BENGALURU : Till a few years ago, I never associated myself with the words ‘mental health’. I assumed it was problems faced by the rich and the privileged. How could someone like me – who struggled with banal issues like back pain – encounter issues like mental health?It took me five years of being a professional standup comedian to realise the truth. Writing jokes, going up in front of strangers every day, seeking their validation – took a toll on my mind. A few comics informed me that depression and anxiety attacks were common in this field. I had brushed them aside by smoking. My bohemian lifestyle modeled after Jack Sparrow and Jack Kerouac wasn’t helping either. So I decided to try meditation.
Google Baba recommended I consult someone who had practised meditation earlier, so I asked my father. ‘I used to return home after work. There was no TV, and nothing to do…so I meditated in front of the altar till dinnertime’.
Nothing to do! I had no idea what that felt like. I’d always had something to do – an assignment to submit, a boss to report to. I went back to Google Baba and sought help, and found that there were many types of meditation. From ‘Mindfulness meditation’ to ‘Transcendental meditation’. Each technique had its pros and cons.
A techie friend recommended meditation apps, but if the app played a sound of seawaves, my mind drifted to coral reefs and shark-attacks. During voice-guided meditation sessions, my mind began to ask the most inane questions.
When disciples approached Buddha, he sent them out to find the truth. I went back to Google Baba, and was recommended stepping out of my house to meditate in a calm atmosphere. There is a children’s park outside my building but all I got was children shooting each other over mobile games or parents screaming at their children for running too fast.
Perhaps meditation wasn’t possible at the moment, but there is hope. The way humanity is going, we should experience a climatic catastrophe or a nuclear war soon. In a dystopian future without Internet, I would be able to meditate in peace.
The Buddha had it easy. He left his royal quarters and walked into a forest to find his life’s calling. He did not have to deal with a FB account, or update his Instagram. If he existed in today’s times, he would go by the username sid_@rtha on social media! I, meanwhile, shall wait for Global Warming to strike.
The author is a writer and comedian.