Everyone has raised their hand at some point, most likely while they were students in school. Your arm begins to hurt after two or three minutes at most, at which point you have two options: either switch arms, which only temporarily relieves the pain, or support your elbow with the other hand.
Bharati plays at a higher level. One day he made the decision to raise his arm, and ever since, it has never touched his waist.
Bharati was employed by an Indian bank in 1973. He had three children, was married, and enjoyed a simple life until one day he made the spontaneous decision to give up everything and devote his entire being to the Hindu god Shiva.
He thought of a way to really serve his religious beliefs: he’d raise his hand and never lower it.
I don’t make many demands. Why do we fight among ourselves, why do we harbour such a strong dislike for one another? I want there to be peace among all Indians. I want everyone to live in peace, he declared.
It was initially just as unpleasant, if not more so, than you might anticipate. The pain subsided after about two years, and as his arm atrophied, he gradually lost all feeling in it.
Given the lasting nerve damage and loss of circulation, even if he wanted to drop his arm, he most certainly couldn’t do so without careful planning.
The arm would probably not break like a branch because the bone structure is still intact; instead, it would probably sunder at a joint where the cartilage has dried out and receded. In essence, you would snap his arm, though perhaps not in half.
Photo Credit: Mind Warehouse
