MemChurch Daily
April 26, 2021
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PRACTICING HOPE
The daily newsletter of the Memorial Church
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Dear friends,
Today we are delighted to share with you a reflection by Setu Mehta '21 of Lowell House in our Virtual Senior Talks series of 2021. Senior Talks are a beloved annual tradition in which each House at the College is invited to nominate a senior to offer a Morning Prayers address. We are honored to continue this tradition virtually this year by way of uplifting their reflections in our Daily Devotional. Thank you Setu, today we celebrate you and all your fellow Lowell House seniors!
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The Memorial Church of Harvard University
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SENIOR TALKS
Lowell House's Setu Mehta '21
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By Setu Mehta '21
Lowell House
This year, April 23rd was no longer just another ordinary day. This year, April 23rd marked my grandmother's one-year death anniversary. Much like an aging banyan tree, my grandma was sturdy from years of weathering the harsh world around her, and she always extended her branches to provide others with shade and fruit. The roots of her tree drew shakti (strength) from her passions and life experiences, invigorating her being with vitality. As I reflected upon my time with her, I began to truly appreciate how she uniquely embodied and defined the many forms of shakti, including mental, physical, and spiritual shakti.
One of the most powerful forms of my grandma's shakti came from her playful spirit. She always had a mischievous glint in her eyes, which gleamed brightest as she recounted pranks she played on her teachers in high school, such as changing the time on school clocks to get out of class early. The energy of her unfettered spiritual shakti was infectious, as she also channeled it towards her devotion to God as a devout Shiva worshipper. As proof of her spiritual shakti, in her 80s, she made a pilgrimage to the holy sites of Mansarover and Mount Kailash in the Himalayan mountains. Despite her age, she completed the whole trip and was one of the only members of the tour group not affected by altitude sickness. Her devotion also manifested itself in small day-to-day activities. You could always find her chanting shlokas (prayers) every morning while turning her maala, her string of holy Rudraksha beads.
Even as my grandma became sick with COVID-19, her spiritual shakti persevered. When my family and I went to see her in the hospital, we all held her hand and hugged her, not knowing how much longer she would be with us. Only a few hours after we had said our goodbyes, she passed away, almost as if she was holding on to see us for one last time -- a final display of her powerful spiritual shakti.
If I have learned anything from her, it is the power and the multi-dimensional nature of our strength. She taught me that shakti is not drawn from individual sources — shakti is a messy, breathing, and continually growing force. The overlapping and knotted roots of our shakti are founded in the fortitude of our mind, the playfulness of our spirit, and the strength of our grip on life. In the face of this pandemic, we must continue to nurture our own trees of shakti so that one day, we too may outstretch our branches to provide others with the protection they need to weather their own storms.
In celebration of my grandma's everlasting spiritual shakti, I want to conclude my reflection by sharing this verse from the Bhagavad Gita:
"avyakto 'yam acintyo 'yam
avikāryo' yam ucyate
tasmād evaḿ viditvainaḿ
nānuśocitum arhasi"
(Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2 verse 25)
"Sri Krishna said: It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body."
Setu is a senior graduating in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy and a language citation in Spanish. She is originally from Long Island, N.Y., and currently lives in Lowell House. On campus, Setu has enjoyed participating in cultural activities such as the Ghungroo South Asian cultural show, dancing on the Bhangra team, volunteering at local soup kitchens, and conducting stem cell research.
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