Monday, Moonday, Moodday
Dreaming about moon early in the morning, one gets a jolt on realizing that it is really not a moon-day, but a Mun-day, oops sorry a Mon-day, and for an early morning definitely not a mood-day. After a funny and sunny-day there should really be a moony-day, but alas, it’s just a mundane life’s Mun-day!
Som-vaar that is what we call Monday in Hindi. Som means ‘moon’. So it is natural to dream of moon-day after Sun-day. Interestingly, som also means ‘honey’. So som-vaar can mean honey-moon-day. Now who on earth would consider Mon-day morning as honey-moon-day’s morning? Mon-day is definitely not a honey day but a money day and so not as funny as a sunny day. Still that name suggests there should be something more to it than meets eye.
India did not had the culture of Sunday, a day on which normal work is not done and is reserved for morning prayers, making it a holy – a holiday. Sunday is also considered the rest day making indirectly the other days as non-rest days – the work days. For Indian culture the work itself is worship and hence no need for a non-working day to do prayers; the work itself is the offering of prayers. It follows the understanding ‘do what you love and love what you do’. There cannot be greater worship than giving and taking of love happening throughout the creation always, without rest. Of course, there are festivals during which special meditations and prayers are done. However, these festivals do not monotonously come after every six days; making the six days the dreaded days to bear, to ultimately enjoy the seventh day. All days are holi-days making the festivals celebration of holiness.
Shubh kaam mein deri nahin. When all that we do is out of love then all that we do is shubh, then naturally there should not be any delay or gap in it for rest days. The saying kal karein so aaj, aaj karein so abb fits perfectly here.
One works to live; to make a living as they say. For a wise there is no difference between work and living. Work itself is living; there is no living for even a moment without what we call as work. What is normally called as work is actually rest for a wise because such a person simply enjoys what one is doing. The fatigue one gets out of such work is also enjoyable to a wise. A wise is not doing something to get something; doing itself is getting! One sees this whole creation, this life as expression of love and one is just a mirror reflecting back that love through work. When there is love there is no wanting back in return something, it is just giving what is received.
This does not mean people should become workaholics. On the contrary, it suggests finding rest in work, making a rest day irrelevant. There is no rest day, not even a rest moment in receiving life energy. It there is such a rest moment that would be death moment and not a holy moment. This whole process of creation is holy. To celebrate a specific day as holiday, like Sunday, coming monotonously after few days is to miss the foundational understanding. Any rest day or holiday makes this holy life process really unholy.
Now we may understand why Monday is called somvaar in Hindi; because to a person of understanding Sunday ho yaa Monday roj hai holiday! And every day is honey-moon-day!
Playing further with words, vaar also have additional meaning than just day. Vaar also means ‘attack’. So somvaar can mean attack of honey or attack of love. And who can avoid the attack of love. May all our miseries find their death in this attack of love!