Open Minds

I went to a school which gave too much importance to morals and values. This school was established in Sind in 1933 and was completely uprooted and shifted to Pune after partition. Founded by a philanthropist who is revered by the Sindhi community as a Saint, today it is not as well known in the city as the other elite schools. It was named after a saint- Mira Bai. But because it is called St. Mira’s it has often been ignorantly thought to be a Convent School.

St. Mira’s is a secular school. I guess a bit too secular. That is why I find the need to mention it as a description. We prayed every day before the first period. The prayer hall is called Sanctuary where stands a life size statue of our Founder Sadhu Thawar Lilaram Vaswani. I always wondered why we were saying prayers to every God with the statue of a mortal man before us. But today I am thankful for that Sanctuary period. That man was a symbol of goodness, of kindness and a huge amount of Positivity.

I learnt about all the festivals and important occasions of India in that hall. I learnt Christmas Carols, I learnt chapters from the Gita. I learnt about Ramzan Eid, Muharram, Pateti, Easter, Janmashtami, Onam, Durga Pooja, Gurunanak Jayanti,  It was not just text book knowledge, but we actually celebrated all of the festivals. All in front of Sadhu T.L. Vaswani.

The sanctuary period also included meditation. It gave me a lot of time to think, wonder and question about everything around me. Ever since I have memory of, I have always questioned the need to pray. I have never asked questions that has troubled me to anyone. I have always found their answers on my own. And as much as I questioned the function of the sanctuary, I came about to accept it. I made an agreement with myself that there could be something I could gain by repeating the Gayatri Mantra and Mrutyunjay Mantra every single day. I told myself there was no running away from prayer because the people who brought me here believe this could make me a better person. This meant they care about me. This couldn’t hurt. So why not do it properly?

During the last two-three years of school, I mostly conducted the Sanctuary. I guided about 400 students through a series of prayers, songs and celebrations. It felt wonderful because then saying the prayers myself became secondary. Doing my job became the priority.

Sanctuary slowly imbibed in me a quality that is so very important today that I guess all the future peace of the world depends on it. It gave me an open mind. It gave me, at a very young age the power to accept things, people and situations as they are and make the most of what I can get my hands on.

Sadhu Vaswani’s heir, the very old and yet the very sweet and agile Dada J.P. Vaswani, when asked by countless students, ‘What is it that India needs today?’, would answer the same thing:  “India needs men and women of good character.”

It took me years to actually understand what Character is. It took me longer to realize that in some way or another school and my family had helped me have a strong character. But after a certain point it became my responsibility to develop that character and give back to the world all I can in the best way possible. But first, for developing this Character it was necessary for me to have an open mind- in order to be at peace with the world I wish to work in and for.

So for me, Dadaji’s answer stretches out to the need of men and women with an open mind. Here, I am not saying that an open mind is one that simply accepts and allows everything that is going on around. I mean a lot of things.

An open mind is one that agrees there is good and there is bad. And it is up to the mind if it wants to do something about the bad. An open mind does not mind new ideas, perspectives, methods, in fact, it could be interested in new things, even be supportive of them.

An open mind tolerates. It disagrees with humility but does not boil down on what does not appeal to it. An open mind does not criticize. True, criticism is good for growth. But there is no meaning in criticizing something that cannot be changed or improved. That is just casting a negative shadow on the thing for absolutely no reason.

An open mind is sensitive. It is understanding and has a loud conscience. An open mind is just. It wouldn’t put down another for the sake of its own gain.

An open mind keeps learning. It learns from everyday situations and it learns from its mistakes. It is honest enough to admit when at fault and smiles in appreciation on hearing what others think of it.

An open mind forgives. It seeks to see people beyond their deeds and image and tries to get to know that humanity within.

An open mind finds it easy to unite with another because their differences don’t really matter when there is clarity of conscience.

What India needs today, are men and women with open minds. With the number of issues and worries of human civilization increasing by the day, it is getting imperative for minds to open up and embrace all that is good all around and stand together.  For most people today, all that matters is putting food in a plate, getting a decent education and being able to get a good night’s sleep. For the rest of us with these privileges, shouldn’t there be greater things to matter?

Causes to stand for aren’t few. But not everyone today has the time to run down the streets with placards and rally, not everyone has the strength to make things better for others with nothing to gain for themselves in the process. But the least that can be done is to let the good guys do their work, to not have a thinking so narrow that it would get clogged with the same old beliefs and ideas and the streams of good change would have no way to get through them; to not be judgmental and make peace with the fact that the world does not run according to the nerves in your brain.

I still have a long way to go in this process. We all do!

There are just too many people in the world. Thinking with an open mind will, if nothing else, at least get you more friends.