READ ALL THIRD EYE STORIESMail to authorMilind Deora: Playing the guitar takes the young MP to great highsWhat does spirituality mean to you?I see two different yet interlinked things: on the one hand, religion, which is like a manual, focused, zeroing on things; on the other, there is spirituality which is one step higher, open-ended, with no manual available. Do you believe you are guided and protected by a superior force?Of course, there is something called luck and in moments of difficulty I often have this inner conviction that somehow things will turn out fine. But luck favours a prepared mind so I need to do my home work. It may seem, for instance, that I am lucky to be born in the family I belong to. But so-called fame and fortune also come with issues and challenges; so the answer to this question is far from obvious. Do you believe you have a special mission or purpose in this life?A part of me feels so, and that despite a lot of sacrifice (which people do not see and do not understand), I should stick to politics for the larger good. Another part feels that had I been born in America, it is likely I’d have been a musician—and I could embrace that. So there is a conflict in me about it. What is spirituality for you in your day-to-day life?Besides over-thinking, which can be quite unproductive, the one substantial thing I do in that respect is music. Playing my guitar can take me to real highs and freedom. What has been the role of spirituality in your public life?Politics can be so frustrating, as your input never equals the output and you do not know what will happen. But I would think that what keeps me going derives from spirituality. Can you tell us about a unique experience that changed or shaped your spiritual beliefs?Watching the movie The Doors about Jim Morrison, when I was 16 years or so was a huge turning point. It put me on the track of thinking more philosophically and spiritually about life—beyond just sports, cars and women. What have been your main spiritual inspirations?Two things have always gotten my spiritual hormones go crazy: music and injustice. I derive a lot of inspiration from a musician like Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. The black civil rights movement in America has also been a huge inspiration.If you were to be reincarnated, what would you like to be reincarnated as?I am not sure I believe in reincarnation and also, if there was something else I would like to be, I’d better try and be that here and now, in this life. If there was one question you could ask God, what would it be?I would ask the ultimate question. What is the meaning of life? What is your idea of happiness?Last weekend in my constituency, a couple asked help for a surgery. The man said he would bless me if I would help, but also if I didn’t—which is so rare. When I got the thing done, I had this feeling of contentment. So happiness is the by-product of a selfless thought or deed.