The Knowledge Of Understanding The Sanskerta

~ this is ever the first time i buy these many t-shirts, singlets and shorts, all of 19 pieces at one go, my empty big bag is filled to the brim with these new clothes buying from the shop in main bazaar of paharganj last night ~

Day 52

10.4.2024
Wednesday

Paharganj, Delhi

Today is Eid. Eid al-Fitr is the holiday celebrated within islam. It is celebrated by muslims worldwide because it marks the end of the month long dawn-to-sunset fasting of ramadhan. Eid is a gazetted holiday to most of the states but it is not a national holiday in India. Later I will go to the dargah of a sufi saint known as khwaja Nizamuddin auliya because today is Eid. I am not going to jamaa masjid because the entry ticket is expensive. Any foreign visitor as long as you are not an indian, you would have to pay Rs 300 just to get into the mosque disregard you are entering the mosque for visit or prayer. I have wanted to sit in the large central sahn, or known as the huge courtyard of the mosque but now I decide not to go there.

Last night before the shops closing, I manage to do the shopping before I fly home tomorrow. I go to the main bazaar of Paharganj to find for the clothes I wear in normal days. It has been a while I do not buy new clothes for myself. Because I rarely wear a formal shirt, so I buy t-shirts. I also buy singlets and shorts. I pick all white or bright colour outfits. I do not pick any clothes in dark or black fabrics. I tell the shopkeeper to pick for me all the clothes I want, and they have to be made of pure cotton. I tell him not to pick any clothes for me that are made of polyester, satin or soft feel velvet. I emphasise several times to him to pick only clothes made of cotton.

When I put all the clothes into the big plastic bag I bring from home, I have a full bag to the brim. I fear I may not be able to carry all of them in the haversack. When the shopkeeper counts the clothes I buy from him, he tells me I have to carry a load of 19 pieces of all of them. All together, I pay for a sum of Rs 4,350, or RM 256 for one full bag of clothes.

I do not bargain hard to pull down the prices of the clothes I buy from the shopkeeper. I feel, I have to spend some money and I am not critical to pay him above the ordinary prices the local indians pay. So long the prices are not exorbitantly costing me an arm and a leg, and I am not paying through the nose, I am fine with the prices. Anyway, I pay him with the money I get from the moneybelt. I feel thankful to him because he is a good seller, and I manage to find many pieces of white shorts from him when it is difficult to get them in KL. After that, I squeeze all of them in the big plastic bag before I go back to the room.

I am spending and I am very clear in mind I am not doing a spree. I am very cautious and alert not to overly buy under the influence of nafsu, or a lust of a desire to buy or own something. You may argue, buying 19 pieces of outfits at one go why shouldn't it a shopping spree. I buy because I need to replace the very old garments I have been wearing at home. Since I am already in India, why not buying the wardrobe garments here because of the availability of choices and saving to buy them here than in KL.

The sanskerta acharya has always reminded me to watch my traits in everything I do. So, I am cautious when I spend last night.

He also told me, I need to sit low, sleep low and eat proper meals. I remember his sayings and advice. When I sit low, I see people above me. On usual note, ego is high and pride is above people when we sit high. It is because when we sit high, we tend to look down. If you don't look down while sitting high, then how would you communicate with people around you. When you look down, you will think you are better than someone. You will afford a downward view and your personality will change not within a day or two, but after a long while, you will regard the lower people with despise and contempt because you dictate. Don't sit high, sit low. It is better to sit on the floor than on a couch or sofa. In the hindu temples, we sit lowly on the floor. That will keep to remind us to live with plenty of humility.

We need to sleep low at all times. Sleep low doesn't only mean sleep lowly on the floor but also including managing the luxury of beautiful comfort we get to enjoy in our daily life. If you sleep high on a big, soft and cosy bed, you tend to let loose your inner self very quickly and totally. According to the sanskerta acharya again, we need to restrain ourselves from over indulging in comfort. When we sleep high, we are in a bad state of critical mind of everything, we can't tolerate even a small flaw or mark distorting the beautiful comfort we are attaching to, and we can't live without them. We are critical for physical comfort. Then you become a very difficult and hard to please person. Temper will definitely flare affecting the people around you, and you demonstrate a bad personality in you.

We must also eat a three proper-meal a day. According to the sanskerta acharya again, if you come from north India, you eat the staple of chapati. But if you are a south indian, you eat rice. I am from the malay archipelago, so I eat rice accordingly. Eating properly the staple of white rice meals make me introspect of my origin, about where I come from. That also includes reminding my eating time, I have to live with full discipline in everything I do. I eat to live. Many people have forgotten about the discipline while eating rice. The way we choose our food tells the whole story of our personality in silence.

Today is the second last day I'll be in India. I will be flying back to KL tomorrow.