- 2 days ago
Ashish first traveled abroad for work in Singapore, where he made the city his home. As a Jain with strict dietary requirements, he shares how exploring Singapore’s diverse cultures and cuisines both challenged and enriched his experience.
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00:01If you see here, this is the Namokar Mantra.
00:04So Namokar Mantra is the greatest mantra for Jains.
00:07Starting from the Arihant, Siddha, Aacharya, Upadyaya and Sadhu.
00:12Like this mantra is like so pure.
00:14These last two lines are emphasizing the purity and the strength of this mantra.
00:18That whosoever recite this mantra with full faith,
00:21all his karmas are shed and he attains liberation.
00:25All Jains believe in this mantra.
00:27So if you don't have time to do anything much on that day,
00:30this is the least that we do.
00:32We speak Namokar Mantra.
00:33Whether one time, sometimes it's 108 times, 27 times.
00:37But yeah, we do with full faith in this.
00:45So originally I came in 2001.
00:47I was a bachelor then.
00:49So I came actually here for my job.
00:51My ticket was from India to Singapore and Singapore to US.
00:55But while I was here for that time, my project in US got postponed.
00:58Initially by a couple of weeks and then by a month.
01:01And then eventually I think it got scrapped.
01:03So the company offered me if I can just like, you know, work here on employment pass.
01:07And I said, okay, yeah, why not?
01:09And that's how I started working in Singapore.
01:11And now it's been 24 years.
01:13So as a welcome, my office colleagues like, you know, took the two or three of us who came from India.
01:18On that day we joined in Singapore here.
01:20And they kind of took us to a fine dining restaurant here.
01:23It was like, you know, providing both veg and non-veg food being served on the table.
01:27Coming from the background that I was, I could only consume the fruit juice that day.
01:31I could not take anything to eat because I was not ready to kind of, you know, eat where I could see on the same table both the food being kept.
01:38And maybe I don't know, in fact, how they are cooking, like, you know, the kitchens and all.
01:41With the best of intent, what my colleagues and friends had to take me, but I could not have any food on that day.
01:47As per the Jain preachings, we need to be very mindful about the food we consume.
01:58So we are pure vegetarians.
02:00So we don't actually eat any kind of meat, whether actually fish, meat, seafood, whatever is totally prohibited.
02:06Within vegetarian also, we are not supposed to eat the undergrounds.
02:09So underground when we say is like potato, onion, garlic.
02:12And that's for a reason because it's being observed scientifically and also proven now.
02:16That those forms of life, they have much more microorganisms within them because of the conditions they grow in.
02:23And also to have that kind of food, you have to uproot the entire plant because potatoes are root.
02:29They are root, so you have to uproot the entire life and it comes out completely, right?
02:32Coming to Ahimsa's perspective on food, it's like eating food that is actually causing minimal hurt or minimal violence to even the simplest of plants also.
02:42So what we do as a symbol, this is called dhup.
02:49We lit the dhup with a fire and then what we do is that we pray to God with this and the idea is that we want all our karmas to also get burnt.
03:00All the souls, like we believe every soul, like whether it is your, mine, even the microorganism, plant or animals, they have the same soul inside.
03:08But because of the layer of karmas, we all are going through so much of pain and birth and rebirth.
03:13But once the karmas are shed and burnt, then we all attain liberation which is like constant eternal happiness for the soul.
03:21So that's the symbol or the meaning behind this.
03:32And before coming to Singapore, I was in India.
03:34So that time to me, I was still very much in faith, but I was more got my faith from my family, from my parents, what I see them doing.
03:42And I had, by that time, developed a little understanding of why it's being done.
03:47In my parents' house, we never have potato, onion, garlic, it never comes in our house.
03:51When I was young, all the way till I left for my college, I never ate those things.
03:55So I was eating always Jain food.
03:57But I was not knowing the deep reasons behind those, that why is not being eaten.
04:02So I was following it completely, but without having the full knowledge of why it's being done.
04:07And I was knowing partially, but not fully to that, like in a full understanding of that.
04:11Even going to temples, going for pilgrimages and all, I was doing it.
04:15Not knowing the full understanding behind it, that why am I doing so.
04:18But when you come outside the home, you always have two options.
04:21Of either following something that you see around something new here, you can either choose that.
04:26Or you can try to continue what you have been doing for the last 20 plus years.
04:30So at that time, when the two options come to you, then you are forced to think that what is right for you.
04:36So for me, I think that made a difference because that time I tried to find the reason I can do something option one or option two.
04:43And which one is best suited for me and which option should I take.
04:47In Jainism, we believe that everything we do has a scientific meaning or purpose behind it.
04:52We usually don't do any ritual for the sake of doing it.
04:55But after coming here, I mean, I started to kind of, you know, deep dive into each one of those things and trying to find a meaning.
05:02So then it becomes more stronger than why I was doing something.
05:06That was a time like, you know, where I saw the cultures coming together, whether it's eating, whether it's practicing.
05:12And Singapore is a great place, a perfect place where you see so many of races, cultures, faiths coming so close.
05:19I don't know any other city in the world which has so many different faiths and cultures living so close to each other.
05:25And with equal respect for each other's, like, you know, values and traditions.
05:29That was the first exposure for me on that day.
05:32And from that, maybe I would say that, yeah, I have learned to accept and adapt other cultures and their values and their traditions as I have faith in my own.
05:41But I know to respect this as well.
05:49So we have a small temple in our house where every morning and evening we do a small deepak.
05:55Deepak is like a small lamp.
05:57So we lit a lamp here and then we pray to God here.
06:00Like, you know, we have Parashnat Bhagawan here.
06:02We have Mahavir Swami.
06:04So we kind of, you know, have the Gods here.
06:06And we have certain Jain religious books, which we call Jinwani, which is being placed here.
06:10So every morning my wife, like, you know, she does lamp and also in the evening.
06:16And in the evening we also do a small prayer, aarti, along with the kids.
06:20So that the kids also get, like, you know, used to the things that we do, yeah.
06:25In the old times when we used to have our house very next to temple in India and all, right.
06:29So people used to go temple like every morning and also in the evening.
06:32So morning it was compulsory, even evening people go when it's very close to their house.
06:36So when they come back, their dinner done, they go to temple and pray.
06:39Now in here, we don't go to temple that frequently, right.
06:43So having a small temple in the house and praying twice a day, it keeps the vibration naturally of the house also positive.
06:50And it's also instilled positivity in us every day because we go out in the world,
06:56we kind of, you know, get all the different vibes and energies.
06:59Like, so it's good to get positive energy by praying again as frequently as possible.
07:04So that's why we do it again.
07:06There is a charity wing of SDRS called Commit.
07:09And that actually particular wing, it throughout the year, they organize various events where they try to give back to society,
07:15giving back to migrant workers, for example.
07:17So when the Deepavali time comes, what we try to do is maybe make some goodie bags for the workers,
07:24including some clothes, some sweets, and maybe some daily items for them.
07:28And then go back to where they live in Little India or somewhere and distribute ourselves to them.
07:33Second, what they did actually, and they're still doing it, like go back and participate with other societies and so,
07:38cook food in huge volumes and distribute them to the needy.
07:41In our place, whenever we have any event, which includes like food, for example, Mahavir Jayanti.
07:47So when we have those events where our entire society of Jayants, we come and eat.
07:51Before that, we invite people from old age home.
07:54We first feed the elderly here of those old age home.
07:57And then we kind of, you know, like eat after they have eaten and then participate in other regular charity,
08:02like whether it's blood donation drives and whatever else comes up.
08:08We try to teach even to our kids from a very young age that whenever you go to temple,
08:13take from your own piggy bank, from your own savings, whatever little you could kind of, you know, offer.
08:18So we make here like a small donation box and it's called Sadharan Fund.
08:22Like, you know, this fund could be used for any of the purposes, like giving something back to either society
08:27or for the good of your own Jain or the wider society.
08:31Amount doesn't matter, but it's more of the feeling that you want to give something out of what you have.
08:45Okay, so this is today's menu.
08:48What we have today is called Spinach Pulao.
08:52It's a kind of biryani, but a simplified biryani where we have spinach, mint and it's cooked with pure Jain food.
08:58So there is no underground, like, you know, potato, onion, garlic also is not used.
09:03This is raita made out of curd.
09:06It complements and goes very well with a biryani or with pulao.
09:10And this is the bhajiya that is made from moong dal.
09:13It's moong lentils.
09:15So we kind of, you know, soak it and we fry it.
09:18It's called bhajiya, moong dal bhajiya.
09:20And this is the traditional jiraman.
09:22It's a mix of lot of masalas in this.
09:25Around 10 to 15 masala goes in different proportion.
09:28It's a tradition from India that we take with our food.
09:31A bit spicy, but as I know that you all love spicy food, so you won't mind it, I hope.
09:35You can try it.
09:36I hope you like it.
09:37So this is our today's menu.
09:39This is all a journey that we follow.
09:42As I grow more forward in my spiritual journey, as you try to become more aware about what you are doing.
09:49And it's not only about eating.
09:50It's what you are doing.
09:51So you try to do a few different things more and a few other things a bit less.
09:55How we should live life, the daily virtues.
09:57And so there are different, I would say, tenets of religion, right?
10:01So there are a lot of positive virtues which I think I need to imbibe and grow forward as I grow spiritually in my Jainism journey forward.
10:10In each Alexandra, we are getting into experience of Nazareth.
10:12It is really a gift.
10:13I really appreciate that as I learn as I'm learning more.
10:15I can't wait.
10:16I can't wait.
10:18Do not want to wait until this event has been forever.
10:21I 5 while I can tell you.
10:22I cover our journal entire journal.
10:23I want to be a few minutes.
10:24You are listening to the novel.
10:25You are listening to the novel.
10:26That's why I never do.
10:27I want to see you.
10:28I want to enjoy your journey.
10:29I want to be the book.
10:31I want to be the book.
10:32I want to be the book.
10:34It's a book.
10:35I want to be the book.
10:36You are listening to the book.
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