Co-Existance

 by Smt. Mandira Lahiri

Next to our apartment building is a quaint little school called ‘The Home School’. In the last ten-eleven years of our stay here, this school has become an integral part of our lives. Every morning we drink tea sitting on the balcony which overlooks the school. We enjoy watching the activities taking place in the school — the gardener coming and tending to the plants every morning…. the watchman getting ready to face the day…. the maids busy sweeping, mopping and dusting to give the school a gleaming look before the arrival of the Principal…. the bus drivers washing and cleaning the buses before they embark on a journey to bring the kids to school. Blackie, Brownie and Chikku Nayi (meaning “the little dog” in Kannada) are three mongrels who have been adopted by the school, and they are very important members of The Home School family.

When the Principal’s car is five minutes away from the school, the three dogs somehow sense it and start chasing each other from one end of the playground to the other. Their joy knows no bounds…. in anticipation of eating the fresh food prepared by the Principal’s daughter (an ardent dog lover who feeds about fifteen stray dogs each day). They welcome the principal by wagging their tails vigorously and letting out short yelps of joy. After that it is eating time for them but here too few unspoken rules are to be followed. Just when the driver starts serving the food into their bowls, Chikku Nayi is nudged by the other two dogs to go under one of the buses and wait for his turn….which he does, a little reluctantly. If he shows even a little resistance, the other two nip him here and there and he is forced to obey them. Hot, fresh and nutritious food is first served to Blackie (also known by the name of Charcoal). After he has his fill, it is Brownie’s turn. He is the senior most, hence quite bossy. Then it is Chikku Nayi’s turn, he wriggles out of his refuge, sticking out his long, pink, saliva dripping tongue to lap up all the goodies offered to him. After this satisfying meal, all the three dogs look for a nice and cozy place for their siesta. They protect each other, care for each other, respect each other and play with each other. Their camaraderie is really amazing! How beautifully and peacefully they co-exist with each other. 

We humans have a lot to learn from this animal world. During childhood, we often hear of cats and dogs being born enemies. In one of my relative’s house— two cats and two dogs live happily together. I have heard of dogs adopting kittens…. giving them all the love, attention and care and bringing them up as their own offspring. Even the wild animals don’t attack or kill their prey if they don’t feel threatened or if they are not hungry. Whereas, there is so much chaos and unrest in the world of us humans today. Children are being conditioned to grow up into individuals with no compassion, kindness, empathy, love or respect for others. In most of the schools Moral Science lessons have been scrapped.

Sometime back I came across a story written by Dorothy Victor which goes this way—

The once-a-month exercise in creative writing for the sixth graders was in progress. As the young students were penning their composition, an argument in hushed tones was building up from the south-west corner of the class where the twin sisters Tina and Rina sat. Our class teacher, Mrs. Roselyn, walked to the sisters and enquired what was going on. In her characteristic gentle yet stern manner, she resolved the issue.

The next day was a bright Wednesday, and classes began with the usual Moral Science period. That day Mrs. Roselyn chose to take us out to the garden of the sprawling campus of our convent for the class. The change of scenario got us enthusiastic about the class. Shortly our teacher began the period which covered the teaching of Moral Science to the young minds.

“What you see is the beauty of God’s creation around us, look around, the shrubs and the trees; the buzzing bees and the color changing chameleons; the birds and the insects,” she went on pointing to a colorful butterfly that darted just then from the row of marigolds in a flower bed at the corner of the field.

“All this beauty is for all of us; the good and the naughty, the studious and the lazy, the talkative and the quiet. God does not distinguish among us. He opens his goodness to all. It is important then that we, who enjoy his goodness, in turn become instruments of goodness. And becoming instruments of goodness means that we learn to share freely, forgive generously, and care warmly for all around us , including the planet we live in,” so saying, she continued with the class stressing on how we ought to choose goodness over everything else in the world. 

We listened with rapt attention to the values that were being emphasized effectively by drawing inspiration from the natural and glorious setting of the school garden. Later in the day, the grapevine had it that the twin sisters who had fought over sharing their stationery vowed to share their belongings with each other in the future. As for me, the words of Mrs. Roselyn would echo in my ears for the rest of my school days and urge me to believe in goodness over anything else.

So, after going through this simple story we realize how imperative it is to reintroduce Moral Science lessons in schools.

Our divine Master, Prajnanpurush Sri Sri Babathakur, in His book “Nectar of Wisdom” reaffirms, ‘In the present age people have human form but not human nature. Had they had a true human nature, events would have been shaped differently, for a true human nature will never allow such debauchery and chaos as we experience them now through hatred and violence, greed and jealousy. There are men having human form with the true human nature, but they are few…. In most people, the inner nature is not truly human. Mankind must again follow the evolutionary process to discover the true human nature. Without going through this process, no beneficial evolution can take place…. and that is why people suffer.”

Sri Sri Babathakur further points out that temples often represent but the outer show, not the true religion, as true religion should uplift the standard of the spirit, the ethical and moral senses along with the development of true discrimination between the Real and the unreal. He said, ‘The way it goes now, at present, is not good at all because the Right Knowledge is not taught during the time of the primary education. Nescience or spiritual ignorance prevails, but I assure you that a time will come when the mind will get fed-up with itself and it will then cry for help. That time will come, when the `Science of Oneness` and the `Oneness of Science` will be truly followed for the well-being of all.’

What powerful words! What assurance! It fills up each and every cell of my body with new energy, vigor and a fountain of hope! O Lord! Just let me be at your lotus feet for ever.