True Wealth : Happiness & The Joy of Relationships

True Wealth : Happiness & The Joy of Relationships

We celebrated my sixtieth birthday recently. For years that number seemed to belong to someone else, to people from another generation. Yet when that day came in my life, it did not feel heavy but warm with the love of family, friends who had gathered in an auditorium for an evening of celebration with poetry,  music and dance. 

In the middle of that evening I understood something I had known only in theory. What we own matters far less than who are standing with us. I came away from my birthday thinking less about my own years and more about how easily we forget to be grateful for what is already ours.

In the Hindu tradition, Shashtiabdapoorthi marks the completion of sixty years. It is usually connected with men, with renewed wedding vows and prayers for a long life. I did not want to argue with the tradition. I only wondered why it should belong to men alone.

A woman who reaches sixty has been daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother. She has met expectations, swallowed disappointments, celebrated small victories and very often put other people's happiness ahead of her own. Through all of it she has also tried to hold on to her own identity and dreams. That journey deserves a celebration. So with gratitude for life and respect for relationships at the centre I celebrated in my own way.

What moved me most was seeing friends from every stage of my life at the celebration. Childhood friends who knew me long before any title, who remembered the girl with her dreams and mischief. Batchmates from the Sales Tax Department, colleagues from my Deputy Collector years and later postings, people I had worked beside through hard decisions and long days. Many had travelled far just to be there. Neighbours, well-wishers and relatives sat among them, each a different chapter of my life.

Some friendships had crossed great distances, some had gone years without a meeting, some were very new and yet they had all come. There was no protocol, no obligation, no post to acknowledge. Nobody was there for the chair I once occupied. They were there for the bond we shared. I have always said that designations are temporary and relationships last. That night I saw it happen in front of me.

I have loved poetry all my life. Words have kept me company in joy, doubt, longing and faith. Music and dance have always been close to my heart. Vikas Relhan, VK has set my poems to soul stirring music. My friend of many years, the Sangeet Natak Akademi danseuse Rajashri Shirke was benevolent to bless me by interpreting my verses through her dance performance. When the music began and the ghungroos sounded, I felt my words had been given wings. It was a personal offering, made beautiful by the talent of wonderful artists.

 Vikas Relhan, a gifted singer and composer who teaches music at a DAV school in Kurukshetra had composed many of poems years ago and sung them along with the melodiius Akshi Goyal.  But Aniruddha Shirke added the magical lilt of his drums and music to some more. I felt deeply thankful to Vikas, Akshi, Aniruddha, Rajashri tai and her troupe. Poetry, music and dance along with love became Spandan, a celebration of  rhythm in the hearts that had come together. 

Over six decades we meet thousands of people. Most remain  acquaintances, a few become friends for life, at times someone passes through briefly and leaves a mark that never fades. While we are busy living, we seldom notice what these people are worth to us. Years go by without seeing a dear friend. And then one embrace closes decades.

Our lives are not just a list of achievements. They are made by the people who touched them: those who encouraged us when we doubted ourselves, who stood by us in bad times, who cheered our successes without envy, who corrected us lovingly, or who were simply there, quietly and steadily. Unlike money or property, this kind of wealth tends to grow with time.

Retirement has given me room to think about what really matters. For decades my days were measured in files, deadlines and decisions. No doubts, I am grateful for all of it. But my sixtieth birthday offered another measure: not the posts held or the awards received, but the number of hearts that still keep a place for us. What counts is not how far we have come but who walked beside us and has stayed.

Also it is a time to think, did we offer kindness when someone needed it? Did we make time for a friend? Did we keep a relationship alive despite a disagreement? Did we say thank you often enough? The affection we receive today is the harvest of what we planted years ago. 

This is the only lesson I would like to pass on, to every one. We spend years worrying about what we lack and forget to look at what already surrounds us. A loving family. A childhood friend. A colleague who stays close long after retirement. A neighbour who cares. Acquaintances who become an inseparable part of our lives. These are treasures, which we hold now, not in future.

Gratitude does not need a birthday party. Call the friend you have been meaning to call. Write to the teacher who believed in you. Thank the colleague who covered for you. Tell your parents, while they can hear it, what they mean to you. Do not wait for a milestone, because people drift, circumstances change, and silence grows heavier the longer it lasts. A word of thanks costs nothing and can mean everything to the person who receives it.

One more thought, especially for women. We are taught to link growing older with withdrawal. At sixty we are expected to slow down and step aside. Why? Age may change our pace, but it need not dim our enthusiasm. Experience deepens understanding and feeds creativity and purpose.

At sixty I still have dreams to chase, poems to write, people to meet and causes to work for. My commitment to women's empowerment goes on through the Anirvedshakti Foundation. I do not see sixty as an ending. I see it as a new chapter, with more freedom to do what truly matters.

When the evening ended I could not find words enough to thank. How do you thank friends who stayed connected across decades, or artists who turned a personal dream into reality? Some feelings are too deep for speech. I could only fold my hands and thank the Almighty for such abundance.

Sixty years have taught me that plans seldom unfold as we expect and that success and disappointment both come and go. But there is also much beauty, kindness and grace. If we have tended our relationships with sincerity and affection, we will never be truly poor.

The music has faded and the ghungroos are quiet. But the warmth of those embraces stays with me. True wealth is not counted in what we own but in the love we give and receive. Also happiness is found in moments just waiting to unfold. After all "Pal pal khushiyon se bhara jeevan." 

R. Vimala, IAS Retired, MH 2009

Subject Matter Expert, CBC & YASHADA

Former Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra Sadan & Secretary, GoM,

Founder AnirvedShakti Foundation,

PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay 

Navaratri: Nine Nights of Devotion, a Lifetime of Learning

Navaratri: Nine Nights of Devotion, a Lifetime of Learning

सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके ।

शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणी नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

Salutations to Goddess Narayani, the most auspicious among the auspicious, the fulfiller of all aspirations, the divine mother who offers refuge to all.

Festivals are a part of India's heritage with each one having it's own beauty, traditions and spiritual significance. Among them is Navaratri,  nine nights dedicated to Maa Shakti, the divine  energy, celebrated as Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ambe Mata and in countless other forms. Beginning with Ghatasthapana and ending with Vijaya Dashami, Navaratri is a celebration of faith, culture, community and the eternal triumph of good over evil.

For me, Navaratri, is a journey through childhood memories, family traditions, the joy of learning, the comforting presence of the divine and a promise of a new beginning.

The beauty of India lies in the diversity of its celebrations. Bengal comes alive with magnificent Durga Puja pandals, Gujarat dances to the rhythms of Garba and Dandiya, the South celebrates Bommai Golu and Bathukamma, while the North reverberates with Ram Lila and the festivities of Dussehra.

Different traditions, different expressions, yet one underlying message: the victory of light over darkness, wisdom over ignorance and good over evil.

My earliest memories of Navaratri are of the  Durga Pooja at the railway colony in Bhusawal, organised by the Bengali Association. I eagerly awaited the festivities, the beautiful idols, the cultural programmes and of course, the delicious bhog of Begoon bhaja, payesh and other delicacies.  

At home, Navaratri meant Bommai Golu, the delightful South Indian tradition of arranging dolls and deities on steps. Setting up the Golu was an event in itself. My siblings and I would enthusiastically set up the steps, arrange the dolls, create little scenes, decorate them and admire our handiwork. Evenings brought neighbours and friends, devotional songs, exchanges of haldi-kumkum and the inevitable sundal, prepared differently each day. Those days celebrations were less about grandeur and more about togetherness.

After marriage, I continued the tradition with my mother-in-law. Her passing in 2001 left a deep void and for a few years, the Golu remained absent from our home. Eventually, an inner calling prompted me to revive it. That was twenty-two years ago and since then, Golu has once again become an inseparable part of our lives. Every year, the familiar dolls emerging from their boxes, carry stories of the years gone by. Some have been with us for decades, silent witnesses to changing homes, growing children, cherished relationships and the passage of time.

Perhaps that is the true charm of tradition which connects generations and keeps memories alive while we move forward in life.

Saraswati Pooja is a beautiful part of Navaratri. In the north, Saraswati Puja is celebrated on Vasant Panchami, while in Tamil Nadu and much of southern India, Saraswati Poojai is observed during Navaratri, traditionally alongside Ayudha Poojai and Vidyarambham, the initiation of young children into the world of learning. 

Saraswati Poojai invites us to reflect upon the meaning of knowledge in today's rapidly changing world where information is available at the click of a button. Artificial intelligence, ChatGPT and other technological innovations can answer questions, generate ideas and simplify tasks in seconds. Yet, is access to information the same as acquiring knowledge? And is knowledge necessarily wisdom? Technology can provide answers, but it cannot replace our responsibility to think critically, question intelligently, read deeply and develop independent judgement. Saraswati Poojai offers us a timely opportunity to renew these habits by encouraging every child and also every adult, to read for at least ten minutes and write one page every day.  Ten minutes of reading can open a new world. A page of writing can help organise thoughts, strengthen expression and encourage reflection.

Navaratri is also a celebration of the dignity of work. During Ayudha Poojai, artisans worship their tools, musicians their instruments, students their books, and workers the equipment that sustains their livelihoods acknowledging the dignity of every occupation and respect to every instrument we use for work. 

This message has particular relevance today, when we speak of dignity of labour, women's empowerment, skill development and inclusive growth. Maa Shakti is not confined to temples and beautifully decorated idols. Her strength is reflected in the countless women who nurture families, sustain livelihoods, overcome adversity and contribute silently to society. The woman running a small enterprise, the artisan preserving a traditional craft, the farmer working tirelessly in the fields and the young girl determined to pursue her education are all expressions of Shakti. To truly honour the Goddess, we must also honour and strengthen the women around us.

 The culmination of Navaratri in Vijaya Dashami celebrates Goddess Durga's victory over Mahishasura and Lord Rama's triumph over Ravana. But perhaps the greatest battles are not those fought in mythology but those within ourselves.

Anger, jealousy, prejudice, greed, arrogance and resentment are the demons that often disturb our inner peace. Just as Ravana's effigy is consigned to flames on Dussehra, let us resolve to let go of at least one negative habit or lingering grudge. Let us replace criticism with kindness, indifference with compassion and despair with hope. Let us extend our sense of reverence to Mother Earth, our Matrubhumi, by reducing waste, planting trees, protecting nature and embracing more sustainable ways of living. For ultimately, the triumph of good over evil is not merely a story to be remembered. It is a principle to be practised in everyday life.

Navaratri teaches us courage through Durga, prosperity with purpose through Lakshmi, and wisdom through Saraswati. Together, they remind us that a fulfilling life requires strength, compassion, knowledge and the willingness to act. The real celebration of Navaratri lies not only in the nine nights of worship, but in carrying their light into the remaining days of our lives.

ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः ।

सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत् ॥

May all be happy, may all be free from illness, may all experience goodness, and may none suffer or live in sorrow.

R. Vimala, IAS Retired, MH 2009

Subject Matter Expert, CBC & YASHADA

Former Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra Sadan & Secretary, GoM,

Founder AnirvedShakti Foundation,

PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay 

Navaratri Reflections: From Hope to Gratitude

Navaratri Reflections: From Hope to Gratitude

Some dreams take a long time to come true. Some prayers are answered late, but faith keeps us going until they are answered. 

Last Navaratri, I wrote about hope in the middle of a struggle. I was in Delhi then, serving as Resident Commissioner and Secretary, Government of Maharashtra and I kept the festival away from home with a small Bommai Golu. I prayed quietly for a dream that felt very far away.

This Navaratri, I am writing from our new home  and my heart is full of gratitude. To the Devi, the Devatas and the Almighty, who held my hand through every twist and turn of my life. For the strength to keep going, the patience to wait and the faith that told me better days would come. Above all, I am grateful for a home I had dreamed of, where I can once again celebrate Navaratri with my family, my friends and the traditions I grew up with.

Bommai Golu is more than nine days of worship. It brings together devotion, memory, creativity and continuity. Every doll has a story, and every year the familiar faces bring back a flood of memories of people and places that shaped me. The steps hold a whole world of faith and imagination: gods and goddesses in places of honour and around them saints, musicians, dancers, village scenes and ordinary people, reminding us of the beauty and variety of creation.

As a little girl, I looked forward to these nine days: visiting homes, making sundal, singing songs. Arranging the Golu is now a cherished tradition in many Tamilian homes, mine included. The dolls come out of their boxes, each carrying memories of earlier celebrations. I love arranging them, lighting the lamps, offering prayers and welcoming friends and neighbours for haldi-kumkum.

Last year's little Golu in Delhi showed me that devotion does not depend on grandeur. A few dolls arranged with love are enough to make a sacred space.

While I waited for this home, I learnt that patience is not just waiting. It is to keep believing, keep working and keep smiling. We want immediate answers and sometimes without working very hard for them. But the Divine keeps a different calendar.

Looking back, the lessons that mattered most came in the gap between a prayer and its answer. Patience taught me humility that, I cannot control everything, however capable or experienced I feel I am. Perseverance taught me that surrendering to God does not mean giving up my own effort.

We must do our karma with sincerity and courage and leave the fruits to Him, as rightly said in the Gita " Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana". We have the right to our duty, but not to its results. Perhaps that is the whole lesson : work with determination, wait with patience, receive with gratitude.

Navaratri celebrates the nine forms of Maa Durga, each a different aspect of feminine strength and grace. Strength is not always loud. Sometimes it is just the quiet decision to carry on. Courage is not always found in great battles; sometimes it is the simple act of beginning again. And sometimes victory is a peaceful heart, a grateful mind and the ability to look ahead with joy.

As we settle in, I am reminded that walls and furnishings do not make a home. Love, respect, prayers and values do. A home is where we return when the world has worn us out. Laughter echoes there, ordinary moments become precious, a lamp is lit before the Gods, the family eats together, friends are always welcome and every festival adds to our happiness.

This Navaratri, I pray that every home is blessed with peace, good health, harmony and warm relationships. And let us remember that the bigger blessing is not getting what we asked for, but being thankful for what we have been given.

As I grow older, I feel gratitude is one of the purest prayers. We remember God readily when we need something, and our prayers grow intense when we seek solutions, protection or relief. But how often do we sit quietly and simply say thank you? For the unseen protection, for the people who stood by us, for the strength we found within ourselves, for the doors that opened at the right time. I want to be thankful even for the waiting, because it taught me patience.

With a new chapter beginning after retirement, I think of how kind God has been to me: a fulfilling career in public service, the chance to keep working for women's empowerment, the love of family and friends and now a new home.

This year's Golu will be special to me. Every doll I place will carry a silent prayer of thanks and every lamp will remind me of the grace that lights our lives. Each visitor will add a blessing to our home, along with the familiar pleasure of a tradition that has travelled with me through different cities and phases of life.

Last year I prayed with hope. This year I bow with gratitude. The journey asks for patience, perseverance and courage, but it is divine grace that gives us the strength to walk it. That, to me, is the message of Navaratri : Shakti is not only  the power to conquer but also the strength to endure, the wisdom to accept, the courage to begin again and the grace to stay grateful.

May Maa Durga bless every home with peace, every heart with courage and every life with hope. May we have the strength to persevere, the patience to trust divine timing, and the humility to see the blessings around us. From hope to gratitude, from prayer to thanksgiving, this Navaratri is my humble offering at the feet of the Divine Mother.

Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu Niramayah. May all be happy. May all be free from illness.

Shubh Navaratri. Jai Mata Di.

R. Vimala, IAS Retired, MH 2009

Subject Matter Expert, CBC & YASHADA

Former Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra Sadan & Secretary, GoM,

Founder AnirvedShakti Foundation,

PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay 

Dhan Foundation : Building Communities, Nurturing Leaders

Dhan Foundation : Building Communities, Nurturing Leaders 

Some journeys leave us with more than memories. They reaffirm why we chose a particular path in the first place.

Attending the Foundation Day of DHAN Foundation in Madurai was one such experience for me. It was an opportunity to see, once again, what patient, sustained community work can achieve and to reflect on how much more remains to be done, particularly for women.

For nearly three decades, DHAN Foundation has worked with communities across India, building institutions around livelihoods, financial inclusion, agriculture, water, health and grassroots development. It's work through women's collectives and community institutions demonstrates an important truth that development becomes sustainable when people are not merely recipients of programmes but participants in shaping their own future. That distinction matters.

My own years in public service, particularly my work with women's Self-Help Groups in MSRLM and MAVIM, have convinced me that women do not lack ability, courage or willingness to work. They often lack opportunity, access and markets.

Across India, lakhs of women are saving together, borrowing together, farming, processing food, making handicrafts and running tiny enterprises. Government programmes, banks, NGOs and community organisations have helped create an extraordinary institutional base. But we need to explore whether such  participation translates into a continuos flow of income?

A woman may belong to an SHG. She may have received training and credit. She may even be producing something of excellent quality but if her product remains confined to her village, an occasional exhibition or a small local market, her economic potential remains limited. The next stage of women's empowerment must therefore go beyond mobilisation and limited markets. It must connect skills to enterprise, production to markets, and hard work to sustainable income.

As I said during my interaction during the Foundation Day celebrations at Dhan , Women are half the nation so half the power is not enough. They also need full power and economic power is the most essential part of that power. 

DHAN Foundation's journey also reinforces something we sometimes forget in our enthusiasm for schemes and targets, that transformation cannot always be delivered from above. It has to grow from within communities. When women save together, they do more than create a bank balance. They create trust. When farmers organise, they gain a collective voice. When communities manage water, livelihoods or local resources together, ownership replaces dependence. And when a woman begins earning, the impact rarely stops with her. It enters the household, into children's education, nutrition, health and aspirations.

Empowering a woman steadily widens the circle of change from woman to family, from family to community and from community to society. This is why women's empowerment and community development cannot be separated.

There is another frontier we now need to cross. Our women can produce excellent products. Can we help them sell? Can a packet of millet produced by women in a village in Tamil Nadu find a consumer in Mumbai? Can food products made by a Maharashtra SHG reach Chennai? Can technology, branding, packaging and logistics erase the distance between a rural producer and an urban consumer?

This is where I see possibilities for organisations such as DHAN and our new born Anirvedshakti Foundation to complement each other. DHAN brings decades of experience, strong community institutions and deep grassroots relationships. Anirvedshakti is still taking its first steps, but through Shakti on Wheels, we are experimenting with taking products made by SHG women directly to consumers. Instead of always asking women to search for markets, perhaps we can begin taking markets to women.

Millets could be a wonderful beginning. Ragi, saamai, thinai, jowar and bajra are not merely traditional grains. Behind them can be women farmers, processors, packers and entrepreneurs. Imagine a product whose packet does not merely carry a brand name, but also tells us who made it, where she comes from and the story behind her enterprise.Such purchase  becomes more than a transaction. It becomes a connection between two lives.

There is a beautiful line from Subramania Bharati about women stepping forward to govern and make laws. His vision was of women participating fully and equally in society. That journey continues.

Today, I would add another aspiration: let women not only participate, let them produce, own, brand, market and earn. Let them become entrepreneurs. Let them become employers.

Let them become leaders in their communities. And most importantly, let the income from their labour reach their own hands. Because empowerment cannot forever remain a promise made on behalf of women. Eventually, it must become power exercised by women themselves. 

Another inspiring moment of the Foundation Day was the graduation ceremony of DHAN Academy, where 80 young scholars graduated, ready to take their learning into the larger world. Watching these young minds step forward was a reminder that sustainable development is not only about programmes but also about preparing people who can lead change.

DHAN Foundation’s contribution therefore goes far beyond strengthening women’s collectives, promoting livelihoods, encouraging millets and building resilient communities. Through DHAN Academy, it is also nurturing young professionals with a sensitivity towards rural realities and a commitment to serve society. Institutions become truly transformative when they build communities today while simultaneously preparing leaders for tomorrow.

The eighty graduates represented exactly that hope, the possibility of a new generation that will combine knowledge with empathy, professional skills with social purpose, and ambition with responsibility. In many ways, this investment in young minds may prove to be one of DHAN Foundation’s most enduring contributions.

After conversations about communities, livelihoods, women and the road ahead, the day found its most beautiful conclusion in Madurai,  at the feet of Meenakshi Amman and Sundareswarar Swami. Amidst the magnificent gopurams, the lamps, the ancient stone corridors and generations of faith embedded in those walls, there was a sense of stillness.

Some journeys need both,  purpose and prayer. We can make plans. We can build institutions. We can create markets and partnerships. We can work with all the energy and conviction we possess but there are moments when we also bow our heads and seek the grace to remain on the right path.

Standing before Meenakshi Amman, herself such a powerful embodiment of feminine strength felt especially meaningful after a day devoted to conversations about women's empowerment. And before Sundareswarar Swami, there was gratitude for the journey so far and a quiet prayer for what lies ahead.

May the strength of Meenakshi Amman give us courage.

 May the grace of Sundareswarar Swami give us wisdom.

 And may both bless the path ahead where women stand not at the margins of development, but at its very centre.

Perhaps that is the larger message I carried away from DHAN Foundation Day. Empower a woman, strengthen a community. Prepare a young mind and you prepare a leader. Give people opportunity, knowledge and confidence and they will find their own way forward.

My visit to Madurai could not have ended more meaningfully than at the feet of Meenakshi Amman and Lord Sundareswarar. Standing there in prayer, amidst centuries of faith and devotion, I sought no elaborate blessing only the strength to continue doing whatever little I can for women and communities, and for many more hands and hearts to join this journey. For when purpose becomes collective, change no longer remains a dream. It becomes a movement.

R. Vimala, IAS Retired, MH 2009

Subject Matter Expert, CBC & YASHADA

Former Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra Sadan & Secretary, GoM,

Founder AnirvedShakti Foundation,

PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay 

Not Tolerance, but Acceptance : The Quiet Greatness of Sanatana Dharma...

Not Tolerance, but Acceptance : 

The Quiet Greatness of Sanatana Dharma...

A short clip reached me via WhatsApp a few days ago, as so many things reach us these days, forwarded from one phone to another. It was from a session at the Bharat Literature Festival, where renowned author Shri.Shashi Tharoor was recalling Swami Vivekanandaji’s address at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893.

The line he dwelt on is one most of us learnt in school : Swamiji said he was proud to belong to a faith that had taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance.

I paused and began to think of the quotation.  Tharoor said that as a teenager, he had taken  tolerance to be a virtue, because that is what our history lessons told us : the tolerant king was the good king, the one who allowed his subjects to believe as they wished. Only later did he see how patronising the idea could be.

In effect, the tolerant king was saying that I have the truth; you are in error, but I shall graciously permit you,  your right to be wrong.

Acceptance is something else altogether.

It says : I believe I have the truth; you believe you have the truth. I respect yours; please respect mine. That distinction, small as it sounds, carries within it something fundamental to the spirit of Sanatana Dharma.

Long before any parliament of religions, the Rig Veda had expressed it in a single line:

'Ekam sat vipraa bahudhaa vadanti.'

Truth is one; the wise call it by many names.

This is not an idea added later to make an ancient tradition sound modern. It lies deep within the tradition itself.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that in whatever way people approach Him, in that same way He receives them. Elsewhere, He says that whatever form a devotee chooses to worship with faith, He makes that faith steady.

A God who steadies the faith of those who worship the Divine in different forms is not a God who needs rivals defeated.

Far to the south, Thiruvalluvar expressed a similar insight in the language of everyday wisdom:

Epporul yaar yaar vaai ketpinum apporul

meipporul kaanbadhu arivu.

(Kural 423)

Whatever is said, and by whomever, wisdom lies in discerning the truth within it.

Notice what the Kural does not ask. It does not ask who the speaker is, which book he follows or which god he worships. It asks only whether there is truth in what he says.

The festival clip ended with the same thought in simple words : some find their truth within, some in a temple, some in a mosque. These are different ways of stretching our hands towards the Absolute. I cannot think of a better description of a faith that never needed to count heads.

Sanatana Dharma did not historically develop a single centralised missionary structure. It has no single founder whose word must be spread, no one book that everyone must accept, and no central authority measuring its strength by numbers.

A seeker may begin at the feet of a guru, at a village shrine, in the silence of meditation or in the pages of the Upanishads. There has always been room for many beginnings.

And yet its ideas travelled far, the temples of Angkor, the living traditions of Bali, yoga and meditation across continents, and the Upanishads that fascinated thinkers far beyond India.

Ideas can travel not only through organised propagation, but also through human encounter, through traders, teachers, travellers and seekers and endure because succeeding generations find meaning in them. There is a quiet dignity in that.

But it would be dishonest to write only in praise. The oldest living traditions also carry the marks of history and not every wound was inflicted from outside. Some were self-inflicted. The first is discrimination.

A philosophy that sees the same Brahman ( God) in every being cannot, without contradiction, deny dignity to some of its own people. Yet for long periods of our history, social practices did exactly that. Many who were denied dignity within the fold understandably sought it elsewhere. The loss was not theirs alone; it was ours.

Thiruvalluvar had warned us centuries ago:

Pirappokkum ellaa uyirkkum sirappovvaa

seithozhil vetrumaiyaan. (Kural 972)

All beings are equal by birth; distinction comes only from the quality of one’s deeds.

Had we listened more carefully to our own sages, perhaps fewer would have felt excluded from traditions that should have embraced them.

The second is rigidity. When ritual overtook meaning, when crossing the seas became a sin and questions came to be seen as disrespect, a tradition that had once thrived on debate sometimes began guarding its forms more carefully than its spirit. The Upanishads are, after all, conversations. Gargi and Maitreyi questioned sages openly. A dharma that forgets how to question forgets a part of itself.

The third is more subtle, because it arises from one of our greatest strengths openness. A tradition that makes room for many paths does not easily insist that everyone remain within its own. It has absorbed, assimilated and accommodated across centuries. Such openness need not become weakness. But it does create a responsibility : those who inherit a tradition must know it, understand it, live it and pass on its essence, not merely its rituals. And perhaps the answer has always come from within the tradition itself. Whenever the fabric wore thin, saints, poets and reformers rewove it.

Sant Dnyaneshwar, barely out of boyhood, closed his great commentary on the Gita not with a demand, but with a prayer, the Pasaydan:

"Je khaḷaanchi vyankati saando, 

tayaa satkarmi rati vaadho

bhuta paraspare jado maitra jivanche"

May the wicked shed their crookedness,

may their love for good deeds grow,

may friendship bind all living beings to one another.

He did not pray for the wicked to be defeated. He prayed for them to be transformed.

Sri Narayana Guru in Kerala spoke of one caste, one religion and one God for humankind. In Tamil Nadu, Subramania Bharati taught children:

Saadhigal illaiyadi paappa,

kulath thaazhchi uyarchi sollal paavam.

There are no castes, little one;

to call any birth high or low is a sin.

Vivekananda carried a message of acceptance to Chicago and returned to remind India of divinity

 and the dignity of service. Each strengthened the tradition not merely by defending it, but by holding up a mirror to it. That is still the work before us.

The greatness of Sanatana Dharma will not be sustained by numbers or by noise. It will be sustained when every person can feel equally at home within it;  when our daughters study the Gita and the Upanishads as freely as Gargi and can question it,  when learning is valued as much as ritual and when we practise in our own homes the acceptance we so proudly quote.

From the Rig Veda to the Gita, from Dnyaneshwar on the banks of the Indrayani to Thiruvalluvar and Bharati in the Taminadu, a broad vision runs across Bharat. It belongs to no single region or language. And if acceptance is truly at the heart of Sanatana Dharma, it must be practised all the way.

Acceptance that stops at the edge of our own comfort is only tolerance wearing better clothes.

Let every person therefore be free to choose the path that speaks to their heart or to walk none at all without fear, pressure or inducement. Faith chosen freely has meaning; faith imposed or purchased loses something essential.

Nor should any faith need to establish its worth by placing itself above another. The moment we do that, we return to the tolerant king graciously permitting others their supposed right to be wrong.

The word sanatana means eternal. What is eternal does not need to hurry, compete or conquer. It does not need to be declared the best. It needs to be lived truly.

Perhaps its quiet greatness lies precisely here: that it can look at another human being walking a different path towards the Divine and say, sincerely: “Yours too is a way home.”

Vivekananda was right to be proud. May our pride rest not on being above anyone, but on being able to embrace everyone.

After all, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ.

R. Vimala, IAS Retired, MH 2009

Subject Matter Expert, CBC & YASHADA

Former Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra Sadan & Secretary, GoM,

Founder AnirvedShakti Foundation,

PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay 

* Views expressed are personal and those of the author.

Above the Clouds, Beyond Divisions...

Above the Clouds, Beyond Divisions...

The flight from Delhi to Mumbai climbed steadily through thick layers of clouds. The world below disappeared. For a while, there was nothing but endless white. Then, almost playfully, the sun would emerge through a gap, flood the aircraft with golden light, and disappear behind another curtain of clouds again.  It felt like a game of hide-and-seek.

As the aircraft began its descent, the clouds slowly parted and the familiar skyline of Mumbai emerged beneath us. In that transition between sky and earth, I went back to my childhood. Like many children of my generation, I had often heard our elders say, “Gods live above the clouds.”

As children, we accepted it without question. Even today, the feeling of looking upwards in wonder has never quite left us.

Perhaps that is how religion itself began.

Long before temples, churches, mosques, gurudwaras or monasteries, human beings looked at the rising sun, flowing rivers, towering mountains, trees, rain, fire and the vast sky with reverence. Nature inspired awe, gratitude and humility. Over time, these forces of nature acquired names, forms and stories, making the invisible easier to understand and the divine easier to relate to. Surya became the Sun God,  Vayu, the God of winds,  Agni, the God of Fire. Hawankunds were based on geometrical calculations. 

One of the most fascinating aspects of Hindu thought is how comfortably it accommodated symbolism alongside philosophy. The sequence of the Dashavatara is often interpreted as resembling the broad stages of biological evolution, from Matsya, the fish living entirely in water; Kurma, the tortoise inhabiting both water and land; Varaha, the land mammal; Narasimha, the half-man, half-animal form; Vamana, the early human; followed by Parashurama, Rama, Balarama and Krishna, each symbolising different stages of human civilisation and ethical evolution.

Whether this was intended as science or symbolism may always remain open to interpretation, but the parallel itself is remarkable.

Indian civilisation has also contributed profoundly to humanity's scientific and mathematical heritage from the concept of zero and advances in astronomy to sophisticated geometry, metallurgy and architecture. Spiritual inquiry and scientific curiosity were not necessarily seen as opposites. They often walked together.

Like every ancient civilisation, India's history too has witnessed periods of harmony as well as conflict. Different communities have interacted through dialogue, trade, migration and, at times, through painful episodes that remain subjects of historical debate. Such chapters deserve honest scholarship rather than prejudice. History should deepen our understanding, not diminish our humanity.

And perhaps there could be no better time to reflect on this than during Ganeshotsav.

Across Maharashtra and far beyond, Bappa arrives not merely inside homes but into neighbourhoods and public spaces. People gather before Vighnaharta, the remover of obstacles with folded hands, flowers, modaks, music and prayer. The celebration often reaches beyond individual faith: neighbours, friends and visitors from different communities participate in the joy, visit pandals and share in the festivities.There is something beautiful in that image. Different people. Different prayers. One celebration.

Perhaps that too is the spirit of Vighnaharta, to help us overcome not only the obstacles before us, but also the barriers we sometimes create between ourselves.

And then I looked again at the clouds outside my window. They do not distinguish between nations, religions or languages. They carry rain to every field. The sun shines on every home. Rivers quench the thirst of all who approach them.

Nature recognises no divisions. It simply gives.

What, then, is the enduring message that survives centuries?

Perhaps it is this: if our earliest reverence was for nature itself, then protecting nature must be among the highest forms of worship.

There is an added poignancy to that thought during Ganeshotsav. We welcome Bappa with such love; perhaps one way of honouring him is to celebrate in ways that also honour the earth, from the materials we use for our idols and decorations to the water we protect and the waste we leave behind.

Faith and responsibility need not be separate.

Today, when the world is confronting rising temperatures, extreme weather, polluted rivers, disappearing forests and the consequences of climate change, reverence for nature is no longer only a philosophical idea. It has become an urgent responsibility.

As our aircraft touched the ground, I realised that perhaps heaven is not somewhere above the clouds. We encounter a little of it whenever people come together despite their differences; whenever we choose harmony over division; and whenever we protect the natural world that sustains every one of us.

This Ganeshotsav, let us celebrate Bappa together across faiths, neighbourhoods and differences and turn devotion into action. At least next year, let us choose eco-friendly idols and decorations, reduce plastic and waste, protect water, and leave our rivers, streets and communities cleaner than we found them.

In honouring Vighnaharta, let us remove the obstacles we have placed in nature’s path and in one another’s hearts.

The earth beneath us and the sky above us belong to no single faith. They belong to all of us. Protecting them, together, may be one of the truest forms of worship and one of the greatest gifts we can leave future generations.

Ganpati Bappa Morya. May Vighnaharta unite our hearts and guide us towards a greener, kinder world.

R. Vimala, IAS Retired, MH 2009

Subject Matter Expert, CBC & YASHADA

Former Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra Sadan & Secretary, GoM,

Founder AnirvedShakti Foundation,

PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay 

Vignaharta's Homecoming : Removing Obstacles Together this Ganesh Chaturthi

Vignaharta's Homecoming : Removing Obstacles Together this Ganesh Chaturthi 

There is something very endearing about Shri Ganesh, our Ganapati Bappa. The gentle eyes, the large ears that seem to listen patiently, the little mouse at His feet, the modak in His hand and that expression of wisdom and warmth. Among the many forms in which we worship the Divine, Ganeshji somehow feels especially close to us. We worship Him as Vighnaharta, the remover of obstacles. No wonder we invoke Him before every new beginning.

As Ganesh Chaturthi begins the day after tomorrow, homes and pandals will once again resonate with the joyous chant : Ganpati Bappa Morya! But beyond the  celebrations and rituals lies a beautiful message for life. We often pray to God to remove the obstacles before us. Yet life teaches us that not every obstacle disappears, instead we are given the courage to cross it, open another door. A disappointment challenges us to discover a strength we did not know we possessed. A difficult journey introduces us to people who walk beside us. And sometimes what appears to be an obstacle becomes the very reason for a new beginning. So in reality,  Vighnaharta does not merely clear our paths,  He also gives us the wisdom to find a path where none seems to exist.

This thought has a special meaning for me this Ganeshotsav when Ganesh Sewa Mandal, ( Registered ), Laxmi Nagar, Delhi, celebrates the Silver Jubilee of its Ganesh Mahotsav. Twenty-five years of devotion, community participation and celebration!

For AnirvedShakti Foundation, it is a privilege to be associated with this special occasion in a small but meaningful way.

During the festival, the Foundation is supporting four Self-Help Groups and one small-scale enterprise established under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) through the Khadi and Village Industries framework, enabling them to bring their products before consumers in Delhi.

At first glance, this may appear to be simply about putting up stalls but for a small entrepreneur, a stall is not merely a stall. It is a market. It is visibility and an opportunity to meet a customer who has never encountered their product before. It is a chance to hear, “Your product is good. Where else can I buy it?” A question which can open an entirely new door.

And what is Ganeshotsav without modak,  Ganeshji’s beloved offering? This year also, our food stalls will bring some of the warmth and flavour of a Maharashtrian kitchen to the national capital. There will be steamed ukadiche modak as well as fried modak, along with puran poli, pakodas, zunka-bhakri, moong pakoda and dahi dhapate.

These are not merely items on a menu. Food carries memories, traditions and the identity of a region. A freshly prepared modak reminds us of Ganesh Chaturthi at home; zunka-bhakri speaks of the simplicity and strength of Maharashtra’s rural cuisine; and puran poli carries the unmistakable warmth of celebration. Through these women, we hope to bring an authentic taste of Maharashtra to Delhi from their kitchens and communities directly to the capital.

Alongside the aromas of Maharashtrian food will be another expression of enterprise and craftsmanship, a varied collection of bags for women and men, suitable for business, personal use and gifting. From practical office and laptop bags to handbags and pouches. The collection will also feature colourful Banjara-art pouches, traditional mirror-work patches and handcrafted designs that carry the individuality of Indian artisanship.

A modak, a bhakri, a handcrafted pouch or a business bag may seem like a small purchase. But behind each is a producer, a skill, a livelihood and an aspiration.

The obstacle for small enterprises is often not production. It is the market. During my years of working closely with women’s Self-Help Groups, I repeatedly saw something remarkable. Rural women could produce excellent food products, handicrafts and household goods. They could organise themselves, save, borrow, learn new skills and build enterprises. But one obstacle returned again and again: Where will we sell?

A woman may know how to make an excellent product. But producing something and building a sustainable enterprise around it are two very different things. She needs packaging, branding, transport, digital payments, customer feedback and, above all, consistent access to markets. That last mile can determine whether an enterprise survives.

This understanding is also at the heart of AnirvedShakti Foundation and our initiative "Shakti on Wheels"  taking products made by women closer to consumers rather than waiting for consumers to discover them.

The participation of these entrepreneurs at the Ganesh Sewa Mandal celebrations is another small step in the same journey.

From their small enterprises in a village to a festive marketplace in Delhi. From just making products to meeting customers. From livelihood to enterprise. From an obstacle to an opportunity.

There is another lesson in the image of Ganeshji that I find deeply meaningful. His vehicle is the tiny mushak,  the mouse symbolising that the gigantc and the tiny can coexist effortlessly.

This also carries a message for our economy.  Not everything meaningful has to begin big. A woman making papads from her home is an entrepreneur. A Self-Help Group preparing traditional foods is an enterprise. A young person starting a unit with support under PMEGP is building the foundations of industry and for me personally,  it is initiating Shakti on wheels 

Small beginnings deserve big opportunities. When we buy from such entrepreneurs, we are doing something more than purchasing a product. We are recognising their skill and strengthening their confidence. We are helping income travel back to a household and allowing an enterprise to take one more step towards independence.

Empowerment is strongest when it comes with economic agency and dignity. May we become faciltators in removing obstacles which we can.  Bappa is there to take care of bigger obstacles and so my prayer to Him is not only to remove the obstacles from our own paths but also to give us the strength to remove obstacles from someone else’s path.”

Sometimes we can do that simply by opening a door. By giving a woman entrepreneur space in a housing society, by inviting an SHG to a corporate campus, by buying a locally made product, by introducing a small producer to a larger market, by choosing opportunity over charity.

Because sustainable empowerment is not about doing things for people. It is about creating conditions in which people can move forward through their own ability, enterprise and determination.

As Ganesh Sewa Mandal, Laxmi Nagar celebrates twenty-five years of devotion, I hope the participation of these five small enterprises adds another dimension to the celebration and  devotion expressed through opportunity.

May Ganeshji, our beloved Vighnaharta, remove the obstacles before them. And may He also inspire each one of us to become, in our own small way, a facilitator  in someone else’s journey.

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

R. Vimala, IAS Retired, MH 2009

Subject Matter Expert, CBC & YASHADA

Former Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra Sadan & Secretary, GoM,

Founder AnirvedShakti Foundation,

PhD Scholar at IIT Bombay