Our sufferings make us humble: ‘Karma Sutra’ author Ritu Sharma

Ritu Sharma, columnist, scholar and author of ‘Karma Sutra: An Insight Into How Our Deeds Influence Our Destiny’ is no more with us but her views on the law of karma that she felt so strongly about, will continue to stay with us. She could barely live to see her published work. Shortly before she passed away, she spoke at length about life, sufferings and our actions in the backdrop of the ‘cause and effect’ principle - a central concept of Indian philosophy.
Excerpts from the interview:
What is the book ‘Karma Sutra’ about?
The book sheds light on the workings of the law of karma and its implications on various aspects of our life.This law, which is actually the law of ‘cause and effect’, governs our life. My book suggests that unless we cultivate our ethical self (character) we will continue to suffer at the hands of fate. It is only by working on us that we can conquer our ego and evolve as human beings.
What inspired you to work on this theory of Karma?
I have always been fascinated by the striking disparity in society – in terms of rich versus poor, healthy versus ill, those from happy families versus those from broken families, those who were successful versus those who failed at everything they did, those who came from a comfortable background versus those who had to struggle for everything and many more. The quest led me to the law of karma, which is also a central concept of Indian philosophy – largely based on the maxim – “As you sow, so shall you reap”.
Your book focuses on one of the most common questions about suffering – ‘Why me’? Can you tell us something about it?
Most of us attribute our sufferings to external factors. But the truth is that it is often the result of our past life karmas. There may have been times when due to sheer frustration or helplessness with our situation, we may have resorted to cheating people, harming them in some way or sought revenge and maybe even ended our lives, which resulted in us being bound in the web of karmas.
We feel helpless, vulnerable and anchorless, but that is actually a lesson by existence to make us humble and lead us towards self-reflection and self-awareness. Once we are on that path, we also find the power to change our destiny - by working on our current actions or Karmas, by realizing our ethical self and by having faith in divine forces.
What can the readers take away from the book ‘Karma Sutra’?
I feel that by understanding the workings of the law of karma, the readers can take comfort in the fact that though the cards they have been dealt with is not in their hands, the power to create a better destiny in the future is still in our control. The book underlines the boomerang effect in existence – what you throw is what comes back to you. If we follow the path of goodness, we will receive goodness in every way and at every turn. That, I feel, is motivation enough for the readers to follow the righteous path and live by the ethical theory - ‘do unto others what you would have them do unto you’.