Sreenath Sreenivasan

Thriving Mindfully

Tag: Compassion (Page 2 of 2)

The Best Position

April 26, 2018 / / 0 Comments

A little boy and his father were walking down the road home. The boy’s shoulders were weighed down by disappointment.
His shoes were covered in a layer of dust after the sports day proceedings in school. He dragged his feet along wearing a dejected look on his face. The proud father put his hand around his son and patted in a consolatory manner.

‘What’s the matter Son?’

‘Nothing dad. I am just a bit disappointed.’

‘About what my boy?’

‘ Well, because I couldn’t get the best position in the 100 meter race.’

The father smiled. And asked,

‘What happened in the race?’

‘As soon as I heard the gunshot, I started running. I was behind three other runners. But one of them tripped and fell down. So I stopped to help him get up. I started running again as soon as I could.
But by then I was trailing behind four other kids. I could barely overtake one of the runners. And I missed out on being on the podium position.’

Consolingly his father ruffled his hair and asked,
‘Son, What’s the best position to be in?’

‘ The first position dad? The Gold medal position !’

The father looked into his son’s eyes and explained,
‘For me, the best position
Is to be in a position to help.
You chose to help a friend stand up and run again.
At that moment, you might have lost a few seconds, lost the race,
But you won the hearts of everyone witnessing the incident.’

The boy looked at his father and smiled without abandon.

‘I’m proud of you son. You’ve taught so many people a wonderful lesson by your compassionate action’

With an uplifted spirit he replied,
‘I will always strive to help when I can dad.’

‘But not in an examination okay !’ joked his father.

Both Father and son walked smilingly towards the ice cream shop to celebrate.
They bought three ice creams.
Two to eat, one to share.

Indeed,
What a position to be in.
To be able to be of help!

Uphill

April 12, 2018 / / 0 Comments

After spending a comfortable night at a Buddhist temple-school, I prepared myself to leave early in the morning. My little monk friends were just arriving from their alms gathering run around the village. They all had one thing to share with me from their alms-pot. Someone offered Soy milk, another a pack of noodles, a Thai snack…
I looked at them all and asked,
‘Can we eat together?’
‘Chai Chai'(Yes-Yes) they said and we enjoyed a nice breakfast together.
I told them I am going to Chiang Mai next, 150 kilometers further uphill. Following an incredulous gasp, they all started giggling. They must have thought I am crazy.
As I parted, they all lovingly sent me off.

I reached a town called Lampang in the afternoon. I had two flat tires on the way and I had to fix them on the Asian Super highway under the afternoon sun. I was quite exhausted when I reached a little Mom and Pop store in a quiet corner. I stopped and asked for something vegetarian.
Flustered by the unusual request,
The old store lady brought me a cup of instant noodles.
I sat and ate like I’d not seen food in a few days. She also brought bananas, water and grape juice.
I shared that I am cycling up north to Chiang Mai.
I gestured that my ride since morning has been uphill. She nodded as she turned the table fan towards me.
She exuded such motherly care that I didn’t want to get up and leave the shop.
She refuse to charge me for food. I got away with atleast paying for the instant noodles, ‘Mama’ as they call it in Thailand.

I bicycled on for another couple of hours, all the way, Uphill. It was difficult. At some points I would just laugh out loud wondering how difficult it was !
As the evening set in, I started wondering about finding a shelter. I searched for temples nearby but there were none around the Asian Super highway.
Eventually I stopped at a highway police station to catch a breath.
I sat on a bench and wondered, I am not going to be able to cycle another 30 kms uphill today. I must put an end to cycling for the day.
I looked around to find a highway police man come towards me with his phone.
He used a Thai-English translation app to communicate with me.
His translation read.

‘Do you have a tent me dear friend?’
I nodded animatedly.

‘You can set it up right here and sleep tight for the night.’
I couldn’t believe how eager he was to help.
Later on he came to me and led me to a room with a bed in the police station.
The translation on his phone read,
‘You can sleep on the bed. No need to set up your tent.’
I hadn’t felt so grateful in a long time.
I wrote in his phone,
‘You have a kind soul.’
He smiled like a child.

Right now, I am sitting in the comfortable bed that my Policeman-friend generously offered me.
And I wonder,
‘Why are all these amazing people helping me so much?’
‘Is it because I am on a bicycle?
Or because I am Indian?
Or do I look in need of help?’

Then I realised,
More than anything else,
I am being helped,
for the spirit of choosing to ride,
Up the hill.

Enabling my dream

April 6, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Today, after a long 5 hour ride, I stopped at a town called Saraburi. It has been hard to find vegetarian food in Thailand so far. I looked around for half an hour for vegetarian food but there was nothing available. In the end I stopped at a small family run snack joint and asked for rice and eggs.
On realizing that I was on a long Bicycle trip, they asked me if I needed ice, or wanted to use the washroom. As I was leaving they gave me two ripe oranges to enjoy on the way. We waved goodbye to each other like kids as we parted ways.

Later in the day I stopped to eat at another stall. Since I was the only one there at lunch time, I sensed that they needed more business. I was surprised when they offered me free lunch!
I politely declined only to be given water and cucumbers to eat on the way.
I was moved by the empathy of people who only had so much to spare.

At night, I stopped at a Buddhist monastery. The monks were kind enough to let me sleep for the night. I set up my tent and prepared myself for bed.
Soon, two little monks brought me soya milk, a bottle of water, a muffin and mosquito repellent.
Adorably they wrote something in Thai in google translate.
The translation read
‘ We got it from the mess for you’

Curled up in my tent, I can only feel overwhelmed by gratitude.
How these little elements in my life, the small interactions, are only pushing me to fulfill my goal,
Of stumbling on kindness,
Of pursuing the hope of a compassionate world.

Earning Sleep

April 4, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I’ve been on a bicycle trip for the past 8 days now. One of the most adventurous parts of this mode of travel is the mystery about where you will sleep at night.
For the last seven days I had some kind of an arrangement of my stay beforehand. I either had a couch surfing host or I would book a bed in a hostel in advance. But today, I set out quite late in the day towards a national park, 150 kms away. I was sure I would only be able to cover 100 km in a day at my very best. So I knew that I would have to sleep somewhere in between. It was the first day I wasn’t sure of my bed.

Towards evening as I finished close to 80 kilometers, it kept getting darker by the minute. I’d heard that you can stay at Thai Buddhist temples at night.  Luckily I found a temple and went inside.
After failing to communicate with three monks due to my language issue ,I was asked to meet the head monk. I wrote in google translate ‘Can I stay in the temple tonight?’
The monk read the Thai translation and said ‘Chai'(yes in Thai)
Oh the relief !
I was escorted into an open hall and given a mosquito net. Soon after, a thunderstorm struck that lasted for two hours.  Secured under a ceiling, I felt fortunate to have decided to not cycle further.
As I lay on my Yoga mat and write,
I cannot help but smile and wonder,
It doesn’t matter where my body lay,
As long as I’ve worked hard enough to earn my sleep.
Grateful for the kindness of strangers and content with the hard work of the day,
Sleep is only moments away.

Beautiful Inside.

March 28, 2018 / / 0 Comments

On my Bicycle ride from Auroville to Chennai I stopped at a coconut shop I used to frequent years ago. The shop looked a bit run down as compared to how it looked like earlier. I approached the unmanned coconut stand and called out the owner’s name.
‘Saviraj?’ I enquired.
Slowly, an elderly man made his way from his house.
‘Saviraj, do you remember me? I used to come to drink coconuts 5 years ago.’
He nodded smilingly.
In an adorable mix of Tamil and pidgin English he started talking to me.
‘Now enge(where)?’
‘I am cycling from Auroville to Chennai Saviraj’
Meanwhile his wife Sarada came out hearing her husband speak in English.
They both offered me a place to sit. I had a big coconut proffered to me instantly.
They saw my Bicycle loaded up with my luggage and gasped in surprise.
I asked them if I could rest for sometime in the temple across te street.
‘Sleeping here’ said Saviraj pointing to his house.
I laid out my Yoga mat and had a nice nap. In half an hour I awoke to the smell of homemade Dosas. Sarada brought me four thick dosas with the most unique coconut chutney I’ve tasted in my life.

I smiled and accepted the food. It was a delicious feast.
I felt humbled by their spirit of caring. As I was leaving I asked if I could click a Polaroid picture with her.
She blushed and said, ‘Shower no, not look good!’
‘But you’re beautiful. Sooper(Tamil-English slang for remarkable) I said.

Reluctantly she posed and we took a picture.
As the polaroid film developed we waited anxiously. The picture came out great.
‘ Sooper no?’ I asked.
‘Aama(yes)’ she blushed.
I left her with the picture and loaded up my Bicycle to head onward. I was bid goodbye lovingly.

On the way I wondered,
‘She took care of fact that I’d been cycling for 4 hours in the sun and did the best she could to support me. To have such compassion and empathy is the most beautiful asset. It shines through in her eyes. And even if she looked a bit disheveled in the picture because of her household chores, the camera captured the beauty in her spirit.
We often fail to cultivate and realize our own inner beauty. While we are born with the fate of a fixed physical appearance, we also have the opportunity to foster a thriving inner world full of love and compassion. And it is the latter that makes for our true identity.

I hope the picture I left Sarada with keeps reminding her what a caring heart she has. And she realizes the beauty in herself beyond the physical.

Creating space for kindness

March 21, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I had the pleasure of being visited by two friends over the weekend. We’d met after a long time and it felt great to share our life and energy. Today as they were leaving I asked if I could hitch a ride with them to Chennai. I wanted to visit a sporting equipment shop on the outskirts of the city. Kind as they are, they gladly agreed. We talked all along the two-hour long drive and before we knew it we reached a fork in the road. I wanted to go five kilometres further on the road going to the left. They had to continue to the right to reach the airport. My friends suggested that they could drop me right at the store since they had ample time to make this detour. I wondered it would be easy finding a bus and asked them to continue on to the airport. We bid goodbye and I walked over to the bus stop. However, only after an agonising wait of an hour in the scorching sun did I find a bus.

On a better note, the visit to the store was much fruitful. After shopping, I got onto a bus that headed towards home. I was dropped off at the highway late in the evening. I had to do the walking from the bus stop to home with all the equipment I had bought. I thought of asking for a lift from motorbikes headed towards home but something was holding me back. At last, after letting go five opportunities I lifted my hand and asked for a lift from a biker. He stopped and asked me where I wanted to go. Despite having to drop me a bit further away from where he had to go, he agreed to take me all the way home. That was a kind gesture by an absolute stranger.

As I write now, I wonder why do we hesitate to ask for help? Even in situations when people would gladly help. We just have to do the asking! By not seeking help, we deprive a person to access his kinder self and act with empathy. People like to be of help, even to absolute strangers. While we’re conditioned to believe that people act in a selfish way, there’s a whole other paradigm where people will go out of their way to help. Only when we open up, be vulnerable and seek help do we create a space for people to exhibit compassion.

Even our vulnerability can beget great strength in another human being.
As a lesson for today, I would ask for help whenever in need, in the interest of creating space for kindness.

The titles we earn

March 2, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Often when people introduce themselves, they have the answer to the next question one might ask to them ready.
‘Hey I am XYZ. ‘
What do you do ?
I am doctor / engineer / psychologist etc.

It got me wondering that all these titles are conferred by an institution when you complete your study.
But, would we able to call ourselves a ‘kind’ doctor, ‘ a compassionate engineer’ , ‘an empathetic psychologist’?
Incidentally, all these titles of kindness, empathy and compassion can only be conferred by the people who we help through our work.

And we can be kind, compassionate and empathetic without any education whatsoever. My grandmother embodies all the above traits and she’s never been to school. These are essential life skills that sadly we do not talk about in our educational institutions.

But the foremost pursuit of any human being should be to understand the sheer importance of cultivating a benevolent heart.

Let us pursue to be kind, compassionate and empathetic first. These are the real titles worth earning.

Always hopeful of a kinder future.

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SREENATH SREENIVASAN

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