'The Ultimate Happiness Prescription - 7 Keys to Joy and Enlightenment' by Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra is known in the West for writing about the spiritual dimension of our lives in an accessible way. 'The Ultimate Happiness Prescription - 7 keys to Joy and Enlightenment' is yet another eyes-opening read that is suitable for anyone seeking to be in touch with their real self. 

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780307704566.html

Iraqi refugees in Amman

Before I went to Jordan, I never knew how many Iraqi refugees fled there when the war erupted in their country. There are hundreds, or even thousands, of them. They have found refuge in this neighbouring country that is much more accepting of Iraqis and that has throughout the years accommodated thousands of Palestinians. 

The migration policies of Jordan have been much more open and less prejudiced  than those of a number of its neighbouring countries. Jordan has granted citizenship to a significant number of refugees. Jordan has been the only country in the Middle East to openly accept asylum applications and to help out those suffering in conflict, of human rights issues and fearing for their own lives. 

On one of the first days of my stay in Amman, we drove past the refugee camps for the Palestinians. These were located in the outskirts of the city, surrounded by fences that had gates for exits in places. As I peaked through one of the gates, I could see apartment buildings crammed into small blocks, with tiny supermarkets on the ground floor and living space above them. I could see people walking about, engaged in their daily business; children running about, flying kites. If you took a photo of the scene and showed it to someone in the UK, they would not believe that the photo was from a Palestinian camp in Amman. The photo would resemble their own lives too much.

Anyone that I meet in Jordan tells me that it is the money that Jordan has and the political relations that they hope to keep in good condition that have determined the open policies towards migration. Jordan has always sought to maintain good relations with western countries and to distribute its money in a more equal way in order for its citizens to remain satisfied with their Royal Family and their politicians. 

---------------------------------------

For more information on Jordan and refugees, check this link:

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/asylum/lifeline/pages.asp?country=iq&id=8&misc1=facts_country 

From the South to the Middle and to the West

Having travelled in different South Asian countries, in the Middle East and in Africa, I have become sensitive and accustomed to different cultural norms and ways of living. Yet, what strikes me the most is the innate human nature that seems to underlie all human existence. Whether you are in a desert in Jordan encountering a bedouine, in the Himalayas in Nepal with a Buddhist monk or in the jungle in Kenya with a local farmer, the human contact that you are experiencing has the same essence as anywhere in the world. 

In today’s society, we are accustomed to identifying a particular place as our home, we develop a sense of belonging to this place and differentiate between ourselves and other accordingly. We talk about cultural differences, how we do things in a certain country or region, how such cultural and societal conditioning shapes us into who we are. Yet, we often neglect the similarities we have with our fellow human-beings. 

As I embarked on my journey from South Asia to the Middle East and Africa, I could not help but reflect on the innate human nature that has intrigued us for a number of years. It seemed that there really was something significant and strong within all of us that bound us together as the human race. 

----------------------------------------------------

Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau and other philosophers have written about the topic extensively. Check out their work if you are as intrigued by humans as I am! 

‘The Family Way’ by Tony Parsons

This is yet another easy-to-read book by Tony Parsons. The book deals with family issues in the modern society: what is considered a family nowadays; does the concept of nuclear family still apply today; what does it mean to be a single parent; is it better for a child if their parents stick together or divorce when they are unhappy.... 

There is something for everyone in the book. Whether you are a single parent, in a stable relationship, wondering whether to stay or to go, the book will offer you a place for reflection. It is a relaxing, light and fun book yet makes you think of modern society and families today.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-family-way-by-tony-parsons-552489.html  

‘Amandla! a Revolution in Four-Part Harmony’

‘Amandla! a Revolution in Four-Part Harmony’ is a touching film about the apartheid times in South Africa. It is a very powerful realistic description of the lives of blacks and whites living in the society at the time. The main focus of the film, however, is the power and use of music in the Revolution Movement. 

Throughout the film, different songs used in the Revolution are presented and their origins explained. The songs are based on a typical African four-part harmony and sang by the blacks as they start to rebel against the apartheid. The film illustrates how music gave energy and will to the people, how it united them and how the people felt that the songs were an effective medium in getting their voices heard in fighting against the whites. The are instances in the film that highlight how white politicians were deeply affected by the lyrics of the songs and how some freedom fighters who wrote the songs were consequently imprisoned or even hanged. 

The film is more of a documentary than a film. A number of well-regarded South African musicians, actors and actresses, politicians and freedom fighters feature. Nelson Mandela is portrait as their hero. They all talk about the realities of the those times from their own perspectives, but also by reflecting on the wider political picture. The film starts off from a time before the apartheid, follows the implementation of the racial policies, the beginning of the Revolution movement and leads us to see the liberation of the blacks.  

This film really opens one’s eyes to the cruel realities of the apartheid and how it affected the lives of millions of people. For anyone interested in knowing more about it, check this site: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amandla!

Bullet Point

‘You were lucky’, the doctor said as he faced Om. ‘You could have died. The bullet went through some very important tissue matter and ligaments. If it had gone through even a couple of millimetres to the right of the mark, it could have gone through your heart.’

Om was lying down on the hospital bed. He couldn’t say anything to the doctor. The shock of what had happened was just too much to take in and maintain one’s stride. Instead, he just nodded and look sternly in the eyes of the doctor. 

‘Now you need to stay here for a couple of weeks. We need to tend to your wounds, change the bandage regularly and you need bed rest. Do you have a health insurance?’ The doctor was flicking through a pile of papers as he spoke. He looked up.

‘No’, Om said, simply. 

Why would or could he have a heath insurance? The government hospitals were all that most Nepali people could afford as they cost next to nothing. If you knew someone working at the hospital, you could get all treatment for free; no need for health insurance that was too much for most people to afford anyway. Private hospitals were just too expensive. Their primary clientele were foreigners living in Nepal. What these private hospitals charged for one visit was more than an average Nepali person earned in a month.

Om lay in silence on the bed. It had been a regular outing on the motorbike. He had gone to see his cousin who lived on the other side of Kathmandu. He was on his way back home. It had just gone dark. He was driving along on one of the high ways that cut across Kathmandu. All of a sudden, there was one motorbike on his left side, and another one on his right side. They seemed to be competing against one another. Then, all she could remember was feeling a sharp pain and falling off the bike. The next thing he knew was that he was lying on the hospital bed. 

Apparently a car had stopped after Om had been lying on the road for twenty minutes. He had been unconscious and no one else had had the courage to stop, as the two motorbikes riding alongside him were politicians belonging to two different parties. They were sorting out their differences by trying to shoot the other one down. Unfortunate to Om, he had happened to be in the middle of their sorting out and now he was the one in hospital with a deep bullet wound. The doctor had operated him immediately and removed the bullet. Om winched with pain as he tried to move position. 

‘Well then, this is going to be an expensive trip for you’, the doctor seized him up. ‘Would you rather take out a loan for this or get treated somewhere else?’

‘Would it be ok if I call my wife?’ Om asked in response. 

‘Of course, let me get you a phone’, the doctor said.

Om tried to sit up upright. How cheap was human life, he thought. If you could not afford to pay for the medical service, they would just let you drop dead rather than invest even one penny into you. 

A nurse appeared carrying a phone. Om dialed his phone number. His wife answered. She started crying as she heard Om’s voice. ‘Where have you been? I have been so worried!’ She was shrieking. 

‘I am in the hospital, but I am fine. I had a minor accident. I have been treated and I am fine.’ Om was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince his wife. ‘Can you come and get me home? I need bed rest for some days. I should not do any physical exercise for some time.’ 

As he lay on the bed waiting for his wife to come and get him home, the nurse walked in and handed the bill to Om. It was as much as the monthly salary of him and his wife put together. And they were both teacher earning a decant salary. What would people do who didn’t have even half of what they had?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more information on the pubic health system Nepal see this link:

http://www.searo.who.int/EN/Section313/Section1523_6866.htm

          

   

 

Can I take you anywhere?

I looked across the road. It was so narrow that two cars were not able to pass one another without touching. This is how all the streets and roads in Nepal seemed to be. Even on the mountains one had to hold one’s breath in tight curves and hope that no other vehicle coming from the opposite direction would cross your path. 

‘Oh there he is’, I waved at the tiny car parked across the river. The driver waved back and drove along the bridge to where I was standing with my two colleagues. We climbed into the car. 

‘We are going to Patan’, my Spanish colleague Diego said in a cheerful voice to the driver. ‘We want to see the square there with all the temples and also the museum.’ 

‘Very nice’, the driver said and smiled his broad smile. ‘You all going there?’

We all nodded. The car shook and so we were on our way.

After a long silence, during which we were absorbed in the natural beauty of Nepal, the driver spoke. ‘Many people come to Nepal. They love the nature. They love the beauty of the mountains. They love the spiritual lifestyle. They love the people. Nepali people are very friendly. Where are you from?’

‘ I am from Spain’, Diego clarified. ‘Petra here is from Israel and Tiija lives in London.’

‘Oh London’, the driver grinned. ‘I love British people. Very polite. Very friendly.’

What friendliness is he talking about, I though. The British were known to be reserved and distant. Weren’t the Spanish more friendly? There were certainly big cultural differences found in this car.  

Patan emerged in front of us. There was no question about why the Dubar Square, the main square of the town, was well-known for its architecture. There were several temples within a short distance. There were beautiful mandalas on the sides of them. 

As soon as we got off the car, a guide rushed to us. “You need a guide? For twenty rupee, I show you the whole town. I tell you all the history. ‘

The three of us looked at each other and nodded.  Twenty rupees for a tour was virtually nothing. 

The tour stared by the biggest temple on the square. 

‘ In this temple, you have a Kumari girl living here’, the guide explained. ‘ She is six years of age. A new girl is chosen every year in August. It is a highly prestigious role to have. The girl lives here for one year. She is not allowed to do anything. She has maids here. She is taught manners and ways to behave in a kingly way. She can’t see her family and she comes to the window every day at noon to wave at people. The Kumari family about a hundred years ago started this tradition. When the girl comes out, she is highly regarded and will be married to an excellent family.’

‘She is there now?’ Petra asked in amazement. We were all looking closely at the windows of the closed temple. 

‘Yes, yes she is there’, the guide pointed to one of the windows. The curtain of the window seemed to have moved a little. ‘She can’t have any bruises or cuts on her, otherwise her education in the temple is regarded as having gone to waste. She has a spiritual guru who goes to teach her, a man from the highest Hindu order and many other teachers.’

‘Isn’t that too much for a six year old girl to take in? Being seprated from her family and all’, Diego asked. 

‘No no’, the guide shook his head. ‘All the positive outcomes out-weight the negative effects.’   

We walked on to the next temple in silence. Talk about cultural differences! 

‘This temple is the temple of Kama Sutra’, the guide pointed at the carvings on the wood that the temple was constructed of. ‘Can you see? You have pictures of people making love.’

We looked closely at the decorations of the temple. The entire temple was covered with pictures of people making love. 

‘The Hindus who follow Vishu believe that we can use our sexual energy for our spiritual benefit. We can direct the energy and become more enlightened through that if it is wisely used. The Buddhist in Nepal also follow Vishu. They believe that Vishu who is one of the many Hindu Gods was the reincarnation of the Buddha. This temple symbolizes the sexual energy that we can use for advancing our own spiritual path.’

Talk about cultural differences - would you find pictures of people making love carved on a church in the West?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone hoping to visit Patan, here is a useful link:

http://www.patan.com/