We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars

Sairam friends,

I was really inspired by the quote I read but before that I will show you these little Cat who was trying to hide from me in Saibaba temple. Scroll down beyond cats photo to read what I wrote about Oscar Wilde’s Quote.

Everyday, My friends get the prasad like fruits, biscuits and other snacks given by devotees and arrange it in a vessel to distribute after Shej Aarti. I usually don’t do any of these work as I only roam around in temple, read something on my mobile or speak to friends because God has sent me to Planet Earth on a Mission to “Speak”.

That’s the only thing I have been doing and even then, my parents complain that I am not social. Excuse me – I don’t have to be social to few odd, boring relatives. I love them but I don’t have much to talk with them.

Now a days, I prefer sitting in Dwarakamai looking at Saibaba’s portrait. Few years from now, I will miss this opportunity to sit in Dwarakamai as temple gets crowded.

Anyway, Yesterday, my friends called me to arrange the prasad. I suddenly saw this little baby cats who were trying to hide from me. They were playing around. One cat ran away inside the wooden box and the other was caught red handed by me.

 

 

Now get back to what Oscar Wilde tells about Life.

I came across the quote said by famous Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet, Oscar Wilde.

“We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars”

Yesterday, I was thinking about myself. The several mistakes I did. While I was in Mumbai, teaching in a Film school (2008) , I met this guy who assisted a Filmmaker told me, when his director saw preview of the Movie that he know’s will flop in Box office, he has said “I did the 14th mistake of my life”.

I asked myself how many mistakes, stupidity and wrong doings I would have done all my life and if I really can count it? Recently, I felt bad about an experience I had and was worried about it. Another quote by Oscar Wilde gave me an answer to it.

“Experience is merely the name men give to their mistakes.”

Here I am with lots of experience and that’s bundle of mistakes over and over again and every time I did a mistake, Saibaba has made me learn something about life. I like to be truthful ( Atleast when I write in StarSai). I am not good and Sai has tried his best to keep me safe inside his palm like a Lilliput. Even then, I escape from his palm and commit mistakes which later hurts me to core.

Mistakes could be any thing. Its not that only if you hurt someone, its a mistake. Even if you bother someone minding their business or even if you speak ill of someone, that’s a mistake.

Meanwhile, Here’s a photo contributed by Ashwini Parvatikar. The photo was taken in Sai Datta Peetham at Oak Tree Rd, Edison NJ

Coming back to the first quote I mentioned, I wondered what Oscar Wilde actually means by that. I guess its this..

Do not worry about your current state of life. Every one are going through difficulties and struggles. Everyone has their own painful past. None of us are really living as happy as we desire to be. Its a congested world out there. Tell me, Who doesn’t have problems in life?

We think about our own life and the difficulties we face. Some people ask me “Why me alone”. Why this happened to “ME”?

You are comparing yourself with people whom you know are successful or friends whom you are connected to. Switch your perception from your own circle. There are several people facing similar situation like you. Its just a ditch – We all live in this gutter. Its unbearable.

Now that you understood everyone has problem, why some people make it big? How can they come out of their past and shine in what ever they wish to do – Be it personal life, career or business?

The answer is simple.

No matter what hardships they faced ( Gutter ), they believed this life is going to be beautiful. Even when they stood in the gutter along with us, they looked at the Stars. They enjoyed the beauty of stars.

I myself complain that I am like this because of my destiny and I blame everything and everyone around me. Is it going to make me grow ahead in life? Everyone lives in the same bad world. It would have been better if I took things positively and looked at the better part of the world. If nothing in this world is giving me reasons to live, I must have looked up to the sky and the millions of Stars that shine.

The moral is..

When you are going through difficulties, lookup and learn to live with confidence and happiness. 

There’s another meaning to it.

I met one of my friend whom I know for over a decade. He told me “Why this social media stuff is like this? Its all too bad”.

I told him, In India, people – especially youngsters use it that way. That’s the problem.

I assured him that I gain a lot from Social media and it has helped me to learn a lot when it comes to connecting with several experts and learn the Tech industry better. There are several Indians like me who use “Internet for Good”.

As a co-incidence during last December, I wrote this article India’s wasted bandwidth

When I apply the quote for this situation, here’s the meaning…

Everything around you has something bad associated to it. Its in the way you perceive it. Some people see the gutter ( Bad aspects) and some live happily as they look at the Stars ( The good aspects).

Saibaba made me read this quote and write about it because he wants me to tell you that many people are going through sufferings and obstacles in life. Some people have faith in him and look for alternative ideas. Why should you think about looking down?

You can change your state of life by working hard and living positive. Write down what you can do to change your life. Just write 10 points and read it everyday. Make a one month “Improvement Strategy”. Life won’t change immediately but you can change the way you see life.

Look Up! for Sai is going to make you Shine like one of those Stars!

Om Sai Ram

Venkat