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Meeta Bhatti
MUMBAI, OCT 12: For those in search of enlightenment, there's food for thought and music for the soul. And postcards from the Vedic past.
As Mumbaiites on the threshold of the new millennuim hum the mantras of progress and success, some are also seeking ways to restore spiritual equilibrium and rediscover their past. And the obliging signs are all over the city -- there's Mumbai's only ayurveda restaurant in Malad, a seeker at Tardeo makes Vedanta postcards, a gurukul at Mulund offers children another way of learning and after classical music for spiritual enlightenment, there's music for meditation.
The trend has long been in the making: First, there was the rediscovery that vegetarianism accha hai, then of alternative therapies like reiki and placebo to defuse a stressed existence. The trend may seem a non-starter for some, but for those in the business, it sure does make sense. ``The idea is not quite a sweep, but gradually it is building into a stronghold,'' says Dr Pankaj Naram, whopropogates his dietary principles through the ayurvedic Swad Shakti Cafe, set up at his health centre Ayushakti in Malad. No wheat in winter, no fermented food, little masala and no fry food. It's not just a personal agenda for Dr Naram, an ayurveda specialist, who after treating two lakh patients across the globe returned to India last year to set up 12 ayurvedic health centres all over Mumbai. In the past one year, Dr Naram claims to have treated hundreds of cancer-afflicted patients and couples suffering from infertility through ayurveda.
With plans to open a Swad Shakti Cafe in Germany, Italy and Russia, Smita Naram, Dr Pankaj Naram's wife and the brain behind the restaurant, says: ``With recipes to treat our vata, kapha and pitta doshas, ayurveda food is like life after dark.'' The cuisine is not just delicious -- with Shakti Frankie, masala dosas, chutneys, pickles, thali and kokam sherbet -- but also enlightened.
``There's a conscious attempt to seek enlightenmentthrough whichever way,'' concurs Madhukar Thompson, whose Vedanta cartoon postcard books can be spotted at select bookstores in the city. After two decades of writing books on his experiences with gurus like Osho and Ramesh Balsekar, Thompson has now encapsulated their teachings in his cartoon postcard books. His Enlightenment by Airmail, Enlightenment a la carte, The Path of Celebration and Of Pigs, Jewels and Freedom explain the fundamentals of Vedas and enlightenment. Published under his 15-year-old Neti Neti banner, Thompson's postcards don't exactly make you laugh, but in a lighter vein raise stimulating questions about our past ``which we had written off till sometime back'', he says.
The idea is not to bury the past like politicians but to return to it. And to instill this self-awakening, one needs to start early, confirms Kulpati Vidyasimhacharya of Satyadhyana Vidyapeeth, a gurukul in the heart of materialistic Mumbai. In Mulund, children between 12-15 years of age begin their day bychanting Sanskrit shlokas. Affiliated to Vani Vihar Vidyalaya, Matunga, the 50-year-old Gurukul is based on the principles of the Brahmasutras, Vedas and the Upanishads. And though the teaching medium is Kannada, the ultimate goal is Sanskrit. ``Once the students are conversant with the language, they move on to the Bhagawat Gita, the Vedanta, Ramayana and Mahabharata,'' says the Kulapati. ``Scriptures not only clear their throats, they also make the students role models for this materialistic world,'' he adds.
And though Swami Chaitanya Bharti's music for meditation doesn't take you away from this mercantile society, it certainly paves the path. After successfully marketing kirtan music for meditation -- which, for the first time last year combined chants from diverse religions like Sufism, Buddhism and Sikhism -- this Osho disciple has come out with another three-cassette album for meditation.
The album, Music for the Soul, released under the Oorja banner, haskirtans for spiritual celebration. Unlike classical music sold under the pretext of lifting your spirits, Music for the Soul claims to clear all negative energies -- a way to achieve spiritual stability. ``While there are no clear solutions to a de-stressed life, all options are pointing to the past,'' comments Thompson.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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