In search of…’Khao, Pio, aish karo!’…abroad!
Let us eat and drink: for tomorrow we diet. ~Wendy Morgan
We all know the basic Indian Mantra of daily life- ‘Khao, pio, aish karo!’ : Eat, drink, enjoy life!
Many of us live by this simple but profound philosophy. Growing up, whenever in doubt, we have often taken shelter under the wide umbrella of this slogan! 
Since landing in America years ago, I always wanted to find out if this desi mantra ‘Khao, pio, aish karo!’- ‘Eat, drink, enjoy life’, applies overseas as well. To verify my curiosity, I needed to find a swamy or a guru, who knows it ALL; someone with ultimate knowledge of life and its principles. That is how I stared my personal journey to look for a divine saint full of wisdom to answer this basic question.
I always thought that such a deep and thoughtful slogan has to be backed by some Indian religion. I was almost certain that it was from some ancient guide; may be a part of Lord Krishna’s preaching to Arjuna during the great battle of Kurukshetra….
So I went to see a pundit at the local Hindu temple. I was not surprised to see him sitting on a small dais with a laptop next to him. After the simple greeting and some chit-chat about Google versus Bing, I popped the question:
“Khao, pio, aish karo! – is the slogan from the Hindu religion?”
He laughed at first. After realizing that I was serious, he started to search something online. I could not wait to be enlightened, but I did not want to interrupt him and his thoughts…
Finally he spoke, “Nope”
“Are you sure?” I did not believe my ears.
“I swear by the holy book Gita, your so called mantra is not in there”, he sounded serious.
“It has to be in there!” I insisted as the priest shook his head again.
“No, it is not” He repeated.
“So, what should I do?” I was losing my faith.
The priest got closer to me and whispered, with a smile, “Khao, pio, aish karo!”
Bewildered, I walked away. Read the rest of this entry »
