BENGALURU: I read somewhere that a writer should always provide value to their readers. Unfortunately, my columns are mostly about stray dogs, mosquitoes, showers, and uncles in my society. But every New Year, I like to provide my readers with easy, accessible new years’ resolutions. These resolutions are easy to implement and will not add to all the already mounting pressures in your life.
Do not be perturbed by the mundane. Take the advice given by Adi Shankaracharya in Nirvana Shatakam – Chidananda Roopah Shivoham Shivoham – which loosely translates to ‘I am consciousness and bliss’. Every time your boss gives you trouble, or you’re stuck in traffic – remind yourself that you’re not a software engineer. You are consciousness and bliss. Extend this thought to news around you, the ever-changing dynamics of the world, or the constant emotional highs and lows of life.
Discover new music this year. Most of us have to endure house parties where the entire point of the party is to play your songs next.
Instead of joining that rat race, keep the app ‘Shazam’ ready on your phone. Every time you like a song, Shazam it. In fact, use the entire year as a journey of re-curating your music.
Avoid food delivery apps. We all fell for the traps set for us by the wolves of Wall Street. They got us used to food delivered at quick delivery times and low prices. As we wallowed in our convenience, they sneakily raised the prices, began hiking the delivery fees, and even included surcharges for rains, traffic, Ekadashi and Amavasya. By the time you realise this, newer apps appear in the market. You download that app and use it for a few months, only for the cycle to repeat. Break the cycle. Hire a cook, or learn to cook yourself.
Do not be perturbed by cab drivers anymore. I speak five languages and have a degree in Mass Comm – and yet I’m unable to communicate well with them. Learn Kannada if you have to, negotiate well, and ensure you don’t have to worry about cab services anymore.
Avoid friends and family. If you prepare a graphical pie-chart of your friends and family, you’ll find only a tiny sliver to be nice, well-meaning people in your life. Most family members probably belong to the Shakuni nakshatra, and contribute nothing to your life except gossip, slander, and tension. We all have that uncle who boasts, the aunt that’s sarcastic, and that cousin who shows off. Avoid them and watch your stress levels fall like the Rupee in recent times.
But more than anything, make your sanity your No.1 priority. Buddha lived in the times before social media, so it was easy for him to conclude that desires are the cause of all suffering. But in our modern lives, our sanity is given last priority – like the ‘Petty Cash’ account in a B.Com student’s answer sheet. We have been brainwashed to be kind and caring, to keep others’ interests over our own.
To pamper others is seen as a virtue, but to pamper oneself is seen as a vice. Let go of those imaginary shackles, and become your best friend. Remember, when the Himalayan monk asked Adi Shankaracharya who he was, Adi Shankara could have said “I’m an eight-year boy in search of the truth”. He was wise beyond his years. But he chose to look into the monk’s eyes and reply “I am nothing, but the embodiment of consciousness and bliss”. Take a leaf out of Adi Shankara’s ancient book, and have a fun, fulfilling new year!
(The writer’s views are personal)