Besides turning 36 this month, another piece of news is that I noticed a few grey hairs while shaving. It was a big awakening for me.
Time and tide wait for no man, not even me!
kālo ‘smi– “time I am,” Krishna says in the Bhagavat Gita.
In the year 2000, I was preparing for school exams, and while doing so, I prayed to God and the saints for help. I knew I could not do it on my own. By their mercy, I passed my exams.
Almost a decade later, as a teenager, I was in a car with my instructor for my driving exam. Before turning the car on, I placed a photo of my favourite saint on my lap and asked for help. I also chanted a few extra prayers and fasted for half a day. Again, I passed the exam with the Lord’s mercy and the blessings of the saints.
Fast forward to the year 2024, and here I am, preparing for the next exam. I need to learn tolerance, I need to master humility, and I want to develop compassion for others.
Alice Walker, an American novelist, famously said, “time moves slowly but passes quickly.”
36 does not sound too old, but the grey hair is a good reminder to use time wisely and prepare for the next exam.
With prayer, help from the saints, and mercy from Lord Krishna, it can be done.
Bhagavat Gita 2.13: As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.
Ananta Gopal Das
16.06.2024
