Religion

As soon as one reads the word religion, one thinks of a sage chanting mantras. Don't stamp my loyalities as partisan as I respect all the religions and their teachings. However, as a born Hindu, I felt connected to the  thought of a sage. One may replace it with any Sufi singing about the almighty to suit to one's liking.
However, religion is not just about chanting mantras, it contributes a lot in bringing discipline and docility in an otherwise unruly world. Given a chance, the soberest of the man will commit the heinous-est  of the crimes if there is no authority to judge and rate his acts. However, as spider-man's step father says, "With greater power, comes greater responsibility", there is a greater chance that this power is misused by the demagogues.
I would like to share a story from one of the Osho's books, There was a community of dogs which used to bark without any reason. There was a spiritual leader of that dog community who used to advise dogs to abstain from barking. His lectures were attended by a large number, however left little impact and failed to bring about any change in the habit of dogs.
On one fine day, all the dogs decided to abstain from barking and this will be their biggest gift to their leader. It was virtually impossible for dogs to control their basic instincts when the moon lit sky appealed to them to bark at their highest pitch. However, out of respect to their leader they somehow remained quiet. As the leader of the dogs observed that there is pin-drop silence and no single dog is barking, he was very surprised, though not pleasantly and he became curious to know about the reason of this eerie silence.
His curiosity grew to become worry as he felt there will be no need of any spiritual leader if all the dogs will be so well behaved. He came out of his house and found all the streets empty. He himself got carried away by the beauty of full moon and sensed an urge to bark. He realized there is no one around and even if barks, no one will come to know about it. After pondering over the thought for a while, he finally barked.
As soon as the leader barked, all the dogs thought that the someone has broken the protocol and started barking.
The leader felt so elated at hearing these loud barks that he immediately called  all the dogs and admonished them for being so loud at mid night and all the followers quietly accepted their mistake and thanked the leader for showing them the right way.
Isn't the real life similar to this anecdote?

Greatest Migration

The only thing that is constant in this world is the CHANGE. As the time takes a stroll, things roll and they roll for a change. With this perpetual fact embedded in their mind, creatures move or migrate from one place to another. The pattern of their movement is as random as a hot air balloon caught up in a whirlwind. However, one has to read between their constantly moving legs to find the deep rooted purpose in all such random movements. As the study predicts, the migration of Zebras is meant to confuse the predators, whereas big cats move away, shunning all their luxuries to avoid a possibility of confronting a potential rival.

There is another species i.e. us, the humans, who is on constant move and a select few nomads at times have given away all the comforts of life to explore the world. I tried to relate the pattern of their movements to other species but the randomness of their migrations was hard to link with one single species.

The word migrate is comprehended in different ways by various individuals.  Some take it as a challenge and the new set of opportunities entice them to take up this gauntlet whereas some couch potatoes do not like to move away from the coziness that the familiar surrounding offer them. There are some foot-lose mavericks who feel satisfied only when their out of their comfort zone where as some nostalgic souls weep in silence and accept the change as their fate.

The Term “World is Flat”, coined by Mr. Thomas Friedman is the epitome about the Greatest Migration of all times, the migration of the workers from one place to another.  Since ages, workers from all over the world have shifted their abode from one place to another in search of work. It is much easier these days to go to a far place on a deputation and enjoy all the luxuries of the life or in other words, the process of migration has become less painful and this has fueled the increasing number of professional willing to migrate to other countries.

I do not doubt the pain one has to endure while leaving the motherland, however, the luxuries and the comfort that is being offered these days, certainly reduces the pain and emotional trauma involved. There is no way; one can compare the pain of software engineer, living in a plush apartment, to the pain of Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, which he endured during his stay at London. Food Habits, acclimatization to local weather, self-dependency for each and every small thing are some of the initial hurdles that migrant faces. However, as human has tamed all the wild things on this little planet, such hurdles are no different to humankind.