contributions

What is our contribution to the world?

Someone recently asked me what is your contribution to the world ?
It is a question every individual should ask themselves. Everyone is born and everyone will die .The interval is life.In that life what did we contribute to the world we live in?
When I remember ,from my childhood days ,upto this age ,I find very little. But that little had made me what I am.Let me recollect what I have done as a child,adult,and a professional in medicine and as a teacher .

The first thing I remember is me as a three or four year old living with my grandmother. She used to put a handful of rice in a small pot when she takes rice for daily cooking .That special pot was for Sarvodaya Pidiyari Prasthana (the programme of a handful of rice for poor by Sarvodaya movement) and a Bhattthiri will come and collect it at specified times to distribute it to needy .I will insist that I will put that rice in the pot.Then my grandmother will tell me : Your hands are at present too small and if you put rice it will be too little .So both of us will put a handful and it will be more.
Thus she made me put my own share of Annadhaanam (though too little).And I saw the same thing in my father’s house when I went to live there when I turned 8 . There my mother was doing the same process. But a little bit more was put in a bigger pot ,because my father’s house could afford more to be given to the needy ,being richer than my mother’s house.And in my father’s house ,every Vavu (fullmoon/newmoon)and on certain birthdays and death anniversaries there were elaborate Annadaana for all people ,including Nayadi tribes which is a ancient tribal people of Kerala .They knew the date without anyone sending invitations and got sumptuous food and clothes and rice and if it is season of jackfruit/mangoes etc the fruits too.And on Saturdays which was the day for giving money or clothes to the beggars ,from nowhere beggars will throng our courtyard.It is the duty of children to give coins /clothes to them.

My grandmother used to make threads from cotton and using an ordinary Thakli used to spin Khadi threads and it was sent to market and sold for getting some money for the day to day expenditure of the house.My mother ,at my father’s house had elaborate Charka,Ambar charka and sewing classes for girls free of cost and these girls after they learned the craft was given the instruments(churka/ambar charka/sewing machine etc ) so that they have a decent income.This vocational training was happening in our own western wing of the house so that we children were exposed to awareness of the need of the village .My mother was also the Project Implementing Committee chairman of the area and had several Balawadis established under her care and visited them frequently to supervise the education,and the food being given to the children.I too accompanied her at several occasions and helped in distribution of food and also in entertainment activities for the children,like drama,music and dance etc. Similarly I had participated in the Bhoodan movement of Vinobha Bhave,in the BSS ,in the old age pension scheme of Government etc .My duty was to identify and collect data of the geriatric people who were in need of the pension and for that we (me and my sister)had walked along entire village ,along the coastal belt which is very poor where only small huts were there in those times.(At present the area is very well developed at least in part).And after collecting the details,we had to write down the application forms ,get them signed and then put stamps and post it .And when the amount was sanctioned ,the money had to be distributed .These were all my experiences before 1964 ,That is before I joined Medical college at the age of 19.

Giving Annam(food) Bhoomi(land) dhanam(money) and vasthram (clothes) and also a job-oriented vocational training had been in my blood since I grew up in such an atmosphere.But there is one question. Is a human being satisfied with all these things? Is peace established if we give these basic amenities alone ? And who can give something to another unless one has that entity in excess ? Can we stop the greed of man by such basic amenities alone ?

Only a rich man can give money .Only a person with knowledge can give knowledge.Only a person with Shanthi(peace )can give peace of mind to another.
Only if we grow more rice and become self-sufficient we can give food to others. My father was able to do that because he was a born farmer and made enough rice to feed the entire village community .He gave away clothes to all during Onam,Vishu etc along with rice and plantains to those who came (and their numbers were very high).We,children kept a register so that when the clothes are purchased (from Vadakkan Vasthralayam at Kunnamkulam) no child is forgotten .Amma and Achan similarly had a list of adults of various categories-male ,female and their needs etc-and the festivals like Onam were for us children a training in segregating and cutting the pieces of Mull mundu,folding them and keeping ready for distribution. In fact the house was an institution in itself which gave training in organizational and co-operative strategies for welfare of all.

I remember my grandmothers lighting a lamp at twilight (spending oil so that the lamp shines for the passerbys) and providing an Athani and a Thannerpanthal where whey is given to all alike free of cost .That was the custom of our land from time immemorial to help the thirsty passengers ,and by that one aquires Punya for the other world,my grandmother taught me.And watering a plant,giving food even to an ant was among Panchabhoothayajna which she did so meticulously ,feeling all beings as needy and as her own self .The ecological protection of nature is based on such behaviours .This lesson of loving all and her nonviolence and total vegetarian food habits I aquired too.

What about giving education and vocational training ? That gives all these, by making someone able to find a job and to aquire basic amenities by themselves .Hence giving Vidya (education) is the Most important among all other wealths and its dhana (offering )is the most important Dhana.A teacher’s job is therefore the best job .Vidhyadhanam sarvadhanal pradhanam was said because of this awareness.And it is the only wealth which will not decrease even if we give it in excess.

My father aware of the lack of a high school in our village had been instrumental in making that dream come true .In that school ,which was his dreamchild ,I studied .The school is designed so that any child in the village ,both male and female gets free education .The free education till High school(SSLC) was thus made possible by that school as early as the 50’s .That school still exists and gives free education to all children .(At present nearly 500 students are studying there and my brother who looks after it distributed the works of Gandhi to every child free of cost , so that they know the principles of our Father of the Nation.).Nearby Uppungal Thuruthu(a island in the Kayal) had very poor Muslim population with no facility for even lower Primary education and my father constructed a school there too for those children.I ,as a child had visited that school and had seen all its teething troubles with my father ,including nonavailability of teachers to that remote place and nonwillingness of the peasants of the area to send children to school etc (Which I have transplanted to the school in my Novelette Kalindi to some extant )and last year I went there with all those nostalgic memories of my father and his efforts and saw the school flourishing.Now there is no need to go in a boat to the island and there is a approach road to the island .

When I entered Medical Profession, the physical and mental and intellectual health for a peaceful life became most prominent in my mind.And ,my husband being a socially conscious man also had a willingness to help the socially backward people.Hence our marriage became a yajna to help the needy who come to us. To give medicines for the poor people who come to a general ward in the Calicut Medical college,to give money for the food and other needs of the bystanders and sometimes even the busfare for them to return home we had to find money from the Government salary which we were getting.At the same time we had to run our household too. The first step for that was to sacrifice luxuries (like expensive dress,jewellery and other paraphernalia) which both of us did and we even got the name of lunatics for our lifestyle .Because in a world where majority run after wealth and luxuries, two people who sacrifice all these is a rarity and hence an abnormality .But that didn’t make us go back in our decision.

All my educational and medical researches and my views on selfsufficiency of a people by promoting agriculture,having an integrated health system,and use of music as personality developmental tool as well as self-healing tool and the value-based educational programmes have developed from my experiences as a teacher,as a medical personnel interested in social problems and their solutions with maximum benefits for entire humanity .My two novelettes Yudham and Kalindi also address such problems from a psychological,social and visionary background.

But I do not think that I am the only person who has thought about such problems .There had been several people ,my ancestors of the very very distant past,of the immediate past and several of my contemporaries are thinking along similar lines.The methods they adopt may vary but they do share a common goal with me.We have an intellectual and functional,emotional bondage by that common goal.It is not a bondage of birth relationships and not restricted to any geographical locality,to any particular sect,religion or caste/class .But it is an advaitha of entire universe which binds all .I recognize the power of a supreme Intellect which devised this life for me .And I am grateful to that for all my experiences which made me what I am today .

There is a story in Mahabharatha. It is the story of a Mangoose.When Yudhishtira did his Rajasooya and gave alms to all that assembled and everyone was praising him a mangoose came.It had a peculiar body.One side was golden and the other was not .This mangoose washed itself in the water that was used to wash the feet of the guests in the Rajasooya and started to say : But this sacrifice is not as great as that of the Brahmana which I earlier attended.
Everyone was astonished.They asked the mangoose why did he say that .He said that he had witnessed a very poor Brahmin couple who didn’t have even a morsel of food to eat ,getting a little grain and when they were about to eat it a guest arrived.The couple after washing the feet of the guest gave the entire food in the house to the guest and remained hungry.And the mongoose washed his body in the water that flowed after washing the feet of guest had one side of its body turned golden because of the greatness of the sacrifice.He thought ,hearing the talk about the Rajasooya of Yudhishtira that he can have his other side also turned golden and that is why he came but to his disappointment he found this did not happen and thus declared that Yudhishtira’s sacrifice was lesser than the sacrifice of the poor Brahmana .To sacrifice everything is the best sacrifice. The pomp and splendour and publicity of a wealthy man’s sacrifice and its media attention may not be there for a poor man’s selfsacrifice but in the eyes of the justice,in the eyes of God, it is greater than the show business.That is the lesson of the story.I always remember this story when I find someone giving even a single penny get it published in every daily .The sacrifice of Karna in Mahabharatha is great beause he gave without his left hand knowing what the right hand gave and he sacrificed even his own life (when he gave his armour and earrings to Indra and his promise to Kunthi )even after knowing wel that it will cost him his own life.Such sacrifice is a test of God and not of man and cannot be known or judged by common human standards of intellect .

What we need is a classless equal society with all basic amenities and good health and education and a peaceful contended life can alone achieve that .And that goal is lost when separatisms (of any type) are instilled into children .Haves and have nots are not people to fight each other but to help and support so that the gap is bridged.That is why I am not interested in any separatist philosophies and activisms which are detrimental to entire nation as well as entire world. Both sides should see the truth of oneness and strive to achieve equality in a nation with democratic principles.Our constitution allows that .But there are some people who does not realize it.And that makes peaceful living impossible.
For this,education and integration of all religions,all sciences and arts through the universal principle music is useful.( Right from 1977 with publication of Amrithajyothi I have been addressing this thought process in all my speeches,books etc ).This is what my Music Therapy programmes are all about .It is a programme of education,health,art and sciences for peace of entire world through the media of Indian music ,which is my cultural heritage.Whetehr I succeed in the endeavour depends on many factors.Since I do not have the political and social power to implement my programmes at mass scales ,the process may delay but there is no doubt that it will be recognized later on ,even if this recognition is after my death(posthumous)it does not really matter to me,since for me this body and its end is nothing and it is my all-powerful soul(Athman)which is eternally responsible for the I within me.And that Athmasakthy will be expressed through several people in the future .And the process I had started will definitely continue .

What we have contributed to the world may not be known to the world ,just like that Brahmin whose name is not mentioned even by the mangoose who was the recipient of the punya of the sacrifice .This is true of every person who does sacrifices in life.It is a simple general law of the world .there is nothing to be cross about it.
Therefore when the question was asked have you contributed anything to the world ,I just remained silent because my contributions are not known even to me or to the recipients of my contributions .Let it remain so .The programmes,the speeches,the books I have written have come from a strong sense of social justice which I developed from my childhood.It is usually said we should not search for the Rishimoola and Nadimoola (the origin of the Rishi and the river) but when a question is asked we have to remember the Rishimoola (the ancestors who gave us our character )and the Nadimoola(the flow of life which gave origin to us ) and this is just that remembrance.My contributions to society may be little .And I may not be remembered by the world of show Business .But I have found peace within and without -that homeostasis which equalizes the internal and external milieu- and that Shanthi alone matters for me .And that is being shared with entire world .The Vidhya or Brahmavidya of peace and integration is being shared /given out for entire world through every media –oral,written and electronic - with a prayer that it reach every corner of the universe and produce Shanthi.

OM Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi .