My Second Water Fast

...has just begun. Trying to replicate last year's effort. When i successfully completed it last time, i was hoping to do it more often, but never found the motivation. Hope i have the mental strength to go through it one more time... - (12:01 am)

(3:00 pm) - Not bad at all. But, this phase was relatively easy last year as well. After 7 pm is when the struggle begins...time to remember the Mahatma on his 139th birthday :)

(10:00 pm) - It's very hard to believe how easy it has been so far. This is so different from last year's experience where the temptation to give up was very high late in the evening.
After work, i went to the the San Diego State University, with a friend, to attend a speech titled, "Mahatma Gandhi and Religious Pluralism: The Relevance for World Peace", by Dr.Nicolas Gier. It was quite an intriguing speech which interpreted Gandhiji's stance on religion and equated it to Religious Pluralism. I was not very comfortable though, with some of the speaker's answers to questions that were clearly not from his area of expertise. I felt he gave an incorrect picture of Gandhiji's stand on non-violence, in particular. But it was good to see the audience defend Gandhiji. Sure it was a prejudiced crowd, but it was still a heartening sight. The speech was preceded by a Bharathanaattiyam performance by a couple of local girls, dancing to "Vaishnava Janato" and "Vande Maataram".
90 more minutes. I am starting to feel confident...

(12:01 am, Oct 3) - time for some well deserved pineapple juice...

My First Water Fast

Association for India's Development organized candle light vigils tonight in as many as 58 cities in India, USA and the Netherlands(in Amsterdam). This was to show solidarity in fighting for the Indian farmers, many of whom committed suicide in the last two years, and to tell the Indian government that people are watching and that there needs to be significant changes in the government policies concerning farmers. The agenda was also to spread awareness amongst the masses about this agrarian crisis that is plaguing our country.

What better day than October 2nd(Gandhiji's birthday, for the uninformed) to do this? Mahatma always had a special place for farmers in his heart. He believed that rural India was the backbone of our country. So, it was only apt that the candle light vigil was scheduled for today, despite it being a week day.
There was an option for people who were organizing the vigil(s) to also fast for one day, to show support. I decided to fast too...
It's just past 9:30pm now and i have two and a half more hours to go. Let me tell you that it has not been an easy day at all. I woke up at around 7:30 am, skipped the usual breakfast, went to work, drank gallons and gallons of water, missed the two cups of coffee i take for granted each day at work so badly, got tempted a few times in between by the apple that was lying on my desk and by the various vending machine food, but stood my ground, came home at 6 pm and took a nap for 45 minutes so that i wouldn't have to think about food, went for the vigil which started at 7:30 pm and lasted for about an hour, got tempted again because the venue was in the heart of Indian restaurants, 3 fellow fasters, each of us looked like we'll give in, finally decided not to and came home. The last one hour has been particularly bad that it even forced me to blog, something that i have been avoiding big time of late. Another 136 minutes to go...
Half way through the day, i started thinking about all those people who fast for days and days. My God. What resolve. What strength. How important their goals must be for them! That's when i thought that when you want something so badly, you wouldn't mind the suffering that comes along the way, in order to attain it. I was also thinking about those farmers and poor people who are not assured of even one square meal a day. What will it be like for a small kid to starve? Will they get used to it after a week? a month? maybe a year? knowing that that's what their destiny is...it was painful to even think of such people...what must it be like to be one of them? I thanked God for giving me so much in life...
Mahatma Gandhi fasted left, right and center for many many worthy causes. He fasted in his old age- something i can only look at and admire. What was the need? Where was the motivation coming from? It's simply unbelievable. He has been on 21 day fasts like it was some fun thing to do. Hats off to his mental strength.
There are thousands of social activists like the Mahatma and hats off to every single one of them. They'll continue to inspire people like me in a million different ways on a daily basis- maybe not to do big things that will move mountains, but to do small things that will move a heart or two...