One cannot frighten the brave.

Since childhood, I have seen Communist Chinese constantly bully and dominate India. The latest Chinese incursions and aggression has received a befitting reply by brave Indian soldiers, supported by firm leadership. It has shocked many and non more than the Chinese People's Liberation Army themselves. 

I am reminded of an incident  in the life of our family where my Uncle, Sardar Manohar Singh ji, effectively took on some bullies, and I can share that experience with you.

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Arriving in India from Burma as refugees in 1965, father and uncle decided to establish  a manufacturing unit in Pune. One day in 1968, when I was a 10 year old boy my brother andI had accompanied my uncle to the factory site where construction of the factory was underway.  

Around noon, a nasty man, accompanied by a handful of men swaggered onto the site. We learnt much later that the man was a notorious local goon. 

The goons manner was extremely aggressive, he demanded to know from my uncle, " Are you the owner?" 

Uncle sensed trouble and cooly replied,  "Yes I am the owner. How can I help you?"

The goon pointed a threatening finger at uncle, "We don't want people like you, here. Pack up and leave. I don't want to see you here from tomorrow." 

Uncle walked slowly towards the bully and glared defiantly at him. The goon jabbed a finger in my uncle's chest and repeated himself now heaping abuses.

The man had no idea who he was dealing with. 

Our father and uncle were World War II survivors. Though civilians, their village in Burma ( now Myanmar) was close to the conflict. between the Japanese and the Allied forces. 

They lost everything they owned in the destruction unleashed by the war. In addition they were often detained, beaten up, bombed, shot at, strafed, and much more. They had witnessed death and torture up close. They had stared at, and evaded certain death by sheer grit, cunning, and good fortune.  Uncle knew what violence, fear and death was, and nothing seemed to faze him, plus he was a Khalsa Sikh jovial, friendly and kind yet insanely fearless.

Like a Cobra, suddenly my Uncle's hand shot out and caught the goon's jugular in a pincer grip. With the other hand he grabbed the goon's testicles and squeezed.

The goon writhed in pain, as his eyes almost popped out. He screamed but no sound could escape his constricted throat. uncle Manohar slowly and torturously edged the goon towards the perimeter of the plot. There he gave him a shove and a kick in his chest. The goon went sprawling and lay still on the road, not daring to move nor say anything. 

Now Uncle pointed his finger at the goon and said, "I don't want to see you here again, the next time you might not be so lucky"

The stooges picked up their leader and fled. That was the end of all kinds of hooliganism. 

Father and uncle built the factory,  and the company prospered,  eventually, employing 5,800 employees by 1996 -1997.

Bullies at heart are cowards. They build their notoriety by beating some weak entities and then let their reputation work on intimidating and frightening their future targets.

They never dare to attack someone strong, lest they receive a bloody nose or even worse a drubbing.  Such an outcome destroys the dastardly reputation they carefully build.

All it takes is courage and the willingness to accept pain and difficulty. 

Once people realise that the goon can be effectively tackled, with firmness, and some guts, the bully is finished, eventually abandoned by all.

'Courage is not the absence of fear, but the belief that, some things are more important than fear.'

This lesson provides a clue on how to possibly handle the bully called China.

This I will cover in my next article.

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Written and Posted: Jun 2020  ~ Gurvinder Singh.

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Interesting Links:
Burma campaign - Wikipedia
Japanese conquest of Burma - Wikipedia

Always Wealthy

Always Wealthy

When they grow up, young birds leave the nest. So in 1985 three years after we got married, Mohini and I moved out from my parent's home to make space for the families of my two younger brothers.


We decided to  move to a small flat at Salunke Vihar on the outskirts of Pune. 

Salunke Vihar was a relatively large government built township meant to provide affordable housing at relatively low interest rates and soft payment terms, to our soldiers and their families. It was accessible from the main road only by a dirt road. In addition to retired people, the cheap rent attracted  many young couples like us, starting out afresh.

The township offered a large, open and safe space for families and children. The air was fresh and the community of residents friendly and caring. 

Accessibility was a challenge. Auto rickshaws rarely plied to that side and the bus service was pathetic and almost non existent. The nearest main road was 3 kilometres away, and therefore people often walked or had to depend on the  kindness of residents with vehicles.

Being a son of an industrialist albeit a small one, I was amongst the few people who owned a car in the society. Keeping with the spirit of the situation, every time we travelled the dirt road, we would offer a ride to fellow residents and even visitors. 

Every interaction provided stimulus to the mind and soul if one is open and receptive. Some good and some not so good, but always interesting. One encounter was fundamentally transformative. 

______________________________

It was about noon time on a hot May day where the summer peaks. It is never as hot in Pune as it is in other places like the Punjab or Delhi, but it was pretty uncomfortable.

I was driving to a meeting and in a hurry. I shot out of the main gate. Rounding the corner onto the dirt road, there I saw standing next to the road an elderly man,  with a small bag by his side.

Ram Singh ji

The elderly man was mopping his forehead and face. Though I was inclined, I debated for a second whether I had the time to stop and offer him a ride.

'Always trying to do good, I stopped to offer him a ride.'


The old man slowly shuffled up to and agonisingly slowly got into my car. He was taking so damn long, this old man was further delaying me. For a moment I questioned my decision to give him a ride.

_The old gentleman sensed my irritation. Speaking in Hindi he said, “Forgive me for the trouble and thank you so much son. May God bless you and keep you happy.” Now I felt a bit ashamed at my insensitivity._

Blessing me and thanking me, blessing me and thanking me, he went on and on. When he thanked me for about the fifth time, I interrupted him and told him, "You do not have to apologise nor thank me, its not an inconvenience at all, we are both on the same route anyway." I added that at least he was appreciative of my assistance, unlike some people who did not acknowledge my gestures.

He smiled and nodded his head and said, "I understand what you mean. May I ask you a question?"
Of course I like nothing more than an interesting conversation and that is why I probably gave people rides in the first place. I replied "No problem. Please ask."

"Why did you give me a lift?" He asked. " Did you see a man on the road and think that let me give him a ride and then he will feel obligated to me, or did your heart speak with your conscience and asked you to do a good deed to this old man and give him a much needed lift?" he added.

I told him that I felt compassion towards him and thought it would be nice to assist him.

He responded, “Does that not mean, you were only following your heart’s desire and did the good deed? So logically speaking, it should make no difference to you whether I thank you or am grateful to you or not?"

He continued “May I say that, your heart desired something and that you were able to accomplish it, that itself is your reward. If you have got your reward, it should matter not whether I thank you or not."

I was stunned by the realisation of a great truth that this wise old man just revealed.

He continued, "The poor of the world are not only those who do not have shelter or enough food, and other necessities. They are also those who cannot do what their heart desires. My son, you are blessed and truly wealthy for you are able to follow your heart’s desire."

We reached the main road in the few minutes we had this conversation, I was captivated and hungry for more of him. I wanted to hang on to this awesome man and never let him go. He however insisted that I drop him there at the bus stop.

I waited for a minute and then his bus arrived. He stepped onto the bus which slowly disappeared out of sight and physically out of my life. But the old gentleman and his presence and words will be with me for ever.

____________

I contemplated what had just transpired. I felt foolish about my puny ego. In a matter of five minutes this seemingly insignificant yet great man had shaken me awake and transformed my life.

I learnt that unhappiness stems from unfilled expectations. If I had no expectations for the good that I did to others, I would give more, and yet be happier. Was it not my good fortune that I had the God given opportunity to be compassionate?

Life is made up of good times and not so good times. I was sometimes broke, but I was never poor. The valuable lesson I learnt that afternoon has transformed me.


I learnt that the the joy is in the doing and not in the expectation of the fruit. I would do what I had to and let The universe do the rest.

I realised, I will always be wealthy, because I follow my heart.

___________

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The National Institute of Naturopathy - Pune

The government is the agency that everyone loves to hate.
Sometimes the government surprises us by undertaking some useful and even pleasant activities. The National Institute of Naturopathy in Pune is one such example of government oversight.

This pleasant discovery was made recently when my wife and I took my old aunt there for treatment. Poor lady was suffering from neck and shoulder pains and no medicines were helping.

Appropriately housed in a 1.6 acre lush, green, and quiet place, the institute is located at Tadiwala Road and quite close to the noisy Pune railway station.

The moment you enter the calming premises you leave behind the hustle and bustle behind almost immediately. However our first visit there will be always remembered as a frightening experience.

As we approached the treatment area, our hearts stopped for a moment.Two bluish grey aliens came towards us walking real funny and even strange. May the Lord be praised! They spoke Hindi. It seemed they were ordinary folks, merely caked completely in mud (this is part of the full-body mudpack treatment). The hardened mud all over the body, between the thighs and around the crotch explained their strange gait.

Once we got over that scary bit, we went in to meet the consulting doctors. Dr.Dinesh Kumar & Dr Sathyanath. Consultations are helpful to understand the ailments and likely causes and are genuinely free,(normally anything said to be free, comes with hidden strings attached and a pay later tag). The doctors are knowledgeable, pleasant and behave like healers. We sometimes confuse treating with healing and can say they are healers.

Then stealing a few more minutes of their time we got a quick tour of the facilities, the history and the activities of the institute.

The centre has been around for nearly a century. Even Mahatma Gandhi ji started visiting the institute regularly from 1936 onwards. He is reported to have conducted several experiments in naturopathy during his stay. The bungalow and the adjoining cottages along with the land was gifted by Dr. Dinshaw Mehta in 1986 to the Government of India and named 'Bapu Bhavan' in honour of Gandhiji.

The doctors explained how naturopathy worked. The human body has enormous resilience and capability to heal itself. The institute helped people by de-stressing them using, yoga, employing mudpacks, various massages and bath treatments.

Results speak louder than words. We studied the expressions of most of the people leaving the institute after receiving treatment and were happy to note that they appeared mostly relaxed and happy. Even my normally grumpy aunt deemed it worthy to permit herself the luxury of a smile.

Operating under the Ministry of Health in Delhi , it's the only such facility in India. It's an institute with good yoga centres, gymnasium, library, research facilities, training centre, health shop and health-food restaurant.

Providing free training and even a stipend to 50 Young men and women each year. These trained personnel are picked up for suitable jobs almost immediately after completion of training. These youngsters earn handsome salaries in addition to providing wellness to scores of people all over the world. They are in much demand for the skills and practice they acquire at the institute.

I am sure you must be thinking, many things are simply associated with the government; it is expensive, dirty and the staff must be quite disinterested, blah, blah.....

The institute shocks you because it's clean, airy and well managed. It surprises you further because the charges for everything are either free or quite low. The staff are efficient, cordial and helpful. They do not receive nor expect any tips or gifts or favours.

Maybe these folks are drinking too much of those very reasonably priced healthy juices and herbal teas, otherwise how else can you explain this unusual efficiency and pleasantness. God bless these wonderfully helpful people.


p.s.

1. My Aunt is feeling much better now.
2. You can get more information at the institutes website http://punenin.org. While informative the website does not bring out effectively the fact that they are spreading wellness and enriching lives.