Is it all in the stars?
rcho...@yahoo.com
Rajaram Krishnamurthy
LUCK BY CHANCE?
June 24, 2026rchopra53Leave a comment
It is the title of a 2009 movie from the Zora Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar stable. It highlights the devious nature of coincidences by which a guy gets his first break in Bollywood.
Rationalists will have us believe that words like luck, fate and destiny are but opium for the masses and what passes for all that we go through are mere coincidences. At the end of the day, it’s only hard work that counts.
But tell that to a sportsperson for example. They unlike most of us put in the sweat and tears every day into their field. The skill set is the same. One day they vault the moon. The other day they suffer a meltdown.
All that however is for the more erudite. Try to figure this one out.
It is an early Saturday morning. A golf tee off is planned at the break of dawn. I hit the course on time. The course is closed for the day. The day has started.
My partner in crime is the never say die kind of guy. Another course just 40 kms away beckons. We set course. Soon I am a speck in his rear view.
I have done a cross country on the car yesterday. The ride was smooth as butter. Suddenly a noise appears from the rear side of the car. My thumb rule says drive for a mile, if the sound persists, stop.
Turns out I have a humungous flat. A big sigh and I get to work. I inform my partner. He says no problem; join me as soon as you are done. I expected him to backtrack to help; so much for being partners.
It is a highway. Thanks to the roads being great these days, vehicles are zipping past at threatening speeds. The flat is on the right side of the vehicle. Needless to say I feel my backside exposed as I work.
The heavens intervene. A SUV, with the sunroof down and a kid reviewing the countryside like a military commander; appears. They stop and out pour four brats. Forget it; they look like angels to me.
Uncle is told to step aside as they replace the tyre in a jiffy. The spare is low on air pressure. I head home convinced that is the safer bet, given how the day is panning out.
My lucky day (sic), I run into the friendly neighborhood puncture repair guy. I ask him where to get a new tyre from, since this one did not last my thumb rule mile. He tells me about a shop in the thick of a crowded bazaar not far from my place.
I trek down to the place at shop opening time. He asks me car make and model year. Deal done I start the trek back with a tubeless tyre. No public transport is in sight. With the sun beating down, the trek is becoming exciting. Did I make a mistake?
Lo and behold, a guy pulls up behind me. A friendly neighbor insists on giving me a drop home. My stars have really turned I think. Reaching home I pick up the car and take the tyre to the puncture repair shop for tyre build up. All sorted I am sure.
The repair guy tries building up the tyre. Sorry he says, you have bought the wrong tyre. You will have to change it. I look up to the heavens. Someone is definitely the other way again.
Back to the tyre shop, this time by car. Sorry he says that size is in the warehouse, please come back at 3. Someone has really turned His head away.
I pick up the tyre at 3. When I reach the tyre puncture shop, his wife says he has gone home. Wait. I am done. I curse my stars. I tell her I am leaving the car. When he completes the tyre fit, tell him to call. I will collect the car.
I start the trek home that is nearly 500 metres away. At that time of the day, it seems like miles. Lo and behold a friendly shopkeeper with a shop nearby is coming back from lunch. He drops me home. My stars turn again?
It is not only limited to the drop, he picks me up when the car is done. It is 5 in the afternoon and I am home, all done.
But a question bugs, was it a lucky day? Rationalists can stop reading from here on.
To be fair when I look back it seemed as if someone up there had a puppet on a string. Sometimes He was pulling, sometimes letting go a bit.
It was as if the template was set. There was to be no golf, flat tyre and I was to be homebound for the day. I made it more eventful by my actions. Were my actions, part of my destiny or plain Karma playing out?
Frankly that is a bit of a quandary. When we look back at our life events and turning points, we find a lot of our decisions wonky in retrospect. They seemed logical when we took them. Was taking them part of our destiny? That is why we are where we are in life? Or was it just poor intelligence?
It is a difficult one to figure out. Only safe conclusion stop as soon as an unusual sound is heard in the car.
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DEIVATHIN KURAL MAHA PERIYAVA EXPLAINING
1.. There are some concepts of
our Religion, not ot be found in other Religions. One of them is the Theory of
Karma. Buddhism and Samanam, having evolved out of Hinduism, incorporate this
theory and others do not. What is Karma Theory? For every action there is a
reaction. Modern Physics, calls it the theory of cause and effect. It says that
for every Action, there is an Equal and Opposite Reaction. The same principle
has been applied to Human Life also by our ancestors. In the Universe, are
contained, both inanimate and animate worlds. Things with life and things
seemingly without life. The rules, regulations and restrictions, (ie., Dharma,
in one word,) applicable to one part, should equally be applicable, to the
other part too. Karma theory says that for every one of Man's actions, there
has to be, good or bad effects. 'If He sins, He has to undergo the punishment;
and for a noble act, the good effects, will reach Him', says our Religion. He
gets many lives, so as to reap the effects of His actions, both good and bad.
Though, other religions, do encourage Punyam and caution against Papam; they do
not lay so much emphasis on the Cause-and-Effect
connection. The Re-birth or Reincarnation Theory, is not mentioned by
any Religion, other than those, which sprouted from India. So those
religionists strongly oppose the Karma Theory. What they say is something like
this; 'There is only one life for man. After this life is over, his birth and
death is over. His soul goes somewhere and awaits the Judgement Day, when God
will give His decision. His Sins and Good deeds will be accounted for. He will
then be sent to Heaven or Hell. Permanent Heaven or Eternal Damnation.
There was an European Christian among my
visitors. (Many foreigners used to visit him.) He mentioned self-deprecatingly,
(though he was a famous Author), that he used to write some books. He said
that, 'In the Bible it is stated that, 'God is Love', in a number of places.
But he felt that punishment should be commensurate with the seriousness and
gravity of the sin. Then, how can it be that any sin can lead to Eternal
Damnation?' It seems that He asked a Priest to clarify his mind. The Priest
reportedly told him, 'Yes it is true that there is a permanent Hell, but it is
permanently empty!' If You think deeply, neither can we accept Eternal
Damnation nor that Hell can be permanently empty. If God because He is Love,
does not send a sinner to Hell, as per their philosophy, where else can the
sinner's soul be sent? Since as per their beliefs, there can be no re-birth,
the soul cannot be sent to Earth, either. So he has to be sent to Heaven?! So,
it means that, in this world, do what you want. Any sin. Anyhow, God will send
us to Heaven?! Then there will be no need for morality.
As per our religion too, God keeps track of
our good and bad actions and He is the giver of effect for our actions. He is
also Love personified. So what does He do? So as to experience the good and bad
effects of our actions, He gives us another Life. We are born again. This
repeated giving of Life is out of His Ineffable Love. This is so that, we not
only undergo the good and bad effects, but also have the chance to mend our
ways. Heaven and Hell are not somewhere else, but here in this world. Since we
have done a mix of good and bad actions, we under go a mixed series of effects.
If we have done a lot of bad actions in the past, we suffer more. Those who
have done a lot of good actions, get a lot of opportunities to enjoy. The
majority of people are those who have a mixed effect bag. Since majority of
people claim that they suffer a lot and there is hardly any one who truely
claims that he is happy; without a complaint, or demand: we can infer, that we
all must have done more sins than good deeds.
So, it means that, God, out of His Love, gives
the Man, who thinks of himself as a seperate entity, an opportunity to wash off
his past sins. He also facilitates the Man, by providing, a suitable Teacher or
Guru; Sastras,and Kshetras, at the right time in his life; to be able turn the
corner. In other words Man is facilitated to give full play to his Free Will.
Thereby Man can raise himself to the highest level, when, Man's Free will and Fate and God's Grace, become
One. God gives Man the opportunity to grow out of his Animalness to Humaneness
to Divinity. Is not this better than, 'God's thinking that this Man is beyond
redemption, totally good for nothing; so out of His Grace, God puts Man in
Heaven, despite his sins?' Contrary to this, it is true that, when Man comes to
the understanding that, after all is said and done, it is best to surrender to
God; God lifts him up in one go to the highest level! Till Man has some belief
in Human effort, God should give Man, Yet another chance. God putting trust in
Man's capacity to grow and learn; seems more Graceful, than; God's belief in
Man's utter helplessness.
The statement by that Priest that, out of
God's Love, the permanent Hell is permanently empty, is a one man's view. You
can not think it to be the Conceptual Tenet, of the religions which believe in,
'one-life-only theory'. For the good-bad actions of The One Life, the soul is
sent to Heaven or Hell, is their general belief. Since we all end up doing more
bad than good, we are more likely to be consigned to Hell. The day of Judgement
has been given a dreadful name, Doomsday. To me it sounds rather a poorer
understanding and opinion of God's Grace.
More Than One Life.
I am reminded of an incident, about the
Re-birth / Re-incarnation theory. A western lady visited me and asked me to
clarify some doubts about re-birth.S She asked for some proof. I did not argue
with her. There was an English speaking Pandit in the camp. I asked him to
accompany the lady, to the nearest Hospital, which cares for Mothers and
babies. I asked them to collect data about new born babes and bring the data to
me. She came back with the all the collected information. She had come across,
some babies which were, very healthy / puny / beautiful / ugly / lying in the
corridor / born in a/c room / and so on. My purpose was served. I told her,
"Forget about God sending You to Heaven or Hell, at the end of one's Life.
That is all not known to us. Now you saw the start of many lives. Can you give
me the logic of so many differences, at the START? I quote 'healthy / puny /
beautiful / ugly / lying in the corridor / born in a/c room / and so on'. If we
are to believe and accept, your religion's, One - Life - Only, theory, why are
there so many differences to start with? If that, 'One Life', can and does
start with so much of handicaps and favouritism, then it reflects poorly on
Your God's Grace, Intelligence, and Impartiality. Then how to believe in that
God? How to be devoted to Him? It is not His mistake. It is inYour
understanding, where the mistake is. The only recourse is to believe that, the
new life is formed, based on the merits/demerits of the past life." She
went away very happily.
But, for the modern man such explanations are
not enough. They will ask for scientific proof. From that angle too,
now-a-days, para-psychologists, after much research and analysis, quote many
instances the world over, in support of the re-birth theory. Many persons, talk
about persons they have met, in some far corner of the Globe, without any
apparent chance of having met them in this, present life. The
para-psychologists have visited them and checked the veracity of their claims,
by visiting the places and people referred. Not one or two rare cases. Many.
They are flabbergasted by the accuracy of the claims. The only plausible
explanation is that, these people are able to remember or recall the
experiences of their past life. Generally, they are people, who have not had a
peaceful, natural death, in their previous life. They had been either murdered
or died in accidents, say the para-psychologists.
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K RAJARAM IRS 25626
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