When my parents bought the cosy apartment I live in, Andheri (West) was a peaceful suburb far away from the maddening crowds of southern and central Bombay.
In 2011, the area from the railway station to Navrang Cinema is among the most chaotic you will find anywhere in the world. Hawkers, vendors, 3-wheelers bikes, hordes of humanity and stray dogs all tussle for space in the midst of the metro construction work, which like any project in India is behind schedule.
It's impossible to walk from my building to the station without getting my nerves tested in some way; a speeding 3-wheeler, someone spitting paan on the roads, piles of garbage, the regularly-broken sewer lines. But then I have 3 choices: put up with it, fight it or move the hell away from the locality.
But this is India, a country with a great history and tradition of spiritual and self-realized human beings. One such person was Paramahansa Yogananda. His words are an answer for my neuroticism and hopelessness in anger management.
"Do not take life's experiences too seriously. Above all, do not let them hurt you, for in reality, they are nothing but dream experiences...If circumstances are bad and you have to bear them, do not make them a part of yourself.
Play your part in life, but do not forget it is only a role. What you lose in the world will not be a loss to your soul."
He goes on to say "Trust in God and destroy fear, which paralyses all efforts to succeed and attracts the very thing you fear."
In 2011, the area from the railway station to Navrang Cinema is among the most chaotic you will find anywhere in the world. Hawkers, vendors, 3-wheelers bikes, hordes of humanity and stray dogs all tussle for space in the midst of the metro construction work, which like any project in India is behind schedule.
It's impossible to walk from my building to the station without getting my nerves tested in some way; a speeding 3-wheeler, someone spitting paan on the roads, piles of garbage, the regularly-broken sewer lines. But then I have 3 choices: put up with it, fight it or move the hell away from the locality.
But this is India, a country with a great history and tradition of spiritual and self-realized human beings. One such person was Paramahansa Yogananda. His words are an answer for my neuroticism and hopelessness in anger management.
"Do not take life's experiences too seriously. Above all, do not let them hurt you, for in reality, they are nothing but dream experiences...If circumstances are bad and you have to bear them, do not make them a part of yourself.
Play your part in life, but do not forget it is only a role. What you lose in the world will not be a loss to your soul."
He goes on to say "Trust in God and destroy fear, which paralyses all efforts to succeed and attracts the very thing you fear."
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