This happened in my 7th Standard, while going through one of the chapters, one of the most respected faculty in my
school, came up with a piece of advice on touching someone's feet. Her words were, "Jab bhi aap kisi ke charan sparsh karein,
toh unke pair ke anguthe ko chuyein, isse aap unki urja ke ek hisse ko apni urja mein shaamil kar payenge".
I was probably too young to actually relate to what she meant to say that day, but down the years, with exposure to the
world and with apparently an enhanced of how the Universe works, I think I can now draw a fair bit of understanding of what
she meant then.
We are all aware that the only driving force for the universe is Energy. If there was no energy, there would be no existence
of the universe, of earth or of life on earth. It is energy which is considered to be the driving force behind all the
natural or man-made phenomena. Gods are considered to be beings of energy, many of us do not actually believe in the
existence of God per se, but then I believe we all do have a general understanding that there is something beyond our
understanding which runs in the nature, and any logical explanation would lead into it being a form of energy.
In the same light, it has been found that every living organism also radiates some form of energy. We are all aware of the
thermal energy radiated in form of IR radiations, but I am not referring to that here. There is a constant flow of energy
which may not be visible to the naked eye, but as energy is everywhere around us, we keep interacting with it in certain
ways, which we are seldom aware of. This only gives rise to an individual's hues or aura, as many learned people may call
it. It must have happened with you or you would have heard people say, that they get positive vibes in presence of some
people and negative in the presence of others. It is again the presence of an individual's aura and our interaction with
the same that results in these kind of responses.
If we all somewhere are beings of energy and keep radiating same through our interactions with the omni-prsent energy across
the universe, then is there a certain law which this flow of energy follows. Again, as many science students must have
studied and others may have read that any charge carrying body, has the maximum accumulation of charges at it edges and from
there these are dissipated in the largest amount. Similarly, flow of energy from our body or aura follows the same law and
the maximum impact of the same can be felt at the edges of our bodies, that is, the toe of the foot will have the maximum
concentration of this energy around a person.
In our lives, all of us have faced and continue to face a certain dilemma, specially when asked to touch someone's feet as
a sign of showing respect. Most of us have at times argued saying that "I cant do it unless I feel it from inside" or "Is
touching feet the only way of showing respect" and hundred other arguments that we as thinking beings can come up with. If
we go into a little history and try to analyse as to why would have the tradition started in the first place, a logical
explanation may be derived. When we bow down to touch someone's feet, it is a mark of showing respect (as has been
followed for ages across all cultures, people bowed in front of kings, emperors, rulers as a mark of respect). The idea
where probably our culture or tradition stands out is the actual act of touching the other person's feet (most Western
cultures are aginst this overture into someone's personal space) which when followed by touching the other person's toe,
allows you to gain a part of his aura, his energy.
The dilemma of not actualy getting the feel of showing that kind of respect requires a certain amount of introspection and
reasoning on our parts. We need to accept the fact that every individual born is different, there are certain features in
every individual, which you may not have. These features are both negative as well as positive. In the human tendency of
becoming perfect, we somewhere deep down, strive to possess those positive qualities and get rid of the negative ones.
Now, as no individual is perfect, we all should accept that there is something we can learn from any individual standing
in front of us. This actually is the difficult part, specially for our generation which has been brought up in an
environment where they have been given independence to take their own decisions, and which many of us have mistaken as
meaning that we are omni-potent and do not have enough shortcomings that we need to learn or in fact that every person can
have enough ability to be able to possess something which we dont.
Once we accept this fact and get the humility to show enough respect to every human being for the fact that he is different
from us, the tradition of touching his feet will come as a natural action. We are actually gaining a part of his aura, his
personality by doing that and hence actually aiding the strife for getting the positives out of his personality and
inculcating the same in ourselves, proceeding on our paths to becoming perfect.
And for those who may not agree or have other ideas about the aura thing, just bending down in itself is a good execrise
(something most of us are in dire need of) and then, when you show that respect to the other person, the joy that you give
him is unprecedented. The feeling of being respected or gaining respect is a strong urge that many of us feel in our daily
life and if you can give that felling, that happiness by a mere bowing down and touching his feet, you are actually doing a
major act of spreading happiness. As the Art of Living patron, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, "There is already enough suffering
in the world, if each one of us can spread a few moments of happines, it will only make the world a better place to live
in."
Do not forget the blessings you get once you actually show someone your respect through touching their feet. Again, many of
us, logical, rational beings would say that the good things wont happen just because someone said it, but then dont you like
listening to good words spoken around you!!!
So next time you face the dilemma, just think of how different the other person is from you, respect him for that fact and
bow down to touch his feet. You have everything to gain here (yes gain is an important consideration, we are all ought to be
in a materialistic mould to better survive in the world :)).
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