावनाओं को मान्यता दें।

४. गोपनीयता निभाएँ: यदि किसी ने मन खोलकर बात कही है, तो उसे कभी दूसरों से साझा न करें। स्त्री यही देखकर तय करती है कि वह अगली बार कितना गहरा मन खोलेगी।

५. आत्म-स्थिरता (Inner Stability): जो पुरुष स्वयं ही अस्थिर, बेचैन और मान्यता का भूखा है, उसके सामने कोई खुलता नहीं। ध्यान, योग, या आत्म-चिंतन से स्थिरता लाएँ।

६. निर्लिप्त अपनापन: अपनापन दें लेकिन स्वामित्व की भावना से नहीं। स्त्री को लगे कि वह स्वतंत्र है, और फिर भी आप उसके साथ खड़े हैं।

७. पारदर्शी व्यक्तित्व: अपने जीवन में ईमानदारी, स्पष्टता और वास्तविकता रखें। दिखावा जितना कम होगा, विश्वास उतना बढ़ेगा।

👉 सार यह है कि ऐसा पुरुष “लेने” नहीं बल्कि “देने” की मानसिकता से चलता है। वह स्त्री को उसके असली स्वरूप में स्वीकार करता है—यही स्वीकृति मन के सभी द्वार खोल देती है।

प्रश्न: पहले जवाब में पांचवे मुद्दे पर थोड़ा ध्यान दीजिए। आत्मा न तो किसी के शरीर के अंदर होती है, न बाहर कहीं भटक रही होती है। न वह बाहर से कहीं किसी के शरीर में प्रवेश करती हैं न किसी रंग, रूप, कद, आकार को कभी धारण करती है। वह अहंकार से ग्रसित सभी कल्पनाओं से परे होती है। वह असंग, अद्वैत, निर्गुण और निराकार होती है। कोई भी व्यक्ति जब यह कहे कि "मेरी आत्मा, उसकी आत्मा" तो वह आत्मा को नहीं, अपने अहंकार और मन को ही संबोधित कर रहा होता है।

चैट जीपीटी: आपने एक अत्यंत सूक्ष्म और दार्शनिक बिंदु उठाया है 👌।

वास्तव में वेदांत दृष्टि से देखा जाए तो आत्मा न भीतर है, न बाहर—वह असंग (अस्पृश्य), नित्य और सर्वव्यापी है।

जब लोग कहते हैं “मेरी आत्मा”, “उसकी आत्मा”, तो वह आत्मा की नहीं, बल्कि अहंकार और मन की अवस्था की बात होती है। आत्मा कभी "मेरी" या "तेरी" नहीं हो सकती, क्योंकि उसमें स्वामित्व का भाव होता ही नहीं।

👉 इसीलिए गहराई से कहें तो, किसी स्त्री या पुरुष का “आत्मा तक समझ जाना” वास्तव में आत्मा को नहीं, बल्कि उसके मन, संस्कार, भावनाओं और अहंकार-ग्रंथि को समझना है।

आत्मा तो साक्षी है, देखने वाला है, वह न किसी से छुपती है, न किसी से प्रकट होती है।

मन ही वह क्षेत्र है जहाँ द्वार खुलते और बंद होते हैं। स्त्री जब कहती है कि उसने अपने मन के द्वार खोल दिए, तो वह मूलतः मन और अहंकार की परतों को हटाकर सहज हो गई है।

अतः मेरे पहले उत्तर में जो पाँचवा मुद्दा था (गंभीरता और परिपक्वता: “यह व्यक्ति मेरी आत्मा तक को समझ सकता है”), उसे शुद्ध वेदान्त दृष्टि से सुधारना चाहिए:

यह “आत्मा तक समझने” का भाव भाषिक रूपक है।

वस्तुतः पुरुष स्त्री के मन की गहराई, उसकी भीतरी भावनाओं और उसके अहंकार से परे जो शुद्ध चित्त है, उसे समझने की क्षमता रखता है।

📌 निष्कर्ष:

आत्मा असंग और सर्वव्यापक है, इसलिए उसे समझना या पकड़ना संभव नहीं।

जो समझा जाता है, वह है मन, बुद्धि और अहंकार का स्वरूप।

जब कोई व्यक्ति इतना परिपक्व हो कि सामने वाला अपने मन और अहंकार के सारे द्वार खोल दे, तब लगता है मानो उसने “आत्मा तक देख लिया”।

प्रश्न: दुसरे जवाब में तीसरा मुद्दा पुनर्विचार मांगता है। यदि स्त्री केवल भावनाओं के केंद्र से जी रही हों तो उसे कभी तर्कशील और वास्तविकता में जीने वाला पुरुष पसंद नहीं आयेगा। कोई भी स्त्री और पुरुष अपने लिंग से पहले एक विशुद्ध चेतना होते हैं, दोनों को अपनी चेतना का विस्तार करने के लिए तर्कों का सहारा लेना ही पड़ेगा। ऐसे में अगर कोई भी पुरुष बिना तर्क किए स्त्री की भावनाओं को समझने लगेगा तो वस्तुतः वह स्त्री को केवल भावनाओं के ढांचे में जड़ने की छुपी साजिश कर रहा है। जिसके बारे में उसे खुद भी कोई ज्ञान नहीं है। जीवन को जितना तर्क के आधार पर अच्छे से जिया जा सकता है उतना भावनाओं के आधार पर नहीं जिया जा सकता।

चैट जीपीटी: आपकी यह आपत्ति बिल्कुल सही और गहन है। आपने जिस बिंदु पर पुनर्विचार की माँग की है, वह मूलतः मनुष्य की चेतना के द्वैत स्वरूप—भावना और तर्क—से जुड़ा हुआ है।

मेरे पिछले उत्तर का तीसरा मुद्दा था: “भावनाओं को समझें, तर्क से न दबाएँ।”

यह व्यावहारिक स्तर पर कहा गया था, ताकि कोई पुरुष संवेदनशील हो सके।

लेकिन जैसा आपने स्पष्ट किया, यदि पुरुष केवल स्त्री की भावनाओं को ही मान्यता देता है और तर्कशील दृष्टि को नज़रअंदाज़ करता है, तो यह असमानता और अधूरापन पैदा करता है।

वेदान्त और गहरी दार्शनिक दृष्टि से देखें तो:

मनुष्य लिंग से पहले चेतना है –

न स्त्री केवल भावना है, न पुरुष केवल तर्क। यह समाज-निर्मित भूमिकाएँ हैं। असली मनुष्य तो वही है जो भावना और तर्क दोनों का संतुलन साध सके।

भावना में जकड़ना भी बंधन है –

यदि कोई स्त्री केवल भावनाओं के आधार पर जी रही है, और पुरुष भी उसी भावनात्मक परिप्रेक्ष्य में उसे “स्वीकार” करता है, तो वास्तव में यह उसे अपूर्ण और सीमित बना देता है। जैसे आपने कहा, यह “अनजानी साजिश” है।

तर्क ही चेतना का विस्तार है –

भावना क्षणिक और व्यक्तिनिष्ठ हो सकती है, पर तर्क सार्वभौमिक और वास्तविकता की ओर ले जाता है। जीवन को स्थायी रूप से व्यवस्थित और समझने के लिए विवेक (तर्क का परिष्कृत रूप) अनिवार्य है।

संतुलन की आवश्यकता –

भावनाएँ मनुष्य को जीवंत बनाती हैं, तर्क जीवन को दिशा देता है। केवल भावना से व्यक्ति बह जाता है, केवल तर्क से सूख जाता है। इसलिए पुरुष का कर्तव्य यह नहीं कि वह स्त्री को भावनाओं तक सीमित कर दे, बल्कि यह कि वह उसके भावनात्मक अनुभव को विवेक के प्रकाश से जोड़ दे।

🔑 संशोधित निष्कर्ष यह होगा:

पुरुष को स्त्री की भावनाओं को समझना चाहिए, पर वहीं तक रुकना नहीं चाहिए।

उसे उसके भावनात्मक अनुभवों को तर्क और विवेक के आधार पर एक ऊँची चेतना की ओर ले जाने में सहायक होना चाहिए।

यही वास्तविक “साझेदारी” है, न कि भावनाओं में उलझाना या तर्क से दबाना।

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मैं जानता हूँ कि इस ब्लॉग का कबीर साहब के भजन के वास्तविक और आद्यात्मिक अर्थों से कोई ताल्लुक नहीं है। भजन अपने आप में ही इतना सटीक और गहरा है कि उसे पढ़कर मन लगातार आत्म-अवलोकन की ओर अपने आप ही बढ़ चलता है। यहाँ घूँघट का अर्थ अपना मन और अहंकार है, घूँघट के पट का अर्थ अहंकार और मन पर लगी अज्ञान की परतें हैं, और पिया का अर्थ है आत्मज्ञान। 

इस भजन के बाक़ी कड़ियाँ भी बड़ी सुन्दर और गहरे अर्थ रखती हैं, इसे ध्यान से और बार बार पढ़ना चाहिए।

चलिए इजाज़त लेता हूँ,

यहाँ तक ब्लॉग पढ़ने के लिए धन्यवाद।

फिर मिलेंगे।

Philosophy of Work, Karma and Routine Tasks

     Time, as defined and divided into several convenient segments by physicists, mathematicians, and scientists, comes with certain conditions. Life, on the other hand, has the same limitations and conditions. Combining both, life and time become the drivers of human consciousness. All of the human adventures, innovations, and technologies are the end result of these two elements. Time helps to examine the past and present, and then helps predict the future. Life elevates the scarcity of time and dictates that the human being work on the most necessary things in the present. This is how 'Work' comes into existence.

       In Hindu scriptures, the philosophy of Karma matters the most as a means of attaining salvation or 'Mukti', and it is widely understood as liberation. Now Karma stands as the key factor for almost everything a human being does in his/her entire life, which also includes our daily routine tasks as well. But as far as our discussion about Work and Karma is concerned, let's make a clear demarcation between routine tasks and Karma.

      Humans are primarily considered as animals, or rather, social animals. It is the basic and common factor that, unlike all other animals, humans create communities, tribes, groups, and societies to make a safe and livable environment around, creating houses to reside in, making couples and producing kids, and so on. This helps them keep away from predators. All the activities associated with this common factor of safety and security are considered routine tasks. Now, there are certain odd jobs discovered only by humans like brushing the teeth, taking daily baths with or without any additional tools, shaving beard and other body hair, wearing clothes, cooking food on fire before eating, collecting stocks of food items for "future" (of course due to fear of death and insecurity about health), earning and managing money - which is again the technology used only by humans.

         But the above are still considered as daily routine tasks, done to just survive in a better way, and not Work or Karma. What, then, does Work or Karma stand for? Let's understand.

       Humans have a special luxury of thinking and reasoning, which is rarely found in any other animals. This particular ability has made humans the fastest-evolving species on the planet. Humans have discovered numerous measurements to measure almost everything around them. As a result of this, we have several dedicated branches of knowledge such as mathematics, science, medicine, technology, engineering, finance, law, business transactions, languages, arts, and so on.

       Again, the basic tendency of human beings is to "think," but here comes the role of consciousness. Every conscious person will 'make a choice' of what to think, how to think, and for how long to think. This is the point where the parallel process of action takes place. Thoughts and actions mixed with pure consciousness make the most truthful choices. The result of the process of thinking, removing the unnecessary clutter from the mind, applying consciousness, and selecting the important thing to do is called Work. While working, we remove our feelings and emotions and become more particular, practical about the work. That is also known as Karma.

        Selecting the work is not sufficient. Analyzing the impact factor of that work is also necessary.

        How do we decide whether our work has a significant impact or not?

        Think about a person preparing for defense-level exams. S/he has a clear motive to serve and devote their entire life to the country. S/he could have selected the easy moneymaking job, but s/he didn't. Now, by joining either the Army, the Navy, or the Air Force, the utilization of all his health and might will be only for the country. It has a great social impact. This is how you measure all the work and jobs around the world and check the impact of the same. To get results at the primary level, one can also measure the time and energy spent on different activities throughout the day. Time and life spent with people, content consumed from inside and outside the screen, places visited within a week or a month, thoughts that kept oneself engaged a lot, and so on.

        Still feeling clueless about this? No worries. Start reading or learning about all the great figures who lived in history. Keep some questions in mind while reading. It's always good to know about the lives of visionaries and great personalities. Study well and have a minute observation about their life and choices. I am not talking about the people who have always focused on making money. It is about the people with long visions and heavy missions that led the entire course of humanity towards a drastic change.

        This would be a great exercise to carry out, especially in this time of quick name-quick fame-quick money. Tech giants need more data to store the useless content created by influencers daily. The Internet, if not made a sharp choice, can ruin human capacity. The times are crucial, so is the decision-making. A constant flow of ads and information bombards us daily. And this 'flow' is very dangerous. It never allows one to think, reflect, and sit silently with one's own self.

        This is the real philosophy: Work, Karma, and other routine tasks. By removing all the clutter of our sensory needs and cutting the layers of all the hidden emotions, we see ourselves as the purest consciousness. The more we purify our consciousness, the clearer we become about our actions and further choices. While you become silent and consciously think about all of the choices and actions, all the major giants and money makers experience great pressure. Because the practice of mindfulness, stability, and asking for nothing makes them worry about production and consumption.

        I recall the Buddhist philosophy here: "Be stable and silent. The world, life, and time are nothing but an endless flow of the river. Just be watchful about your own involvement and the role of the world in your life. The moment you, with all your ego, prejudices, and preconditioning, jump in the flow, you lose what you have earned through silence and stability."

Happy reading,

Happy learning.

Word Count: 1024

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Thank You!

But Where is The Problem?

We keep consoling ourselves that we need not worry about the heavyweight issues that can't be relatively solved with two hands and a simple mind that we call the mediocre one. How can we as a human being forget that one is not bound to live by only "family-friends-relatives-jobs-married" entitlement?

Media keep showing us what is more in trend. But we fail and forget what is "important" to us. The necessary goods, grains, and fruits are costly and the enjoyable street food is the cheapest. Libraries are ignored, and ideas are the least regarded. People love only to see what's "likable".

Where truth is the prime need of today's time. The reason, facts, and truthful literature are important.

In the 21st century, people do not need the opium of glamour and trivia, they need lovable goals, jobs that can't be ignored, reality that touches the hearts of millions, thoughts worth implementing quickly, and wisdom that leads to the ultimate salvation.

But where is the problem?

The problem is with shallow thoughts, biases, and a willing withdrawal from Karma. Abstaining from thinking will lead the future generation into darkness. Our laziness will not only kill the present resources but also will deprive us of a bright future.

The real power is within us, it is just in the arm's reach. Our tools are sharp enough to spread the word within no time. We can always call for ourselves when there is no one around to help us. Retaining energy, truthfulness, and being in constant touch with the basics are the requisites for such changes.

With great power comes great responsibilities.

Without resposibility, there is no freedom.

The Plague - Looking at Literature Through Pandemics

Hello Readers!

Outbreak, Epidemic and then Pandemic. These words are playing on everyone's tongues nowadays. To point out some more words, quarantine, lockdown, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), and the word POSITIVE itself is now a negative word. As we are passing through the most deadly and non-discriminatory CoViD-19 pandemic, these words are now added to everyone's vocabulary. Coronavirus has brought the world on its knees. No power, no wealth and position, no class is spared from the vicious infection of coronavirus.

Well, being a student of literature, there are many books came to notice which are very relevant to the current situation. The Plague by Albert Camus is one of them. Here are some initial impressions from the blog by Dr Dilip Barad (click here) and from the videos included in it.

Video: Albert Camus - The Plague by The School of Life

This video gives the best explanation of the novel and its timelessness. It is known fact that the literature which stands strong in the heavy storm of time and fights for its relevance is good literature. Perhaps Camus's The Plague is one of such works. The Plague is still very relatable in today's time of COVID-19 pandemic. The main character of Dr Rieux has got the strong voice through Camus's tongue. The novel does not only shows the plague as an epidemic but also lead us to think the vulnerability of humans to the smallest of the viruses and bacterias. The novel is not written to panic people but it teaches us that life is very short, that's why we should love humans.

This is one of the appealing and relatable graphics from the video. The symbolic agricultural instrument scythe suggests that suffering is inevitable. However, it disappears for some time but it reappears in some newer forms of epidemic or pandemic or any other calamity. Camus has explained how life may take devastating twist and turns at any moment. He has explained the concept of absurdity through the novel. Here some past examples can be related to this blog. In Hollywood movie series The Final Destination this absurdity of life has shown in some more horrific ways, through bloodshed and creepiest death scenes. In a nutshell, life is always on the edge of death. Our safety and comforts are momentary and sometimes illusionary.

another example is a TV show named 1000 Ways to Die

(Attribution: By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28751355)

Though this TV show doesn't fully fit the current situation but as far as the human life's vulnerability is concerned, this show tells us that how crucial death can occur to anyone. The show makes us think that humans are knowingly or unknowingly invite death to their doorstep. This can be connected with unhygienic lifestyle of people. Carefree natured people are least concerned about washing hands and keeping the surroundings clean and tidy. Thus, viruses attack on humans.

The film Contagion is also very recent talking topic during the pandemic. 

Now coming to the literature viewpoint, much of the literature has been produced about pandemics and deadly diseases. Recently a Gujarati newspaper published Albert Camus's novel The Plague in Gujarati translation by Paresh Vyas. It covered both the things altogether; the exact relevance of the novel in the current situation of CoViD-19 pandemic and facts and reasons behind the relevance of the novel, that why it is still much more applicable till date.

1. Humanity - human self-centeredness vs human sacrifice

It is bitter but must-accept truth that humans have devalued everything around them. The first hand victim of the cruel human behavior is nature itself. The continuous fall of human values has made human a slave of circumstances. Human's gigantic leaps towards developments and progress were at the cost of natural resources. And during this time of pandemic, human still tend to be a hypocrite, and think that this coronavirus won't harm to them. Such ill thinking of humans make them self-centered. On the contrary, there are medical experts and frontline health workers who risk their lives to save our lives.

As humans we need to grow from within. We need to look around and see the mess we've created. Whatever may be the reason of the spreading this virus but it establishes that humans are powerless and helpless fighting a micro or nano sized virus. This is the apt reason to leave the egoistic and self-centred nature.

In a web page suggested by Dr. Dilip Barad sir, there are three major books which focus on epidemics such as plague and others. The Plague by Albert Camus, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. The best example of human sacrifice for the welfare of humanity is highlighted in Year of Wonders. According to the novel, the villagers of Eyam quarantined their town and the plague stayed inside the town. This was a humanitarian step to save other's lives. Self sacrificing our lives to save others' is really a courageous task. To quote the original one from the website,

"It was a huge cost to the villagers," Brooks says, "because a lot of those might have survived if they'd fled early in the outbreak. But on the other hand, that act of self-sacrifice meant that the plague did not spread beyond Eyam into the surrounding communities, and so many thousands, perhaps, of lives were saved."(The Year of Wonders)

What do we need to learn from this epidemic literature? The answer is a following quote.

"For some time, anyhow, they would be happy. They knew now that if there is one thing one can always yearn for and sometimes attain, it is human love."  (The Plague)

Fear goes away for sometime. As the epidemic or pandemic gets reduced, people enjoy the illusionary victory, but in real, it is not the act of celebration, it is a sigh of a momentary relief from the vicious fear of the plague or coronavirus. Camus's novel The Plague can be seen as sign of fear, because we all are having plague in the form of some fears. In order to save humanity we have to make ourselves used to such fears and start valuing life. Because life isn't always full. It's always in chunks and pieces. Happiness is also momentary and sorrow also ends shortly.

2. Science vs Religion - the question of God and religion in times of epidemics and calamities.

For over years, there has been a heated debate between science and religion. During this coronavirus pandemic, it is surprising to see that those who were opposing science have also accepted the importance of medical inventions and official guidelines of The World Health Organization. But the question still remains in the air that who sent this virus to mankind? It seems very rigidly sticked question with religion. On the other hand, science has proven that this coronavirus is not a curse sent by the gods but it a continuous transmission of an Acute Respiratory Syndrome or a family of virus which is shaped as crown or corona. Even medical science has lot many microscopic images of the coronavirus (below), but still religion will raise any question from nowhere.

If the matter could be seen as Indian perspectives, the country has number of religious places. Temples, Churches, Mosques, Gurudwaras etc. As the pandemic is shading equal terror throughout the world, all the places of social gatherings including above holy places are closed. But still health workers, police cops, and sanitation employees are working endlessly to save lives. In such environment, staunch religious group will ask the question that where is god? Why doesn't he do anything? Lying on a hospital bed, a COVID-19 positive patient can see doctors as the life givers or life savers and also ignore them and seek for godly help. In the end, it is a matter of choice to whom we call god and to which we should believe in, science or religion.

Let's rediscover ourselves and grow from within.

Stay Home, Stay Safe, Save Lives.

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References:
Block, Melissa. “'A Matter Of Common Decency': What Literature Can Teach Us About Epidemics.” NPR, NPR, 1 Apr. 2020, www.npr.org/2020/04/01/822579660/a-matter-of-common-decency-what-literature-can-teach-us-about-epidemics.

Judt, Tony. “A Hero for Our Times.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 Nov. 2001, www.theguardian.com/books/2001/nov/17/albertcamus.

Lepore, Jill, et al. “What Our Contagion Fables Are Really About.” The New Yorker, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/30/what-our-contagion-fables-are-really-about.

Schaub, Michael. “Albert Camus And The Search For Meaning In The Midst Of Ebola.” NPR, NPR, 2 Aug. 2014, www.npr.org/2014/08/02/337134660/albert-camus-and-the-search-for-meaning-in-the-midst-of-ebola.

Vulliamy, Ed. “Albert Camus' The Plague: a Story for Our, and All, Times | Ed Vulliamy.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 5 Jan. 2015, www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/jan/05/albert-camus-the-plague-fascist-death-ed-vulliamy.

Thank You!

Monotonous Life, Emotional Crisis and Human Happiness

Hello Readers!

Today I've come up with something thoughtful and worth noting post. Human beings are considered as social animals. But humans have one more thing, which is intelligence. Intelligence is measured by quotients. There are some quotients to measure various human abilities like Emotional Quotient (EQ), Intelligence Quotient (IQ), etc. Humans can express their feeling and emotions they can laugh, cry, be sad, be happy and amazed. Some of them can be put into words and shared through language but some cannot be. In the 21st century how is the interaction and general behavior of humans ? Are they happy ? Really ?

No words, no language can give justice to the expression of human emotions and feelings. Even if humans make conscious attempts to put them into words but somewhere and somehow a kind of lack of words is created. Technology has made people silent. Earlier there was traditional landline phone, which were better than the smartphones. Various chatting applications replaced phone calls into messages and chats. Earlier there were commas, full-stop and brackets to display facial emotions, but time after time, technology has replaced them with cartoons, stickers, GIFs (Graphical Interchange Format) and mascots with fancy yellow color. It seems that human's happiness and joy has been minimized to these emoticons and emojis. We hardly look at one another's face and barely do eye contact. Negotiation skills and communication skills are getting degraded. Our sense of expressing emotions and feelings has become rusty.

Have you ever listened to the IVRS - (Interactive Voice Response System) on calling carefully ? If observed, you might be knowing that, the system ask us to press specific keys to reach out to our queries. Though the speaker's voice is pre-recorded with that much care, that not a single pitch and tone of voice gets the emotional touch. This senseless, feeling less voice of IVRS, is the marker for our day to day behavior also. We are gradually forgetting many human values. We have forgotten showing the emotions at the right time and right place.

* Information Please !

Here a short story flashes in memory. A story about a boy who develops friendship with a lady who works at information center. Click here to read the full story. As this story emotionally connects us with the characters, can we find anything which is more applicable in our present time ? How many hours do we spend with our family members ? How do we talk to our parents ? What's the best thing we can remember from our childhood ? Do we really think that we are stress free ?

In this time, where nuclear family concept is in top trend, one will find that children are in the most miserable situations. Inflation rate, high-pricing, and many other economic conditions are such that husband and wife both have to work for earnings. Grandfather and grandmother were the best friends of children, but this gap is now getting bigger and bigger. Our prime objective of earning money is not to get happiness and peace but is to enjoy the maximum materialistic wealth at the cost of our health. We eat food from costly restaurants and crave for very high profile luxurious life style. This greed and craving for material things upset us in such smooth way, that we can't even sense that what's happening to us. We often find ourselves very down, tired and frustrated. In such state of mind we seek for companionship of certain people to whom we can share our sorrows and recover from many emotional crisis. These companions are none other than our family members and friends. But unfortunately, the hovering aura of social media and virtual world eats all of our time and separates us from our near and dear ones. This scarcity of dialogue is continuously increasing. Our way of communication has also become very robotic and feeling less, just like that person who speaks in IVRS phone call.

As the time passes, life is becoming more and more monotonous. We wake up, get to work, meet people, make professional attitudes, make our own choices (which is good thing though) but without thinking about others, find the escape from the office work and go to party, watch movies and do what not... But do we really find the innate happiness in doing all these things ? Let's take a wider view. In majority of the cities there are anger management classes going on. Stress management workshops are being organized and many other things regarding the betterment of our mindfulness are taking place.

This shows that something needs to be changed. Empathetic approach is necessary to understand this situation thoroughly. If something can be thought and implemented with right intention, then nothing can stop us to become best of ourselves.

Be Thoughtful.
Thank You !