The "I" generation

Being the staunch hindu boy that I am (ask my mother, she made me visit 7 zillion temples in span of just 13 days - that would be enough temple visits for 2 complete years, so I stay away from holy sites, just to give a better chance for other devotees with all those gods), I was told that detachment is the way to eternity.

The only way, one can reach the eternal goal is by doing work and not expecting any results from it. If the hindu philosophers had their way in framing the english alphabet, they would have removed "I" from the list. [At ths pont, 'm tempted to wrte rest of the post wthout the alphabet *, but dont wanna pIss you off]. So at an early age, we were told that we dont really exist, unless we make it to IITs (notice two Is?) or get the coveted US Griincard [On both these aspects, I am still lying there in ether just as "concept".]

Hence, the behaviour of many people I come across these days simply baffles me. What made me take notice to this phenomenon is death of an extremely talended musician from India, Ustad Bismillah Khan. While I brought it up, one person reacted calmly - "oh no, you know his shehnai track was one of my favorite tracks while growing up. I used to like it so much, that during summer times, I would love mangoes also, I also like cow milk and these days cow meat". The other reacted, "Ustad is a great man, so was my grand father and one day I want to become as famous as I myself, but not Irene."

This reaction threw me into great confusion, I mean, come on. This grand old man died at ripe old age of 90 busting his lungs off, sucking all the wind to make sense of an instrument. He did it for 70 odd years. He probably knows more about that instrument than a man knows about his wife's anatomy, but he gets a passing reference in our "I" talk, even after he passed away. Poor fellow, would he go complain to Indra (another big egoistic nut case, basket case) that we all collectively stole his thunder (no pun intended)?

When the great MS Subbalaxmi passed away, all my friends talked about their experiences with regards to her much known work of "Venkateswara Suprabhatam". One great soul commented, "GOSH, she was so great, her suprabhatam, it would air on saturday mornings and my mom would blast it like its a P-Diddy song. I used to wake up with recurring headaches for the rest of the week" - yeah, gee thanks. Another buddy says, "You know, her voice is like bells in a temple, she is so great, it makes me remember the awesome dosas mom would serve on saturday mornings" - whats up with this "ME ME ME"?

Can't we all set aside the "I" factor for a moment each day, or maybe twice each day and let the things take the natural course? Maybe that would save lot of headaches for "ME" too -huh?

Thank I.

P.S: Have you taken notice to this tid-bit of information: The goat which cries "MEE" all the time is eaten, while the bird "MAI-NA" is fed the best possible fruit because it means "ME-NOT" ;-). There, that'd teach you a lesson.