Up There

 

Up There!!

It was July 21st this year. I was to leave for my trip to Europe the next day. Out of the blue I got a message from a friend in Pune informing me about the sudden demise of a dear friend in Goa. Within minutes another friend from Australia reached out to me with the same news. Then one from Goa. Sajala tai ( Manerkar) was no more! She was hospitalized for a pneumonia and seemed to be recovering and readying for discharge when her condition took a turn for the worse. Multiple organs failed and she succumbed to this. Everything seemed so unbelievable. I was stunned, as were the thousands of women who had come to admire her through a saree group on social media. She was witty and genuinely caring. Age differences notwithstanding she became friends with everyone. I was lucky enough to meet her in person when I was in Goa in January 2024 to attend a wedding. She came from quite a distance to Ponda and joined two more friends( Kamal tai Patil and Archana Kamat) from the saree group just to meet me. I have treasured memories of that afternoon at a spice garden resort where the trio treated me to lunch. 

2 months after that meeting I left the saree group for personal reasons. Sajala tai never lost touch with me. We communicated on WhatsApp regularly. On my request she forwarded her write ups and photos that she was sharing on the saree group platform. Sometimes in a flurry of multiple posts back to back. She never held it against me if I took time to read them and respond. All her posts were marked by her trademark wit. They would make me chuckle. 

The photo I posted here is the last one I had received from her. That was on June 29th, less than a month before she passed away. I didn’t believe on July 21st, and I find it difficult to believe today that she is no more around to take pictures, tell us humorous stories and appreciate our stories and photos. Today the same social media was buzzing with posthumous birthday greetings for her! She would be 75 today! 

One of the posts I came across on her page said “Happy Birthday up there!”

That set me thinking. A tribute to Sajala tai was definitely overdue. Due to circumstances in July I had not immediately written about her. But she has never been out of my thoughts since that day. It seems fitting to write about her today, on her birthday. 

And along with acknowledging her meaningful friendship in my life, inadvertently I am drawn into giving a bit of attention to the phrase “up there” !!

We refer to the abode after death as being “ Up” in relation to where we are. Which one of us has seen heaven or whatever that place is? Who has verified its existence or location? Yet we so casually say “up there”. I remember Sachin Tendulkar famously looking “ up there” to salute his father after achieving personal milestones. Our minds ( and bodies) are so ingrained to think of that abode as being somewhere above us. Without any evidence! Without much thought! We just believe! 

Where does this ingraining originate from? Today for the first time in my life I pondered over it. Although there is no evidence, it makes logical sense to consider heaven as being “ above”. This is in no way a reference to a physical direction. What is “above” the head of a person standing at the North Pole would essentially be “ below “ the feet of another person standing at the South Pole. There cannot be one heaven for people at the north and another for those in the south. That just illogical. So the concept of direction is just symbolic. Above alludes to a higher plane. It is by convention. Our evolution through life is expected to progress from less virtuous to more virtuous or more ignorant to more enlightened with wisdom. These gradations are symbolized with lower and higher worlds. Therefore people who leave behind their mortal bodies and those amongst such who we admire, revere and love it is a natural tendency to believe and wish that they would ascend to a higher state of existence. 

Having said that, the ascent to a higher plane is really not any instantaneous event that occurs at the point of death. It must occur even as we exist within our mortal bodies. Every single day of our existence it is vital to continue self reflection, raise awareness of our shortcomings and move towards more virtues. If that is not happening, no miracle can be expected to happen when the body drops. There is going to be no sudden energy that is going to catapult our being into a plane of higher consciousness. 

“ Up there” is a relative term as I realized today. The vector of our individual consciousness must be constantly pointed upwards in the sense of meaningfulness, rational thinking, kindness and honesty. We must be increasingly aware of how little we know without feeling discouraged by it and concurrently aiming to move towards knowledge. To know with conviction that I don’t know much and there is a lot more to know is a leap in itself. 

Happy birthday Sajala tai ! I will always remember you and pray that you continue rising “ up there” and spreading happiness and positivity to your surroundings. It was my great fortune to bump into you in the vast ocean of the universe. You made a difference to me and many others. I hope I will have picked one or more good things from you. 

With love and gratitude 

From yours truly💕