Making of a White Elephant

When we refer to a white elephant, all our friends know exactly what we are referring to. This had become the talk of the town sometime ago, and it is there for all to see. Originally visualized as an architectural marvel, this elephant was designed by a former student of one of our prestigious schools in the city, but we have to tighten our shoe strings in order to complete the building of the elephant, which had cost us a lot. But those who were instrumental in adorning this elephant, still claim that it is all worth it, because it is sure to stay as an architectural wonder to all who would visit the place. However I beg to differ from them, and had been doing so from the beginning of the making of it.

A place of prayer has to be beautiful, no wonder; but more than being beautiful what a place of prayer should be primarily is, providing a conducive ambiance to silent communication of the soul with its maker. The beauty can come only after the ambiance. The ambiance, spiritual masters might call this a spiritual vibration, cannot be created out of nothing; every place may have its own vibration, and if care is taken to discern a place with spiritual vibration, it would benefit all those who sit there to open their hearts to the Maker. Mere external beauty of the building cannot provide the ambiance to pray and commune with God.

I would think that the making of a place of worship and prayer should be left to those people who are spiritually oriented. I have seen several churches and temples, which have been squeezed between several buildings, and there might be too little vibration to pray; however those who design these might argue that if they seek after a place with proper vibe, they might not get one, and therefore should make use of what is at their disposal. I feel that this might be one of the main reasons why many people do not feel at home to pray in many churches. The architectural wonders may become a tourist attraction, but not a spiritual destination. This might be the contradiction that the improper white elephants may cause.

Spending a fortune to build and adorn it with the best of possible décor may not make a place of worship achieve the purpose for which it has been made. There are hundred and one ways to adorn even the ugliest of things, and to make them appear beautiful. Beauticians have a magic wand which can transform anything into an object of beauty; however no beautician can really assure beauty which seeps through the skin of the object or thing, or person. It would be better to bring out the beauty of the benevolent God through the structure and décor of a place of prayer, rather than making them imposing, even strangling the very presence of God.

Unfortunately there is a trend among the Church builders to make them as posh and imposing as possible, and not taking into consideration the sentiments and feelings of the people who would frequent the place to pour out their pain and suffering. If only the people who would use the place of worship were to make their own structure, then they might do it quite differently, saving so much of time, money, and even resources. Ultimately what matters is that the people feel at home, and I wonder how many people will really feel comfortable to pray inside the ‘white elephant’, and it would be a sad sight if it does not take people to God. It might just remain as a relic of someone’s obstinacy and high-handedness, and not a place of prayer and worship.

Lessons from Crows

Just outside the window of my room is a tall tree (how sad that I had not known the tree by its name!), and crow couple has been struggling to build a nest for the past two years. And what is beautiful in this couple is that one of them is physically challenged! I don’t know if it is a male or a female, but I assume it is a male, because he had been hunting for food and was feeding his partner often. Crows are not good nest builders, and yet the two had been making all efforts to bring in twigs, wires, grass, and even strings to put up a nest. After spending a few months on a nest, the couple suddenly gave up the nest, and one fine morning I saw them dismantling it! I really don’t know if the couple had a fight over the location of the nest, but it did not seem so.

Just about a month ago, I noticed the female crow recceeing for a different location for the nest, very close to the place they had built their former nest; maybe about a foot distance from the former, and on the same tree. The female crow checked the suitability of the location, and after two days I saw both of them collecting twigs and plastic wires from all possible places. And this time the nest was ready within a week, and the female crow began to sit on it, probably even laying eggs. She sat the whole day, and when it railed one evening, I could see the crow still sitting there quietly. I wondered why she was not moving to another place where she would not get wet! Probably there were eggs, and she wanted to protect them from the rain.

It was study time for me, while looking at the way this couple related to each other, how they moved from one nest to another without grumbling or accusing each other. When I see the so-called physically challenged people begging in the trains and at market squares, I realize that these are the people who are lazy to the core, and instead of following the good example of the male crow, they shamelessly seek to make a living out of begging; and to make things worse, there are many who are moved by the plight of the physically challenged (a good per cent of these men and women only feign to be physically challenged, while in fact they are not!), and dole out money every time they see someone asking for money.

While the animals and plants can live through handicap, even physical, why is it that only the human beings make too much fuss about the handicap? If a crow without a toe can live a normal life, and without ever complaining about it, why is it that men and women make such a hue and cry about their minor handicaps? I found it so moving, when the male crow brought food for his partner every day morning and fed her; it was a wonderful sight. I know among people, misunderstanding is the greatest enemy of relationships; if the channels of communications are destroyed, then everything come to a standstill. But in the case of these crows, life goes on. I guess there could be misunderstanding among them too, but life does not stop there, they continue with life as joyfully as ever.

Each one of us build our own nests of relationships and after sometime we might realize that the nest we had been building does not suit our purpose, and that would be the time to dismantle it and start a different one, all over again. If we realize after sometime that we had been nurturing an unhealthy relationship with a person, it might be necessary to terminate it, and start relating to another person with better vibrations, so that there is enough moral and psychological backup given to us through other persons. We cannot afford to freeze life, it has to go on. I envy these birds who seem to be having a happy and joyful time together, though I have not seen them together too often. Who knows if they have another more permanent abode in the vicinity!