By Sutapa Das
Once, Swami Prabhupada was being driven to a public engagement. As they hit a series of roadworks, the traffic slowly built up, and within minutes all the vehicles were at a complete standstill. As they peered outside the windscreen, a luminous highway sign read “road works: temporary inconvenience, permanent improvements.” The Swami laughed heartily and exclaimed “the material world: temporary improvements, permanent inconvenience!” And so, learning to live with chaos is more realistic, progressive and pragmatic. Like running water effortlessly flows around the obstructing rocks, moving steadily to its destination, so in the face of inevitable challenges and unexpected reversals, we must march on.