Deep Upanishadic angst

Normally the Upanishads or the Bible or bits of the sacred Gurubani are more than enough to restore perspective to a bruised and unhappy spirit. But what do you do if nothing, not even a transfusion of thayir saadam dahi-chawal seems to work? Everything seems to get on your nerves: the weather, the power cuts, the workplace, friends, relatives, yourself! It8217;s year-end blues, you tell yourself. Or, I need a holiday. Or retail therapy 8212; shop till you drop! Or, just a new love interest?

But those Good Books don8217;t let you off easy. In they clump, sternly raising the finger of perspective, telling you that these devices are nothing but elaborate dodges from the fact that life is really a very mundane business of quot;getting and spending and laying waste our powersquot;.

It seems so deliciously easy to fall in love with a Guru, lay your burdens on another. In fact, I just met up with a bunch of affluent South Delhi women who are besottedly in love with a white guru, while Saturday in Delhi saw a workshop at the India Habitat Centre by another very happening young man whose followers call him quot;an enlightened masterquot;. One can only feel glad that people are able to take comfort where they find it, that help is at all available. It is certainly much nicer than going to a shrink and less expensive, too.

But what of the many sceptics who nevertheless want God, the ones with a stern Upanishadic code, wanting succour but with major ego hassles about quot;submittingquot; to gurus? Who feel boxed in and air-deprived with too many people around?

Well, dust your hands and get back into the fray. See movies likeAtilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3; Gladiator or Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;Charlie8217;s Angels. All that ritual enactment is great stuff. Catharsis does occur, a soul detox that Aeschylus, Sophocles and Aristophanes would have to toss the historical salad a bit given a clear thumbs-up to. As simple as that? Yes. Two and a half hours in cushioned darkness with surround sound and 70 mm is soul therapy at its most entertaining. Caramelised popcorn is a soothing optional extra. Better still, catch a schmaltzy, five-hanky flick on TV that makes you weep sentimentally, something like Atilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3;It Could Happen to You. Escapism? Sure, why not? It8217;s like going to a spa for the mind. Your battered mental muscles are massaged with fragrant oils, wrapped in revitalising seaweed or mud, you8217;re steamed and rubbed glowingly dry, all for a hundred bucks.

I figure the movies justify God8217;s way to man. The Good Books I loveAtilde;sup2;f40Atilde;sup3; approve of the movies. Why else did Brahma feel impelled to cull the essence of the Vedas into a Fifth Veda called the Natya Shastra, quot;for the upliftment and delight of peoplequot;?