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Below: The author's mother.

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Now, That's Inspirational!

RAKIND KAUR

 

 

 

 

 

I am often told by some that they find inspiration in my lifestyle.

Sounds a bit narcissistic, doesn't it?

Perhaps it is. But I'm not the one who says my life is inspirational. Many of the people I meet, do.

I understand where it comes from and am humbled that something in me inspires others, but it seems to generate from the simple fact that I live alone.

Strange, isn’t it? A good number of people here in Los Angeles live alone. Granted they have relatives or parents close by and most of them didn't move here from distant land. But that too isn't uncommon. Lots of people have crossed oceans to live here, and yes, they have independently arrived at a lifestyle like mine.

But financially independent individuals working towards their degrees, isn't a new or unique thing for Los Angeles or many other places in the world.

Which is why I stumble to grasp the concept of what exactly is it about my lifestyle that makes someone say - 'Oh, how brave of you' or 'How inspirational,' and so forth.

Now, I have finally narrowed it down to the fact that it has quite a bit to do with my having gone through some harsh and tough situations while, still keeping the heart of a child. It also has a lot do with my poetry and how open I am and ready to help, despite having faced the mortifying realties of life. 

But even in that, I am not alone. I can name over a dozen people I know from my generation who are like that. Now, yes, the combination of all of it together seems a bit rare, but is it really?

Oh, right, I forgot! It's got a bit to do with me being a woman and not a man. Sorry, my parents forgot to teach me gender discrimination, so sometimes I forget that it's a thing.

The, there was this young person who did really amazing things. One of them just happened to be giving birth. To me.

Let me put this in perspective for you. Let me tell you a bit about my mother.

By the time my Mum was my age, she had willingly and knowingly married a man under death threats -- my Dad -  with one of the highest bounties of the time on his head. She knew it would certainly bring death threats and danger her way too, as a result.

She helped build a significant household underground, while helping my Dad in the Sikh movement against human rights violations by India.

She had to deal with his arrest, and her own arrest while being pregnant. She survived physical, mental and emotional torture. She gave birth to my sister and raised her while fighting a law-suit for visitation rights. She ran my Dad’s election campaign while he was in Tihar jail and a whole bunch of other ones (the Indian Government moved him around quite a bit). And she won both.

Isn't that something!

But I'm not done yet.

After that, my Mum helped build a house all over again, starting with a tent (literally, a tent!), with my Dad. In conditions where her kitchen cupboards were bare, she had stood up against and dealt with over a dozen different bribes and threats and an attempt on my Dad’s life when his car was pushed river the River Beas bridge.

They settled in Tope Ghar (Patiala, Punjab), then travelled to U.S. and gave birth to happy little me.

And all of it, by the time she was my age!

That's one of my parents. That's my Mum's youth.

I'm her daughter.

So, if I think my life is a piece of cake, it's because it is … compared to hers. I know it seems I've accomplished a lot in my life, and I’m not saying I haven't, but I’m not the first person to do so, nor the only one. Not even one of the most accomplished ones.

Not that I strive to be an accomplished person, but if I inspire someone, I'm glad I do. This world is in dreadful, and in need of hope.

But don't look at my life and say it's hard or that I'm brave for living it. We all have been brave in our lives, in our own small and big ways. Yes, draw inspiration from others but, most of all, be inspired from the things in your own life. It won't turn you into to a narcissist. It'll put your own value into perspective. It'll humble you and yet give you confidence.

To find any kind of truth in the universe, you have to face the truth about your own self. If you don't even know who you are, how can you be confident in your knowledge of who someone else is? 

Just like what gurbani says: "munn jeetey jugg jeet".

Conquer your mind; you’ll then have conquered the world.


December 23, 2015
 

Conversation about this article

1: Ajit Singh Batra (Pennsville, New Jersey, USA), December 24, 2015, 6:01 AM.

The author is expressing the Sikh thought on inspiration. "Munn too(n) jot sarup hae(n)apnaa mool pachhaan" [GGS:441] - 'O mind, thou art the essence of light. Know thyself". There is no doubt that every person is potentially capable of infinite power which lies hidden within him or her. We must work out our own destiny by our own efforts using our mental and physical powers. No other person, not even our Guru, can do what an individual can do for himself or herself. The Guru offers no magic wand to work out the miracle of transforming persons into angels without the efforts of persons themselves. The mind itself is the light of God and there is nothing that it is not competent to achieve.

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