My Mother

‘The rain drop from the sky: if it is caught in hands, it is pure enough for drinking. If it falls in a gutter, its value drops so much that it can’t be used even for washing the feet. If it falls on a hot surface, it perishes. If it falls on a lotus leaf, it shines like a pearl, and finally, if it falls on an oyster, it becomes a pearl. The drop is thesame, but its existence and worth depend on with whom it associates’.

Always be associated with people who are good at heart. This is what Swami Vivekananda said.

My mother shares her birthday with Swami Vivekananda (12 January).

Association, Sangha  and Satsang have been her  strong points. She nurtured strong bonding with all religious faiths and spiritually inclined people. I recall her association with Sathya Sai Baba, Ganapathi Sachchidanda Swamiji, Raghavendra Swami Mutt, Swami Chinmayananda, Jiddu Krishnamurthy, Mahesh Yogi and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. She was also associated with Mother’s International, Mother Teressa, CBCI and CARITAS.

She wanted to pursue medicine but life did not take that trajectory.  ‘Faith plus action becomes unstoppable,’ writes Jonathan Lockwood Hue.  So she became a qualified medical social worker and worked diligently at the Rajan Babu TB Hospital, Delhi.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar  says, ‘Open your hands and the sky is in your hands.’ In order to combat and challenge the disease of tuberculosis, she initiated several rehabilitation projects. This included a creche for the children of those afflicted with this malady, a clothes stitching centre, and candle and match-making units.

She used to tell patients and their children, ‘Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.’ Thus, patients afflicted with TB, but not bed-ridden, participated in the projects. This was what she called ‘Diversionary Therapy’. The patient’s mind was diverted from the disease and recovery rate was rapid. In these endeavours, she received tremendous support from eminent people like  Shri A. Rama Rao of Khadi and Village Industries, Professor Pathak of Delhi School of Social Work, Shri A.V.K. Chaitanya,  a Trade Union leader and confidante of Shri George Fernandes, Bibi Altussalam, a veteran Congress leader, Shri Dhanraj Ojha, an RSS leader, and Bishop Remegius and Bishop Rego of the Catholic Church (CBCI and CARITAS). The mission was to serve. Religious barriers did not pose any problems. As the objective and goal were so lofty, the Universal energy ensured that those belonging to ideologies be it the left, right and centre, all collaborated with certitude.

‘The mind is not a dustbin to keep anger, hatred and jealousy in. It is the treasure box to keep love, happiness and sweet memories,’ said Swami Vivekananda. Thus, RB TB Hospital became the melting pot of all religions to forge hands and assist in the mammoth task of rehabilitation of the afflicted. The TB Hospital became a unique template for the methods adopted by doctors, para-medic staff, social workers, government bodies and NGOs, all to contribute in the rehabilitation of the patients.

Climate changes, civilizations collapse, government change and political affiliations alter and even the best possible model collapses. This is inevitable. As Buddha says, ‘The only permanent thing in life is impermanence.’ The lofty objectives were not approved by a new set of hospital administrators and the beacon of hope collapsed.

This was an  extremely traumatic for my mother and she became a patient of paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia (PAT). This is a type of arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat). Paroxysmal means that the episode of arrhythmia originates and terminates abruptly. Atrial implies the arrhythmia starts with the atria or in the upper chambers of the heart. The tachycardia results in significant increase in the heart beat per minute. It abnormally increases the pace, like in an athlete on a treadmill. PAT significantly increases the heartbeat of an adult from the normal 60 to 100 to 130 to 230 and among infants and children it shoots up from 100 to 130 to 220 beats per minute.

It is accompanied with severe sweating, dizziness, palpitations, angina and acute breathlessness. Normally, a patient suffers from such a condition owing to emotional upheavals, physical exhaustion, deep anxiety, consumption of caffeine or alcohol.

I saw my mother suffering from this condition on several  occasions and being admitted to the ICU. It was a distressing and disturbing sight. While it is not a life-threatening affliction, it certainly disorients the psychology and attitudes of the patient. During her suffering we saw her clutching on to her rosary as a life saver, while we prayed fervently for her recovery.

She was administered medication but it worked only to an extent. The real help came in the form of a pentagon-shaped talisman. That is through Siddha Healing, Pranic Healing, the ten-day Vipassana Course and the Part 1 and Part 2 of the Art of Living courses.

This is the  unique, amazing  and scientific power of the  breath. Breathing techniques, meditation, medication and proper diet changed the trajectory ofthe life of the patient and brought back the mojo in her life.

‘When you take a breath in, let it become your meditation that all the suffering of all the beings in the world is riding on that incoming breath and reaching your heart, and see a miracle happen,’ says Osho.

She has retired now but continues with her Sadhana unfailingly. Senior citizens, those in pain and agony and even the able-bodied should undertake the  courses mentioned.

Swami Vivekananda took Yoga to America and spread the Ramakrishna Mission. He was the Arjuna of Shri Rama Krishna Paramahamsa. My mother imbibed the trait of service to mankind by reading extensively about Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda and almighty God blessed her with a  robust and an intrepid mind.