“Work is Rest, Work is Play, Work is Worship”
Letter from New Delhi
By Kul Bhushan
When you are at work at your job, you pine for rest. When you have non-stop rest with no job, you pine for work. This is how your mind operates all the time without any respite. So, adopt a new slogan, ‘Work is Rest’ and also its opposite, ‘Rest is Work’. That’s what I did when I started off on my twin careers in 1966 as an educationist and a journalist with much work but no rest. So, the solution was to interchange work and rest. My nameplate had the official titles faced the visitors while my personal slogan faced me to inspire me at all times.
Work was termed as worship in Osho’s city, Rajneeshpuram, Oregon, USA. Osho disciples used to say, “I am worshipping in the garage.” Or, “I am busy worshipping in the kitchen,” And it was worship for him. So, from “Work is Rest’, I moved to ‘Work is Play’ and on to ‘Work is Worship’. Pic – Britannica
The idea originated from the bestselling novel, 1984, by George Orwell, which made a profound impact on me during my journalism course. This famous novel was introduced and taught by Sir Tom Hopkinson, a renowned editor, who had written a book on Orwell. From this novel and Hopkinson’s observations, many new mind-blowing slogans emerged: ‘War is Peace’ and ‘Peace is War’. How come? Simple, when a war is going on, all efforts are for peace but when there is peace, preparations for war or preventing a war are in full swing. Similarly, ‘Love is Hate’ and ‘Hate is Love’. Just think about this as well: when you love someone so much, an element of hate creeps in as well and when you hate a person so much, you end up loving some aspects of his/her personality.
How did this slogan emerge into my life after over half a century? A few weeks ago, a young lady friend rang me for help as she was desperately looking for a job. As a trained journalist, she was sure that I could get her a job as she presumed, I knew some editors. I informed her that I had no contacts with any editor and advised her to switch over to Public Relations where plenty of scope existed. Within a few days, she rang back excitedly informing me that she had secured a job as a PR professional. Great!
“Feel so full,” she messaged a couple of weeks later, “Need a break. Getting no time for even to go for a walk. God help me. I miss the trees, the freedom.” My brief response, “Work is Rest.” And she got it!Read More… Become a Subscriber
Anand Kul Bhushan is a writer, journalist, UN media consultant and workshop/meditation leader.
Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 7 May 2024
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