Good morning friends
These days the weather in Mumbai is lovely, at least by Mumbai standards ! For true Mumbaikars ( i.e. those born and brought up in Mumbai like me ), this is the only time in the whole year when we can take out our sweaters and shawls from the cupboards. This week or two, whenever we Mumbaikars meet, we say to each other, “Mumbai is like a hill station now “. And we try our best to make the most of this season.
One festival which is celebrated in this month is Makarsankrant. It’s called by different names in different states. Maharashtra has the tradition of exchanging Tilgul ( sesame and jaggery laddoos) on this day. We give these sweets to everyone we meet and say, “ तिळगूळ घ्या, गोड बोला” ( meaning accept the sweet laddoos and speak sweetly). I have never really understood the logic of this greeting. I mean, aren’t we supposed to speak sweetly with everyone? Then why do you have to tell this in so many words? And the other question is,” Do people change their ways and actually talk sweetly just because they are told to do so?” But traditions are traditions and we often follow them out of habit, because we have been doing so from our childhood. And then, we revert back to our old ways once the tilgul festival is over.
For the last 10 years or more, I have become the member of a Japanese spiritual organisation. And one practice that we members follow diligently is greeting everyone cheerfully when we visit the centre or meet each other. Since I started following this practice, I have noticed that cheerful greetings go a long way in brightening up the atmosphere. When you greet everyone with a smile, you too, feel more cheerful. In fact, when we visited Japan, we found out that this practice is very common in Japan. Wherever we went, we were greeted in the morning by ‘Ohayo gozaimasu’ ( good morning ) or ’Arigato gozaimasu’ ( thank you ) when we left the place. We were impressed by this simple but powerful practice. And while in Japan, we started greeting them back with Ohayo or Arigato. When you greet people this way with a smile on your face, you naturally feel connected to them and feel comfortable even in a foreign country. After coming back, I have tried to follow the practice of greeting people cheerfully with a smile whenever possible and it does improve the atmosphere.
Do try this practice of cheerful greetings ( if you are not already doing it) and you will notice the positive change at home or in the workplace in a few days.
Love,
Anjali
