Srininomics

Veg Macaroni Masala

2012-03-16T16:38:00.003-07:00

Cooking and experimenting while doing it is another aspect of my life, that I really really enjoy. My roommates and some close friends (here in Toronto) know this side of me, which took a backseat back home in India (didn't want to challenge my mom in her own kitchen,...and besides, she cooks really really well, although there is not much fusion/experimentation in her cooking).

It's more like a feeling you know...you just go with the flow, taste the gravy, add a few things here and there. Haven't really taken pains to note down the recipes that pour out of my kitchen here, till now. I guess it's worth a try...and so here goes my first attempt at writing a recipe. And guys...if you any do try to prepare and follow this recipe at your home...please do let me know how it goes, and of course feel free to innovate and experiment with it :-).

Preparation Time: About 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:
(Serves 3 to 5 adults (depending on the appetite :-D) )
5-6 cloves of garlic
1 onion, finely chopped
carrots, peas, corn and beans - 25 grams (or mixed frozen veggies) [You can also add broccoli, french beans, mushrooms, or basically whatever you want. We won't be overcooking the veggies though. It's only going to be slightly sauted, so it has to be something that does not need a lot of cooking, or is already boiled and cooked beforehand]
1 big tomato (or two medium tomatoes)
2 Green chilies - finely chopped
Hot sauce / tomato sauce/ chilli sauce/ketchup - (for flavour)
Catelli tricolor macaroni (which contains elbow macaroni - whole wheat and carrot flavors; and shell macaroni - spinach flavor)
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil (to saute)
1 tbsp butter/ margarine.

Prepare the macaroni:
Boil the macaroni in three times the amount of water for about 8-10 minutes on medium heat (start counting the time once the water starts to smoke/boil), in an open vessel.
Add a little salt for taste to the pasta while boiling.
After about 7-8 minutes, most of the water should have evaporated, and the macaroni should have turned soft. Allow it to boil, till the desired softness is achieved.
Drain most of the excess water (leave a small bit) and keep aside to cool.

Prepare the sauce :
This can be done in parallel while the macaroni boils.
Use a mixer to mix the tomatoes to a coarse pulp. Alternately, the tomato can be finely cut, and beaten, or just heated straight away.
Add the chillies and heat this tomato pulp
Add a dash of hot sauce / tomato sauce/ chilli sauce/ketchup or a mixture of these as per taste preferences.
Add some salt to the sauce.
Heat it till all the contents mix well together. It should take about 2-4 minutes. Keep aside once done.

Stir fry:
You can start with this after the sauce is ready. The macaroni will be done by the time you are ready to add it to the stir fry.
Heat 2 tsp oil in a frying pan for about 15 seconds.
Add onions and garlic and saute them in oil for about 30 seconds, or till the garlic (not the onion) starts turning golden brown. Add the veggies and a quarter glass of water.
Bring to a boil (should take about 2-3 minutes).
Add the macaroni (with the remaining water) to the frying pan.
Add the sauce and mix everything throughly.
Allow it to cook for another 3-4 minutes or so till the consistency of the sauce is thick.
Add a dash of butter / margarine and mix it well and allow the pasta to stand and cool for a few minutes before serving.

Rat poison

2012-03-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

She sat silently at the kitchen sipping her tea.
Her face and arms were bruised.

"Martha...Help"... a faint croak came forth from the bedroom.

She smiled… She was free now… finally... after years of pain and torture.

She looked at the tiny bottle.
How apt that this was called "rat poison".

Wasabi and the fire extinguisher...

2012-03-07T10:05:00.002-08:00

After sampling and falling in love with different mexican, italian and thai dishes in the recent past... I decided to try some vegetarian sushi for lunch one day. I got three kinds of sauces with the packet of sushi: ginger sauce, soy sauce and wasabi flavored horseradish sauce...I try the soy first....yumm.... ginger next...deliciously awesomely good. Veg sushi does seem like something that I would enjoy. For some inexplicable reason, I now dab a generous amount of wasabi flavored horseradish sauce onto my next sushi and pop it in like a panipuri....and all hell breaks loose.

I just didn't know what hit me...my eyes started to water like crazy, ...and a storm brewed up in my nose . It was so overwhelmingly pungent...beyond anything I had ever tasted. Had to be polite...Couldn't spit out food on a table especially in view of others....and so I had to keep my mouth shut...My tongue and throat were burning as if set to fire...unable to swallow whats in my mouth...and unable to hold it there...couldn't even sit still with the enormous physical struggle going on in my mouth. I was helplessly looking at the wall in front of me while sweat beads appeared on my brow. Conveniently the wall had a fire extinguisher there...which seemed to be mocking me.

After finally coming back to my senses (courtesy ...a number of paper towels and almost half a liter of water to wash down what was left of the taste), I look at the packet of sauce and wonder....why on earth would somebody pack in such a lot of such strongly flavored stuff.

Have decided to steer clear of trying new dishes for the near future...

A temporary Goodbye

2012-01-28T14:27:00.000-08:00

He had a flight to catch.

She could not watch him go...could not say goodbye...was cryingher eyes out on her pillow instead.

A gentle tap on the door and he walked in: "I could notimagine a life without you...I love you....Will be back...for you."

P.S.: My second 55Fiction attempt. I know it is not really good... but I hope to continue to write at least a few every week. If I write like...say 100 such articles during the next year or so...at least a few of them should be good :-). I hope that though will keep me going.

Thanks for the visit...please do leave a comment, if possible..and do keep visiting.

The unprofessed love

2012-01-16T05:36:00.000-08:00

She had never looked more beautiful.
Those long eyelashes, the white bridal gown, the thin veil over her face.
He was totally crazy about her.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife" announced the priest.

As people cheered, and joy erupted across the church, he slowly walked out...sad, lonely, heartbroken and unnoticed.

P.S.: This is my first attempt at writing 55 - Fiction. For those who don't know about it yet, 55 Fiction is a relatively new type of fiction that requires the writer to write a short story in 55 words or less. It's quite challenging and a good writing exercise to create a story in so few words...and also allows bloggers and writers who don't have a lot of time to spare, to keep in touch with the writer inside...and am definitely gonna explore this genre over the next few months :-).

The Divine Internet

2012-01-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

Advaita or non-dualism is one of the main branches of Hindu belief and philosophy. There are other branches of thoughts and beliefs which have similarities and differences with Advaita. On the exterior, the different philosophies and beliefs in the mosaic of the Dharmic faiths would seem to be all at conflict or contradiction with each other...but at the ever subtler levels of philosophy,...they start to unite in curious ways and lead to a realization that all the different paths lead to one goal....that of finding and awakening the Lord within. As the waters falling from the skies, ultimately flow to and become part of the ocean; so too prayers to different forms of divinity, in different ways ultimately reach the one and the same all pervading Lord.

आकाशात् पतिथं तोयं, यथा गच्छति सागरम् |

सर्व देव नमस्कारं, श्रीकेशवं प्रति गच्छति ||

Tat-tvam-asi is the mahavakya (great quote/ teaching) from the Sama Veda. It literally means 'That (supreme divinity) you are'. It is a (no words minced) reminder that divinity exists within us, that the true pilgrimage lies within, and that every human being is potentially divine. Its a reminder to us of a powerful internet-like sort of connection that we have with our Creator. Let's try to understand this analogy a bit more.

The shlokas in the Bhagvad Gita talk about centers of energy (called as chakras) that lie along the spine, and a very powerful energy that lies dormant near the base of the spine. This energy (known as kundalini) needs to be awakened through spiritual activities (like meditation, yoga or devotion) and actions that accumulate a form of karmic credit (like for example charitable acts, good conduct or by doing something good and helping others). This energy, when properly awakened and nurtured, is supposed to rise through the spine, flow through the different chakras (providing different levels of spiritual growth and realization, and also certain siddhis or powers) ultimately coming to rest in the Sahasrara (which is believed to be just behind the region between the two eyebrows). When this happens, the yogi is said to enter superconciousness and would behold the Lord in all His glory and realize the true oneness of his own being with the all pervading Lord.

This connection to the supreme Lord that is mentioned is somewhat like the internet. Individual computers connect to the internet over a connection that needs to be maintained. They are able to access and download different material on the net, and to upload their own ideas over the network. The internet connection for our computer is something that can be easily maintained...however, that's not the case for our spiritual connection with our Creator. It needs to be nurtured and maintained with great care. The only payment that can be made to maintain this delicate connection...is in spiritual and karmic terms (and not monetary like what we pay to the internet company). This starts by maintaining good conduct and good company, and to forgive readily and to try and gain some control over our base senses, so that we can start absorbing the energy within. It starts with meditation and with a curiosity or need to seek and understand beyond the seen, the material aspects of life. It starts by finding a true Guru...or a teacher who can show you the path that is the best for your individual journey in search of the ultimate bliss (Satchidananda) that is God.

In order to maintain a good internet experience, we do need to do a lot of things subconsciously. We need to maintain our computer and the modem, select a good browser, take care not too install too many applications which might slow down our system, have an anti virus and firewall on, etc etc. So too... there are lots of things a person needs to be conscious of while trying to access the spiritual connection that has been built in into us. We need to make sure that there are not too many unnecessary things that we get involved in at the same time (vis a vis too many applications running on our computer) ...lest it slows down our spiritual growth. We need to maintain some kind of a firewall and antivirus in order to detect and filter out harmful thoughts, evil intentions and bad influences. Harmful thoughts can effectively destroy us from inside. Hatred enters our mind as an emotion but becomes verily a state of mind,...and makes a home for itself inside us. It can destroy our spiritual fabric from inside, and render us incapable of spiritual growth. We just have to think about the way viruses enter computers through email attachments, or as some downloaded file, and then wreak havoc once they are activated to see the similarity and to understand the danger of harmful thoughts and emotions.

The scriptures stress unequivocally on the need to be honed on the true path and to get directions from a true Guru. The reason for this is not really too difficult to understand when we think in terms of the internet connection for our computer. To get a computer to connect to the internet, we can easily let the internet company set up the connection and take care of the details necessary to get it working correctly, pay them some money towards the connection, and then monthly bills for the usage. The spiritual connection is intricately more complicated and much more delicate, and the payment for the same needs to be made from our karmic account (where good karma accumulates credit and bad karma dissipates the same) ...and it is absolutely necessary to be inducted on the path by a seeker who is on a much higher stage of spiritual growth and realization. Swami Paramhansa Yogananda (who was one of the greatest teachers of this age, and one of the first Gurus from India to introduce Yoga and Hinduism to the western world) has mentioned the example of an iron turning into a magnet, when it is in close proximity to another strong magnet, or when electricity flows around it. So too, the proximity of an enlightened Guru can awaken the inherent spiritual energy/strength/shakti that resides within each of us in our spine. It is difficult to find a true Guru easily these days. However, if the search is true and sincere, then the universe would conspire to get us to our true Guru, and to enable us to discover our own personal path to spiritual growth and ultimate bliss.

Once this connection is attuned and awakened, there are different siddhis (or miraculous powers) that are awakened. It is possible to converse with other fellow jeevatmas (or individual souls) on the divine internet...this is sometimes called telepathy. It is sometimes also possible for people to get a peek into the divine when in a state of trance or high ecstasy or deep meditation...brought about by rhythmic percussion instruments, hymns/powerful invocations and intense concentration. Sometimes, devotees of Ayyappa, Devi or Subrahmanya can be seen losing control of their bodies during poojas/bhajans and reach a state of ecstasy in which they feel a divine presence (and sometimes get unnerved by the feeling, especially if they haven't experienced it before). Devotees of Krishna sometimes reach this state while performing the Hare Krishna keertan and dancing to the tune of cymbals and percussion instruments. This experience is not limited to Hinduism, and is employed by Sufis (a sect of Islam), Buddhists (although their approach is to induce a state of mind conducive to meditation by using these instruments), certain Christian sects (which I first found mentioned in Paulo Coelho's book - Brida and was pleasantly surprised to find on the internet that it was used in many Asian/East European cultures), pagan and animist sects in different parts of the world. The attainment of siddhis through awakening of the power resting in the kundalini is a technique that has been testified in many different scriptures belonging to different shaiva, shakta, vaishnava and smartha sampradayas or traditions. The Bhagvad Gita too briefly mentions these siddhis (but talks of them as distractions to the true goal of oneness with God (moksha).

This idea of being connected to one universal soul who is present in the form of pure energy is not new. It's been around for many centuries. The Hindu scriptures speak of the Brahman - the universal soul or Paramatma, and the individual soul or the Jeevatma, and how life is a struggle to achieve Moksha, which is union of the Jeevatma with the Paramatma leading to freedom from the cycle of rebirths and absolute bliss. Our jeevatmas are like individual computers that are yearning to be connected to the divine internet and to maintain uninterrupted hi-speed connectivity, ultimately becoming a part of the ocean of compassion and bliss that we know as God.

Well.. this topic is like an endless ocean...and we haven't even started discussing the complete aspects of a single drop of water present on its' surface. I lack the expertise for a detailed discussion....and my intention was to just provide a peek into this world and its deep philosophy, as I try to learn and understand more of these deep concepts. I hope to write more articles on similar topics in the future...Thanks for visiting and for reading. Please do share your thoughts and experiences too.

Walking on thin ice... literally

2011-12-28T12:42:00.000-08:00

And just like that my feet were in the air, and I land with a thud on my butt...

There I was...sitting on the ice (not snow) covered road with my pants getting all drenched and cold. Saw my i-pod on the snow and realized that the music had stopped and I was wearing headphones connected to nothing right now. A middle aged lady and her dog in matching pink sweaters stopped their morning walk to look at me with identical expressions that were half amused and half curious (and I was looking at them and recalling a particularly weird theory that one of my friends has about dogs and their owners looking alike). Vehicles zoomed by on the road, and a few onlookers slowed down to have a good look at me while they drove by....and,..what do I do?...I grin stupidly and continue to sit there...in the ice for another 10 seconds or so before my (now) ice cold pants bring me back to this planet, and I stand up, wave at my onlookers, and start walking again.

If there is something that you really gotta avoid after a night of heavy snowfall, on a bright sunny (but ice cold) day...then it is "walking". If you must walk...then do not dare to wear formal shoes. Finally...never ever ever walk on the sidewalk in such conditions....walk instead on the piles of snow...dipping your foot into the clumps and pulling them out slowly...this also has the added advantage of giving the shoes a thorough wash, at least from the outside. The snow does look uninviting and cold.. but trust me.. it's much better than the alternative of walking on the sidewalks (that would have ice formed on them by now...thanks to the trucks that clear the snow promptly, but leave behind a tiny bit of water..which instantly freezes back into a thin layer of ice). My sore behind can readily testify to that.
During my ice skating lessons last year, I have had my share of spectacular falls from every direction, and on most of the body parts that usually bear the brunt of such falls. Front, back, side, conventional, good fall, bad fall, funny fall, scary fall, worth filming....you name it. Nothing serious or worth worrying about, but there were a lot and a collage of them might have got some hits on you-tube, if they had been captured on camera. In about 8 classes, I have had no less than 14 falls..most of them good, but some which looked really bad. During one memorable class (which covered skating backwards), I was in really great form...and didn't fall for the whole hour long lesson... then just as I was about to get off the ice, I slipped in spectacular fashion...and with both my feet in the air, I actually reached for the side railing, and ended up having one of the weirdest falls that the instructors had ever seen...and fell on my backside turned almost halfway to one side....and there went my fall-free skating lesson. It wasn't serious, thanks to the multiple layers of clothing, impact of muscles (instead of bones) on ice, and my greatly reduced speed. But, it looked really bad from afar and the instructors hurried to me and one of them rushed to get an ice pack. When I took off my helmet, and they had a look at my face,...one of them exclaimed (quite loudly)...."You...again???".

Well...if this repeats.. then I guess the lady with the pink sweater might be the next one to say those words...i.e..if the weather and the icy roads haven't scared her indoors already.

India Diaries - Mumbai - Nov 29, 2011

2011-12-06T03:06:00.001-08:00

~9:00 AM - boarded the Andheri slow local from Vasai Rd station.

~9:45 AM - Reached Andheri station and walked to the east. Walked with the crowd till I reached a place where I could see auto rickshaws (for some reason they looked much rarer than usual today...found out later that FDI might have had a hand in this, and that some shops were closed too due to the controversy)..

~10:15 AM - Spot a lady was getting down from a rickshaw and fumbling in her purse, on the other side of the road. I sense my chance and run towards the rickshaw...blurt out my address and get in. I even give the rickshawallah change (a 50, a 20 and 3 10s) for a hundred rupee note so that he can pay off the lady. After the lady leaves, the rickshawallah starts talking to me about how he is not from Andheri and knows nothing about Santa Cruz or Vile Parle and that I should ask another rickshaw. All my requests to just ask around and get me to Vile Parle as I really need to get there ASAP are dismissed as he keeps repeating the same words. In a dejected state of mind, I decide to wait for the next rick and get down...little realizing that this was going to be the last rickshaw I get to rest my behind in, for the rest of the day.

~10:30 AM: Having spent more than half an hour next to a few shops waiting for empty ricks, I decide to walk a bit more. Reach a bridge, which is like a landmark in Andheri east and start waiting there

~11:15 AM - More than an hour has now passed since I got down from the train and am getting horribly late for a function that I had planned my vacation around...I am desperate now, and getting more and more frustrated by the minute. The heat and humidity (its' supposed to be winter at this time for God's sake!) does not help either, and am perspiring like crazy now. Drat..forgot my glares at home too.

~11:40 AM - Somehow I try my best to jump at the few ricks that happen to pass by. Get hold of one rick after God knows how long...and...he refuses. Simply refuses. Am shocked...and another guy appears out of nowhere...asks the rickshaw for some address and gets in and they run off. Am shocked and perplexed by the suddenness and weirdness of this and stand rooted to the spot imagining what went wrong.

~11:55 AM - The muhurtam for the wedding of one of my best friends has passed more than half an hour ago, and I am still standing in Andheri east waiting for a stupid rickshaw to take me to a mandap Vile Parle east. In a dazed and dejected state of mind, I walk back towards the station...and suddenly spot rickshaws coming from one direction. I follow the road and sure enough I see a rick dropping off a passenger..and hurry there...only to be asked to get in the queue. I follow his finger and notice a big serpentine queue (which looked like a bus queue to me at first glance). I see this guy drive to the head of the queue and pick up the first person in line and drive off with her.

I stand there, counting the number of people in the queue...and stop counting somewhere midway...after crossing a hundred and seeing many many more remaining in the queue. I wait to see how long it takes for the next rickshaw to arrive...and almost 10 minutes pass before the next rick comes and picks up the next waiting person in line.

A few minutes of indecision and lots of swarming thoughts...and that was it...madness rushed in....it was going to take me at-least 2 hours more in this long slow moving queue to get a rickshaw...Leave alone missing the wedding muhurat...I was not going to be able to even make it for lunch on time...and probably might not even be able to see my friend that day (as I imagined him getting into a car and driving off with his sweetheart for a honeymoon in some nice location like Mauritius, Kerala, Andaman or Assam). I wasn't even carrying a mobile phone (my blackberry was on international roaming with a data plan...and was lying on a cupboard back home) ...and didn't know whom to call or ask...and ended up making one of the stupidest possible decisions.

~12:20 AM - I walk back to the train station...dejected as shit..and catch the next Virar fast train that comes in...get down at Vasai Road and walk...with a heavy heart and wafer thin emotions...back to my home.

I hardly knew this city...Having spent all my time in Vasai, Pune and Toronto, and having just flitted by and stayed for very short whiles every now and then...I guess I never really experienced Mumbai like it would feel to an outsider. It seems I had got my chance to do the same...and must confess I was a bit saddened to see what I did. I saw ladies with kids in tow (or holding kids) who were refused by autorickshawallahs and who were brushed aside without a second glance by people who were in a hurry to get their own ricks (and after what happened to me...I am not sure I blame them). I saw old men and women waiting under the hot sun for rickshaws....not being able to get one...as young people are better able to run to rickshaws that zoom by and drop people, without a glance in their direction. I know that I might never have seen this thread of rudeness and insensitivity in the city's fabric...if the first rickshaw that I had caught had agreed to drop me off at Vile Parle and zoomed away with me. Has Canada made me too soft and polite...such that I am a misfit in Mumbai now?

I had planned my vacation around this wedding...had taken the leave a month earlier and escalated it to the company's VPs, caused a (lot of) re-planning and finally got their approval...and couldn't even attend it...I don't know whether I should launch, cry, feel sad or curse. I am really sorry buddy...and this post is like a public apology to you. I hope you can forgive me someday :-(.

Mumbai...thou have scared me now...I am worried and tensed about having to travel for two to three or more hours (in one direction) daily and still have no guarantee of reaching my workplace on time. Am scared because my profession (IT) warrants long working hours for most of the year...more so when it comes to India...and especially so when it comes to me (as I have a habit of filling up my plate with more work, the moment I see it getting a bit empty). I am scared because I can't afford an apartment in Mumbai proper...due to the ridiculous prices...and would be forced to commute. I am scared because working from home...even during the weekends or night is not really a viable option, as the Internet is not really that fast...and power cuts are very common in my part of the world. I am scared...because this experience and more so the realizations that followed put a spanner into my long term plans...and am gonna have to re-think everything now.

:-(.

The Cat Yoga

2011-11-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

Let's hear an old tale today ...which talks about how superstition and blind belief becomes a part of the fabric of social life quite easily with the passage of time, owing to a mixture of ignorance, assumptions, astuteness (on the part of the person who is spreading the superstition), naivety and gullibility of the general public and a thirst and excitement for new and exciting ideas that seem inexplicable or extraordinary to the common man.

There was once a great Yoga master who lived in a remote corner of India, and he used to teach Yoga to interested students who would visit his house and learn this ancient science of living and well being from him. In return, as a token of their appreciation, they would shower him and his wife with gifts (an ancient Indian custom called as Guru Dakshina, ...which is like a kind of teacher's fees/bonus paid after the student has learned the art/subject from the teacher, and as per the ability and satisfaction of the student). The master was quite proficient in his art and his fame spread far and wide and people used to seek him out to learn Yoga from him.

His wife had a special liking for cats, and at any point of time, they had a few cats as pets in their ashram. One of these cats had a special liking for the Yoga master and loved to be petted by him. Whenever, the cat would find a chance, it would rush towards and squeeze in next to the master, or climb on to his lap, and purr contentedly. This cat was so fond of his master that it would not spare him even when the master was busy practicing or teaching Yoga. The moment the master sat in the padmasana (lotus) or other yogic position, closed his eyes and started to concentrate on his breathing technique, the cat would see his chance and climb on to the master's lap. This used to happen quite regularly...till the master got fed up and started to tie this cat by a rope to a bamboo pole a short distance away, before practicing Yoga, and especially before the start of any class. After the class was done, he would untie the cat, scratch its tummy, pet it and then offer it a bowl of milk or some other goodies as a reward for good behaviour. This became a kind of routine, and the master was able to continue with his teaching for sometime.

Image courtesy: http://yogadogz.com/cats2010.html

Once, this master needed to go to a nearby village on some business/errand. As the way was through a forest, and would require travelling on bullock carts with people he wasn't very familiar with, he decided to disguise himself as a farmer. On reaching the other village, in the market place he heard something about a yoga master in the village who was about to give a speech that evening on some new techniques which were proven to be very beneficial and which had been thought to him by another yogic master from a far away village. Being naturally interested in Yoga, he decided to attend the speech and learn something.

That evening our Yoga master stood in the crowd and cheered, while a well dressed speaker appeared with his disciples in tow. One of the disciples was holding a cat. The speaker took the cat from the disciple, and tied it to a bamboo pole next to his seat, and then started talking about "Yoga Marjari" (Cat Yoga)...about how the presence of a cat tied to a bamboo pole highly energizes the practice of Yoga,...about how milk should be offered to the cat and its tummy scratched before and after yogic practice in order to propitiate the cat and create favorable vibrations in the place where Yoga is being performed. The speaker also mentioned that the cat should be white or brown or ash colored...and not completely black for best results. He then proceeded to perform a couple of yogic exercises, while the crowd and the disciples looked reverentially.

Our Yoga master from the other village (who was disguised as a farmer) looked on in a bemused, flabbergasted way at all this talk of cat yoga. The speaker spoke about how this great "secret yoga" was almost unknown and had been kept alive by another master in a far away village. Our master looked with more interest at the speaker, and was able to recognize him as one of the students who had attended his class about a year ago. The master just shook his head and walked away.

The last tree......

2011-11-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Alone I stand on a graveyard of my peers
Uninterrupted by love, flow a barrage of tears
Alone weeps my heart, in this world full of fear
All around me no one near or dear

They came in hordes with axes
They came with hearts of spite
They cut and slew all but one
Now alone I stand...a cruel man's fun??

My friends, my folks, my kith, my kin
All fell prey to their eternal greed
Cruelly they laughed and left me standing
To watch all alone, the end of my breed

What goes around will one day come around
With us no more...who'll hold the ground??
When the land is ravaged by waters or the rain...
Will you feel our curse...our tears...our pain?

Alone I await,...my turn to die
Can't fathom this spite..no matter how I try
Standing in the graveyard, where my loved ones lie
No one to miss me...no one to cry

A stranger and her t-shirt

2011-10-31T20:14:00.000-07:00

This happened to me during my last visit to India and I am suddenly remembering it out of the blue,..for no reason at all that I can think of...anyways, here goes:

"Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, where the heck is the tent."... I was chuckling to myself and smiled automatically...dunno why, it was momentary and something which I found really funny at that time. Suddenly, I beheld a pair of eyes and a face frowning hard at me. Took me a few moments to realize why!

I'm totally unable to fathom why some girls have to wear t-shirts with writings/drawings/smart designs on them, and then feel and behave so strangely when people try to read or see what's written. I mean... if it bothers you so much, then why go through it at all...

I know I was supposed to look apologetic, but the chuckling a few seconds ago, combined with the absolute comedy in the situation and the effort at turning my face into an acceptable, apologetic expression within a second, all somehow got mixed up and the resulting medley of expressions probably gave a strange kind of look to my face, and just made the girl angrier still. Unable to bear the scalding heat, I quickly looked away and went about my business.

I ran into that girl again a bit later...and the scalding looks continued...I quickly averted my gaze and left the scene...wondering why was she so self conscious and insecure about her own body...and making life difficult for innocent bystanders around her in the process.

I dedicate this article to that unknown stranger, whom I am remembering out of the blue today for some reason, of which I have no idea why. Meanwhile...some random girl in some corner of Mumbai who glares at people...some innocent, and others probably not innocent...with her scalding eyes must be getting a fit of hiccups right about now....courtesy...yours truly.

Revati, Balarama and the Twins Paradox

2011-10-29T16:38:00.000-07:00

Am reading "A brief history of time" by Stephen Hawkings these days. Needless to say am absolutely intrigued and amazed by the simplicity with which this great scientist and theorist has explained complicated hitherto unfathomable (at least for me) concepts like the big bang, black holes, quarks and wormholes in terms and language that is scientific, but at the same time accessible and comprehensible to people like me who have only a high school/undergraduate level background in physics. It is a must read (atleast as a primer/introduction) if you want to gain some overall understanding of the amazing universe that we live in, without having to pore through big books full of complicated scientific verbiage. Discovery channel and History channel might help you to get this information easily...but still books are books, and do have a charm that needs to be experienced in order to fully appreciate the same.

I was in the second chapter a couple of days ago, when some words in his book describing an amazing concept called as the "Twins paradox" sent a shiver of shock (and later,...excitement) running through my spine, and set me thinking. Let's read these words first, so that you have the background of what kept me up and awake and lost in thoughts for half the night:

"Another prediction of general relativity is that time should appear to run slower near a massive body like the earth. This is because there is a relation between the energy of light and its frequency (that is, the number of waves of light per second): the greater the energy, the higher the frequency. As light travels upward in the earth’s gravitational field, it loses energy, and so its frequency goes down. (This means that the length of time between one wave crest and the next goes up.) To someone high up, it would appear that everything down below was taking longer to happen. This prediction was tested in 1962, using a pair of very accurate clocks mounted at the top and bottom of a water tower. The clock at the bottom, which was nearer the earth, was found to run slower, in exact agreement with general relativity. The difference in the speed of clocks at different heights above the earth is now of considerable practical importance, with the advent of very accurate navigation systems based on signals from satellites. If one ignored the predictions of general relativity, the position that one calculated would be wrong by several miles!

Newton’s laws of motion put an end to the idea of absolute position in space. The theory of relativity gets rid of absolute time. Consider a pair of twins. Suppose that one twin goes to live on the top of a mountain while the other stays at sea level. The first twin would age faster than the second. Thus, if they met again, one would be older than the other. In this case, the difference in ages would be very small, but it would be much larger if one of the twins went for a long trip in a spaceship at nearly the speed of light. When he returned, he would be much younger than the one who stayed on earth. This is known as the twins paradox, but it is a paradox only if one has the idea of absolute time at the back of one’s mind. In the theory of relativity there is no unique absolute time, but instead each individual has his own personal measure of time that depends on where he is and how he is moving."

The above words sent me back to my school days. My mom had a habit (and I think she still does) of reading a few stanzas from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam during the late evenings (after she would prepare dinner) and I would often listen to her. When I sat and listened, my mom would tell me the story/stories/meaning of the shlokas that she had just recited. Srimad Bhagavatam or Bhagavat Purana is one of the most popular religious books of Hindus. It describes the dashavtaras (which means ten incarnations....although the book actually describes eleven forms of the Lord, and mentions Lord Krishna as the complete incarnation as opposed to the Others,...which are avataras, or partial incarnations) of Lord Vishnu (the protector from the Hindu trinity). The major part of the book describes the stories of Krishna. However, there is a story about Balarama (the elder brother of Krishna) and his marriage with Revathi, that came rushing to my memory when I read about the twins paradox.

Revathi was the daughter of a king, and was extremely beautiful and talented in all the known arts and music of that time. The king absolutely doted on his daughter, and when the time came for her marriage, he was struck with a very difficult task. All the great, famous men from different countries during that time in earth were sadly no match for Revathi. The king and his daughter then sat in their vimana and went to other worlds in search of the perfect groom. Even after months of search, the king was not able to find anybody qualified enough to be worthy of marrying his daughter. He then decided to make a list of the most eligible men (even if they were not as talented as Revathi) and go to Lord Brahma for advice and counsel, and to offer his daughter's hand to the person that Brahma recommends. When father and daughter reach Brahma's world (Satya Loka), they find Brahma enjoying some divine music being played by the gandharvas. The beauty of the music absolutely enraptures the king and his daughter. When the music stops, they approach Lord Brahma, and mention the reason for their arrival, and show him the list.

Lord Brahma tells the king that time flows differently in different worlds and that the measure of time on Satya Loka and on other planets was vastly different from the way time progresses on earth. During the time of their absence from earth, thousands of years had passed on earth (in earth time), and the other planets that they had visited, and all of the eligible men in the king's list had been dead for centuries now. Brahma consoled the woestruck king and adviced him to offer his daughter's hand to Balarama, the elder brother of Krishna and told the king about he great qualities of Balarama. As per Brahma's advice, the king returned to earth and solemnized the marriage of Balarama and Revathi with great pomp and splendour.

It struck me as amazing that a purana that has been passed in oral tradition for a long time since the ancient ages of the origin of Hindu beliefs and which has been written down at least a couple of thousand years ago, has an idea (of time flowing differently in different realms) that has been discovered by science as recently as 1962! The example mentioned by Hawking and the story of Revathi and Balarama mentioned in the Bhagvatham bear an eerie similarity, which was enough to get my thoughts racing and to get me absolutely hooked to Hawking's book, which I have been devouring during every waking moment that I can spare for leisure since then (except the time taken out for writing this blog post).

What are your thoughts on this? Is it just a coincidence that ideas like an infinite age of the universe (mentioned in the chatur yuga concept), atoms (anu), other populated worlds (sixteen lokas or worlds/realms are described in many stories), travel to other worlds through space ships(vimanas), time flowing differently in different realms (in the above story), etc that have been discovered in recent years...are mentioned in ancient scriptures (as passing references). It could be...but is it possible that there can be something more to it? Could there be books which describe exact scientific phenomenon as understood and studied by ancient seers (and not just as passing references accompanying a main story line which describes different avataras). How amazing would that be, if this were true and such books can be found!!!

Recuperating...

2011-09-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

This blog has been shut down until further notice, as the blogger is suffering from a severe bout of Writer's block and is currently undergoing treatment and recuperating from the same.

Image courtesy: http://crunkish.com/qimages/5/Bear.jpg

Please do feel free to leave your best wishes for a speedy recovery. In the meantime, you are all more than welcome to browse through the older articles (if you visit during this time).

Have a nice day.

Ganesha and the moon

2011-08-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

ॐ सुमुखश्च एकदन्तश्च कपिलो गजकर्णकः

लम्बोदरश्च विकटो विघ्नराजो गणाधिपः ||

धूमकेतु र्गणाध्यक्षो बालचन्द्रो गजाननः

वक्रतुण्डो शुर्पकर्णो हेरंबो स्कन्दपुर्वजः ||

Om Sumukashcha Ekadantashcha Kapilo Gajakarnakaha

Lambodarashcha Vikato Vignarajo Ganadhipaha

Dhoomraketur Ganadhyaksho Balachandro Gajananaha

Vakratundo Shurpakarno Herambo Skandapurvajaha

Om. Let's meditate on the supreme Lord who has a pleasing face of a reddish hue, with a single tusk, the ears of an elephant, a large belly, a jovial disposition, and who is the remover of obstacles and the lord of the ganas; Let's meditate on the one who is smoke ash coloured, has the crescent moon on his forehead and an elephant body with a curved trunk, broken tusk, and big, sharp ears, and who is brave and heroic, the leader of the ganas and the elder brother of Skanda (Subrahmanya).

Shukla paksha Ganesha Chaturthi is a period of time sacred to the devotees of Ganesha. Ganesha pandals are erected at every nook and corner of the country and the beloved Lord is welcomed as a guest and honoured in different ways by people to show their affection, devotion and love for the elephant faced Lord. There are different legends and stories about Lord Ganesha, and about Ganesha Chaturthi. We have covered one such legend about Ganesha and Kubera, along with its deep symbolism in an earlier post. Let's hear one more beautiful story about our favourite elephant faced God today.

Ganesha, was once on his way back from a feast, after having had His fill of sweets and delicacies. He was riding His pet mouse, when a snake crosses His path. The mouse is scared of the snake and starts trembling all over throwing Ganesha off balance, and to the ground. Ganesha gets up and surveys the scene. The moon in the sky looks at this funny scene and starts laughing out aloud and makes fun of the spectacle. After a bit, when the moon wouldn't stop his jeering, Ganesha gets irritated. He breaks off one of His tusks, and throws it at the moon, leaving a dent on the moon's surface. He also curses the moon, that he would slowly wane and disappear, and not be visible to anybody. Ganesha also finds and ties the snake that crossed His path on His tummy like a belt. The scared moon now feels ashamed of his behaviour and begs the Lord's forgiveness, after which the benevolent Lord Ganesha modifies his curse, and says that even though the moon would wane and disappear from sight (as originally cursed), he would also slowly grow back and be visible in his full glory and splendor in the night sky. However, in memory of this incident, the devotees of Ganesha are forbidden from viewing the moon on Shukla Paksha Ganesha Chaturthi day (or rather, night). There is also a story which says that a horrible misunderstanding or some kind of trouble would befall them if they do so on purpose and do not atone/ask forgiveness for it.

Time to look at the inbuilt symbolism (at least whatever I have been able to understand so far) now.

Ganesha is known for his special liking for sweets, and is usually represented with a modaka. In its traditional avatar, modak/modakam is a preparation consisting of a crust of jaggery, shredded coconut and dry fruits, covered with a layer prepared from mashed and steamed rice, but today, there are a wide variety of modaks available in the market. Ganesha represents the ideal and excellence of human life. Always being represented relishing sattvic sweets, represents a state of enjoyment of supreme bliss by the enlightened soul. It is a symbolism for the supreme state of bliss that a spiritually enlightened person finds himself in (Sat-Chid-Ananda), all the time, irrespective of the riches, comforts or material possessions at his disposal.

Near Ganesha's feet stands a mouse holding a sweet, but present in a posture of submission to the Lord, and standing (or sitting) in a posture akin to asking for permission. The mouse represents the inferior gunas of a man, which are not easily controlled (and are fickle like a mouse). The symbolism of a mouse to represent our inferior gunas is very apt. As an animal, a mouse is known to hoard food (not just consume what it needs, like other animals). It is known to cause immense destruction of food, clothes, and other materials. It is also known to frequent places which are not so clean, and to act as a carrier of maladies and diseases, which are sometimes spread to the people around it. So too, our inferior gunas get over-attached to material possessions and hoard treasures far beyond our necessities Saving for the future or for a rainy day, and providing for our family and fulfilling our responsibilities are a necessity; however, the reference here is to the attachment to material wealth and the act of getting enamored/bewitched with it, which is an impediment to people with a spiritual bent of mind. The inferior gunas are also responsible for acts of violence, hatred, jealousy, avarice and grudges which cause destruction - both measurable in terms of material wealth and in terms that are immeasurable (for e.g. trust, friendship,love, relations etc.). They are also known to be instrumental in the committing of acts that can cause harm to not just us, but to other people around us too. The mouse representing these inferior gunas, are in control of the person who is spiritually awakened. The mouse representing them looks towards him for permission to partake of the state of bliss that the person is in. In other words, all the emotions and organs of action are subservient to, and under the control of an awakened person.

Ganesha rides this mouse, which is not really the perfect vehicle. So too, the seeker sets out on his/her spiritual journey in a body that is limited and weak, and which needs constant care. It needs food, water, regular exercise, medicines, to be cleaned regularly (both internally through ablutions) and externally. This body has limited senses of perception and visualization and is also full of flaws and under the control of emotions and passions which drive it. The seeker sets out using this limited body and means available at his disposal, to ultimately reach the state of perfection.

The snake represents a situation that causes unrest to us. At times, certain incidents might happen which may cause us to lose our balance and direction in life, especially considering our limited body and means. Lord Ganesha composedly faced and subdued the snake, but did not kill it, and tied it to His waist like a belt. So too, the wise man takes a few minutes to regain his cool, and faces the situation in a cool, composed manner and brings it into His control.

The moon here represents an onlooker who makes fun of and derides the person who is trying to master his senses and progress on the path to spiritual progress, while facing new and unknown troubles. As we all know, there are more people around at any given time, who will readily scoff at or make fun of your attempts than encourage you. The devotee is advised to avoid (i.e. ignore mischievous remarks and advice from) such people (do not look at the moon). The true seeker, indeed has the strength to fight back and can definitely cause harm to such mischievous and malignant people, but is expressly directed to show compassion and benevolence (firstly by ignoring / avoiding a confrontation with them, and to fight back only when absolutely necessary and there is no other way out. Finally, if there is some repentance seen, then readily forgive). The stipulation to avoid looking at moon during Ganesh Chaturthi does not really refer to the physical act of looking at the moon, but is a reminder to avoid durjan (bad people) during our journey through life.

A curse once given, cannot be taken back. So too, our words and actions, once they happen, cannot be undone. Vile, malignant and hateful words can cause untold misery, none of which can be wished away or taken back. However, a curse can be modified. In other words, we can do other actions (or say other words) in order to modify the result of our actions. The point to remember here is that no matter what we do in order to reduce the suffering caused by our earlier action, it can never be completely removed. There is a hidden message (and warning) here that we should be careful with our words and actions, lest they result in something problematic, which is not possible to undo/resolve/take back.

Hope my readers like the story and the inbuilt symbolism that our wise ancestors have filled our puraanas with, and find the same interesting and instructive. May Lord Ganesha bless us all with health, wealth and prosperity. Let's pray to Him to remove all obstacles that dot our path to material prosperity as well as spiritual growth.

ॐ तत्पुरुषाय विग्महे वक्रतुण्डाय धीमहि, तन्नो धन्ति प्रचोदयात् ||

ॐ एकदन्ताय विग्महे वक्रतुण्डाय धीमहि, तन्नो धन्ति प्रचोदयात् ||

ॐ गं गणपतये नमः ||

Satyagraha and Democracy...

2011-08-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

The recent happenings in India have left me all confused. People seem to be joining en masse into the 'anti corruption' or 'jan lokpal' movement and are throwing their weight and support behind Anna Hazare. It's left me all confused and on the fence (which I don't like at all), due to a variety of reasons. I entered into a deep discussion with my good friend Niks about this, and we spoke for hours on this topic, debating on all aspects of it. At the end, I am still confused.

On one hand, we have a man of impeccable character, and a track record of selfless public service. On the other hand, his latest speech where he exhorts the people to join the movement, almost sounds like blackmail to me. I mean...words with meanings like "I will not give up my fast till all our demands are met by the Government" and "If my life is lost in this endeavor, then I will be a happy man, as this life would have gone for the country" made my hair stand on end. I was worried...worried about the precedent that is being set for the future.

Well..I am not a supporter or admirer of this Government, and especially not of politicians...All the scams and large scale corruption that we have seen in our country from time to time, are more than enough to disgust most of us. I do not question Anna's intentions here...they are admirable and worthy of being followed and supported. He has an almost childlike innocence and a mind full of patriotism and love for his fellow countrymen. Nobody can question that,...and neither am I.

However, is Civil Disobedience and Hunger Strikes the way to put forward demands...albeit just.. to the Government. I am aware that this bill was ignored for decades altogether by politicians of different hues and colours and that this mass movement is essentially an outbreak of pent up frustration of social workers like Anna and common people like us. There is also the point that this movement is not violent (at least, not yet). However, does that change the underlying point that it is still blackmail and holding of the Government at ransom (albeit for good intentions).

Guys...fast unto death IS blackmail. I see a similarity here between organizations with people who hold a gun to your head and asks you to do something, or else! The only difference being that, in this case, the threat is to commit suicide, instead of killing. Our constitution provides a right to life...not a right to death. So, suicides are illegal in our country. Am concerned at this precedent of arm twisting that is being re-introduced into our politics in a big way with this movement.

Don't my words mean that I support the Government and corruption? NO, I most certainly DO NOT.
Does my confusion and fence sitting, and absence of a demonstration of support for Anna, mean that I don't want this mess cleaned up? NO. It's very wrong for people to imagine that Anna's way is the only way to serve our nation and that people who do not join his movement are not patriotic. I certainly want our India to be corruption free and rid of all our problems (including illiteracy, unemployment, social inequality, gender inequality, female infanticide, vote banks based on language/region/religion/caste, reservations in higher education and a plethora of other social problems) and getting rid of corruption and red-tape-ism might be the first step in that direction. However, the end doesn't always justify the means, and I am not convinced about this means being the right one. Let me try to explain why.

In a country where we can elect and change Governments (and have done so in the past), this way of protest and these arm twisting tactics look unconstitutional to me. See...this Government was ELECTED by us...by you and me and all the people of our country. If we didn't vote, and stayed away from the elections, then we made a choice then and there to not be bothered with the outcome of the elections, and that decision doesn't make us have a lesser stake at playing our part in electing corrupt Governments to rule us. We have also played a very important part in stoking up this fire of corruption by indulging in it at every twist and turn, in small ways. Be it a small 100 rupee handshake with the Ticket Collector who fixes up an RAC ticket for you and your family when you have to travel suddenly, or a chai paani offer to the traffic policeman who stopped you for entering a one way road, or the "fees" that we pay the policemen for passport clearance. I'm not saying that we do not have a right to get rid of it...all I'm saying is that this mess is not as simplistic as a struggle between the people on one side and the Government on the other. It is way more complicated than that now and Jan Lokpal or any other institution would not have a magic wand to cure this deeply ingrained social attitude and menace that corruption has become today. The solution is going to be painful and is gonna take time. We will have to have a social change... vote...vote right...use the power of our votes to demand good governance and clean governance from the people on the chair. Did I hear somebody say that it is not easy....Well dude, if we keep throwing dirt and never bother to clean for 65 long years, then is cleaning up our mess going to be an easy task?

Like I said, the precedent of arm twisting scares me. It scared me during my school days too when I read about Mahatma Gandhi going on fasts to make the Congress command take decisions that he wanted them to, and to settle differences at critical points in history (like the Poona talks). I mean,...he is a Mahatma and a great man, but wasn't this blackmail, and a "My way or no way" approach to solving problems? I'm nobody to question his greatness, and this nation has showered him with the title of Mahatma, which I wouldn't dare to sully. In my view, he was a great and admirable person, but who had a few flaws nonetheless (like all of us humans have). These flaws do not reduce his greatness,..they just add a human touch to it. But, if people pretend that he has no flaws and that whatever he did was completely and unconditionally correct, then I humbly disagree with such people, and would point out that we are both admirers of this person, but I can see his human faults and am at ease with them and am perfectly entitled to have my own opinion. I do not agree with some of his methods...one of them being the use of hunger strikes as a political weapon. If Anna Hazareji's example is emulated by people as a tool for getting the Government (initially,..and then other institutions and people) to satisfy their demands, then we begin a slow descend into anarchy. This is because, not everybody who will protest in the future, will have such high moral and ethical standards as Anna. I foresee a situation where a group A sits on a indefinite fast demanding some XYZ thing, and the Government capitulates to their demands...which would lead Group B to start an indefinite hunger strike demanding exactly the opposite thing. Is the Government then supposed to get these groups to have strikes concurrently and then wait for the first suicide to happen?

Using hunger strikes, civil disobedience and non co-operation as a political tool is justified when the Governance is imposed on you and there is no means or methods available for the public to participate in or provide suggestions for the same, or no way for a person to stand for elections and participate in Governing the country, once elected. As far as I can see, none of these are true for our country today. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's speech on the floor of our Parliament title "The Grammar of Anarchy" is a must read. The complete discussion can be found at the following link ( http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol11p11.htm ). The following is a small extract from the highly wise and sensible points put forth by Dr. Ambdekar during the discussion.

" It is not that India did not know what is Democracy. There was a time when India was studded with republics, and even where there were monarchies, they were either elected or limited. They were never absolute. It is not that India did not know Parliaments or Parliamentary Procedure. A study of the Buddhist Bhikshu Sanghas discloses that not only there were Parliaments-for the Sanghas were nothing but Parliaments – but the Sanghas knew and observed all the rules of Parliamentary Procedure known to modern times. They had rules regarding seating arrangements, rules regarding Motions, Resolutions, Quorum, Whip, Counting of Votes, Voting by Ballot, Censure Motion, Regularization, Res Judicata, etc. Although these rules of Parliamentary Procedure were applied by the Buddha to the meetings of the Sanghas, he must have borrowed them from the rules of the Political Assemblies functioning in the country in his time.

This democratic system India lost. Will she lost it a second time? I do not know. But it is quite possible in a country like India – where democracy from its long disuse must be regarded as something quite new – there is danger of democracy giving place to dictatorship. It is quite possible for this new born democracy to retain its form but give place to dictatorship in fact. If there is a landslide, the danger of the second possibility becoming actuality is much greater.

If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us.

The second thing we must do is to observe the caution which John Stuart Mill has given to all who are interested in the maintenance of democracy, namely, not "to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or to trust him with power which enable him to subvert their institutions". There is nothing wrong in being grateful to great men who have rendered life-long services to the country. But there are limits to gratefulness. As has been well said by the Irish Patriot Daniel O'Connel, no man can be grateful at the cost of his honour, no woman can be grateful at the cost of her chastity and no nation can be grateful at the cost of its liberty. This caution is far more necessary in the case of India than in the case of any other country. For in India, Bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship, plays a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship." ---Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

How can there be an easy answer to a mess that we have created and have been piling on for 65 years (or more, as the culture of corruption dates from before our independence from the British). I'm sorry if I don't feel convinced that Jan Lokpal or any other quick solutions will ever succeed to cure this malady that is so deeply ingrained in us, right from our grassroots. However, that is not a reason to dismiss the movement completely and there are some very noteworthy merits, which cannot be ignored. People have been mobilized and have become much more aware of things and issues, which is a very good start. This can (and I sure do hope that it does) lead to a ripple effect where we (myself included) play our part to reduce the instances of grassroots corruption happening in the country. Another big impact might be the scare that it may have put the current Government (and hence all the politicians) into. If correctly channeled, this fear might be a deterrent which can save crores of dollars of our hard earned tax money from falling into and being used by the wrong hands. This money thus saved, can in turn be used to cure our myriad problems and one day, make our country a superpower in the true sense of the term. However, we need to ensure that the momentum is not lost once these demands (or a subset of them) are met.

That said and acknowledged, I still believe that this is a dangerous precedent that we have set for our country's future.

Kanakadasa and the Lord of Udipi

2011-08-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

Kanaka Dasaru is a well known saint in the Dvaita tradition of Madhvacharya. He along with Purandaradasa, are among the most famous saints of the Dasakoota (or Haridasa) parampara which flourished in the land of Karnataka in the medieval period. The songs composed by the Haridasas and their stories are an integral part of the Bhakti tradition of South India, of the music of South India (known as Carnatic music) and of the Dakshin Sampradaya tradition (which was put together in its present form by three saints from the banks of the Kaveri - Marudhanallur Swamigal, Sridhara Ayyaval and Bodhendra Swamigal). The Padagalu composed by the Haridasas are full of devotion, symbolism and deep spirituality. Let's leave discussions about the symbolism of particular padagalus and the Dakshin Sampradaya to a future date, and on this Janmashtami day let's hear a story about Kanakadasa and his beloved Lord Sri Krishna.

Kanakadasa was a contemporary of the great saint Purandaradasa and a shishya of another realized soul Vyasaraaya of Hampi. Originally born in a warrior caste, he was well trained and proficient in the warrior arts. However, during an actual war, even after fighting hard and courageously, he ended up on the losing side and only just about (miraculously) escaped alive. This incident made him disillusioned with the world, worldly belongings and worldly matters. He turned to spirituality and to his beloved Lord Krishna for wisdom and enlightenment. Through the grace of his realized Guru, he scaled great heights of spirituality (as can be seen from his immortal compositions).

Vyasaraaya once adviced Kanakadasa to perform a pilgrimage to the famous Udipi temple which enshrines Lord Krishna in the form of a kid, and to sing his songs to the Lord at this sacred place. Udipi is the karmabhoomi of Madhvacharya, the chief proponent of the Dvaita tradition and philosophy. According to legend, Madhvacharya retrieved the present icon of the Lord from a big lump of sandalwood which was unknowingly present (unknown to the ship crewmen, but sensed through divine vision by the saint) and was being carried in a ship that had set sail from Dwaraka (the ancient kingdom of Krishna) ferrying sandalwood and other materials for sale to a region in the southern part of India. Madhwacharya calmed a storm that had risen near the coast of Udipi, and saved this ship from destruction. In payment, he asked for this particular lump of sandalwood, out of which came forth the beautiful idol that has been enshrined in the Udipi Sri Krishna temple today.

The head of the Udipi mutt was aware of Vyasaraaya's and Kanakadasa's devotion. On Kanakadasa's arrival at the mutt, he immediately made arrangements for Kanakadasa's stay in a hut outside the western perimeter of the main temple. The next day, Kanakadasa went for a darshan of the Lord at Udipi. The casteist brahmin priests and attendants did not allow him to enter the main temple, and spoke abusive words to Kanakadasa and turned him back. A dejected and sad Kanakadasa returned to his hut. He took his tamburi and went outside his hut, and started singing his songs in praise of the Lord Sri Krishna.

He was completely immersed in and lost in singing about the grace of the Lord, and in pleading with the Lord to shower His mercy and grace on him, and bless him with a vision of His beautiful face. Being His Dasa, he did not ask for any worldly wealth and did not care for it. All he wanted was just a darshan of the Lord. Suddenly there was an earthquake. The western outer wall crumbled, and a few slabs of stone in the inner wall of the sanctum sanctorum cracked open. The idol of Sri Krishna which was originally facing east, turned around and faced Kanakadasa, who was sitting on the western side of the temple.

With tears streaming down his face, Kanakdasa beheld the idol of his Lord Sri Krishna, seemingly beaming at him. The brahmins who had denied entry to this great devotee came and fell at his feet and asked for his forgiveness. Lord Krishna had spoken and demonstrated through this episode that devotion alone is supreme.

Even today, the idol at the Sri Krishna temple faces west. The crack that appeared on the wall of the sanctum sanctorum has been replaced with a window. Devotees who visit this temple, behold the beautiful image of the Lord through this window. The place where Kanakadasa sat and sang his beautiful songs in praise of the Lord, is covered with a grand gopuram today, and offers a direct view of the Lord's idol inside the sanctum. Devotees visit this place in memory of this great saint and witness the icon of the Lord Sri Krishna, who had turned around, away from the priests blinded by man man made distinctions of caste, and showed His beautiful image to His dear devotee who had nothing but pure unadulterated love and devotion for Him.

Foodie Special Weekend

2011-08-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

My Inner foodie and chef rise again. Have had a foodie week and a super special foodie weekend this time. Priyanka's post (http://priyankavictor.blogspot.com/2011/08/ultimate-pet-pooja.html) was definitely an inspiration for this weekend and this blog post.

Monday (15th August) saw me cooking dal chawal at home. Twist in the story was that this time it was a mixture of seven different lentils that was used to prepare dal and it got a generous dosage of onions, garlic and green chillies deep fried in a bit of sunflower oil. Tuesday night was spent relishing Chana and Rajma combined and cooked in chana masala style; and served with paranthas. The chana masala was prepared from scratch, and the paranthas were the heat and eat kinds. Gave up trying to make rotis/paranthas sometime back...as it takes a bit too much time and effort to get it right while preparing from scratch, and there are easier and as tasty options available in our local supermarkets.

Wednesday was a Pizza night. Moga's Pizza serves some pretty good pizza, and deliver quickly. Our order reached home in just around 20 minutes after placing the order, and the pizza was smoking hot and smelled delicious when we opened the box. Jalapenos, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, hot peppers, and cheese - feta and parmesan made this meal an absolute delight.

Thursday was time for more experiments. This time, I dabbled with Italian cuisine customized to our tastes. Pasta (the smaller shell shaped kind) boiled with salt was served with freshly prepared Garlic and Tomato sauce with small pieces of potato half fried and half boiled, and peas, carrots, beans and corn (boiled). There was also a dash of hot pepper, green chillies, coconuts and just a wee bit salsa. It came out well (although a tad bit spicier than expected). Am gonna try to re-create it again in a couple of weeks. Was thinking of starting to write down recipes for those of my experiments (people who know me well, know how much I love to cook, and to experiment and create fusion recipes in the kitchen) that come out good. Would keep you updated for sure :-).

Friday evening and the weekend arrived. One of my friends from back home in India (who was on a short business trip here), joined me and my roomie for this weekend. We got to sample three great restaurants and experience nirvana of the taste buds...thrice in three days, with different kinds of food. Must say, it's not always easy to find restaurants with good desi vegetarian food in this part of the world. However, the GTA and especially Brampton - Mississauga with it's huge Desi community is an exception, and there are many desi restaurants out here, and what's more they are really really good.

Friday night was spent munching on a sumptuous vegetarian buffet at Brar's restaurant @ Brampton. Eating here is like having a dinner at a big fat North Indian wedding. Right from aloo chat, panipuri, dahi bhallas, sev puri, bhel, malai paneer, samosas, pav bhaaji, and spring rolls as starters; to a lip smacking variety of sabjis - palak paneer, matar paneer, aloo gobi, mix veg, chole, kadhi pakora, dal makhni, shahi paneer, veg kofta and dum aloo to accompany naans and rotis on their way down your throat, it definitely lived up to the hype I had created (in front of my friend) about the restaurant. The regulars (or even those who have been here atleast once before) would never take the risk of filling up on the main fare, or the starters, as the desserts here are indeed among the most awesome ones you would have tasted. Angoori Rabdi and fruit custard share space with gulab jamuns, kheer, gajar ka halwa, sooji ka halwa, different pastries, and a variety of ice creams. At the end, you are so full that you can hardly move, but still want to taste/eat just a bit more. If there is a special occasion, then Brar's is one of the best places to visit for a meal to remember.

Saturday afternoon set the tone for South Indian food. Gurulakshmi is a joint in Mississauga that has got critical reviews and is acclaimed by many as the best Dosa maker in the GTA. This restuarant has had favorable reviews in the Toronto Star. It's owned by a family, who operate the kitchen and cook every dish that is served in their restaurant. Once, the family had to go to India to attend a marriage, and they preferred to close down the restaurant for a whole month, rather than to compromise and hire cooks from outside to run the restaurant during their absence. They have some pretty innovative dosas. Ever heard of spring onion masala dosas, mushroom masala dosa or gongura chutney masala dosa? There are close to 50 such innovative varieties of dosas on their menu, and they keep adding new varieties every month or so. It sure did live up to it's hype, and we came back totally satisfied and happy with the food, even though it was a pretty long drive to the restaurant and back.

Sunday afternoon, was time for a traditional brunch buffet at Saravana Bhavan. The brunch buffet includes breakfast items as well as lunch items. So, idlis (or mini idlis, to be more precise), medhu vadas, freshly made dosas, upma, coriander, tomato and coconut chutneys share space with sambar, vatral kozhambu, rasam, bisibele batth, kootu, poriyal, kadala (chana) curry, potato bhaaji, tamarind rice, steamed rice, hot puris, rava kesari and gulab jamun (which is not really a south Indian sweet dish, but is probably in the buffet because of localization, as most of the customers are North Indian). The food is clean and tasty and fills you with a satisfaction similar to that which we feel on eating good, home cooked fare, and which cannot really be expressed, but has surely been experienced by all of us while having mom's home cooked delicacies.

Versatile Blogger Awards :-D.

2011-08-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks Gowthami for my first ever award.
I really don't know if I deserve it but this (my first) award will always be special to me :-).

I must have done something right, in order to win an award... right :-). Now, if this can't get me over my writer's block and back to blogging regularly, then I don't know what will.

As per the rules mentioned by Gowthami, it seems I have to share some facts about me, and pass on the award to my favourite bloggers. So here goes:

Fact 1: When I am in my elements, am a total cooking freak.
I mix and mash stuff as I feel and have created lots of fusion recipes in the recent past, and rarely (if ever) the dish that I start cooking remains the same dish when I am done with it. More often than not, it would change into something completely new. However, it usually turns out to be ok, and sometimes really good. My roommate can testify to that,...and yes he is still very much alive and healthy even after being the unwilling(?) guinea pig for my experiments in the kitchen since more than a year now.
However, I cannot cook to a script (including following recipes word for word as mentioned in cookbooks), or under time pressure, or even cook exactly what has been demanded (even the dish). Am a bit touchy that way.

Fact 2: Am totally nuts about nuts, and love chocolates and ice creams (especially when they contain nuts in them)

Fact 3: You won't normally find my room clean or organized. Am the opposite of Monica (from Friends) when it comes to this :-D.

Time to share the award with my favourite bloggers now. This includes people I have had the good fotune to get to know personally, and people who (through their blog posts) have become such an important part of my life (or at least my time spent online), even though we haven't met. I am discovering new, really good and interesting blogs (and people) almost every other week. So, this list is just a measure of some of the people whom I am a big big fan of, at this point in time, and is not in any order.

I would like to share my award with:
Sahana, Niks, Red, Priyanka, Sudhamshu, Laksh, Ramya, Murali, Shrek and Ashu

Of course, the above 10 winners are in addition to Gowthami, who already has the award (and who gave it to me in the first place). Didn't name her in the list, because I am not sure if it is polite to return an award that is given to you, back to the same person. But, nonetheless your blog is one of my favourites too :-).

All of you really deserve the award. Please do continue to blog and keep writing good stuff :-).

The homecoming...

2011-08-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

Sitting alone, on the porch of her parents' home, Cathy gazed at the shimmering full moon throwing its bright light over the countryside, its full glory reflected in the lake below. There seemed to be two moons in the horizon tonight...one above, and an equally bright one below. She sighed. Gazing at the moon had always helped her think more clearly and reflect on everything. The moon was her confidante. She could tell him all that troubled her, and he would always listen calmly and patiently. She looked up, and the moon seemed to be smiling at her.

It had been some time since had last been at her parents'. The hustle and bustle of the city life had made her lose track and direction of a lot of things. Working late hours during the week, and socializing (read partying) during the weekends had made time fly like crazy. She loved this place and the memories it brought back....but days and years had passed in quick succession before she could realize how much time had passed since she had moved from her folks' place to the big city.

She walked in...the house was exactly as she had always remembered it...
Her dad on the sofa...reading. Mom listening to soft music and painting beautiful flower patterns on cups...She walked to her mom and told her how much she loved her and how sorry she was for having screamed at her earlier that day. Something was not right though...mom ignored her completely and continued with her work. That was so totally unlike her...Cathy apologized again, but to no avail. Cathywent to her dad, and apologized to him too, and asked him to talk to mom to forgive her and to speak to her again. He ignored her completely too, and acted as if she wasn't even standing in front of him.

Just then, the phone rang. Her dad walked slowly to the phone and spoke something...he seemed shell shocked. Her mom ran to him and asked him what was the matter. Cathy ran to him too and could see his face numb with grief. He looked at Cathy's mom: "Cathy...car accident...our little girl...she's gone!!!".

Cathy's memories of the day suddenly flashed in front of her eyes. The heated argument on the phone with mom... the high pitched yelling at each other...a frustrating day at work...bad traffic on the way back home...a few too many vodka shots...a heated row with Greg (her boyfriend)...crazy shouting and yelling at each other...slamming of the door...her car in full speed...blinding lights...and a mighty big crash. Within seconds....she was here...back at the place where everything had started, where she had grown up and felt the most happy she ever had in life...with the people who loved her and missed her so much.

It was time to move on...Cathy looked at the shocked old people standing in front of her and not being able to see or feel her presence, and said softly to them "I love you Mom and Dad".

A sage's trial

2011-08-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

Swami Vilwamangalam is a well known saint in the southern parts of India and especially in the land of Kerala. He was a devotee of Lord Krishna, but is equally well known in legends related to the Mother Goddess and to Lord Shiva. There are many stories about him which have become a part of folklore and kshetra/sthala puranams (religious stories related to famous/sacred sites) which have turned him into a sort of a legend. His stories are part of the tradition of the land of Kerala, and it is not uncommon for mothers to use them as bedtime stories while tucking in their little ones. My mom too, used to do it for me, when I was a kid (although she isn't from Kerala...stories of Keralite saints and temples figured prominently in the stories that I have heard as a kid...guess it was her way of making sure that my dad's culture/background is covered and imbibed into me too), and I have every intention of continuing with this tradition, at least with my kids, whenever they happen. Let's hear one such beautiful story today, that I first heard when I was a small kid, and which I am remembering for some reason today.

Saint Vilwamangalam used to live in a small ashrama some distance away from a village. He and his Lord Krishna had a special relationship. Every day, during some random hour, Krishna would appear as a small kid in Vilwamangalam's ashrama and play with him. Naughty kid that Krishna was, his pastimes and plays were not bereft of naughtiness either. When the swami would have just finished sweeping/cleaning his courtyard, the child Krishna would come running with muddy feet and leave his footsteps all over the ashrama. When the Swami would open a door, Krishna would jump out from behind the door and make a funny mock-scary noise (just like kids do to scare/tease us in a playful mood). When the Swami would pray at the Lord's altar, Krishna would climb on to his shoulders with a toy sword and start playing and giggling from that position (pretending that He was a warrior, and the sage His horse). When the Swami was busy writing his notes, or reading from the Srimad Bhagvatham, Krishna would come and fall asleep on his lap... So, the days passed, and the Swami lived in bliss with the Lord having chosen to bless him with such divine joy that even Devaki and Vasudeva were not fortunate to have enjoyed firsthand (that fortune having been given to Yashoda and Nandadeva - Krishna's adoptive parents).

One day, the Swami prepared milk payasam (a south Indian delicacy similar to the north Indian 'kheer') and other delicacies for a special pooja dedicated to Lord Krishna, and went out into the front yard to fetch flowers and tulsi leaves for the pooja. When the Swami came back into the room with the material needed for performing the pooja, he beheld the child Krishna, face full of enjoyment, eating the payasam hungrily and relishing the taste of the sweets. The Swami was peeved and a bit crossed. He scolded the child and told him that these sweets were to be offered to the Lord's icon first, and only after that, to be eaten. The kid that he should not have consumed these sweets like this. The child Krishna asked him "Aren't these sweets for me?". The swami said "Yes, but they were to be offered in the pooja first, and only then to be eaten as prasad.". Krishna then said: "If you think that the idol is the real Krishna, then so be it. If you want to see me in that form, then I would not come to this ashram to see you in this form anymore. Goodbye" and disappeared from that place.

The Swami was heartbroken and full of anguish. His eyes flooded with tears of sorrow and remorse. He realized his folly and close mindedness. Idols/icons are symbols used to represent the Lord and not the Lord himself. What he had was much much more than what most of the greatest of realized souls had been blessed with, and he had lost all that due to his ignorance. His eyes looked for the familiar face of the child Krishna who used to play with him all these years, inside the idol and he called out to him. The swami now heard a divine voice which said "Come and look for me in Ananthankad" (Ananthankad = forest of Anantha, the divine snake).

Accordingly the sage set out on a search for Ananthankad. He looked far and wide. After a long search, one day he came to the outskirts of a village where a pious lady agreed to let the Swami rest on her house's porch for the night. Around sundown, he heard the lady scolding her child, and saying (in a blackmailing tone) that if he didn't eat his food and go to sleep soon, then some animal from Ananthankad will come and disturb them. The sage was ecstatic...he had found the place at last. He ran deep into the forest guided by his instinct, and beheld a wooden icon of the Lord in the form of Anantha-Padmanabha. He stood with folded hands and offered his respects to the Lord. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice...a voice of a child giggling with glee. The sage opened his eyes and looked all around him searching for the familiar face...unsuccessfully. More ecstatic giggling. The sage looked up (As the giggling seemed to be coming from a tree somewhere above him) and is blessed with the divine sight of Aalila Kannan (Krishna on a leaf) for a few moments.

The incident was reported to the local ruler, who erected a shrine at this place. Swami Vilvamangalam settled here and spent a majority of the reminder of his days at this pious place. Anathankad is known today as Thiruvananthapuram (Thiru - sacred, Anantha - one of the seven sacred snakes mentioned in Hindu religious texts and who is a devotee of Lord Vishnu, Puram - city). The famous Padmanabha shrine of Thiruvanathapuram stands at this very place where Saint Vilwamangalam was blessed with visions of the Lord as Padmanabha and as Aalila Kannan, after having been taught a very important lesson that the icon is a means of being able to visualize the Lord and communicate with Him, but that the Lord is not contained in the icon; and that He is everywhere and that nature and all of creation is verily an embodiment of Him.

Hiss, but do not sting.

2011-07-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

Karna-parampara or the tradition of passing down beliefs and wisdom from one generation to another through the medium of encapsulated stories is a vibrant tradition that has survived the test of time in the ancient land of India. Parents, grandparents and other elder relatives would, through this innocuous medium of stories entertain and stimulate young minds...minds which retain these stories in their memories, and gain great knowledge and strength from them during a later stage in their lives. Let's go through one such story today, which is quite famous and popular.

It is said that the ancient sages were able to talk to and calm animals during the old days. One such sage happened to pass through a village. He came to know that a dangerous snake had taken shelter under a tree on the outskirts of the village, which was close to the main road that led to the next village. This snake was immensely venomous and would attack, sting and kill anybody who ventured on that road. Moreover, this tree was also quite close to the place where the village kids played, and the presence of this dangerous snake so close to them frightened the elders no end.

The sage was moved by their plight, and he went to see the snake. The snake felt calm and at peace on seeing the sage and came outside it's hole to offer it's respects to the sage. The sage advised the snake about ahimsa - non violence and initiated it in the techniques to reach and enjoy inner bliss. Blessing the (now) reformed snake, the sage moved on. The snake was greatly moved by the discourse, and gave up its' hitherto violent ways and tried to live a righteous life, as far as it could and to avoid harming other animals, as far as possible. It no longer attacked humans or other large animals, and it was not long before the villagers noticed this transformation and lost all fear of the snake. Where earlier, they would try and run away from it, they now reveled in torturing the poor snake. If they saw the snake out in the open, then they would now wound it with stones or by throwing pieces of wood at it.

The poor snake bore all these difficulties as best as he could, silently calling out to his Guru, the sage who instructed him in the path of righteousness, for advice. After a few months, the sage was on his way back through those parts and he came to see his disciple. On arrival, he was sorry to see the snake struggling to move. Some kids had beaten up the snake and left him for dead. This seemed to have become their sport now.

The snake was overjoyed to see his Guru and narrated to him all that had happened in his absence and asked for his advice. The sage said: "I told you not to kill people. However, I never told you not to hiss. It is not wrong to protect yourself from mischief. Hiss, but do not sting. Defend yourself when necessary, but do not kill." The snake understood and followed this advice. It left the travelers on the village road and the kids playing on the playground alone, as long as they didn't approach him. However, if they came too close, then the snake would lift up its' head and hiss loudly. This was enough to remind the villagers of the terrible power of the snake, and they would head back, as quick as they could, leaving the sagely old snake, alone.

In this world, we need to sometimes portray a tough exterior, lest saintliness get mistaken for weakness; or compassion/forgiveness get mistaken for cowardliness.

Body and Soul

2011-06-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

The Bhakti tradition originated in South India with the Shaivite Nayanmars and Vaishnavite Alwars from the 5th century CE onwards and spread to every corner of India over the next 10 centuries. This tradition saw one its peaks in the land of Maharashtra, where the saint poets of the Varkari tradition scaled new heights in spirituality and philosophy in Marathi - the language of the masses, and exposed the common man to highly spiritual and philosophical concepts that were hitherto not so easily available to him. The chief architects of the Varkari tradition are the saints Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram. Saint Nivvrutinath, Sopandev, Muktabai, Janabai, Chokamela, Bahinabai, Samartha Ramadas and many other saints have contributed and enriched this illustrious tradition. There are 27 main saints in this tradition who have composed a wealth of devotional and spiritual literature, most of it in Marathi.Their poems are called "Abhanga" (which means that which is immortal / cannot be destroyed). Devotional poems composed by other saints are called "Bhakti geet". The word "Abhanga" is reserved specifically to refer to these immortal poems of exquisite beauty authored by these realized souls.

Saint Eknath belonged to this illustrious like of saints from the Varkari tradition. He lived during turbulent times in the 15th century when Maharashtra was under non-Marathi Islamic rule. The Marathi lands were divided between different vassals of the Mughal empire, the Nizam of Hyderabad and a number of Shahs. Wars, famine and widespread poverty were common. Saint Eknath, alongwith his peers, has played a pivotal role during this turbulent period in keeping the Bhakti tradition alive. One of his main works was to standardize and popularize the immortal work 'Dnyaneshwari' or 'Bhavartha Deepika' which was composed by Saint Dnyaneshwar a couple of centuries ago, but which was since then lost in obscurity. Apart from this, he has also composed many poems and literature of exquisite beauty with subtle hidden messages and symbolism in it. Let's look at one of his abhangas today in which Saint Eknath explains some deep philosophical concepts in simple language with some not-so-subtle hints at the true message of his words. We will read the lyrics in Marathi, followed by a transliteration and an attempt to translate the gist of the meaning along with some observations / comments. I would request the reader to forgive any mistakes / lacunae which might have crept in due to my lack of knowledge and understanding, but do point them out so that I can learn and improve with your help and advice.

काया ही पंढरी, आत्मा हा विठ्ठल

नांदतो केवळ पांडुरंग

kAyA hE panDhari, AatmA hA viTThala

nandHaTho kevaL pAndurang

Literally: "This body is Pandharpur (a holy city in Maharashtra famous for its Vitthala temple). The soul within is Vitthala. Only the Lord Panduranga lives within". Vitthala / Panduranga is a form of Lord Krishna whose worship is quite popular in Maharashtra and the south Indian states. The Lord is believed to have assumed this form for one of his devotees - 'Bhakta Pundalik'. Tradition says that Lord Krishna went to Pundalik's house in order to bless his devotee. However, Pundalik was busy serving his aged parents, seeing which delighted the Lord very much. On Pundalik's request, the Lord readily agreed to wait for Pundalik to finish massaging his parents' feet. The Lord assumed the form of Viththala i.e. one who is standing on a brick (vit in Marathi), with his hands placed on the hips (a posture which we would typically take when we are waiting for someone or for something to happen, if we are standing), waiting for his beloved devotee to show up.

This verse is a not so subtle message that the Lord lives within our body and that our body is a temple. It's a reiteration of the eternal mahavakyas from the Vedas. There are four verses traditionally known as mahavakyas - one from each Veda, meditation on which leads to great knowledge and realization. Explanation and detailed study of each of these verses can be an article, or indeed a whole book in itself. But, for now, let's satisfy ourselves, with an attempt to explain the gist in a single sentence. "Prajnanam Brahma" is the mahavakya from Rigveda, and it tells us that knowledge of the Brahman or the Paramatma is the true and ultimate knowledge. "Aham Brahmasmi" is the mahavakya from the Yajur Veda, and it tells us that the individual is not the body, but the soul within the body, and this soul is in turn a part of Brahman or the Paramatma. "Tat Tvam Asi" from the Sama Veda drives this realization deeper and identifies us verily with the Lord, and makes us realize that the Lord lives within us. "Ayam Atma Brahma", the mahavakya from the Atharva Veda goes one step further and explicitly states that the individual soul and the divine soul (or the jeevatma and paramatma) are one and the same (or belong together). These verses are not to be taken literally, but meditated upon for deeper insight. What is amazing is that these mahavakyas (and indeed the four Vedas) are held sacred by people following different spiritual paths in the Hindu tradition. People following Dvaita, Advaita, Shuddadvaita, Vishistadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and other paths of spirituality all meditate on these deep, sacred mahavakyas and see the great cosmic truth unfold and realization set in.

The pioneering work in bringing the scriptures to the common man in the Marathi lands was done by Saint Dnyaneshwar. Saint Eknath carried on this flag and added his own distinctive style to it. What is amazing in this simple verse from Eknath Swami is that he has, through a simple metaphor exposed the common man to deep concepts that had been enshrined in the Vedas for many centuries, but which were not easily available to the masses. He used the example of Vitthala, the most popular deity in the Varkari tradition to drive home this point so that his followers realized the divinity within, while at the same time their devotional fervor increased, by concentrating on this beautiful form (Vitthala) of the Lord.

भाव भक्ती भीमा, उदक ते वाहे

बरवा शोभतहे पांडुरंग

BhAv BhakTi BhEema, uDhak tE vAhe

baRva SHoBhaTh hE pAndurang

Literally: "My thoughts and devotion flow incessantly like the Bheema river (The temple at Pandharpur is on the banks of the Bheema or Chandrabaaga river). They are forever lost in thoughts of glory of the Lord". Comparison of the thoughts to a river is very apt, as our thoughts can never be held back, and they keep running from one place or situation to another, with a speed that is unmatched by anything. Comparing this train of thoughts to the holy river flowing through Pandharpur takes the metaphor expressed in verse 1 (of the body being Pandharpur, and the deity Vitthala enshrined in the soul) one step further.

दया क्षमा शांती हेची वाळुवंट

मिळाल्याचे ताट वैष्णवांचा

dayA kSHamA ShAnTi hEcHi vALuvant

miLalyachE THat vAiSHnavAnchA

Literally: "Mercy or compassion, forgiveness and peace of mind are akin to a sandy beach on which thousands of Vaishnavas have gathered together and are singing praises of the glory of the Lord". With these words, Eknath Swami continues adding more details to his metaphor. Sattvic qualities are now being compared to groups of devotees singing devotional songs/keertans in praise of the Lord on the sandy beach which is on the banks of the river Bheema (represented by the train of thoughts) that is flowing in Pandharpur (represented by our body).

ज्ञान ध्यान पूजा विवेक आनंद

हाची वेणुनाद शोभतसे

NYAn DhYAn pUjA viVEk AnanD

hAcHi vEnuNAdh sHoBhatH asE

Literally: "Knowledge (of the above concepts, and hence of our true self), meditation (which helps us to reach ultimate realization), prayers, realization and the resulting ultimate bliss (Sat Chid Ananda) in the heart, are akin to hearing the music of the divine flute that was played by Lord Krishna on the banks of the Yamuna river". Divine music from Lord Krishna's flute, the ecstasy of the gopis in Gokul on hearing the same and their actions hereafter signify the destruction of ego, pride, and the lower gunas and of identification of ourselves with the supreme soul. Through deep meditation and prayers will arise knowledge, which would result in realization of the divinity with ourselves. This realization will finally lead us to the state of Satchidananda or eternal bliss.

दश इंद्रियांचा एकमेळा केला

ऐसा गोपळकाला होत असे

daSh iNDriyAncha eKmeLa kElA

aisA gOpaLkala hOth asE

In Yoga and related schools of thought, a human being is seen as having 10 senses or indriyas. These are composed of 5 cognitive senses or nyanendriyas which are like input ports and 5 active senses or karmendriyas which are like output ports. The cognitive senses are seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. The active senses are grasping, moving, speaking, reproducing and eliminating. Literally, Eknath swami says that "he has collected together all his actions through these senses and dedicated them to the Lord". This is a reiteration, or rather a simplification of the following lines from the Vishnu Sahasranaama, which are also popularly used in before completing any prayers: "Kayena vacha manasendriyairva Buddhyatmana va prakrite Svabhavat Karomi yadyad sakalam parasmai Narayana yeti samarpayami". This verse means that whatever activities have been done by me with my body, actions, mind, indriyaas, brain, soul, condition or behaviour, I submit all of them to the Lord (identified as Narayana here). The realization that every activity is potentially holy and is a service to the Lord is intended to serve as a reminder and a catalyst to inspire the devotee to strive towards becoming a better human being and to do good acts.

देखली पंढरी देही जणी वनी

एका जनार्धनी वारी करी.

dEkhlI paNDharI dEhI jaNI vanI

eKA janArDhanI vaRI kaRI

Literally: "I have seen Pandharpur in my body, and in the people and places around me. The real pilgrimage/search for the Lord thus lies within us". The whole world is holy, as everyone and every place is potentially holy. God is not limited by a statue or an idol, or by the four walls covering His temple. The idol is something to represent the eternal Lord, and the temple is a structure to house this holy icon which represents the Lord. Vari is an annual feature at Pandharpur where groups of devotees from every corner of Maharashtra, and some from as far as Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu undertake padayatra (i..e they walk on foot) to Pandharpur such that they will reach the holy place on or just before the holy day of Ashadi Ekadashi. Some groups, especially the ones coming from far flung villages have to march for months on end, but they are all motivated by a desire to observe this sacred pilgrimage and learn deep spiritual lessons in the process. Eknath Swami encourages the devotee to meditate on the deep concepts which he has explained through simple metaphors and realize that the true pilgrimage (or vari) lies within.

Jay Jay Pundalik Varadhe....Hari Vitthale.

A hug in time solves everything

2011-06-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

My cute little niece was angry at her uncle. She totally refused to talk to me, and was furious for some reason. I gave up after some time, and got busy doing something else. For some reason, this made her even more furious and she sounded split between anger and tears as she demanded an answer from me - "Why are you not talking to me, mama?". I am like.. "well, you are 'cuttee' (which is a childish way of saying that someone is angry with another person) with me and not talking to me. What can I do?" She touched her forehead in exasperation (as if I was not getting something very simple and obvious) and said something very amazing: "Arre baba....cuttee yedutha kattti pidikhyanam" ...(meaning: If I take a cuttee with you, just hug me and it will solve everything)...gave me a cute big smile and jumped into my arms.

A tight bear hug later, I was totally humbled and amazed by this episode. I remember telling my sister and everybody who listened about this. Children do seem to know how to keep things simple. Why do we complicate things unnecessarily when we grow up? Why can't we just show people our affection when it matters the most and assure them that whatever happened can and will be solved and that what really matters is our love and affection for each other. I guess this might not apply to all our relationship problems, but it probably does for many of them. A hug, or maybe not even the physical act but just reaching out with a few words of love or solidarity or kindness or open-mindedness at the correct time might make a huge huge difference, and might be the difference between cracked relationships and broken families and between the relations that persist and weather the storms that come about in life from time to time, together.

A hug in time solves everything. The actual physical act of hugging might not always be appropriate or possible in all situations. We should take this into consideration (lest we end up getting beaten due to a misunderstanding) and replace the hug with the appropriate amount of display of affection, love, care, empathy or concern. The point is that if emotions like hatred, betrayal, loneliness or anger are left to fester for long in our mind, then they will make a home for themselves in it. Once such emotions have set up a home, its really difficult to fill it again with love and affection. A simple hug, or a few right words said at the right time might prevent such a disaster from unfolding. This was probably something which was obvious to us when we were kids but education, ego and age made us forget. A kid taught me these important life lessons through a simple act and I am so proud of her for that.

This episode happened a couple of years ago when I was at my sister's place, but it is still very fresh in my memory, and brings a smile to my face whenever I remember it. My niece gave me a new perspective into relations and relationships...all with a simple sentence and a hug to drive home the point...it's just amazing.

I was also amazed by her sense of pun (the kiddish hindi word cuttee (used to express anger) was punned with the tamil word kattti ("kattti pidi" means "hug me")). My close friends know how much I love and revel in puns and multiple meanings of words,...and how I use them a lot when I am in a good mood. So, my joy at seeing this same quality in my niece obviously brought a smile to my face.

I dedicate this post to my cute little niece who has taught me so much, even at this tiny age. Living in a different continent on the opposite side of the world seven seas away now, I can't even begin to describe how much I miss you (and everybody back home). Love you so very very much...

My Lord, bestow Your grace...

2011-06-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

I happened to hear an old Tamil prayer from an immortal composition called as the Kandar Anubhooti, which was composed by Saint Arunagirinathar long long back, today...It goes like this:

'Uruvay Aruvay Uladhaay Iladhaay,
Maruvaay Malaray Maniyay Oliyay,
Karuvay Uyiray Gathiyay Vidhiyay,
Guruvay Varuvay Arulvay Guhane'

The meaning is way too deep and way beyond my capacity to completely explain or convey. However, let me try to give a word by word translation and then try to mention some of the ideas and symbolism that it touches on, so that my readers, including the non Tamil ones, can enjoy it too...

Uruvay - As that which has a beautiful form (Saguna)
Aruvay - As that which is formless and infinite (Nirguna)
Uladhaay - As that which is (which exists)
Iladhaay - As that which is not (which does not exist)
Maruvaay - As a bud that is yet to flower
Malaraay - As a beautiful flower
Maniyay - As a divine jewel
Oliyay - As the divine lustre that is inherent in the jewel
Karuvay - As the seed present inside the womb, which hasn't yet started living life on its own
Uyiraay - As life that is present within all living beings
Gathiyaay - As the ultimate goal
Vidhiyay - As the way to the ultimate goal/As fate
Guruvaay - As the enlightened teacher
Varuvaay - Shall you come
Arulvay - and bestoy your grace on me / and bless me
Guhane - Oh Lord (Guha is a name for Lord Kartikeya, one of the forms of divinity in Hindu belief. It means "the one who lives in the cave of my heart". It is also a popular first name, especially in South India.)

Uruvay Aruvay Uladhaay Iladhaay
The Lord is identified as nirguna (without a form) as well as saguna (with a form).This is one of the cornerstones of Hindu belief. In order to try and understand this apparent conflict, let us take an example.
Let's begin with a basic question "Who Am I?". We might say that my name is so-and-so. I was born in so-and-so place to so-and-so people. I speak so-and-so language and follow so-and-so faith. I live in so-and-so country and do so-and-so work. I am so tall and weigh so much and have so-and-so hobbies. I am married to so-and-so person and have these many number of kids. Their names are so-and-so... etc etc.We might go on saying so many things about us for hours at an end...but do they really answer who we are? Are we really this body of flesh and blood, or do we have a body composed of flesh and blood? Are we really 'xyz' or do we have a name 'xyz'? Are we these emotions that arise in us and the activities that we do, or are these additional attributes which describe us? When we think on these lines....its' not really difficult to realize that we really are souls living in a body and the body belongs to us. This soul is nirgun or formless. The body is sagun..i.e. with a form and characteristics. The activities that we perform with this body and the thoughts, emotions, etc all add to the specific characteristics that describe us. So, at the same time we can envisage ourselves to be with a form as well as without a form. The same theory on a much larger and complex scale, describes the Paramatma or the universal soul whom we call God. To get into the specifics of that discussion is beyond my abilities, but definitely calls for an article of its own, if I want to try and do some justice to my attempt. So, lets leave a more detailed discussion on this topic for a future blog post.

Maruvay Malaray Maniyay Oliyay....Karuvay Uyiraay Gathiyaay Vidhiyaay
The Lord is identified as the cause as well as the effect...represented by the bud which grows into the flower and the seed which becomes a person in the womb of a mother. The Lord is mentioned as the lustre within the jewel, as the life within the seed growing in the womb of a mother, and as the flower which rests within the bud and awaits the day when it would bloom and reveal its glory to the world. These are references to a core Advaita belief...that of "Tat-tvam-asi"...of the Brahman or the Paramatma living within us and everybody and being all pervading.
Attaining Moksha...or becoming one with the Lord and escaping the cycle of rebirths is the ultimate aim of life in the Hindu ideal and belief system. Thus, the Lord is the ultimate 'gathi' or goal. The way to attain this goal is through one of 3 ways - Karma (following our duties), Gnyaan (attaining ultimate knowledge and realization), or Bhakti (devotion). Arguably, devotion to the Lord is the easiest of these three ways. Thus the Lord also becomes the way to our ultimate goal.

Guruvay Varuvaay Arulvaay Guhane
The word 'Arul' means much more than just a blessing. There are no simple equivalent word(s) in English to describe this Tamil word. It means something like... to redeem and to make all the troubles facing us to disappear, to bestoy us with grace, happiness, peace and prosperity, and to make us experience the feeling of Satchidananda....ultimate bliss.
Arrive in the form of my teacher oh Lord, and free me from the shackles of ignorance that I find myself tied to. Bless me so that all my troubles and miseries cease to exist and that I may understand Your grace and experience the ultimate bliss in my heart, spirit and soul. Oh Guha, just like you came to the wise but proud saint Avvayar and removed all her flaws and elevated her to supreme glory through your leelas, do bless me too. May I become worthy of being your disciple my Lord. Please enlighten me with Your grace.

The Power of Emotions (Part 3) - Suspicion and Remorse

2011-06-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

This is an old tale that happened once upon a time in a remote corner of India. There was this sage who had a number of divine siddhis (Powers) that he had obtained through arduous meditation.One of them was to see beyond great distances, beyond the obvious and into the unknown. One day, a woman in her 30s came to see him.

She paid her respects to the sage, and started to tell him about the purpose of her visit. "Oh great sage...Many months have passed since the day my husband left these shores with a shipment full of cargo. I have not received any word of his return nor of his well being, My heart worries and am unable to bear this suspense day after day and night after night, with no hint of any remedy in sight. I feel like putting an end to my life, and end this suffering once and for all. You can see into the past, present and future they say...will you not use your powers to help a poor, suffering lady for whom every second is like an eternity in the fires of hell"

The sage looked at her, and decided to help this pious lovelorn woman. He closed his eyes and look into her past...He saw her husband, his ship and crew getting swept away by a current to a new place...he saw him making great progress in the new place, after a few months of hard work and dedication..he also saw him on his way back on a ship with lots of riches and about 3 days distance away from their location. The sage was glad, and shared these happy tidings with the trader's wife.

The lady was overjoyed, and started preparing for the return of her beloved. She got the entire house cleaned and decorated, and the best of sweets and delicacies prepared. She got her hands and feet painted with henna, just like her husband liked, got her hair groomed, dressed herself in her finest clothes and jewelery and was waiting for her husband to walk in at the foretold hour. Her face danced with joy and tears of utmost happiness streamed unabashedly down her cheeks when she saw her husband walking towards their house, and she ran towards him to welcome him back...

As far as the merchant was concerned, this was a surprise. Nobody knew about his coming. He was obviously happy on seeing his wife's happy face. However, a moment later, he observed that she was wearing her finest clothes and jewelery. This unsettled him a bit, as he was absolutely sure that his wife was unaware of his coming. He was absolutely shocked when he saw the decorations around the house, and the rich sweets and delicacies laid out on their table. What was a doubt, was now rapidly becoming a raging suspicion and he started having second thoughts and doubts about his wife. He was fuming with anger and was now absolutely sure that his wife had a 'secret lover', and that he would be present in the house at that very instant, as that is the only possible explanation for the state that house and his wife was in, during his absence. He shouted at her, accused her of unfaithfulness, started casting aspersions on the fidelity and faithfulness of his wife, and started searching the rooms in his house so that he can catch the man and punish these adulterers for this blatant betrayal and two-timing.

His wife was now totally in tears and utterly heartbroken at the way the day was turning out. She told him again and again about the sage with the divine vision who advised her about his arrival and that all these arrangements were made in order to welcome him back. He doubted her every word now. When the search of every nook and corner in the house did not turn anything up, he asked her to take him to the sage so that he can test the sage himself and ascertain the truth in her claims.

Image courtesy: nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The merchant asked the sage to prove his powers to him. The sage, during his younger days, had been warned by his Guru that he should never use his powers vainly. He didn't want to indulge the merchant, but the chastity of a pious lady was in question now. He could not just ignore that...He asked the merchant what did he want to know. The merchant asked the sage..."Please tell me, whether the pregnant cow in our shed, would give birth to a male or female calf". The sage used his divine vision and told the merchant that it is a female calf that would be born.

The merchant and his wife returned back to their house. The relations between them were now strained and the merchant lost his hunger, sleep and peace of mind as he was unable to put his suspicions to rest. He was almost like a madman at times now. One night, in a fit of emotions, he took a sword and cut open the belly of the pregnant mother cow, in order to find the sex of its young one. It was indeed a female calf. Both the mother cow and the underdeveloped fetus struggled to their death. It was a sorry sight indeed...and absolutely gory. The mother cow kept shouting through its pain and struggle for life, till it was silenced forever. The clamor had awakened the merchant's wife and servants too. They came running to the stables and witnessed the gory scene that was unfolding in front of their eyes.

The merchant was in a state of repentance now. He was sorry for having doubted his faithful wife, and the words of the sage. He was sorry for having committed the brutal murder of an animal and its unborn fetus. As per his religious beliefs, killing of a cow was a sin, and hurting an expectant mother was absolutely unforgivable. The sight of the innocent cow struggling for her life haunted him,....and in a fit of emotions, he turned the sword on to his own neck. The merchant's wife witnessed this gory scene, and went mad with grief. After a few days, unable to bear her pain and suffering, she jumped over a cliff and gave up her life...

There are many morals in the above story. One of them of course is the oft - repeated advice that important decisions should never be taken in a fit of emotions...at least not the ones that are ruled by the lower gunas. Never underestimate the power of an unsheathed emotion, no matter how stupid they are. If the emotions can drive our actions, then they become very powerful indeed. As we saw, suspicion can lead to murder, and repentance to suicide...both of which are among the worst crimes possible. The second is that, sometimes we need to check the flow of actions resulting from a higher emotion too. The lady was so happy that her husband was returning that she lost control of her actions and was flabbergasted when the situation took a turn for the worse, and spiraled out of control. Happiness resulting from love is good, but needs a sanity check every once in a while, just to make sure that everything is still OK with the world.

As a side note, the above incident is one of many that is supposed to have happened in ancient times, as per karna parampara (the tradition of passing down knowledge, traditions and beliefs from one generation to another through the spoken word - usually stories). As per folklore, the people with divine vision have traditionally been warned to never share their visions with people who have not attained spiritual mastery over their emotions. Fire can be used to cook food and to offer our prayers (as a part of an oil lamp or a candle), but the same fire when in the hands of a fool can set the whole forest ablaze. So too, can knowledge and emotions sometimes be, when we do not have the strength and spiritual maturity to master and control them.

Why I carry my mobile phone into the bathroom?

2011-06-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

It was as if the heavens were smiling their grace on me. A dream date with the girl of my dreams... and that too on Valentine's Day!!!! Few things if ever, can get better or bigger than this :-). I was floating on cloud nine.. and planning out the day in amazing detail. Flowers - check, chocolates - check, restaurant booking - check, suit - check,....I was ticking off the items one by one and was so excited in planning the details out that I lost track of time. Was shocked when I looked at the clock...it was almost 6 PM, and she would be expecting me to pick her up soon... and I wasn't even ready.

Time to get ready... quick. gotta have a shower. I rushed into the bathroom,..took off my clothes and hurried into the shower. Some five minutes later, I found that the door would not budge. WTF...Trapped in the bathroom!! Seriously... this cannot be happening! I banged at the door.. and it stubbornly refused to give way... I shouted and there was nobody at home.... My roommate was out on his valentine's day date with his girl,...and here I am stuck in the bathroom and getting hopelessly late for my dream date. She might even be thinking that I stood her up, and that too on valentine's. I was punching and kicking the door now, and screaming at the top of my voice.

It was no use...time raced by,...while I spent my valentine's day evening in my bathroom waiting for my roommate to reach home, free me from this jail and let me out. Meanwhile, totally convinced that I was the biggest jerk alive for having stood her up on such an important day, not bothering to reply to her messages or calls, and making her lose face in front of family and friends and totally humiliating her, my dream lady was now furious beyond words and baying for my blood.

She didn't believe a word of my sad story.

I got dumped the next day.

Since that day, I always carry my mobile phone with me to the bathroom. I might forget to take a towel into the shower... but never my phone!

Disclaimer: All the characters in this story are a figment of my imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons is totally co-incidental...

The eyes of the beholder...

2011-05-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Alone,... he hid his face between his wings and shed tears of sorrow. What was his mistake? Why was he tormented so, by all the other ducks? They would tease him and would always make fun of him. Was it his mistake, that he was not able to quack like the other kids? He sobbed incessantly...Why was he so ugly? None of his brothers and sisters wanted to play with him,...and he was so clumsy in the farmyard. All the farm animals laughed at him and made fun of him. They called him names, pointed at him and jeered. He was heartbroken...he just wanted to love and to be loved. Is it so hard to be loved, when you are ugly??

Little did the "ugly duckling" realize then, who he truly was...for fate (and the words of Hans Christian Anderson) had caused a royal swan's egg to roll into a duck's nest. The mother duck tried her best to raise it as her own kid, but it was different, and hence was hated and bullied by the other kids. None of the farm animals had the vision to recognize the royalty that was in their midst. After a period of suffering, when the long winter had passed and it was time for spring...the ugly duckling was no longer ugly...he had turned into a royal swan.. the most beautiful of all birds.

Beauty really does lie in the eyes of the beholder. Life is full of beauty...we just need the sight to be able to see it. As the philosophers of yore would say..." Close your eyes and see the beauty".

For a mother, her baby would always be the most beautiful baby in the world. For the lover who sighs, awaiting his lady love to appear, there cannot be a more beautiful sight than the person who is the object of his affections, walking towards him. In my opinion, the most blessed of all though, is the romantic,...for he can find beauty in every aspect of life and nature, and can get totally enamored with it...a beautiful cloudless starlit sky can move him to tears as he comprehends the beauty of the universe and how tiny human life really is in the scale of the cosmos,...a cow suckling its calf on a landscape of green, can transport him to a different plane where he visualizes the beautiful love of a mother in its' most serene form,...a tiny plant blooming on a rocky mountain can make him appreciate the beauty of perseverance and effort and a never say die attitude... a child's carefree laughter might make him lose himself in the beauty that is 'innocence'...and so on and so forth. A romantic finds beauty and inspiration everywhere around him, and has an intrinsic need to express the same to the world around him...whether through photographs, poems, prose, paintings, music or other forms of art. In a sense, true beauty lies in the eyes of the person (and his inner romantic self) who can see and appreciate the beauty inherent in every aspect and ideal of nature,...and of life.

This article was written for the "I believe in Real Beauty" contest conducted by Yahoo India and Dove.

When Protectors fail to protect...

2011-05-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

Have just read a most disturbing piece of news. We live in dark times indeed...

On the evening of Wednesday 4th May 2011, a teenager Sweety was going on her scooty to pick up her father from the market place. On the way suddenly 3-4 people sprang on her and kidnapped her in a scorpio. This happened in the presence of many people in the market place. Her father informed the police within 5 minutes and was desperately begging the police to help,...but in vain. The extremely nonprofessional attitude of the policemen, whose insistance on an FIR and a hundred other formalities before doing their duty, gave the criminals sufficient time to escape with the kid and do what they wanted to do. Her half-naked body, bearing the tell tale signs of brutal rape and violent assault was recovered from a nearby village the next day. An innocent kid, had to pay with her life for the inaction and apathy shown by the police.

http://nishanjustice.org/news-updates/gory-face-of-police-apathy-exposed-by-brutal-rape-and-murder-of-teenaged-sweety/

Really don't know what to say when the people who are supposed to protect you, protect criminals through their inaction instead.
Do we really live in such grave times where police apathy can cause an innocent kid to be subject to brutal rape and murder without any fear on the part of the criminals?
Does human life and dignity really cost nothing today?

Who does the common man turn to and depend on to protect his family and his loved ones, when the people who are supposed to be his protectors have turned apathetic to his needs?

If this is true, then we live in grave times for sure. It puts a question mark on the safety of women and kids in our country.

The police inaction and apathy seems to be giving out a message that this is OK and anyone can get away with gory crimes like this. This is very disturbing indeed. A society where women are not safe and not respected cannot be called a 'civilized' society in any respect of the term. Our culture teaches us that "यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवताः ।" (yatra naryasthu pujyanthe ramanthe tatra devatah... The Gods dwell at the place where women are respected). The place or society where women are not respected is doomed. If the people manning the organizations of the state that are responsible for our safety do not take their duties seriously, then the safety and security of our girls and women, and indeed...all of us...look really bleak indeed.

Meanwhile, innocent girls pay for this apathy with their lives...

Let's pray for Sweety's soul. May she rest in peace, and may such a fate not happen to other girls anywhere...

To Memories from College...

2011-05-23T15:04:00.000-07:00

Was chatting with one of my best friends in college a few days ago. "We are all gonna meet at Naturals for our traditional Ice Cream Party", he said...Well, I was definitely happy that our little 'tradition' is alive and going on...but felt something heavy tugging at me. Everybody else is gonna be there except for me..they are gonna discuss every topic under the sun and share everything that happened to them since the last ice cream party..and I am gonna miss out on everything :(. Well, that's part of what happens when you are on a different continent...far away from your friends and from your loved ones. Bhavin was quick to notice my mood shift and said "I'll carry a laptop with me and a webcam...you go to an ice cream parlor in Canada and call me from there.. we will make this ice cream party a Video Conference...". I started laughing...all my sentigiri was gone..It's amazing how friends can say a few absurd words and lift you out of gloom... :). This friend in particular, especially stands true to this and one can rarely be down with him around. Thanks Bhavin :-).

Had watched 'Dil Chahta Hai' again..yesterday. It has to be one of the best movies ever made in Bollywood. It really touches you..whenever you see it. Friendship, loneliness, love, sacrifice, happiness, sadness, marriage, abusive relationships....it skirts a lot of subjects which effect us today... There is one particular scene which has been haunting me for the past couple of hours today. The three friends in the movie are sitting on top of a fort overlooking the beautiful coastline of Goa... Aamir tells his friends, that they should come to Goa every year for a week without fail. Akshaye points to a boat in the distance and tells them that their lives are currently like that boat. It might just happen that their destinations lie in different places...and it might just happen that even seeing or talking to each other every once in a while becomes difficult..and remains just a memory. The movie somewhat proceeds on these lines...till the friends (and their partners) all get together in the end. At the difficult times in their life, when they needed someone around...their friends would somehow reach them and be there..for them. Its an all time classic...I just love it.

In today's India...where our joint family system has more or less broken down...where kids grow up in nuclear families, many a times even without seeing their grandparents...where a lot of social transformation is happening all the time...friends are becoming ever more important in life. They have stepped in to fill the void which I presume would have been filled by the extended family in days of yore. They have come to be so absolutely important and central to our lives and social structure that they might precede everybody (apart from maybe your immediate family). Friendship is one of God's gifts to us...and what's more..we get to choose the contents of the gift :)..which makes it all the more special.

This brings back memories of my college days :). Beautiful, priceless memories that I know I won't be able to do justice to..even in a thousand words or a novel dedicated to em. Memories of the college fest 'Zeal',...days spent working on the college newsletter 'The Technocrat' with Niks, who is one of my best friends ever :)...days spent as the 'official' class CR...reporting to the HoD's cabin and taking my share of brickbats after a successful Mass Bunk :-D...the apology letters signed by the whole class...first volunteering assignment for IEEE...first Inter College Fest...all the alien themed stuff that had been put up everywhere throughout college :)...our canteen...the misal pav, the hot chai and the chinese soup...the Computer lab and the gaming tournament that our class won by a big big margin :)...the sacking of Keyur as our GS and the subsequent mass resignations that followed :-)...our department T-shirt (Shrek designed it!..lol)...our long Industrial Trip to see the functioning of the Tourism Industry :-D..and all the stuff that we did there..:-). Our Vivas, Assignments and the time spent at the Xerox centers throughout the year and especially 2 days before the exams when some or the other class will release it's own so called 'Question Bank' :-). Memories of various projects...of working with some of the best people in college on everything from projects and assignments...of our final year internship with Nitin, Tom and Vishal...of times spent rambling around random corners of Vasai with Tom, Nitin, Manish and Amit...of organizing activities and seminars...to mass bunks and trips to Tungareshwar with the whole gang...the street play about Women's rights consisting of long hours of fun and time pass and a bit of practice when time permitted (with Bhavin, Keyur, Nams, Al, Niks, Aman, Kawal, Divz, Girish, Neeta, Anagha, Praju and Sneha)...the (failed) attempt to do a corruption themed mock fashion show...the list is long and full of beautiful, priceless memories.

This is an article that is dedicated to all my friends and colleagues...to those who have always been there for me through thick and thin...through adulation and brickbats. Its for them who are there for me today...even though I'm out of sight nowadays. For them who would ping me on gtalk or Facebook, if I have not been posting up anything lately :). Guys...Always keep doing so..and in case you haven't lately...please start :). I promise to keep my end of the bargain and do the same.

What really matters...

2011-05-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

Sophie loved her dad, but was really really angry at him today. In spite of her vehement opposition to the idea, he still wanted to move,... and that meant she had to move with him. That meant, she had to hug her best friend and say goodbye, and resign herself to being able to only spend vacations with her now. That meant, she had to change schools and start all over again in a new setting, in a new environment. It was really not fair that she would now be put through more change....as if the events of the past one year were not enough....

Sophie had lost her mom a bit more than a year ago, and had been through a very rough time since then. However, she was tough and had wiped her tears and pulled through with life. She was still not able to sleep at night as that reminded her of her mom. In the darkness at night, as she lay in her bed, she would think of her mom, and how much she missed her. She would think about the the way they used to laugh together and share secrets and spend time together doing things that they both loved...cooking, watching TV, gossip. It was just not the same with dad. To be fair to him, he did try to be there for her...sometimes a bit too hard. But, it was not the same...it could never be. A couple of months ago, he spoke to her about moving to another place and starting all over. She spoke, reasoned, argued, fought, threw a big fuss, but he didn't budge...Her term completed, and they were on their way...and were now caught in the middle of the freeway with a flat tire to change.

Ryan loved his daughter Sophie...loved her more than anything else in this world. They had lost Kate -the love of his life, and Sophie's mother about a year ago, and life was definitely not easy. It was as if, sunshine had disappeared from the world. He lost interest in work, and spent his first few days in mourning. It was a wake up call for him, when he had heard Sophie sobbing into her pillow late one night. He realized how much more difficult this would have been for her, and had tried his best to bond more with her. They hadn't been close enough before this, but Sophie knew that he loved her. He had made sure that they would spend time together every now and then, but Kate was always the one who Sophie called on first, for her every need. It was a perfect world...he and the two ladies in his life - wife and daughter, a beautiful house, a decent job, and lots of laughter and sunshine in their lives. Alas, it was not to last.

When Ryan heard Sophie sobbing that night, he realized how they would have a void forever in their lives. He realized, how his daughter needed him to be much more than a father. He had to become a mother too. She was about to become a teenager, and would soon need him to be there for her, more than she ever had. In the last many months, he had seen her successively lose interest in everything around her. She had only one friend, and they too seemed to be growing apart bit by bit. Sophie was dwelling in the past, and needed someone to lovingly bring her back to the present. He would have to take some hard decisions for her sake,...and for his own sake. Also, on a single income, the loans on the house and car were too high. They could not afford to continue staying there. He had to find a better paying job, and that would mean moving to the city.

Everything in this house reminded him of Kate...it would be the same for Sophie, and maybe that's what made moving on so difficult for them. Maybe moving to a new place wasn't a bad thing after all. They could start over afresh. Sophie could go to a better school, and she would find her dad there for her, whenever and for whatever she needed him. Ryan closed his eyes and promised himself, and Kate...that he would be there to love, support and encourage their daughter for the rest of his life. He owed that to Sophie, to Kate and to himself.

Sophie would never ever be alone now,...not if he could help it. He would do the best he can. For the present though, that meant taking a hard decision to move to the city, and to convince an angry adolescent about the same. She was not happy with it at all, and fought and argued with him. It's OK even if she screamed at him,...he would take it patiently...he loved her...and he knew she loved him. They only had each other now, and even if they fight or argue, they knew that they loved each other, and will be there for each other no matter what...and that's what really mattered.

And...that's when sadness took over...

2011-05-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

On that fateful day.. he finally broke down. Tears rolled down his cheeks and overwhelming gloom took over the world. He closed his eyes in deep contemplation. After years of denying his love...after years of hiding from the one who made him truly happy...after running away from her, because of a silly argument...after what seemed like an eternity of holding on to his ego and pride...after convincing himself that his decision was right and that she was a fool to have not agreed with him, and that they did not belong together...after working like crazy and earning loads of dollars in a far away city and living in the lap of luxury...after having "proved" himself and having made a name for himself in this world...he did not expect the world to come crashing down so suddenly... he did not expect to feel so empty... so bereft... so lonely and so sad.

The morning news showed reports of a tragic car crash in a small, unheard of town down south. Unheard of,... to the news anchor perhaps and maybe to a lot of people.. but not to him. The mention of his town pulled him away from his morning routine and he stood facing the TV. They showed the photographs of a pretty lady in her late tweens. He knew that face...he knew that person...he had known her quite well indeed.

He slumped into the armchair. Unable to hold back his tears, or the train of his emotions he screamed out her name. Life was just so unfair. Why? Why was this happening? Such a beautiful girl...such a wonderful person...and such a good friend....everything was lost... gone... all due to a drunk taxi driver. A beautiful life.... lost....forever.

He loved her and could not imagine a life without her. He needed her. He wanted her. He desired her. Those long conversations that they had...and he had always held back those 3 magical words that he really really wanted to say. He found himself weeping for those lost opportunities. He wept for the silly arguments that they had, and for not apologizing or let her have her way...He wept for having moved to the big city and for getting intoxicated with the success that he found at work...He wept for not having held tight to her when he had a chance. He should have told her his true feelings before. They should have been together. Now,... he will never have another chance to show her how he truly felt.

Why didn't he tell her...when she was with him fishing for compliments. Why didn't he tell her... when she was with him smiling his troubles away. Why didn't he tell her... when his words had caused her cheeks to blush to a deep shade of pink and her eyes to glow with pleasure. Why didn't he tell her... when they were fighting and arguing over trifles. If only he had told her...even a few days ago...things might have been so different.

She never knew...and now... she never will. He didn't know what would have been her reaction or what could have happened... and now... he never will. Who knows, life might have been so different and so much more rewarding if only these feelings had not been bottled up.

Never miss an opportunity to compliment someone when they do something that really touches you, or that you find amazing or exceptional. Never ever miss a chance to tell or show people that you care. After all, every thing that we do, every decision that we take, and every action that we do or don't do...changes the rest of our life, and the lives that we touch, forever!

The search for Divinity...in saint Kabir Das' words

2011-05-05T23:22:00.000-07:00

Have been humming the lines of this famous poem under my breath since the last 2 days now... Immortal haunting lines from a great saint who lived on the banks of the Ganges many centuries ago. Saint Kabir's life is an inspiration as indeed are his writings. Some of his poems, like the one below, launch a direct attack on the veil of ignorance clouding our beliefs. Through couplets (dohas) and poems, he tries to make man rise to greater spiritual ideals...His immortal words (called Kabir baani) form an integral part of Bhakti literature and also of classical Hindi poetry.

Following are the Bhojpuri/Hindi words used by Saint Kabir. He envisaged God as speaking to his devotee and telling the devotee about His true nature. I will try to give a literal translation below every sentence. The philosophical and spiritual implications are huge and would need a separate article for discussion.

मोको कहाँ ढूंढ़ं रे बन्दे मैं तो तेरे पास में।
(Where do you look for me oh seeker...I'm am here, with you
or rather
Oh seeker, you look for me in the wrong places....I'm verily here,.. with you.

One simple beautiful verse to communicate the essence of vedic concepts like 'Tat-tvam-asi', 'Aham Brahmasmi', and 'Shivoham' to the masses. God exists within. The search outside will not yield anything without a search inside first.

In one of his dohas (couplets), Kabir again refers to this same concept by giving an example of the Musk deer who smells the intoxicating flavor of musk, which emanates from its' own belly, becomes enamored with the same and then spends the rest of its' life searching all around it for the source of this divine scent. - "कस्तुरी का हिरण जो फिर फिर ढूंढे घास " - Kasturi ka hiran jo,. Phir phir dhunde ghaas. A collection of such inspiring, deep dohas is known by the name of Kabir Amritvaani (meaning Eternal words of Kabir) and is held in great respect in the Hindi speaking world)

ना तीरथ में ना मूरत में, ना एकान्त निवास में।
(I do not live within an idol or in a place of pilgrimage...nor can I be found in solitude)

ना मंदिर में ना मस्जिद में, ना काबे कैलाश में।
(Not in a temple, not in a mosque, not in the Kaaba...neither in Mount Kailasa can I be found.
Here, Kabir points out to us that God cannot be contained within any man made boundaries. The reference to the holiest shrines in Islam and Shaivite Hinduism conveys that God is beyond religion which is man made)

ना मैं जप मे ना मैं तप में, ना मैं व्रत उपास में।
(I cannot be attained by chanting mantras, performing severe penance, or through vows, observances or fasts)

ना मैं क्रियाकर्म में रहता, ना ही योग सन्यास में।
(I do not exist in rituals and dogma, Yoga or renunciation )

खोजी होय तुरत मिल जाउ एक पल की तलाश में।
(However, if a true seeker looks for me with his whole heart, then he will find me within a few seconds of his search)

कहैं कबीरा सुनो भाई साधो, मैं तो हूं विश्वास में ।
(Kabir says...listen to him...I exist solely in true and unflinching faith.
By these words, Kabir does not say that all spiritual practices are meaningless...just that they are of no use without faith, and that it is faith which makes the means of attaining the divine joy work for the seeker.)

I will try to revisit this and other Kabir poems at a later date to try to get a better understanding of their spiritual and philosophical significance, especially in the context of the fact that through simple sentences in a language of everyday use, he has made deep aspects of philosophy accessible to the masses in the Hindi belt, who hitherto had hardly a limited understanding of these subjects.

Words of a castaway...

2011-05-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

As I was walking on the beach, I came across a bottle floating in the water. Had always heard of letters in bottles traveling great distances across the world, and was quite intrigued. I unscrewed the cork and pulled out the letter....I was now holding the words of a lover...of a person adrift in emotions too hot to handle ..of someone burning alive in the twin fires of loneliness and lovelessness...of a castaway.

"Like a dream come true.. she entered my life
Like a knife cuts through..she left me in strife

When she was with me.. life was a celebration
Now...all alone I lie...in deep contemplation

Why did it happen so?... Why did she go?
Was my love not true.. Did she think so?

Friendless and lovelorn..in this big wide world
I wander all alone... without a sight of hope

Will she return?? ..will life bloom again??..
Or will death take me. while I grimace in pain..

Tears fall fast.. tears flow thick..
Like the heavens above.. which are crying themselves sick.

Cast away... in the sea of fire..
Swimming in despair...burning in ire

Awaiting the end...here I lie
No one to miss me...no one to cry"

The Power of Emotions - Part 2 (Fear)

2011-04-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

A masked thief had once broken into a house of an old lady. He tied up the old lady on a chair and proceeded to steal everything. The lady opened her mouth and shouted at the thief that she would tell the police and he would be behind bars for the rest of his life. Fear gripped the man....he took out his knife and stabbed the defenseless, frail, old lady to her death. Later remorse gripped him...he was masked the lady was old and had poor eyesight and was hard of hearing. What threat did she pose to him....nothing. Yet, he had unnecessarily killed a fellow human being. He was no longer a thief, but a murderer. Remorse drew him into deep depression.He was no longer able to sleep at night as the face of the old lady haunted him...and he was driven into insanity.

Fear does make man do silly things. Most of the stuff that he wouldn't even dream of considering to do, he can go ahead and do it without thinking twice, when under the spell of fear. A man who lets fear guide his thoughts and actions is a threat to not just himself, but to all around him too.

During my younger days, I remember my mom telling me that a snake is afraid of humans, and that is why when you go too close to it, it will attack you. It is a sign of fear. We should leave it alone, and it will leave us be. Similar is the case with most of the other animals...They will fight the source of their fear, or flee from it. This 'fight or flight' tendency exists in us humans too (we are animals too, after all...complicated ones though).

As a human being, it is inbuilt in us to look for safety. Insecurity scares us. Fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable, the great, the mighty is bound to try and affect us. What matters though, is to not let this fear catch hold of our senses and make our decisions for us. Like the character of Jack in the series 'Lost' says, "When fear takes hold of me, I let it run its course. I close my eyes and count to three...3 seconds.. that's all I am willing to give it to run its course. After that I take over".

Story of a tear drop

2011-02-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

I was born when you saw her from across the street,...a silent smile on her lips. Emotions that had been locked up for years welled up inside and let loose a storm of feelings...Feelings that were long buried...or were they indeed?

As soon as I was born, I could hear and sense everything going on inside you. She looked so beautiful and charming, as she always had. Nobody could pass her, and not turn back for a second look. You were no different, ..but the second look brought back memories...from a life that passed by as a blur. A life of stolen glances and shared smiles...a life of day dreams and missed calls...a life in which the smallest acts brought about an explosion of happiness...or sadness...a life that was too good to last...and which came crashing down one fateful day...and left you with memories and feelings too painful to describe.

It must have been hardly 2 seconds, when all of that flashed through your eyes, and I could see and feel every bit of it. I re-lived all of that in that instant that I was born. As I slid down your cheeks, I realized how happy she looked...I remembered somebody remark that she had moved on, fell in love and married another man. Was she really happy..? didn't she feel a void like you did at times..?

As I slid into your lips, I could see into your mind once more, and felt you feeling that what was going on in my mind just now.

She indeed was perfect...and deserved the best...Everybody deserved a chance at a happy life. She has found her happiness now...Maybe it's time you found yours too....saying these words I became a part of you once again....and so ended my brief existence.

Tons and tons of Vanilla Ice Cream...

2011-02-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

"Tons and tons of Vanilla Ice Cream everywhere around you...on tops of trees, in between grasses and shrubs, on barren trunks of trees that were full of flowers a few months ago, on the dark green leaves of the evergreen Christmas tree that defies the cold and remains forever green."

That's how I found myself describing the climate in Canada to a friend back in India. It's just too beautiful for words. I agree that's it's horribly cold (The temperature was a good -16 degrees Celsius today without considering the windchill and it felt like -23 degrees Celsius),..and especially so for a person who has lived his whole life in hot and humid Mumbai...but there is charm and beauty too, for those who see and not just look at their surroundings.

God is an artist and nature is His' canvas...There is a certain divinity in the way nature looks in different seasons. It reminds me of the way beautiful women dress up for occasions. Outfits change, the hair gets a makeover and all kinds of accessories jump in...Lady Nature too does the same. She wears green during summer and decks her whole body with flowers during spring...she wears fall colors of myriad hues come autumn, and becomes a bride in serene white during the days of winter. She wears tulips, roses, peonies, irises and lilacs in her locks during the days of bloom and paints the leaves in different hues of yellow, orange and red during fall. Her beauty and charm is unparalleled and is there for all to see. You just need to stop 'looking' and start 'seeing'.

This...is what we are out to destroy with our acts today. We are slowly poisoning her from within. We have ripped open her chest to look for minerals, oil, gold, diamonds and other riches. We have injected poisonous pollutants into her blood (water bodies). We have filled the air she breathes with noxious fumes. We have cut down rain forests and in the process have ended up mutilating her body in a way that is indescribable in words. We are her worst children ever and are causing a great deal of distress to her as well as our fellow brothers and sisters (the other animals and plants on this earth)...

She is a lady and a mother...that's why she was affectionately called Gaea, Mother Nature and Bhoomi Devi in different parts of the world, by the ancient people. She is referred to as आ-ब्रह्म-कीट-जननी (Aa-Brahma-Keeta-Janani - The Mother of everything right from the worm to the Demigods) in the ancient Vedas and the ललिता सहस्रनामं (holy books of Hindus). She does have a temper too, and can be destructive if she wants. But, she chooses to be benign most of the time, for our sake. She has infinite power too, and will outlast our destructive activities. When the time comes that our acts have piled up in such a way that interferes in a big way with the rules put down by her, we need to realize that it will affect her.. maybe in a big way,... but will absolutely destroy us. Nature is beautiful, strong and immortal. We, and I mean our species here, are not. Maybe it's time to start thinking about this...

Weirdness which seems to be worth it...

2010-10-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

Some things really sorta freak me out at times. Things...which I don't really understand at this point, how they work. The idea of commitment and marriage is scary and freaky to say the least. The thought of sharing your life with someone...letting her in on the most intimate secrets and thoughts...waking up with her...morning breath...the ruffled and just awake look...the idea of 'privacy' being redefined to mean the time spent as a couple, rather than alone...about having to give up personal space...about additional claims on the time that you spend playing squash /pool/watching movies today, which you find relaxing...is a bit overwhelming.

Of course, the lady has to make even more adjustments, and I can appreciate how overwhelming, scary and freaky such an experience will be for her. She has to worry about all the points that I have mentioned above from a guy's perspective plus a lot of additional stuff like moving away from her parents' house...starting all over again..and lots of minor details that I find hard to even start envisaging. It's at the least doubly, if not more, harder for the lady.

All this makes me wonder about the institution itself. When both people have to go through such a whole lot of adjustments and difficulties to try to make this work,..and there is such a high chance of things not working out... then why play with status quo at all? IF and when things do not work out,..it leads people to depression and generally screws up a big part of the persons' (both persons) life and their outlook and views towards the same. Why then do we take such a big risk?

I guess the answer to this lies in the value it seems to add to your life when it does work out. When commitment does work out, there is apparently no other feeling which comes close to the satisfaction and fulfillment that you would experience. Once you get over the awkwardness and weirdness, you have a person whom you can share your life with. Like Lori Mc Kenna sings:
                        "All you really need is someone to be here
                         Someone who never lets you disappear
                         And I will be that witness to your life".
Isn't that an intrinsic fear...Not having a witness to your life...Not having somebody who knows the true 'you'..who knows your likes and dislikes and your innermost fears...who knows how to comfort you when you are distressed and to encourage you when you are down...who you can trust and depend on to stand by you forever...who is there for you no matter what...one who will say the three magic words that can bring you back from oblivion. To quote the words of a friend who tied the knot about a year ago..."Once you learn to really love the person you are with,.. the things that you worried about before,...become things that you treasure".

So,...'Love' is the secret ingredient that would make this concoction work and worth every effort put in. You can, for sure, learn to love a person over time. But, this spark needs to be ignited, for life and priorities to fall into place...I just hope and wish that this happens at the correct time to everybody around me :-).

The story of Bhasmasura

2010-09-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

In the puranas, there are many stories in which the struggles between the Devas and Asuras are presented. The Devas and Asuras are in fact, symbolism for the Devis and Asuric qualities that dwell within each of us. The rishis who wrote down these stories cleverly packaged these stories to hold the attention span of everybody - right from small kids, who enjoy the story for its entertaining storyline which has touches of absurdity, to simple people who derive some morals out of them, to people on the spiritual path who look deep into them and find hidden messages which are very very relevant for our spiritual growth, to realized souls who see and learn much more than all others.

Let's hear the story of Bhasmasura (who was originally called as Shoorpakasura). Shoorpakasura does a severe and difficult penance in order to propitiate Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva becomes pleased and appears before him and offers him one boon. The asura asks Lord Shiva to give him the power that whenever he places his right hand on somebody's head, the person on who's head he has placed the hand will get burnt instantaneously and turn into ashes. Lord Shiva, being 'Bhole Naath' grants him the boon. The asura also gets a new name 'Bhasmasura'. Bhasmasura is ecstatic as with this new found power, his clan could triumph over the Devas and establish their sway over the whole universe. Bhasmasura then tries to place his hand on Lord Shiva himself, who flees from the asura and hides in a cave. At this moment Lord Vishnu appears in front of the asura in the form of a bewitching beauty called as Mohini. The asura becomes crazy and requests Mohini to become his wife. Mohini tells the asura that he has to defeat her in dance, only then will she accept his proposal. Both start dancing, and during a certain dance move, the asura touches his own head, and turns to ashes.

Raja Ravi Varma's famous painting of the Bhasmasura episode

Let's look at the symbolism now... Shoorpakasura wanted to dominate the entire universe and to rule over all life. This single minded determination allowed him to undertake perform rigorous austerities and penance for many years, which forced the Lord of Lords Mahadeva to come to him and grant him the boon that he asked for. This means that with single minded ambition and efforts to make it come true, nothing is impossible. Even the greatest of odds can be conquered by the simplest of people. The recipe for this consists of equal measures of lofty ambition, a burning desire to achieve it, and action in order to do the same. Seemingly insurmountable troubles (symbolized by heavy rain and all sorts of distractions that the Devas under the command of Indra try to put in the path of the Asura) will fade away when it comes to face a determined person.

Now, after the point at which the Asura got his boon, he started to feel a sense of great ecstasy and happiness. He lost all control of himself and wanted to test his new found destructive prowess on his benefactor. Doing so would have unleashed much misery on the universe, and a great calamity would have ensued on everybody including himself and his clan, but he was blind to all that now. He lost all his accumulated spiritual energy and turned into a person with pure malice in his heart now. Shiva represents the concept of 'Sat' which was under attack now from Asuric forces which had been helped by 'Sat' Himself.

This incident has multiple layers of meaning. I will try and highlight some of them.When a person who is not completely in control of his material senses, gets a lot of power, he will invariably start abusing it. While doing so, he would start to harm the people around him too, in ways that he just can't fathom at that point as he would be intoxicated by this power. When this madness reaches heights of insanity, nobody is spared...not even the person himself and not even his benefactor. I am sure that my readers here know what I am talking about. It can be seen all over the world, and especially in India...the politicians who have lots of power and are intoxicated by the same, are ending up harming everybody around them. There is another story which talks about this concept of power in untrained hands and the disaster that ensues...A villager while on a trip through a forest, sat under the Kalpavriksha...the divine wish granting tree. So, whatever he thinks of and starts wishing for start to come true...lots of wealth, lots of gold, rich clothes, beautiful women serving him, etc all start to happen... That's when he hears a tiger's roar in the distance, and is suddenly scared that the tiger would attack and kill him. The moment he thinks of that, it actually happens and the villager's story comes to a tragic end. His mind was just not trained or disciplined enough to channelize the great power that he had at his disposal at that time, and he had to pay for trying to wield this mighty power with his life…"With great power comes great responsibility" (borrowed from Spiderman)... so true indeed.

There is also the point about Lord Shiva being easily pleased. This tells us that the Sattvic forces are more than keen to help us realize our true potential. When we start to take the first few steps to prove our capabilities, the forces of nature will help us to realize our fruits. We are keen to succeed, but this universe is keener to see us succeed. Of course, how many steps we would need to take before the Sattvic forces come to our aid, depends on the loftiness of our aims, and the intensity of our intentions. In the Alchemist Paulo Coelho talks about the universe conspiring with us, in order to make our dreams come true...if we really really want them. "Bhole Naath", the easily pleased Lord represents this ideal. The Lord (who also represents Prakriti or Nature) suffered too, when His grace was abused by an undisciplined mind. Thus power wielded without responsibility will affect the whole universe...including the Nature around us. We can see this, in the way the world is heating up due to man made disasters and reeling under natural disasters, which in turn were precipitated by us.

Lord Vishnu, the Protector in the Hindu trinity, makes an appearance at this point. He appears in the form of the damsel Mohini who is an embodiment and personification of beauty as well as of Maya - the cosmic illusion. Maya is personified in the form of this world and its' material wealth. The Asura becomes enamored on seeing this beautiful lady, and totally loses his senses. This is a symbolism for a man lost in the comforts and riches of the material world. He might have attained high posts and did lofty deeds in his lifetime, but he is now lost in the riches, comforts and enjoyment that this world has to offer, and has totally ignored his spiritual side. He wants to obtain more wealth, somehow and will do whatever is necessary for getting the same. The riches of the world will make him dance to its' tunes...and will ultimately destroy him with the same power that he had attained, but not bothered to master. It is a warning to us that we are never going to get our fill of riches and material comforts, unless we cultivate our minds. If we keep running after material comforts, then the frenzy would ultimately result in our destruction...

Maya or the cosmic illusion, can be conquered only through spiritual discipline and growth. Thats when we would realize our true potential. We are not being asked to leave the material comforts and go to forests and lead a nomadic existence. Rather, its necessary to live in the material world and succeed. We can and should enjoy the comforts it has to offer, but without getting overly attached to them. That is our true test. Once upon a time a king called Janaka ruled in a state called Mithila (in modern day Nepal). He was a sage, even though he lived in a palace and had every imaginable comfort at his disposal, as he was not attached to these comforts. His daughter Sita too demonstrated the same aspect. However, that is another story, and I would leave it for another blog entry on a future date.

I believe that we should tell stories such as the above to kids, and introduce them to the rich hidden symbolism once they start to grow. Give them a chance to understand the true meanings and get introduced to the richness of our heritage. Once they have an understanding of the same, they will be able to make a more informed decision about the path they want to take, during the spiritual journey that they would embark on later in their lives...

Of Canadians, Carabram, India and Celebration of Culture...

2010-07-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

Canada is a beautiful country with beautiful people. It's a melting pot of cultures and a land where people do not differentiate between people on the basis of colour or how they look. People of different backgrounds and who trace their origins to different places around the globe call Canada their home. There are a few distinctive points about Canada and Canadians that has given root to a new found respect and admiration for Canadian-ness and Canadian culture in my heart. I guess most of the points might be true of most of the truly multi-cultural countries around...dunno though...I have only experienced India, Israel and Canada..and so wouldn't comment on other countries till I get a chance to experience them first hand :). Am still fiercely proud of my Indianness and of the great Indian culture (although there indeed are certain blemishes on our landscape too, just like in others', and we would look even more beautiful if we can cure our ills and incorporate the goods from other cultures. We are all moving towards a world culture after all, and we should all make efforts to make a positive contribution towards the collage that is slowly being created all around the world at this very moment.).

My last few months in Canada have been very educative...They have thought me a lot about different things...technically, professionally, socially and spiritually. Like I said some things about Canada have made a deep impression on me. Let me start with the very first thing that caught my attention - Politeness and Consideration. Every request would be made with a smile and a 'Please'. Cars would wait for pedestrians to cross, even when they are a safe distance away (OK...I know this is a traffic rule..but the people do follow it right??..and they return your smile when you smile at them for stopping and letting you pass). Every action is accompanied by a pleasant warm smile...guys, girls, kids, elders, of every imaginable race and colour are like that...something unites them...that is their 'Canadian-ness'.

Canadians are very polite...not just in words but in actions as well. When there is a door, the guy or girl in front of you would almost always hold the door open for you. Before coming here, I had read in some magazine that this was considered to be an outdated tradition in the west; and that during the bra-burning days of feminism the act of holding doors open for a girl smacked of an MCP attitude. Was pleasantly surprised to see that chivalry does indeed live on in the world...(or..atleast in this part of the world). Was a bit surprised to see girls holding doors open for me too..and was out of words when a school kid did this. Well...I said to myself..when in Toronto, do as the Toronto-ians do :)...and i started following their lead. Smiling at everyone, nodding, holding open doors when there is anybody behind me (I remember trying this in India once, and almost becoming a door boy in the process...people just kept rushing past me...Here, after a few seconds, someone invariably smiles and nods and takes over for the next few seconds.), talking to your neighbour on the bus - wishing him / her a good day as you get on and off, complimenting the coffee lady when she looks good, etc etc.. small things that I have never thought twice about how big a difference they can make in the overall scheme of things, before experiencing it here.

Another point about Canadians is that most (if not all) are really proud of being a truly multicultural state. They do not just tolerate pluralism - they celebrate it. We had a beautiful festival called Carabram which was held recently in Brampton (A detailed write up on the festival and my experiences about it are coming up shortly :)).. Canadians tracing their origins to different parts of the world had put up pavillions showcasing their country of origin's culture, food, dance, music, handicrafts, history and traditions. In the Mayor's words (delivered at the Myanmar Pavillion...I was in the audience at that time), "this was an opportunity for Canadians to learn more about their fellow Canadian neighbours :)". I liked the way she said this, and was quite impressed to see how much the normal Canadian on the street was enjoying the experience of getting to see and learn about different cultures. As my friends and I travelled in the transit buses to go from one pavillion to another, we chatted with each other and with fellow passengers and everybody sounded so excited to see cultures so totally different from their own...we also got quite a few recommendations on which pavillions should definitely be seen :). They say that Canadians are colour blind :)...and I totally totally agree..there is no racism here...people respect you for what you are...not what you look like :).

All this made me wonder...why don't we have such celebrations in India, say..atleast in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, etc which have people from all over the country...and maybe festivals on a smaller scale in other major cities. I started wondering how different pavillions representing our states or different regions would look like and how our rich, vast and vibrant collage of cultures which together forms what we call as 'Indian Culture' would be better understood and appreciated by people all over the country. Was smiling, thinking about how it would help us to know each other better and appreciate the knowledge and samskaras that our ancestors have passed down to us. My thoughts would have shown up on my face, as I vividly remember people smiling at me (I assume, it was in response to a smile that would have formed unconciously on my face). I kept thinking on this further, and rudely crashed back to the harsh reality when I realized that our politicians are too busy dividing us...on the basis of Language, Religion, Castes, Occupations, Regions, and a hundred other things. They are busy formenting trouble and clashes, in order to maintain their vote banks. States fight over water and electricity; goons claiming to represent the interests of people from one state attack innocent civilians from other states who have come to that state in search of a job; more than half of the higher education seats are reserved for the so called 'backward castes', however, most of it get usurped by the creamy layers and those in real need remain untouched,...meanwhile the quality of education keeps going down as the spirit of healthy competition is on its way to destruction...'competition' is dying out among the ones who know that they will definitely get a seat no matter what...even if they just about mange to avoid flunking their papers, while it has gone to ridiculous levels and is no longer 'healthy' and among the unreserved who know that even 95% marks might not be enough to get them a seat in a good college, and have turned to mugging their textbooks en-masse; Regionalism and myopic politics dominate the scene; Pseudo secularists define their own brand of secularism by victimizing people from a certain background so that people of other backgrounds feel assured; Violence against women is a harsh reality in many parts of our country and just goes unreported; a big number of people are out to protect 'Indian Culture'...but they do not know even the basic teachings of our texts, and end up breaking it's sacred tenets and killing it's core messages :(.

We normally like to see only the positives of our great culture. I used to be so too and would always see the good points...however, the reality today is both scary and ugly. There are great things in our culture and traditions no doubt...but we gotta acknowledge now that there are many bad things too...which may or may not be a part of our culture...but have to be corrected now. We gotta lose the unnecessary extra baggage so as to be able to float proudly once again, in this turbulent ocean and our people live with dignity, confidence, and self assurance such that we too start to truly enjoy and celebrate each other's cultures. We have an advantage here, as we Indians have always seen a lot of diversity around...and have declared that we have 'Unity in Diversity'...I would love to see this go one step further and see a true celebration of diversity in India some day. My heart tells me that if and when we start doing this, our people will come out in strength to enjoy each other's cultures and celebrate together and get to know their neighbours (most of us have already done this on a limited scale in some form or the other)...This was amply proved by Lokmanya Tilak..when he organised Sarvajanik Ganeshotsavs in Maharashtra and people participated en masse...It still holds people's imagination so much that it has become the biggest festival in that part of the world.

Well...I had almost trailed off in this train of thoughts,...when the bus halted. We had reached the "Hawaii and Polynesia" Pavillion. So, we got off the bus and made our way to experience the culture of the islands of the Pacific :).

An Ode to the Queen of waterfalls

2010-07-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

"Puny I stood before the mighty Queen

Enchanted by her majestic charms

Awed by her power and absolute grace

I stood there admiring her gaze

Awe inspiring was the sight

A glimpse of heaven it looked like

As the waters fell down the skies

Transfixed on her stood a thousand admiring eyes

Tranquil was the air when we behold

A rainbow adorning her dazzling locks

A serene smile and a soothing gaze

And Waters mighty o'er sturdy rocks

Thundering o'er the rocks, a roar in her wake

Marches the queen of the falls for our sake

Falling through terrifying heights, gently she flows

Kind and Loving, walks the mother of the groves..."

Well...I'm not much of a poet. I'm more comfortable writing articles rather than poems. This time however, I was so moved by the absolute brilliance and beauty of Mother Nature that I thought I should at least attempt to write an ode to her grace :). Believe me when I say its an awe inspiring sight, a spectacle that is worth flying halfway around the world to behold, an absolutely thrilling and captivating experience, a true wonder of the ancient and modern worlds (and i daresay, of the future worlds to come too).

We had been planning this trip for quite a few weeks...and a few of our plans flopped quite miserably. My friend has written a true to life detailed account of this in his blog, so I am not gonna try to repeat that here :). Even if I did, I don't think I will be able to do as good a job as him in describing the events that happened. Do read his post here (If the link does not work, please copy-paste this in your browser: http://xyzmurali.blogspot.com/2010/06/failed-weekend-plans-to-niagara.html)

But, 27th June was our day. In spite of a number of hiccups, we made it to the right places in the nick of time. It was almost as if Mother Nature was conspiring with us, in order to make our wishes come true, to give us a chance to behold the majestic Niagara flowing down the mighty rocks, to give us a chance to glide among her waves and feel her icy cold waters, and to give us a chance to revere and venerate her in her wholesome glory. Again, my friend has done a great job of writing a detailed account of the happenings on D-day. When I read his post, I relived the happenings on that day and could vividly see and feel standing before the mighty Niagara and offering her my respect. I am pretty sure that I could not do a better job than he has already done and so I am gonna redirect you to his post here (If the link does not work, please copy-paste this in your browser: http://xyzmurali.blogspot.com/2010/07/june-27-2010-niagara-plan-executed-at.html?spref=fb)

I enjoyed them all - Maid of the Mist, the Helicopter ride, all the photography on the banks of the Niagara, the time at the casino (where I discovered that I play Blackjack quite decently...lol), the views of the great gorge, etc. However, what I enjoyed the most and am really really glad to have tried is the Jetboat ride. It made me feel so alive, and so full of energy...in a strange way it made me feel ready to take on the world. I absolutely recommend this to each and everybody who visits the Niagara and I guess it is also gonna figure on my future itineraries from now on :).

The Presence of Gaia by Josephine Wall

The Niagara stand as a symbol to make us realize the power of Mother Nature. She can be fierce and terrifying...yet she chooses to be benign and loving. The Niagara flows with a fierce roar over the horseshoe falls (and the American falls). Standing at the base of the Canadian Horse shoe falls (in the Maid of the Mist boat), when you behold the waters thundering down in three direction and the whole panorama totally filled by this sight, you can hardly help feeling awe inspired, wonder-struck and totally amazed. Showing her terrifying face for a few minutes as the Niagara river flows further down, she becomes much more benign and calm...and there are fisher-folk, peasants and townspeople living happily on its banks. She also takes a 90 degree turn at the great gorge and loses much of her momentum there, happily shedding her angry persona and bringing on a calm, loving smile on her beautiful face.

She gives so much to this part of the world...in both her forms...angry and benign. Much of the electricity and revenue in this part of the world, is generated from the furious falls. The benign waters provide livelihood and watches over the population of the Niagara region. It felt as if Mother Nature was telling me that a Mother just plainly and totally loves her kids, and does everything in her power for them...when she gets angry, it might not always be clear at the first sight why she is so, but it is always for the good of her kids...This reminded me of something I had read in a mail long ago and saw on National Geographic once. A mother giraffe delivers a baby standing up...so the baby actually falls down when it enters this world, and starts crying...at this time, the mother giraffe goes round the baby and plants a kick behind the new born. The kid cries even more violently. But, the mother does not give up... she keeps kicking the baby...again and again...till it stands up and starts walking. Only then does the mother clean her baby and offers it milk. You see...a new born giraffe is apparently a great delicacy for predators like hyenas, wolves, lions, etc. The only way the baby can survive in the wild of Africa is to stand up and walk between the four legs of the mother. A giraffe's kick can be lethal and can kill even lions. So, the predators would be vary of attacking a child which is standing under the Mother (or Father) giraffe's legs. The baby would not have understood the Mother's actions when it was at the receiving end of the kicks after having just had a great fall and hurting itself. However, they were all done out of pure and undiluted love for the kid.

The Niagara symbolizes this great love that Mother Nature has for us and all the life on this earth, even when we humans (probably, the worst kids ever) are out to plunder all her wealth and riches for our selfish ends.

The Power of Emotions (part 1) - Trust

2010-03-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, in ancient India, a merchant had gone to a far away city to earn his livelihood, leaving his wife and 2 year old kid behind. For a long time, he was busy working hard and toiling day and night....All his correspondences with his wife were limited, and few and far between, arranged through the people who would be going to or coming from his remote village whenever they did...Their family hardships were solved now, thanks to the merchant's toil...but it resulted in him living away from his family for a long long time...

After almost a decade and a half, the merchant was on his way back to his village. He reached his house (now renovated) and met his loyal servant at the door. He asked him where was his wife...and the servant told him that she was resting in the bedroom which was above the stairs. The merchant was very eager to meet his wife... he goes into the room. In the bedroom, the doors and windows are all open and his wife is resting peacefully. On another bed close to his wife, is a young handsome man sleeping peacefully too.

Anger rushed to his veins..and he drew out his sword. He would teach them a lesson.. adultery in his bedroom...he would set an example for all how such behaviour should be dealt with...he took a step towards his wife, deciding to punish her first...his mind was throbbing with emotions...."she was so beautiful, its but natural that people would try to induce her into acts of the flesh...but she should not have agreed...or did she? How can a person committing sins and indulging in betrayal sleep so peacefully...? how can her face be so content.? If she really did betray me, then why would the doors and windows of this room be open? Why would my loyal servant send me to this room, knowing fully well how I long to see her?"...He thought about their love and her devotion and faithfulness that she had always shown.. and the beautiful memories of their time together.. These thoughts overpowered his emotions and the anger. His sword went back into the sheath. He touched his wife's shoulder. She opened her eyes and her face danced with happiness. With tears of happiness streaming down her eyes, she called out: "Kanna....my son...look your father has come. Come fall at his feet, and offer your respects to him....he must be so looking forward to see you :)...".

The merchant was stunned...Thank God, good sense prevailed. If not, then its unimaginable what disaster would have come about....If the merchant hadn't taken a few seconds to think...he might have ended up destroying everything that he had in the world...might have murdered his faithful wife and young son and might have ended up taking his own life too and all that he had worked hard for close to 15 years, would have been reduced to dust.

Its natural to get angry...that's a common fallacy in most of us..being humans. However, it is a responsibility of each of us to not take any major decisions when we are in this state...count to 10..or to a 1000, or listen to some soothing music...leave the scene for some time...Somehow, delay taking decisions when you know that you are in this state of mind, as during this time, we are just not ourselves. Trust, friendship, love are stronger emotions than anger in the long run...however, anger can go to great heights and has disastrous strength in the short term. When handled properly, it will pass...We should take care to not allow this short term madness to destroy us.

The oblivious felafels

2010-03-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

It seems that the Lord of Felafels is not happy with us...3 visits to the city centre and whenever we walk in...thats when the shop seems to be shutting down. The Lady at the Felafels shop would be busy downing her shutters at exactly the same time that we walk in...this seems o have become our weekend routine :-D.

I had my first felafels at Haifa, which is located in the northern part of Israel. it was "love at first bite"...fresh pitas on which freshly prepared humus (pronounced khumus in Israel and the middle east) was generously applied..hot felafels straight from the tava sandwiched between fresh lettuce, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, peppers and pickles....it was a taste of heaven :). Loved it so much, that I kept going back for more, and tried it from different places...there were so many small differences in flavour due to different sauces added at the different joints that there was always some difference in the taste...

So, obviously, after seeing the felafel joint, here in Canada...I was quite a bit keen to go and try it out...but I kept missing the deadlines. Last week, I was to another mall...and quite hungry..and guess what.. I see a joint serving mediterranean cuisine..I asked for felafels and was delighted at the smile the lady gave me.. Me and my friend ordered two big pitas filled with veggies and felafels.. and the wait began.. The lady brought out 4 frozen felafel balls from her fridge.. heated it up..cut it into small pieces...out came humus from her fridge..which was spread on the pita...(thankfully not from the fridge) .. the veggies were fresh.. but with old humus and felafels, the taste was just stale :(...what a big letdown.

My friend declared.. they do not know how to make felafels here... we'll go to the mall in mississauga one day..hopefully the lady who is always busy closing her shop will know :-D.... so, me looking forward to those oblivious felafels now.....

Magnets...

2010-03-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

Am quite oblivious to my surroundings nowadays...and quite a bit more than lost. Am spending time thinking about the strangest of things...taste one for yourself :D

"You are the greatest magnet in this world"...declared the profile of one of my good friends. Seems correct at some levels.. we have seen the concept of "Opposites Attract" too much around us to really doubt it. Nature intended it in some measure for us to go about our natural worldly matters coolly. Its natural for us to be attracted to what we do not have...the grass on the other side is always greener..the snow in the other person's yard looks more beautiful...People are attracted to whatever eludes them the most...money, comfort, adventure..

Let's think about this from a different viewpoint. "Who am I" is a question that has stumped that greatest of souls and would need close to a lifetime of searching to find the real answer. If we take the Magnet theory to be true, then it raises quite a few disturbing questions. Nowadays I seem to be attracting a lot of work..does that mean my true self is actually very lazy :-o? What about the people who earn a lot of money....are they actually poor? Well I guess, at some level this argument does hold true. But what about guys who are always hanging out with the most attractive of girls?? are they actually gay :-o?

Well.. I guess this theory is flawed..there are too many holes in it. But then again, since I am getting attracted to flawed theories, I guess a good solid theory is inside me somewhere.. and would emerge one of these days :P

Random Musings - Feb 27, 2010

2010-02-27T19:57:00.000-08:00

Am quite confused nowadays...days go by in a hurry..and the night is over even before I have had a few winks of sleep....and it is already time to go back to office :-(. Strange, the way life just goes running past and ow we suddenly realize one fine day that 2 months have already passed, since the day you left your home shores, and crossed seven seas for work. Two months already away from family and friends..which thanks to the Internet has been a wee bit easier than I had imagined.

I just can't fathom how people who migrated to foreign shores in the past decades and centuries survived through this...If somebody takes away my internet, I feel like..I am being deprived of something essential...like being trapped somewhere without food and water..or trapped on top of a mountain where oxygen is scarce. I feel something biting me from inside...making me feel all alone, helpless and wretched. Its at weekends that it hurts the most..coz that is the time I used to spend with friends and family in my dear home - Mumbai. I miss the crowds and sounds of Mumbai..even the garbage, the pollution and the auto-rickshaws (Although I don't think I will ever be delighted to see the garbage and pollution when I come back home).

Nostalgia is a state of mind in which you remember only the good things that happened to you...even the things that you hate vehemently about a place or person or activity that you love...more often than not later get mellowed down in your memory..and you tend to think of those things fondly too. A case in point is the way I am finding myself reminiscing about the strangest of things today...the crowded local trains...the sh**loads of assignments we wrote...the xerox machine outside college..the dust and pollution on our roads...my nerdiness back in school and college days...the pathetic roads and even more pathetic rickshaws and rickshawallahs of Pune...the food in the office canteen...the list goes on. The point I'm trying to make here is all these things which I have t some point of time hated atleast a bit...also seem like prized memories today.

Today, as I am lying down in an apartment far far away from home and in a different timezone...as I wash my own socks, clean my own apartment and cook my own meals...as I find all my interactions with friends' and family transformed into chats, scraps and pokes...as I find myself all alone more often than not...as I keep mentally planning a vacation back home that I shall be taking more than 8 months later...as I find myself losing track of space and time ]...as I find myself typing down all this random nonsense that has somehow clouded my mind for the last few hours...I can't help thinking whether in the long run all this is really worth it? I guess it must be...atleast a bit...coz everything in life seems to me like a trade-off. You just need to weigh the factors involved carefully and make your decision. What I am scared of today though.. is the way I see people who came here like me...decades ago...still here in more or less the same state of mind that I am in now...They belong to these shores now...but they still long to be back where they originated from...Its scary to see them not coming to a decision after so long. I guess enough is never enough..and it is really hard to take such a decision. I just hope and pray to God that when the time comes for me to make that decision, I make the right one.

TGIF...........

2010-01-14T04:10:00.000-08:00

It started as any normal friday....the quick wrapping up of work, and rescheduling of meetings and as much work as possible to monday. The weekend had arrived..time to go back home.. to friends and family... to Mumbai. :)

The clock struck 5 as I wrapped up my work and left from office on my journey...a weekly journey that had become some sort of a religious ritual with me. Its been close to four and a half years sine I moved to Pune, but I have hardly seen much of the city. Most of the weekends are spent shuttling back between the twin cities of Pune and Mumbai...in a modern sort of pseudo-nomadic lifestyle, which a whole new generation of young mumbaikars and punekars seem to have come to follow. It doesn't seem so bad when the alternative, especially for those who live in the Mumbai suburbs, is to commute everyday.

Lemme introduce the principal characters of this drama...Bhavik, Shrek and Rucha (who are by the way.. also my 'travelling buddies'..to use a term coined by Bhavik). It so happened that, Bhavik had already booked tickets for himself, me and Shrek in the 6:30 Shivneri....and we left at 5:15 from office.. which normally leaves more than adequate time to travel to the station. I had been chatting with Rucha before that, and had offered to stand in the queue for her, till our bus arrives,..so that it saves her some time. However, that was not to happen... courtesy the great Rickshaws of pune.

Pune is notorious for its rickshaws...in close to 5 years.i must have met hardly a handful of honest rickshawallas who ply by the meter. Most of them are out to charge you at 1.5 times the meter or more..for the most ridiculous of reasons ..and in broad daylight. So, we spoke to and let go of a couple of guys of this ilk. However, after that.. not a single rick was ready to go to station..not even at absurd fares... The clock struck 5:40...we took a shared rick to the main highway connecting hadapsar and tried our luck there.. but it seemed to have run out. No ricks there either.. In desperation we tried talking to the ones who were there.. and frantically waved our hands to many... but no luck. It was almost 6:15....Thats when we saw Rucha...leaving in another rick and zooming past us...

She reached the bus stop and was shocked to find none of us in the serpentine queue..which keeps growing longer every minute. She thought we had left..and was obviously.. a bit crossed. She had a bit of a story herself...and a drive akin to a F1 racer..... getting there. Anyways.. we were still trying our best to get a rick.. ultimately.. one person agreed. at some 1.75 times the normal fare...and we were zooming past people, vehicles, animals and more with our own wannabe F1 racer rickshawallah...leading the way. We reached the entarance of the bus stop at 6:40.. and were just about able to see our bus leaving from the stop.. we waved to him frantically.. but he didn't stop.. obviously.. tat had to happen.. things were just not going our way.

Inside..in the bus stop..Rucha had turned our saviour.. there was a long long queue behind her.. A few taunts followed...obviously.. anyways..we tried cancelling our ticket. .after the bus had left.. which surprisingly happened..although the transport guys refunded only some 40% of the money actually paid. Bhavik stood in another line for the Asiad...and I joined Rucha in the Shivneri queue...After almost 1.5 hrs in the queue, we were able to see Bhavik at the ticket window.. talking to the ticket seller.. thats when we left our queue and came outside to wait for him. Well.. a few minutes passed and Bhavik didn't turn up...I went in and found that there was only 1 seat available.. so the guy behind Bhavik got it ..instead of us..

Well.. a Shivneri arrived just then..and I was kicking myself for my decision to leave the line at that point of time...Another 20 minutes passed.... before we finally got tickets and were able to get into the Asiad...and were on our way to our very own dear Mumbai :).

At lonavla.. I tried to get on to a bus that had just started.. mistaking it to be ours.. when i heard laughter behind me..and realised ..just in time...Well.. apart from this a few more minor incidents happened that day making it one of my most memorable journeys back to Mumbai :). A few continents away from my friends now.. I can't help clutching on to this and other memories which keep coming back everyday ...nowadays. Am gonna make some of them immortal...so that time can't fade away these priceless moments that we got to spend with each other :)..Guys, am already missing you a lot...Do keep in touch..

Of Dance and its divinity

2009-12-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

Every dance is a story in itself...a play...if you please...played out by one or two (or sometimes more) characters. Whats more the story is presented in different levels of encapsulation, and has multiple layers of meaning. In a weird way, learning Latin dance has made me appreciate Indian dances much better...It has opened my eyes to different classical dance forms and I have started respecting them for what they truly are - works of art and lessons in life. Truly, Art is something that echoes the voice of God in different moods....of the God who is present within us.

I was watching a documentary on Natyashastra yesterday on DD India. Chanced to come across this channel quite by mistake as I was channel surfing. Was transfixed for the next hour or so. The program described how dance is divine; how different, apparently contrasting forms and styles from different regions of India are all in sync and conform to the same basic guidelines; and about these rules and guidelines which form the branch of study called as Natyashastra - the science of dance. I saw different snippets of Bharatnatyam, Chakyar Kootu, Kathakali,Yakshagana, Kodiyattam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Kathak, Mohiniattam and some other folk styles. I found myself hooked to this - something I have never experienced before. Am so totally surprised with this. I guess my stint at learning Salsa and other Latin dances has opened my mind to start appreciating age old styles of dance so completely different from the Latin genre. This again proves the point that dance is divine and allows a person to grow in so many different ways that you just cant help being surprised and delighted with it.

Anyways, back to the point...what amazed me the most in these dances, is the wide variety of emotions that play on the artist's face. They have absolute control over every muscle on their face, and are able to showcase myriad moods and emotions. There were like a pleothera of movements of the eyeballs, of the eyelashes, of the jaw muscles, the lips, the chin and the neck...and each of these movements could be put together with movements of the other parts of the face to produce totally different emotions. This was an eye-opener of sorts. I didn't even know that the human mind had such a wide variety of feelings :).

What is also interesting, is that way Bharata has treated the spoken language. He involved the formal language (Sanskrit), the local language(one of the Prakrits) and the spoken dialect into the play or dance. So, Kodiattam involved the usage of Sanskrit as well as Malayalam. The Bhagvatha Melas held in Tamil Nadu involved the usage of Tamil and Telugu in addition to Sanskrit. All these were part and parcel of Natyashashtra. The show also described of how a certain gurukul in Kerala had started to use Hindi and Tamil in their performances in addition to Sanskrit and Malayalam. I was amazed with this. If only all of India had this attitude of inclusiveness and accommodation towards languages and cultures, we would not be facing so many of the problems that can currently be seen in our country.

I am looking forward to finding out more about this field, in my spare time. Will keep you guys posted. :)

Young ladies and the pilgrimage to Sabarimala

2009-11-18T01:37:00.000-08:00

"Why are ladies not allowed to visit the Sabarimala temple?" This question was posted to me out of the blue. I looked at the person who wanted this question answered. He was a believer, but he was not convinced with the reasons given for this practice...viz, that Lord Ayyappa is a bachelor, etc. He was pained, and at a loss for words, when he was put this same question by others...many of who ended up painting this pristine temple in a bad light, and made fun of the age old practices and rituals associated with it. I found myself nodding and attempted to answer his question in the best way I could.

First of all, nothing in the Vedic religion is exactly like it meets the eye. There is always deep multi-layered hidden symbolism. Seekers need to delve into these layers, and we would find not just spiritual but also scientific and practical reasons for most of the traditions and practices which are followed. Also, an important point to bear in mind that the restriction is not on ladies....but on ladies of a certain age. Kids below the age of 10, and elder ladies above the age of 50 can and indeed do perform this pilgrimage. So, there is nothing against women as such. About why there is this age restriction,...let's think aloud about it. I am not going to repeat any puranic stories here. Let's look at the background of this pilgrimage instead.

The people undertaking this pilgrimage undergo severe austerities and observations for a period of 41 days before starting on it. This includes among other things restrictions on food and drinks(non-vegetarian food and alcoholic substances are not permitted, and a full meal with rice is to be taken only once in a day...the other meals have to be light nashtas), regular prayers, and strict celibacy and abstinence. Consequently, people are in a state of devotional fervor..but they are also sexually starved (if I can use that term...may God forgive me). The devotee makes great attempts to control his mind (as sexual urges do happen and are very normal too. This is exactly the way nature has built us.), and keep it tamed and tuned to think about God and spirituality, and to perform good deeds. It is in this state of mind that he takes the arduous trek to Sannidhanam, passing through thick forests and trekking through steep mountains. He has to many a times share accommodation with many other devotees, and spend a lot of time with them during this pilgrimage. He has to bathe in open rivers in cold water, and make many other adjustments during this trip. I will come to the spiritual significance of this practice another time. But now, let's think what would be the situation if there are young women added to this group. Man's natural urges would definitely take over. He would feel a need to protect his woman from other members of the group, and that would be the topmost priority in his mind. He can no longer make adjustments with the group and concentrate on the final and most important reason why he took this pilgrimage in the first place. Also, the lady would feel out of place....How comfortable would she be trekking with a number of men who she is not related to? The close proximity of a lot of men, would not allow her to bathe or sleep (in tents under the open sky or in a shared accommodation with many other people) or do any other activity with total peace of mind. Trekking through forests, inhabited by wild animals necessitates close co-ordination, and presence of young ladies would complicate things a lot...for everybody.

Kids below the age of 10 and old ladies however, would not feel out of place....and can easily accomodate themselves in the group. I believe that this very practical reason is the main reason why this practice was created in the first place. In short, it is just plain madness to send ladies into a forest, when groups and groups of sexually starved men are trying to control their urges, and progress spiritually by making a pilgrimage. It would definitely drive at least a few people's senses wild, and potentially cause havoc in that pristine atmosphere. This practice exists...not for differentiating against women..but because of the fallacies and shortcomings of men, and for protecting men (and I guess the women too) from the inner demons present in men.

Moreover, Sabarimala isn't the only holy place around...Women can visit most of the temples dedicated to Lord Ayyappa. Only a handful impose this restriction. There are also countless temples dedicated to other forms of divinity like Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva or the Mother Goddess where no such restrictions are in place. If a trek is important, young women can trek to Tirupati, Vaishnodevi, Palani or other such holy places. Basically, every pilgrimage place has a certain spiritual significance attached to it.... In case of Sabarimala....it symbolizes how victory over the mortal senses is necessary for spiritual fulfillment. It is necessary to have the above restriction there, else, this purpose would be totally and utterly defeated.

My friend...at least..seemed convinced and satisfied by the above explanation. It is definitely not complete, but more understanding is needed...on the spiritual significance of the different activities and actions performed before, during and after this holy Pilgrimage, in order to cover everything. I'll try my best to share whatever little knowledge and realization I have been able to gather, in future articles. Please do leave your comments...let's discuss, and help each other understand stuff and grow spiritually.

Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa.....

Bali Nigrahanam

2009-11-12T11:16:00.000-08:00

Bali Nigrahanam...the killling of Bali has troubled my mind for a long time. How is it that the divine paramatma needed to hide behind a tree and attack Bali with an arrow? Why is it that Him who has vanquished many mighty demons and surpassed the highest feats of strength and valour didn't face him head on? Was an avatara of the Lord, who had put the strongest warriors of all races to shame, by picking up the divine Shiva Dhanush effortlessly with one hand, not strong enough to face the might of this vanara? Was He who had for the divine purpose of Yaaga Samrakshanam, took on and destroyed demons like Tadaka without batting an eyelid, afraid of the might of Bali? I am sure that many worthier souls would have pondered over these questions too....and that thought made me smile.

It was a few days ago, that revelations about this incident came through. Just like a lot of things in the Sanathana Dharma tradition, the divine epic of Ramayana is full of symbology - hidden and obvious. There are layers and layers of meanings..some encapsulated such that only seekers who will delve deep within, will be able to find them. There would be a simple, literal story for the masses to enjoy, understand and to dervie direct meanings from. In this layer Rama appears as Maryada Purushottam, as the ideal son, ideal husband, ideal brother and ideal friend. Little wonder that a big number of people in the Indian subcontinent, and in South East Asia admire Rama as the perfect man, and have a secret aspiration to be like Rama in their actions.

At the layer which represents symbology, Rama becomes the Paramatma...yet at certain situations, He takes on human traits, and shows how the Jeevatma needs to behave in order to rid itself of vices and advance spiritually. Rama takes on different roles throughout the epic, in order to teach us different lessons. The incident of the slaying of Bali - the mighty monkey king, is one such episode.

In the story, Bali performs a great tapa, and gets a boon from Brahma, that as soon as he faces anybody in combat, he will immediately draw half the strength out of his adversary. As the strength such gained by him, in addition to his own mighty strength will always be more than the half strength that the adversary is left with, there was no straightforward way to defeat Bali. After some incidents and misunderstandings, Bali turns cruel and banishes Sugreeva from the kingdom. Sugreeva comes to Rama for help. Rama suggests to Sugreeva to engage Bali in combat. When this combat is in progress, Rama fires an arrow at Bali from behind a tree. This arrow proves fatal to Bali, and he dies after offering his respects to Rama.

Bali here..represents the strength of ego. Ego is a very tricky enemy. It does not allow persons to think straight. As soon as it is presented with some valid argument, it immediately seeps out a big part of the strength of those arguments, by clouding one's mind in doubt and by blocking one's ability to see or think clearly. People are not able to see or understand the problem clearly. They get a very twisted understanding of the whole situation. Many a times, they feel victimised (like Bali felt, due to Sugreeva blocking the entrance of the mountain with a stone), and justified to do whatever they are doing (just like Bali felt justified in banishing Sugreeva, his faithful brother). Even if God himself appears in front of a person who is in such a state and tells him about his mistakes....he would not readily accept it and would look for ways and means out of this. This fire of ego, burns a person's spiritual fabric from the inside, and has to be defeated at all costs....However, this is very tricky, as it is just not possible to defeat it by engaging it in direct combat.

For this, Rama has shown us the way...The only way that can work. we need to distract it, by keeping it engaged in combat, and secretly attack it from hiding. This is the way to get rid of not just ego, ..but a host of malpractices. We should engage it in combat...i.e. keep challenging ourselves to go to greater heights and take greater challenges. These should be enough to keep our ego busy in trying its best to maintain its false air of superiority complex. When it is thus engaged....we should participate in spiriutal discources and practices, and in studying and understanding the sacred texts and its hidden symbology. When we do this, it'll cut at the roots of ego and all our vices, and help us to ultimately conquer this demon. This is the only way to make our ego surrender to our spiritual self, and is a necessary step in the path of spiritual progress.

This message has been reinforced by many other incidents and actions. Sage Vishvamitra attains the position of a Brahma-rishi... in fact the greatest of the Brahma rishis from Sage Vashishta, only after he gets rid of this final flaw, and bows his head in front of the king Dushyanta (during the spisode of Shakuntala). Kumbhakarna - Ravana's brother tries to convince him to return Sita and ask forgiveness from Rama (tries to attack and defeat ego directly), and fails. Ultimately Kumbhakarna loses his life at the hands of Rama (Ego still lives, and drives the person who challenged it directly, to defeat). There are many many more incidents from many incidents in many different epics, in the treasurehouse of stories present in the library of Sanathana Dharma that our forefathers have left us, which speak of this same message.

May the divine Lord Rama, enable us to read and understand beyond what is written and to act on these revelations, such that we can progress on the path to spiritual enlightenment.

A lesson from the Ramayana

2009-11-09T02:22:00.000-08:00

Ramayana is arguably one of the best epics of all time. It has been told and retold so many times, in many different languages. Apart from Valmiki's original treatise, other great poets like Tulsidas, Kambar, Tyagaraja, Ezhutachchan, and others have attained immortality by retelling this divine epic in their own words, and in their own distinct style. This epic is full of symbolism and encapsulations of meanings and hidden messages... We need to step a bit deeper, in order to see these.

Let's look at Sita...She is born to Bhoomi Devi, and lands up in the palace of Janaka. She grows up with the best of Samskaras and gets married to Lord Rama. They are very happy together. Some political happenings, force her husband to leave the palace and move to the forest. She willingly accepts this and accompanies him,...and they spend 12 divine years full of happiness in the forest. At the end of the 12th year, Mareecha appears in the form of a golden deer. Sita is filled with a desire to possess this deer at any cost, and she sends her husband to get it for her. She does not listen to the wise words of her brother in law, and ends up getting kidnapped by Ravana - the demon. She realizes her folly, and spends time in penance in the Ashoka-Vatika...where she gets blessed by meeting Hanuman - an amsha-avatara of Lord Shiva himself. Soon, Lord Rama comes and wages a war, and rescues her from Ravana's prison. She is made to undergo a test by fire, and she reunites with Rama. A great story.. no doubt. But, with deep symbolism.

Sita here.. represents the Jeevatma (or life in human form), and Rama represents the Paramatma (Divine God). Due to good samskaras, and penances, Jeevatma attains the Paramatma....and it continues to experience a state of bliss, as long as it remains free from the lower gunas...In spite of difficulties (like being driven to the forest), the loss of material pleasures matters not, and the Jeevatma will continue to experience bliss. However, the moment, it becomes prey to desires / vasanas (represented by the golden deer), it falls into ignorance..and troubles. It falls from the esteemed position that it was in, and finds itself in a lot of trouble. The awakened soul, will reject all harmful distractions (like Sita did.. by not entering Ravana's palace and not accepting the riches and comforts offered to her, and confining herself to the ashoka vatika), and continue with penances to reattain the Paramatma.. When this is done, The Paramatma will rescue our soul from any difficulties and problems that it is caught in. As long as our devotion and resolution is firm, any difficulties however insurmountable they may seem, are bound to vanish. Its only a question of "When?", rather than "If?".

However, there can and would be multiple incidents from time to time to test our resolve and spiritual fabric. This is needed, because just like the incident with the golden deer showed, human minds are fallible, and can easily fall prey to various pleasures and temptations and start indulging in them. In order to continue enjoying the state of bliss, one needs to prove his/her worth from time to time. The time and frequency of such tests is decided by the Paramatma. This is symbolized by the (totally unnecessary in Tyagaraja Swami's view) incident of Agni Pariksha, that Sita Devi was subjected to. Sita and Rama are admired by multitudes of people, and a majority of religious Indians hold them as their ideals. We just need to go one step further, and break through the encapsulations that were put in place by our great seers, in order to get great lessons in life, spirituality and beyond.

Ramayana is a classic for all times. It is a treasure trove of the people across South and South East Asia and of their culture. We will be revisiting this epic from time to time to look at different characters, their actions and the hidden symbolism to understand more. Please do contribute with your comments and opinions...This is a learning process for all of us ..after all. :)

A mistake worth making..........

2009-11-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

Was listening to one of my all time fav songs today ..."Hope you dance" by Leanne Womack.. The lyrics are quite haunting, and I have been humming them for the better part of the day today. Can't help thinking deep...when lyrics so deep get thrown at you...Random ramblings just have to follow...The lyrics of the entire song are excellent, and full of meaning...I am putting here my favourite parts of the song, and what they made me think:

Time is a real and constant motion always
Rolling us along. Tell me who
Wants to look back on their youth and wonder
Where those years have gone

A not too subtle reminder of the value of time. We just need to do the best we can with the time that is given to us. Yesterday is already gone, and tomorrow is not here yet. What we have with us is today....if we use it correctly, then we will be able to shape our tomorrow to a big extent...Nostalgia about the years gone by, is almost always accompanied by some sense of regret....why didn't I do this or that...why didnt I....join that course...attend that party...go to that excursion...ask the cute new girl out...study more...play more...have more fun...etc. If I had, it would have been so much more fun... Guys, Let's do a favour to ourselves, and try and experiment as much as we want (really really want) with our lives...if we are really convinced about something,..let's not hold ourselves back. We should atleast try, so that we do not regret this later. It's almost always better to have tried and failed, than to have given up without trying.

I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens

Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

Well.. a set of random thoughts put together....Basically, it is a reminder to maintain humility, sense and faith under difficult situations. And when the chance comes to try something or to let it go...we should take up the challenge and go ahead and try. After all, it is a difficult situation,.. things can only get better by taking calculated risks...right? If nothing was tried, then we would be stuck in that rut forever..for sure. So, make sure to try out things. Basically, it is a message to us that we cannot get out of or solve problems, by the same thinking or actions that got us into that situation in the first place.

And my favourite one is:

Livin' might mean taking chances
But they are worth taking...
Lovin' might be a mistake
But it's worth making.....

This is definitely a risk worth taking, and if its a mistake...one that is definitely worth making...Everybody needs a witness to his/her life... somebody who they can share all their good and bad moments with... somebody who they know would be there for them, when they are in need...somebody who you can trust blindly..somebody who can disarm you with a simple smile and and make all your troubles disappear with a hug...somebody who truly understands you and can understand what you say and also what you don't say..somebody who will lend you their shoulder when you really really need to cry...somebody who makes you realize the best in yourself, and to really realize your potential in life...somebody who's presence means everything is right with the world again...somebody who understands your responsibilities and is always there to provide moral support to you, in order to fulfill them...somebody who means the world to them. A life without love would be bereft of so much...It would just be a shadow of the life that one could have had. May God not put anybody through this....

Lunch with Ganesha....

2009-11-03T23:30:00.000-08:00

Our Vedas, Upanishads and Brahma sutras give out deep spiritual tenets and messages. However, they are not easily accessible or understandable to most people. Our Rishis realized this a long long time ago. Just like all diseases do not have the same cure, or all questions do not have the same answer....spiritual needs of every person are different...and so are the understanding and spiritual maturity levels. So, different levels of encapsulation were added into the treasure trove of spiritual material that lies in the Vedas. Puranas belong to this genre...they give out deep truths and lessons in spirituality through simple stories...some simple, some logical...and some bordering on the absurd. These stories are followed by seekers with different levels of spiritual maturity...from the simple farmer who believes in them literally... to the Yogi who has delved very very deep into them and had great realizations and has attained dizzy heights of spiritual growth. Let’s take up one such beautiful story from the Ganesh Puran today...

"Kubera, the Lord of wealth was excessively proud of his wealth and prosperity He wanted to show off his greatness to everybody. In his vanity, he approached Lord Shiva...and invited him to a feast. Lord Shiva had a look and realized immediately that Kubera is not inviting Him to lunch out of devotion...but with an intention to show off his wealth. He decided that it was time to teach Kubera a lesson in humility, and so informed Kubera that His son Ganesha shall represent Him in the feast. Kubera has a look at the tiny Ganesha and chuckles to himself. He would show this kid what true riches are......

The day of the feast arrived and Ganesha came to Kubera's palace with His mount - the mouse, in tow. A very rich feast with the best of delicacies imaginable was prepared in vast quantities. The child Ganesha sat down to lunch....He was brought dish after dish of sweets, fruits, drinks and other delicacies. Ganesha kept eating....his appetite was just not satisfied. When the existing foodstuffs started running out, the cooks started cooking more food...everything kept getting consumed by the kid Ganesha... The palace of Kubera ran out of supplies and all eatables were gone...but Ganesha was still not satisfied. He now started eating the pots, pans and other stuff used for cooking....Seeing this, the cooks and attendants ran away, leaving a scared, trembling Kubera behind... Ganesha's appetite was still not satisfied, and He now started to eat the sofas, chairs and other furniture of Kubera's palace.....

A frightened Kubera ran to Kailas, and fell at the feet of Lord Shiva and Parvati... He narrated the whole incident and the havoc that Ganesha was creating in his palace. Lord Shiva gave Kubera a small bowl of cooked rice... and asked him to take this to Ganesha. When Ganesha partook of this cooked rice, his appetite immediately got satisfied, and he took leave of Kubera after thanking him for the feast and blessing him..."

The above story, like most of the ones in the Puranas borders on the absurd...and makes for a wonderful tale for kids. And just like most, it has deep hidden meanings. Kubera's palace and belongings here represent the material world and its riches. The story shows that, a person just cannot be satisfied with all the material things, wealth and riches that are on offer. If a person tries to satisfy his physical senses, he will be forever stuck in that, and even all the riches in this world would not suffice to satisfy this craving. As he attains some of these riches, his craving for them will just keep on increasing, and he will need to attain more. This is a vicious cycle in which human life gets caught. They keep struggling to get out of this, by earning more, and indulging in more desires...little realizing that they are entangling themselves in this mess further. Finally, a person becomes a slave to his senses and desires and gets trapped in the material world...failing to realize the true potential that lies within.

Cooked rice represents the destruction of vasanas (desires). It represents spiritual growth, which can be attained only by the gradual overpowering and controlling of sensual desires. When this happens, and people mature spiritually....they are no longer dependent on appeasement of sensual desires for their happiness. They experience a state of Ananda...ultimate happiness all the time. They are a part of this world, and enjoy the material comforts... but they are not dependent on them. Removing the comforts will make no difference to their mental and spiritual state....They are in a state of bliss....of 'Sat Chid Ananda'. This is the state which we all need to make an effort to reach. This is represented by Ganesha's hunger immediately getting satisfied on eating a bowl of cooked rice, prepared by His parents (Shiva and Parvati) who represent the concept of 'Sat' (Pure, Serene, Divine) and Chidananda (Ultimate Happiness in the heart, soul and spirit)'.

Let's all pray to the divine Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, the Lord of all good, the Lord who has the right of first prayers (Aadhi Vandhu), the conferrer of boons and the destroyer of demons (which are again a symbolism for the ills and bad qualities which lurk in the human mind), to bless us all on our path of Spiritual Progress. May He help us to realize our true potentials...

Mumbai meri jaan..........

2009-10-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

I am in love with Bombay....in many ways and for many reasons. No matter wherever I go....in whichever corner of the the world.. doing whatever....I can never give up my affinity with this prince among cities. I like to call myself a Mumbaikar, having been born and raised there. If anybody asks me.. where are you from...pat comes the answer "I am from Bombay :)".

There is no other place like Bombay in this side of the world,and probably anywhere. It's a melting pot of cultures, languages and practices from different parts of India, and many parts of the world. Originally a group of islands inhabited by Kolis (fisher folk), Bombay went fast forward into the process of becoming a major city, once the Britishers took over and made it their capital. It started attracting people from all over, for the various employment opportunities it now offered. People flocked to this megalopolis with dreams in their eyes, and the desire to work hard and make it true.....and Bombay welcomed them with open arms. Everybody was welcome here, as long as they became a part of what this city was....and over a period of time, contributed towards enriching it further.

Based in Pune since some time now, I hear comments about Bombay from people who have been to the city once and been visibly shaken by the experience. many of these comments are ugly and vitriolic....pathetic local trains..bad climate..slums everywhere..garbage..and too many people everywhere. I used to get into debates with such people before...I felt a need to defend my city....my home..from such nasty comments and present the correct picture to them. I used to draw up an imaginary scenario for them...."Imagine that you are living in a house minding your own business, when suddenly 20 guests turn up...You do your best to accommodate them, and arrange facilities for them. When you wake up the next day...20 more guests turn up. You somehow stretch yourself and arrange for them too...the third day.. 20 more guests arrive...you supplies are running out...you start to panic...everyday.. more guests keep arriving and you keep trying your best to accommodate everybody..but it is not and obviously cannot be good enough". This is what is happening to Pune today, and what has been happening to Bombay over the last 100 years. The fact that this city has been and is still called as the City of Dreams is an ode to its greatness

Mumbai is one of the few true metropolitan cities. People with roots from every corner of India, speaking different languages, following different faiths, and celebrating different festivals call Mumbai their home. This city has welcomed people, and allowed them to work hard and prosper in their lives. It has allowed them to fulfill their dreams. Its a hard and fast life...but has its own charms. It's only in Mumbai, that you would see people crowding into a local train like cattle to reach their daily work place, and yet be glad that they were able to get in. It's only here that you would see people already crowded to capacity into a train compartment, lend a hand to a guy who is running after the train. He would be pulled in and a few inches of space would be created for his feet, in a place where there was no space in the first place....The Mumbaikar has empathy enough to understand that missing this local train might be disastrous for this guy...he might miss an important appointment..might be shouted at by his boss...might lose his job..and he is ready to lend a helping hand, if it is in his power to do so.

During the 26 July floods, ordinary men, housewives and schoolchildren had come en masse to provide food, drinking water, clothing and a place to rest for the night to tired commuters, who had to walk hundreds of kilometres in waist deep water. During the different man made and natural disasters that have ravaged this city, the spirit of the Mumbaikar has always shined through. There are hundreds and thousands of unsung heroes in these ordinary hardworking peace loving folk..This article is an ode to them, and to Mumbai...my home :).

Teachings of an oil lamp...

2009-10-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

Never underestimate the power of one…..for simple actions however small and inconsequential they might seem sometimes have the power to shape worlds. A tiny candle spreads light all around…defeating the great and mighty darkness that surrounds it. The greatest thing about the candle though, is that it can light other candles and lamps, thus spreading even more light around it. Sharing its magnificence with others around it doesn’t diminish its own, in any way whatsoever. It’s also not at all surprising that a small candle can light things much bigger, stronger and powerful than itself in every way. It seems it asserts repeatedly in various ways and in various degrees that size doesn’t matter…intentions do.

In the Hindu faith, one of the greatest icons to represent this is lord Subrahmanya (Skanda, Kartikeya or Muruga), Who is the son of lord Shiva and younger brother of lord Ganesha. Muruga is verily a manifestation of Agni – having been born from the fiery third eye of Shiva, and hence is very naturally represented by a lighted oil lamp (The second paragraph of the Tirupugazh Arathi which is traditionally offered to the Lord has the words "Deepa Mangala Jyoti Namo Namo, Thooya Ambala Leela Namo Namo, Deva Kunjari Paada Namo Namo, Arul Thaaray". Deepa Mangala Jyothi refers to the auspicious flame in the lighted oil lamp, and the Lord is visualized in this form). As a small kid, Subrahmanya had defeated the creator Brahma in spiritual discussions, and had gone so far as to punish him, when he failed to satisfactorily explain the meaning of the Pranava Mantra ‘Om’. On being questioned by His father, if He, being such a small Kid had the authority to do this; Subrahmanya explained that age had nothing to do with intellect, knowledge and wisdom….that the Creator of the universe cannot discharge duties by forgetting what and where the universe originated from , and He had every right to question that….and that, even thought He was a kid, He can and would gladly explain the meaning of the Cosmic truth, but if He did that, then as per the Vedas, it would put Him in the place of a Guru. On hearing these words from His son, the great Lord Shiva gladly kneeled down before His Son, and heard His Son’s discourse with the greatest of humility, affection and love. This incident gave Subrahmanya the names of ‘Kumaraguru’ - the young Guru and ‘Swaminatha’ – Teacher to the Lord of Lords. Its a reminder to us that it doesn't matter who gives an advice. It can be anybody - your friend, colleague, a rickshawaalah, a beggar or your own kid. What's important is the lesson. The next time that somebody, whom you consider yourself superior to, tells you something, remember this and pay attention to what they are saying. God might be speaking through them. The Rigveda explicitly beckons us to remember this truth with the eternal words "AA NO Bhadraaha Krathavo yantu vishwataha" ..... meaning "May good thoughts come to us from all directions".

An image depicting the divine episode of Kartikeya as a kid explaining the meaning of the cosmic truth to his father Lord Shiva.

Avvaiyar was a great scholar of the Vedas, the Upanishads and all scholarly knowledge. She had attained lofty heights in all kinds of knowledge, and also in her pride. She believed that nobody could fool or play a trick on her as she had become all knowing and even been blessed with divine sight by Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles. Lord Subrahmanya appeared as a small kid on the branches of the tree, under which she was resting, and through a small trick played on her (“Chutta Pazham Venumaa?.. Sudadha Pazham Venumaa?"), made her realize the world. ..and become the greatest poet and saint of her age. Her songs are still sung to this day, and she is respected as one of the greatest poets and scholars of the Tamil lands.

As a small kid, He vanquished great opponents likeTarakasura, Simhamukha, Surapadma, etc. He attended and defeated great scholars in spiritual debates and discussions. Through His actions and philosophy, He kept spreading knowledge and goodness all around. He showed great grace to even his enemies. Idumban became his guard at Pazhani hills. Surapadma turned into a peacock, which became the mount of the lord, and a rooster, which became his the symbol on his flag. The lord took on Taraka’s name, and became known as Tarakari. It is said that Kartikeya never destroyed his enemies….rather He destroyed the Asuric forces within them, and turned them into his friends. Even the Lord’s mount – the peacock, does not crush and devour the snake of ego, but subdues it and holds it lightly with one foot…just like a friend might hold on to another.

Let’s meditate on the great truth that Lord Skanda has demonstrated again and again through his actions. Even a small lamp can spread light….it can share itself and its flame with others…that this act does not diminish itself in any way, but brightens up the world greatly…and that size is not everything….intentions are.

Of Hatred....

2009-10-12T00:41:00.000-07:00

This happened a few days ago....and it took just a few words from a friend to knock some sense into my mind. What was I thinking...How can I allow my mind to get polluted with filthy thoughts!! Haven't I heard and seen enough about how emotions can foster further thoughts and actions and how they can control, shape and even destroy everything that we hold most dear...

Hmm...guess I should give you some background, before continuing. Well, I can't go into the details, as there are people involved. So, I'm gonna change a few things... and make sure that the gist of what I want to convey remains as is. It started like any other day, till a few things happened that left me feeling unmotivated, dejected, angry and totally depressed all at the same time. It showed in my face and in my actions...Everybody around me sat up and took notice...My relations with some people collected this totally unnecessary scar...and needless to say .. more bad things happened, and I was left feeling worse at the end of the day. I put up a message on my GTalk id...indicating that I was blue and angry...

That's when a friend pinged me "Why so much hatred?"....I was shocked. Her words brought me back to earth...from the parallel reality universe that i was lost in. I got lost into thoughts... and realized a number of things in the next few minutes.

Hatred is a state of mind more than an emotion. If it's allowed to linger for long, then it'll make a home for itself in our mind. It'll become a part of our persona. Just like it is easy to pull out a small weed, but nigh impossible to pull out a fully grown tree by its roots....it would be impossible to remove hatred from our mind, once it makes a home for itself in there and grows. Ultimately, it can consume our ability to love..to forgive..and to think straight.

Instead of hating something, its better to say (and practice) that you are not happy with something. Once that is corrected, you will be back to being happy and continue to think good thoughts. The RigVeda states
"AA NO Bhadraaha Krathavo yantu vishwataha" ..... meaning "May good thoughts come to us from all directions".

I dedicate this post to my friend who reminded me of all these by asking one simple question at the right time. Thanks Sandhya :).

Tatvamasi...........

2009-10-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

I was on my first pilgrimage to Sabarimala the abode of Lord Ayyappa. After ascending the 18 holy steps...I see a quote displayed above the main gate of the Sannidhanam."Tat tvam asi"... three simple words to capture the essence of Advaitic beliefs. Three words which show the oneness of all, and the meaning of life. Three words which communicate the meaninglessness of searching for truth and enlightenment outside, and how the true goal lies within.

"Tat tvam asi" translated to English would mean "Thou art That (Supreme Divinity)". It means that the Supreme Lord is within each and everyone. It means that everybody has divinity within him/her. The Supreme Conciousness, also known as Brahman (not Brahmin, which is a caste) or Para-Brahma is inherent in everything, is present everywhere and is beyond everything. In Hindu belief.. Brahman is often represented by the symbol of 'Om' or 'Omkar'.

This message was taken to heart by many followers. In the Ayyappa cult, all men who are undertaking the penance and observations to make the sacred pilgrimage to Sabarimala are called 'Ayyappas', and women are called as 'Maalikapurams'. During this Vratha, people greet others with folded hands and with the words "Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa".. meaning "Oh Lord Ayyappa...Please take me into your Protection and Grace". This is a prayer to the Lord who is present within the person we greet. The greetings of "Namaste", "Vanakkam", "Namaskar",etc with folded hands practiced in different parts of India is also for the same reason as above. There is a soul stirring prayer in the Shaivite tradition which echoes the words "Shivoham Shivoham....." which means "I am Shiva" or "Shiva is present in me". It goes on to say what all we are not - I am not this body made of different elements..I am not the ego...not the anger.. not the jealousy or the avarice...I am am not the feeling of hate..etc etc....I am the sublime and auspicious Shiva.

The true pilgrimage starts within oneself...to the temple that houses the Divinity that lives within us. For a truely awakened person, every act that he/she performs with the body or mind becomes an act of prayer...a prayer to this divinity. Bathing, cleaing the hair, excretion, etc become acts of cleaning a temple. Eating becomes an act of offering food and drinks to the Lord. Walking becomes and act of offering dance to the Lord. Sleeping becomes an act of "Palliyara seva"...singing lullabies to the icon representing the lord.

When a person in the Vedic tradition starts walking on the spiritual path, he would see God everywhere. Abirami Pattar used to see the Goddess' form in every woman. He would fall at the feet of everybody....even small kids with great reverence as he was able to see the Goddess in them. Tyagaraja used to see Lord Rama everywhere. He composed a lot of great songs describing Lord Rama doing different acts, in different poses, and in different forms. After he attained lofty heights in spiritualism, Saint Namdev once ran behind a dog that had snatched away his bhakri. He ran, with butter in his hands shouting "Hey Panduranga...How will you eat the tough bhakri just like that...Please take this butter too". For him, Panduranga was no longer present just in the four walls of the temple at Pandharpur... the whole world became his temple, and he could see his beloved Vitthala in everybody and everything.

"Aham Brahmasmi"......is a famous statement that occurs again and again in the Upanishads. It stands for enlightenment... and means "I am Brahma"....Here.. the "I" doesnt refer to the individual, but to the essence of the soul...to the Brahman / Para Brahma who is present in everything and everywhere.

Of a Stone Age fight and what it led to.....

2009-09-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

Once upon a long long time ago... during the stone age.. two groups of people were having a fight over some petty issue....maybe who gets to keep which dinosaur egg omelet.. :P. Things turned ugly, and they started throwing stones on each other. A few of these stones fell into some puddle which was filled with rubber sap. The fighting got so violent, and the warring parties started running out of stones. Finally, one wise guy, went to the puddle, and took out some of those stones. When he threw one of these stones at the opposite party....voila... it bounced. The other party was shell shocked. These men had superior weapons... stones that bounced. They raised white flags.. lost the fight and went home.

Everybody was intrigued about these bouncing stones.. they found out that by putting more stones in the rubbery sap, they can create more of these bouncing stones. One of the warrior chieftains gifted one of the smaller bouncy stones to his kid. This, my dear friends.. was the beginning of the age of the ball... :D..Today, balls are everywhere... cricket, football, hockey,..etc.. most of the games played in this world are played with some kinda ball. Balls are also present inside machines, toys, and many other things. Some wise guy had cut of the ball on two sides...creating the first wheel. Wheels found their way into everything too.. vehicles, machines, toys, etc etc. So guys, all this progress that we have made today..has been possible only due to
a foolish fight over some silly thing.

Well...my twisted imagination comes up with strange theories and stories from time to time. Anyways, let me tell you what prompted me to start thinking in this direction.

I had gifted a blue coloured crazy ball (ball which bounces and spins too much) to my niece...She was delighted beyond measure. She loved throwing it on the wall and trying to catch it as it bounced towards her.....It cannot be described in words...the joy that you can see on kid's faces, when they are playing. There are no words to describe the feeling of happiness that you feel either...when you can see them enjoying your gift. It fills your heart and makes you forget all worries and tensions of this mundane world.

A great thing about children is that they can enjoy what they are doing. They'll take their time to eat..enjoying the taste of the food. They'll lose themselves into whatever game they are currently playing. They will ask the wierdest of questions and put forward the strangest of points.. which on hindsight seem straightforward enough. When I am with kids, it makes me a kid too... and thats when this question first struck me.... Exactly how and when did the first balls get created. I mean.. sure there were always stones around... but when exactly did man (or...maybe a woman) first think of getting these stones to bounce back....when did he say, i need the material to be softer so that i can catch it when it bounces back at me...What exactly made him to create this bouncy material into a toy, instead of ...say a weapon..etc etc...

Well.. you saw the story that these thoughts led to :)....

Prayer without work

2009-09-23T04:57:00.000-07:00

One upon a time, there was a great flood in Maharashtra. There was this guy in a remote village(lets call him Madhav), who had great faith in Vitthala (a form of Lord Krishna). His village too too, came under the sway of the flood. Madhav had complete faith that Lord Krishna will come to protect him from the flood. When people started fleeing the place, on bullock carts and horse carts, Madhav remained behind... steadfast in his belief..praying silently, and refusing to listen to anyone who offered him a lift.

Slowly, the flood waters rose higher... Madhav was now sitting on a window ledge.. seeing the pathetic situation around... Some people came with a boat and told him "Madhav.....come with us.. let's leave this place before the situation gets worse"... Madhav arrogantly replied "My Vithoba will protect me.. I don't fear this flood..You people can leave this place.. I am not coming with you."

The surprised villagers left...The situation did get worse... and Madhav had to climb right to the roof of his house, to escape the floood waters... meanwhile, the waters continued to rise, and there was no respite in sight. At this time, an army helicopter came about... saw Madhav perched on the roof, and asked him to come with them. Madhav refused...saying that Vithoba will come to save him. The armymen tried their best to convince him, but Madhav remained unmoved. At last, they gave him a few food packets and other essential stuff and had to leave him to his fate. They left with downcast faces.

The flood continued to rise, and ultimately Madhav drowned. After his death.. his spirit went to heaven where he went straight to question the Lord. He was angry and felt betrayed.... He shouted out "Panduranga...you have let me down. I believed in you, and yet you allowed me to drown in that flood. Why?? Why didn't you try and help me??". The Lord answered... "Who do you think sent you the bullock carts, the boat and the helicopter?"

The moral of this story is that.. God always helps His devotees..but, that help need not always be in the form that we expect it to be. We need to help ourselves, by holding on to and making use of the opportunities that God provides us from time to time...coz finally "God helps those who help themselves. The Rigveda declares that man must work hard and do pious deeds in addition to prayer. If this is not done, then prayer will not help him....

Life lessons from Salsa

2009-09-22T00:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you learn and realize things about life from the most unexpected of sources. Things might look simple and straightforward...but there might be deep layers inherent with meanings and interpretations that can leave you astounded. I am currently going through such a phase of life, that I am finding spiritual messages hidden in the most unlikeliest of places...and realization about these are coming about in times that I least expect them and in the strangest of ways. Following are a few life lessons I came to realize quite recently, when I was trying to remember / practice the salsa moves I had learned earlier in class that day.

I have recently joined a Latin Dance class, in order to learn the basics of Latin dancing and bring a breath of fresh air into my otherwise increasingly monotonous existence. Salsa is a great great dance form to say the least...beautiful, moving and extremely graceful. In the world of dances, Chivalry still counts. Respect and consideration for the lady you are dancing with is a pre-requisite to a good dance. It is also the guy's responsibility to make sure that his partner has had a good and fulfilling dance. These are life lessons....not just lessons limited to dance. Respect and consideration for whoever you are with, is one of the foundations on which any relationship stands. If this isnt strong enough, even a mild earthquake can shake it and bring it down.

If chivalry is one factor, an even bigger factor is trust. There are many complicated steps which necessitate good co-ordination between partners. Good co-ordination doesn't come without trust. Trust...that your partner will lead you well..that he would cover the gaps and make your moves look good..that he'll give you support when you need it for performing those complicated turns, spins and other moves...that you can rely on him to provide you the balance that you need if you are close to losing it...that he will catch you if you are about to fall...that you are safe in his hands. Equally important is the feeling that the guy gets..that the lady has placed her trust in him...and that he has a responsibility to prove her right.Again...these are life lessons. If Respect and Consideration is the foundation, then Trust is the main pillar of any relation. A relation which lacks trust is like a gift wrapped empty box...There is nothing whatsoever within it. When it does get opened, it'll be a big disappointment indeed.

There are turns..graceful and beautiful. The guy needs to give the lady an indication before she needs to take the turn. He needs to make a window before the start of the step, and needs to lead the lady through...So too in life..the partners need to keep each other updated about different factors in their lives. When the time comes to take a turn (or to do something differently), one of the partners ideally needs to stabilize and lead the other partner through the difficult time. It also needs advance thinking (on part of the partner who is relatively stable) of where the other partner might end up, and how our next move might need to be modified a bit, so that both end up in sync.

The basic move of salsa is that the guy moves ahead with his left foot, and the girl moves behind with her right..then the guy moves behing with his right, and the girl moves ahead with her left. This tells us that life calls for compromises from both partners, and that they need to balance each other out. Both partners just cannot move forward at the same step...if that happens, then atleast one of the partners is gonna get hurt. Similarly, while turning, the girl needs to take care not to elbow the guy in the face, and the guy needs to take care not to hold too tight, or else, the girl might end up twisting her hand. This means that, when difficult times that call for changes come about in life, the partner who is undergoing the change needs to take care, that the changes do not disrupt the life, beliefs and priorities of the other partner in a big way (keep the hand straight so that you do not elbow your partner in the face)...It also means that the relatively stable partner needs to understand the difficulty that the other partner is going through, and to give her some room for changes (i.e. not hold too tightly). If this room isn't given, it might end up hurting her and her ability to deal with such situations (take other turns) in the future. At the same time, it is necessary to keep in touch (i.e. do hold on lightly to her hands)...else, she might get carried away with the moves, and end up somewhere else.

The more I thought about every move, I came to find / realize hidden meanings and teachings in each one of them. That's when my phone rang, and shook me out of this trance like state I had lost myself into....I am still shocked by these lessons...or revelations..or whatever you wanna call them. I had never expected to find such deep spiritual lessons in Latin Dance...Maybe, this was God's way of showing me to look at things in a different way....I am looking forward to the next lessons..dunno where they are gonna come from. ;)
Thats all for now.... :)

Love and Electricity

2009-09-21T02:32:00.000-07:00

Ever seen a person deep in love...??? Those dreamy looks, that silent enigmatic smile that sticks on the face all the time, those eyes that are swirling with dreams and hopes, the enthusiasm and optimism that the person starts spreading all around....Well.. it indeed is magical. It does have the power to transform people and their worlds...

When a person falls in love.......her face lights up whenever she thinks about that 1 special person .... sorta like how electricity lights up a bulb. Just like electricity, you can't really see love...and it does light up a person's face (and life) ...vis a vis electricity :). So, Love is like Electricity, you can't see it...but you can see the light...:D.

I was in Vasai this weekend, and my inverter had blown up a few days ago.... In our part of the world, load shedding is a common thing. The problem is that, we had grown so used to the invertor, that facing a few hours without electricity a couple of times daily was becoming almost unbearable. This got me thinking, leading to the second part of my crazy theory.

Its necessary to store the good emotions, good feelings and good experiences of when we 'are' in love somewhere, so that we can draw on it later (vis-a-vis the invertor that we use in our homes to store power) to face the times when we are going through an ebb in our relations. Ebbs are inevitable. There are bound to be times, when we will find the going tough...when everything will seem wrong with the world...when we 'fall out' of love. Unless we have a store, a backup, a reserve of the 'electricity of love'...the light may fizz out over a period of time. And guys, if this light fizzes out of our life, then.. our life would remain dark indeed...so dark that we won't be able to see any good in anything or anyone. Let this not happen to you.... If this reserve is depleted (vis-a-vis the inverter breaking down), then it would be disastrous indeed.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to recharge this power...it is to spend as much quality time with your loved ones as possible. Doesn't matter what we are doing, as long as its quality time (vis-a-vis charging the inverter). Just remember that this has to take place when you are in love.... just like charging the inverter should take place when the power is on. If we skip this essential step and forget to plug in the wires, then it may be too late, and we might not have enough reserves of power left to draw upon later when we need it.

So guys and girls, ...the moral (or whatever you call it) of this blog post is that you need to spend more time with each other, doing stuff that you can think of with fond memories later...go on.. take that trip, join salsa, go gliding, make practical jokes (safe ones of course), throw surprise parties....have fun. All this will help in the long run... in ways that we are not able to see right now. :).

Reflections

2009-09-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, a pious man had decided to undertake a great penance. He started meditating under a tree, lying down...avoiding food and water...and thinking about the Lord all the time. Many years passed..creepers started growing around him...and he was not distinctly visible from a distance.

One night.. a robber was running that way.. pursued by angry villagers who had seen him trying to break into a house. The robber tripped on this sage. He had a look at him and thought to himself.... "This would most definitely have been a robber just like me...He must have been caught by the villagers, who beat him up unconcious like this and left him for dead. This is a dangerous place indeed and these villagers are cruel..I should get away from here as soon as possible."

Few days passed.... One night a drunkard, under the heavy influence of illict liquor passed that way. He had a look at this sage and shouted out aloud.... "Ha Ha Ha...you need to be strong in mind and body like me to be able to enjoy liquor...Its no wonder that such a frail man is not able to bear it and has passed out cold.... Ha Ha Ha"...

After few more nights, a spiritually awakened man happened to pass that way.. He had one look at the divine radiance surrounding the sage.. the look of serenity, contentedness and satisfaction writ on his face... the peaceful aura around the place and realised immediately that this was no ordinary person...He stopped to pay his respects to this person and prostrated before him with great humility and respect. The sleeping sage now opened his eyes and blessed this man with his full heart.

What we see in the world around us, is to some extent of what lies within us....If the glass windows of a house are dirty, then the world would appear so to us. In reality the dirt lies on the window...not in the world. Our eyes are our window to this world...During our stay on this earth, it invariably gets soiled with lust, avarice, jealousy, greed and many other inferior gunas. In order to clean ourselves of this, and be able to see the true beauty of this world, we need to get spiritually awakened.

The Rigveda says "AA NO Bhadraaha Krathavo yantu vishwataha" meaning "Let noble thoughts come to us from all directions." Noble thoughts, noble deeds and noble company are what clean the dirt that prevents us from seeing the true beauty of this world..a miracle of God's creation and of His love and glory.

Blind Men and the Elephant

2009-09-10T05:28:00.000-07:00

Once in a village far far away, there lived a few blind men.
They went to a fair to see an elephant.

The mahout allowed them to feel the elephant .
The first blind man felt the elephant's feet.. and exclaimed that the elephant is like a tree...strong and proud..
The second blind man felt the elephant's tusk...and declared that the elephant was like a spear....sharp and powerful..
The elephant now sat down on the ground, and the third man approached it. He felt it's body...and decided that the elephant is like a rough wall..
The fourth man caught hold of its tail.. and declared loud and clear that the elephant is like a rope... and that we can use it to tie a lot of things securely, as it is quite strong.
The fifth man felt a gust of wind as he was approaching the elephant's ears.... He was convinced that the elephant is no more than a fan.

The mahout had to leave with the elephant soon...He left behind 5 people who were totally convinced about their own ideas... they started fighting with each other. Words turned to blows and friendship to hatred.

Now... who among these men was right ? and who was wrong?
When we think about it.... nobody was wrong... rather everybody was right.. albeit not completely.
The fall out between good friends happened due to their closed minds.. due to their not being able to visualize an elephant in its entire glory...due to their ignorance that truth can be multi-faceted.

This is exactly what is happening in today's world....People of different faiths fight each other insisting that their faith's point of view is the complete truth and that everybody else is wrong...
Today's Hindu, Christian, Muslim and Jew.. all of them have different ways of looking at God and His goodness.. at His grace and love and at His Supreme Personality. The point is that all of them may be right at the same time. They might just be looking at the same Supreme Truth from different angles.

The problems in this world...of intolerance..of fanaticism..of hatred are all due to closed minds...due to not being able to see that the same truth can manifest itself in different ways to different people at different times. They are due to an inability or unwilligness to attempt to visualize the ultimate form of God.. a form that encompasses everything and is beyond everything. A form, that cannot even start to be described adequately by 100 thousand crore poems of great beauty.

The RigVeda says "Ekam Sat, Viprah Bahuda Vadanti".
Roughly translated to English it means "That which is the Sole Truth, the learned call by many names".

Those people who are spiritually awakened, are able to realize this at some point during their journey. We need to grow spiritually and recognize and realize that because one is right, others need not be wrong.

Essential Goodness all around

2009-02-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

I believe that human beings are essentially good and if left to their own terms, and no external pressures are pressed, then they would go out of their way to help each other and be good to those around them. An incident happened to me en-route on my way to Canada from Mumbai yesterday, which has reinforced my belief in the above.

After I got on to my flight to Canada, the in-flight entertainment system broke down... and I silently blamed my luck and got ready for the big boring flight that it now looked like.
Next to me a Romanian girl (lets callher Miss.XYZ) and a Thai lady were seated. They were continuously talking about a lot of things...quite a bit of it girl stuff... and I was totally totally bored, and there was just no space for me to join them :(. It was during this time that XYZ started telling the lady about an old Romanian woman who didn't know any English and was confused and depressed, who happened to be in the same flight. XYZ had helped the lady on to the flight, and was angry at the lady's relatives for having left her to travel alone. Later during the flight, this old lady that she mentioned came to our seat quite a number of times to ask different things XYZ, and she always helped the lady with smile. XYZ also contacted the Aircraft officials, and told them that this old lady might fall into trouble as she didn't speak or understand English and didn't even have the address of the person she was visiting. XYZ then explained the entire matter to the aircraft officials, who later promised to help the lady through customs/immigration and help her meet her family here.

I was impressed as this girl had no stake and no need to help this elderly lady. But, help she did..and also went out of her way to do it...as much as she could. This lady had her kind side always ready to help the people around her. A living proof of the essential goodness of Humankind. I dedicate this article to Ionna (XYZ), and to all the people around me who with their small acts of kindness make this world livable, lovable, bright and beautiful.

Friends...

2006-11-30T22:46:00.000-08:00

There are times when you feel blue. There are times when you are down. There are times when you feel nothing is worth anything anymore. There are times when you feel lonely. There are times when you feel as if everybody has teamed up against you, and that its not worth living anymore....

At such times, sometimes your phone starts ringing. You look at the name, and are surprised. You pick up the phone with a heavy heart. A sweet voice at the other end beckons you back to life.. suddenly, things dont seem to be too bad. Suddenly, everything is right with the world once again. One call from a friend, and suddenly the world is beautiful.

Friends are angels in disguise. They fill your heart with joy, and your life with happiness. They demand nothing in return. They just love being with you.

Truly blessed are those who have true friends in their life. When you have somebody whom you can call at 4 AM, and just cry your heart out; When you have somebody with whom you can speak about every topic under the sun, and beyond; When you can just sit with him/her, not saying a word to each other, but still walk away later feeling that its the best talk you ever had; you know that you are blessed... for you have one of God's special angels with you..

Friends are those who can hear what you dont say....Just the way you say 'hello', makes that special person understand everything...in exactly what kind of mood you are, whether something is wrong, whether you are hiding something... coz they dont need words to understand you.. their heart listens to yours...

Friends are not necessary for life... but they are the ones who make it worth living...
Life is empty sans friends..

I dedicate this to my friends.. the people who have made my life worth living... :)

The origin of reading....

2006-06-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

And God said, let there be languageâ€¦. And man started to speak.. There was chaos all around, because the once silent manâ€¦ could no longer control himself.. he just had to speak, speak , speakâ€¦ and speak moreâ€¦.

God then appeared before the leader of men, and asked them the reason for this chaos.. which was driving everybody including Him insaneâ€¦â€¦The wise leader said to God.. â€œLord, you have blessed us with spoken words.. but how are we supposed to communicate to others.. If I have to tell something to my brother who lives in Gondwana.. then I have to pass on my words to another person who can travel to some distance in Laurasia.. And by the time it reaches Gondwana the message is distorted.. So, I have to send it againâ€¦ God, your gift has turned into a liability.. we just have to communicateâ€¦ please provide us a means to do it effectively..

And God handed down the Vedasâ€¦ and many other books to this leader.. This included the secret of written language.. This is what would prove to be the saviour of the human race.. Immense amounts of knowledge, experiences, and stories would be passed down generations.. Suddenly time was no longer a barrier for knowledge transferâ€¦ thanks to Godâ€™s grace..

Every problem that a human being faces, or can possibly face has a solution, and it has already been documented in some book, somewhere.. Every problem that we face, has already been faced by someone else in the past.. and its all written in books.. We just need to find the right ones..

(I borrowed the above italicised lines from â€˜The monk who sold his ferrariâ€™)

And books indeed are your best friends.. they listen to you, they solve your problems, and provide great companyâ€¦. What else can one ask for in a friend.. yes, the fact that they are not living beings matters sometimes.. but then what (if anything in this world) is perfect???

I miss my alma mater……….

2006-06-01T00:24:00.000-07:00

Its one year since I graduated from college. I really miss those daysâ¦those days which were full of magical moments.

I miss those musical chairs and paper fights we used to play during the lectures,â¦. those long, boring days of assignment writing, those endless hours of cursing âall those responsible for our pitiful conditionâ, and how it strangely felt satisfyingâ¦ to know that we have company in our agony..

I miss those hours spent standing outside Xerox shops, ..hours spent studying notes which had the fresh smell of Xerox.

I miss those days, (and nights) spent in college, when we would work together, make new friends, create a lot of noise, spread a bit of havoc, and finally organize festivals successfullyâ¦

I miss those days that we spent preparing for zeal, trying to mobilize our junta, so as to have a good participation, practice cricket, football, advertisements, dramas, dances and God knows what not.. so as to earn points for our class..

I miss those days of hanging out with my classmates at different places in Mumbai, and spending quality time bird watching.

I miss those days we spent in making, scrapping, and remaking designs for a t-shirt. Strangely, we used to hate uniforms in school, and once we were in college, we waned something that would be ours.. a common t-shirt.. I still have mine with me. I am gonna preserve it forever, a memory of those beautiful college days.. J. Here, I should mention my juniors, especially anubhav and shweta, due to whose efforts, we came out with our department t-shirt. Yes, I really miss your batch too.

I miss those days I and my merry team of journalists spent in reporting, writing, editing, and pagination, which would result in our college newletter âTechnocratâ, and our department newsletter âThe Byteâ coming out.. finally.

I miss those days of crushes, dreams, and ..ouchâ¦heartbreaks.

I miss those days when we would deliver speeches on class-unity, do mass bunks, sign apology notes J, go for movies or just roam around,â¦. when people would help others to complete their assignments, â¦. when people would hang around to help others complete their files, inspite of the exams being just days away, .. when we would hold long discussions on what is wrong with the system, and what needs to be doneâ¦

I miss those umpteen hours spent in the college canteen, those umpteen stories that unfolded there, of the miseries that friends faced in their lives, and of the funny incidents that happen everyday with us. The college canteenâ¦ the place where we stuadied for our vivas, discussed important questions, discussed matters muh more important than college J, where some proposed to loved ones J (and got slappedâ¦ or cuddled) , where we fought over petty issues, all over a plate of schezwan rice, usal paav, or manchow soup.. he he.. (sometimes fifty/fifty ;) )

Life was something else in those days. Everything I used to hate dring those days, have suddenly become priced and valuable memories. Even the moments of our agony, I remember with fondness now. How life changes when college is over L. Friends with whom we needed to talk everyday,.. now we hardly find time to talk once in a while. People we used to spend time with discussing everything under the sun,..suddenly turn into names in your outlook contact list L.. A phone call here, .. a mail there.. thatâs all that remains.. Life is just not fair..

Yes, I do miss my alma materâ¦. My dear old VCETâ¦ It will always have a special place in my heart.. foreverâ¦

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P.S.: To all people of my batch, and to my juniors, lets have a small reunionâ¦ Lets go to tungareshwar maybe.. it has rained nowâ¦ and reminisce our college days.. each minute of which seems magical nowâ¦See ya soon..
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Back from oblivion….

2006-06-01T00:19:00.000-07:00

I am writing a blog after a long time. Was stuck with work, and was addicted to orkut for quite sometime (I still am, but the servers were down today, allowing me to return to blogging :D ).

Lots of new stuff to write about. After all its been almost three and a half months now. Two months out of these were spent in Israel. Lots of new, novel experiences, and lots of new places visited. I shall cover all these soon.

Let me dedicate this blog entry to orkut. The friendship network had me hooked like crazy, and I found so many old, long lost friends through it. One of my friends, whom I had not met in years, suddenly scrapped me one fine day. I found that he was in Abu Dhabi. Seriously, the world is becoming a small place, and internet, orkut, and similar factors, have reduced the distance many many times.

So, now I declare the end of my vacation from blogging. This blog is gonna come to life once again. C ya here,..and be sure to comment.

My first trip to Sabarimala...

2006-01-17T01:45:00.000-08:00

I have many memories of Sabarimala.

It was at the age of 12, that me, as a proud, a bit arrogant, and not really a believer went on the pilgrimage with my dad, and his group. I was not particularly a believer, and since I was just entering my teens, all the falacies of that age, had begun to take root in me. I used to get angry often, and for no particular reason. I was especially irritated with my dad all the time. Man, I could just imagine the pain, and torment I must have put his, and my mom's tender hearts through.

I was going to kerala, basically because, I wanted to travel. If a few temples are thrown into the package..so be it. So, full of doubt, and not really much devotion, I took the Mandala Vritham. It was not really difficult observing the noyambu (Obviously, at that age, there are quite a bit less distractions to conquer ...get what I mean ??). It was only after coming to Kerala, and seeing the others that I realised this is not a picnic with a temple thrown into the deal. I saw people doing the pettathullal (sacred dance in rememberance of Manikantan's dance on Mahishi's mortal body..For the full story, you can check out my website here ), on the road, in the afternoon. Nothing much about that, only thing is...the road was strewn with sharp stones, and was literally burning like hot coals ,.. and whats more the people seemed to be totally unaffected, and enjoying the devotional fervour; even when the road was getting coloured red,.. bit by bit by their blood (Actually, the sand there is reddish colored, but that's what I felt like, when I saw the scene for the first time, and didn't really understand the fervour experienced by them).

Proud and arrogant as I was..I was sure that I would be able to climb the mountain easily. I was not chanting the Sharanam as I thought I needed to conserve my energy. I even suggested my dad to do so. Well, God decided that it was high time I learned humility...I was huffing and puffing in a few minutes, while my dad and others didnt seem in the least tired.. Whats more..I saw an a man, who didnt have a foot, and was using a crutch, climb easily.....He seemed to be singing some song about the glory of Ayyappa in Kannada (or some other south Indian language I didnt recognise) , and happily climbing ..on one leg. I saw old men and women, leave me behind. Then, near Appachimedu, I almost ended up slipping. It was here that my dad told me to chant the Lord's name. I was too weak to argue, and I obliged. And miraculously, I dont know how...I didnt feel weak after sometime. The names I had chanted with apprehension, gave way to names that were straight from my heart. The great Lord had decided to bless this arrogant, proud kid.

This trip changed my outlook completely. Those few days changed doubting srinivas into a believer. I went to many more pilgrimages after that,..but never again with doubt, and emptiness in my mind. Rather with hope, prayer, and love for Him, in my heart.

May God bless you and those who matter to you, with everything that is good.

Sarva Loka Sukhino Bavanthu Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa

My Bench Days..

2006-01-17T01:07:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems like my bench days are gonna finally come to an end. I wont say that I was not expecting this, or that I didnt want these days to end. On the contrary, I had got so bugged with nothing much to do, that I wanted to get some work, no matter what.. by any means possible. Anyway, these days, the start of my career have thought me a lot, and will always have a special place in my memories.

My typical days on bench went something like this. I would turn up at office around 9:20 (the office timing is 9:15), switch on my pc, and go to the pantry. After breakfast, and coffee, it was time now to check mails (official mail id first, followed by yahoo, gmail, rediff, et al). This would take up some time..like 1 hour..So, around 11:00, it would be time now for another coffee break. Then, some work...basically studying some pdfs, and trying out some codes for an hour or so, followed by lunch.
After lunch, we would go to either the teracce, or the gardens close by. All frds (co - benchers) would have a bit of fun, recalling the interesting fwds, and other such iomportant happenings of the day. But,the number kept on dwindling (as more and more people were assigned to projects).

Then, after a bit of work (or play), it would be time for snacks. Then, with hardly another hour and half to go, it was time to start meebo, orkut, and other such important work.

Chalo, finally, it has ended. I dont have to look for work now. I will be forced to work now. I dont know whether I should be glad,...or sad

High Fliers

2006-01-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

For some strange reason I am hearing about prodigies all the time, nowadays. Well, this reminds me of a story.

The story of Daedalus and Icarus.

Daedalus was a great inventor in ancient Greek folklore. An evil king imprisoned him and his son Icarus in a tower i a secluded island. In order to escape the tyranny of the evil king, Daedalus made wings of wax, with which he and his son Icarus tried to fly over the sea. Daedalus told Icarus not to go near the sun, lest his wings should melt. Icarus was an enthusiastic youth, with all the fallacies which accompany it. He ventured too near the sun, his wax wings melted and dropped off, and he fell into the sea and was drowned.

Well, why am I telling stories today, instead of writing my experiences. Its like, it pains me when I see parents pushing their children too hard, and ruining their childhood, in order to get the child's name into some record books. What invariably happens in 99% of the cases is that, the child is overburdened before he/she is ready for it. Ultimately, his/her wax wings melt, and the child falls into the sea of life, and has to struggle (or even drown).

Much talent has been wasted, because the powers that were to nurture it, decided to push it before its time. This has been repeating in so many cases, and so many fields that people are no longer surprised to see children outperform adults, and not even when these very same bright children disappear into oblivion later.

So, if you see anybody pushing their kids/ wards/ students too much tell them the story of Icarus, make them realise that the golden goose will lay its golden eggs in its own sweet time. There is no meaning in wanting them all today. Who knows, like the foolish farmer, you may end up getting nothing, and the goose may end up losing everything.

The Human Animal

2006-01-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

Old Post---Nov 19, 2005

What is the colour of a chameleon on a mirror??? Is it transparent,...does it change its body colour in real time to match our reflection.

Absurd thought...yup, but not actually...this was a qestion posed by one of my good friends (read as bhavin). And I started thinking,..what r we..we r chameleons too. Sometimes we are placed on mirrors (read appraisals), and we start telling and doing all sorts of activities, so that the person looking at us, sees what he wants to see. We have to act in real time, to show the person what he wants,..as he wants.

The human is an animal, an animal which behaves like every animal you can think of. The Creator has blessed us so that we can work and achieve Him. But, what happens? Man continues to lust, steal, envy, hate, kill..... It is clear that God expects us to love our fellow beings, to help them in their misery, to do our bit to make this place more liveable. But, we see people who read the books of God, and ask man to kill others, to rape innocent women, to burn the holy places of people who follow a different faith. I wonder how these people expect to protect their religion through such acts, when the basic tenet, the basic message of each religion is the same,....God, when is man going to wake up to this..!!!!

Here, I present a Vedic hymn, with its meaning in plain english for those who dont know Sanskrit:

" Aakashat Pathitham Thoya, Yathaa Gachchadhi Sagaram |
Sarva Deva Namaskaram, Sri Keshavam Prati Gachchadhi || "

Meaning :

"As the waters of the various rivers ultimately join the one and the same ocean;
The prayers in different ways and to different forms and manifestations of divinity, ultimately reach the one and same God. I see that form as Keshava i.e. Narayana. Similarly, others may see You in different forms, and may pray to You in a different manner. But, I realise that it is all one and the same to You. "

The meaning is self explanatory. Similar messages have been given by saints and prophets from time to time, and can be found in religious books of all faiths.

Lets hope and pray man matures to this.....

Oh God, bless us all with the power and knowledge to read, think and decide for ourselves. In short separate religion from politics, and other petty issues. Religious leaders are there to teach and explain ways to God - "Love" ; Not hate.

My First Love.

2006-01-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

12 - Nov - 2005

I got my own pc in office about a week back . This brought back some memories, ...memeories of when i got my own pc at home....back then i had written a few lines. I present them again here, for old memories' sake....enjoy....

My First Love.

It was then that I saw her for the first time. Young, beautiful, vivacious, full of energy. She looked at me and smiled. I was virtually down with shock. My God, the maiden of my dreams smiling at me. I gave back a sheepish smile. I knew that she was too high up and too beautiful to be with me. But man, this crazy heart!!! How do you make it understand. I had to run away to control my emotions.I'll never forget those moments. She looked so captivating, so radiant, so full of everything that is good that I just could not stand it. I had to have a second look. Oh, what would I not give to have her!!! Life now seemed to be so empty, so desolate, so incomplete unless she was a part of it. I just didn't know what to do. I had stood transfixed at site, as if hit by lightning. Life sometimes takes on such strange turns. Twists and turns which later lead to much contemplation about whether they could have been averted. Wish I had never seen her. I would not have changed then, as I had. Life would have been much more sweeter then; or, would it really have been so? I had never experienced craving before.I did not know what love was all about. Now I knew; or, did I? Love is not about getting all you crave for. After all, how could I bring her into my small apartment even that which was not really mine. How can simple furniture, small non ac rooms, and a simple person satisfy her. No. Let her remain in some rich person's house where she will get the best of everything, and all comforts that she would want. But, will that really guarantee her happiness? Will she really be happy in luxury like I think she would or would she end up as a parrot in a golden cage? Life is so, so complex, so unpredictable sometimes.I decided to approach her for myself, and see what happens. I found myself with a person who appeared to be a relative of some sort. I proposed, and she became mine. We have shared many happy moments since. Like say, debugging and getting hundreds of programs to work. We have finished 3 projects together, and are working on the fourth. When I am tired she sings for me. Soft music, rock, pop, blues. You name it, and she can sing it. Enigma and Buddha Bar are my current favorites, and she obliges me every time. When I want some letters printed, she does it for me, as many times as I want. Now a single day without her seems so empty. Oh, how I love you... my dear computer.

My New Year Resolutions

2006-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

I always wondered what was the use of making those lists...long lists to be made carefully during Christmas time..vowing to better ourselves in ways myriad. Lists which are drafted carefully as if our job, or life depended on it. I still remember my list that i made up last time around. I had finally ended tearing it up in frustration within a month.

My list went something like this :

This time I will study for my term right from the beginning.
I will complete my assignments on time.
I will write my own programs, and finish my projects. Under no circumstances will I submit downloaded code as my own.
I will learn the language of the land of my ancestors - Malayalam.
I will study english vocab from baron's for my CAT/ GRE.
I will .....

( a lot of riff-raff like the ones above)

I enrolled in those vacation batches so as to start studying from the start of the term. Boy...they went just like a crash course...and I couldnt really make head or tail of it. I borrowed a few books to improve my vocab...and they decorated my desk at home for quite some time... My mom would get tensed on seeing me getting all those big fat heavy books from the library, and from friends... I once heard her praying to God to help me with my studies, as the college, and course were overtaxing me...

Then comes the part about completing the file. Well, first of all, the profs were sleeping at the start of the term, and with justr about 3 weeks to go, they awakened from their slumber to give us a list of programs, assignments, and projects ..Now, how can a person stick to his resolutions under such a harrowing time schedule. I took out my list, and tore it to pieces...then, went o/l and downloaded the necessary stuff. By the time my file was ready, it was time for another PL. So, here goes another year of resolutions. I started to study, and wonder if the text books, the reference books, and the notes were actually from the same subject ??? !!! Did they actually teach the same thing.. and my Malayalam, it sucks as ever..

So, now you know. It is not really a secret that I am sceptical about resolutions. Those close to me know that. I am always reminded of politicians and their election manifesto. They can be used with minor changes (if any) election after election. Similarly, I have used my resolution list year after year for 4 yrs now...with very few changes at all...
What about my resolutions this year...well, yeah i have made a list,..and no, i am not putting it up for u now...lets see how long this one lasts !!!!

Continuity of Life

2006-01-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

So, we welcome yet another new year today. What a pity that the new year started on a sunday. For people like me, it meant that there was no holiday for new year...sunday is a holiday as it is..

Anyway, new year means a lot of things. It essentially stands for continuity. After a thing has finished, life still goes on. So, it signifies quite a few things in our life. Failures do not mean the end of the road. It just means that we have to start on a new road. And, if we think really hard, even success does indeed force us to change our road. But then, we are very happy doing it then. Its only when we fail in smthg that it pains.

There are lots of situations in life when it is quite easy to give up. When it is too overpowering that we lose the grit and fervour necessary to carry on with life. But it is necessary to carry on the fight, coz life is beautiful, and life is worth living even if it doesnt seem so.

Just because things do not work out, or even if things are all going wrong please do not allow the thoughts of "frustration with life" to enter you. You can be frustrated with a lot of things in life..but not with life itself. Reflect on this and you will never ever feel dejected.

Life continues. Make new friends, and freak out with them. Volunteer for social activities. Play with kids. You are worth a lot to this world, and to humanity. Realise that, and work.

Remembering the Tsunami :(

2005-12-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

Another Year comes to an end in two days time...

Last year, around this same time..nature decided to dance a dance of destruction, on the corpses of people who once lived happily, on the hopes and aspirations of a whole generation of people, and left a trail of horror and hopelessness in the lives of many..
I discovered my penned down feelings on that fateful day. I am posting it here.

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Random Musings

What an year!!! My God, will there never be peace on earth? Is that why the earth is being destroyed by nature? Before man, the unworthy abuser of all resources, destroys it.

The war on terror ranges on. Terrorism has to be stopped at all costs- by terrorizing half the world to fall in line. Some people want power, and they fight for it. But who pays? The innocent people of both the third world as well as the first world. A bomb blast here, a mine there, a few murders here, and a few riots there seems to be the pattern marking our daily life. Man, life is cheap. Really, really cheap. But is there a solution in sight to escape this mess. The mind frantically looks for answers, which continue to elude me.

As if Mother Nature could no longer bear to see man destroying himself, nature has stepped in. The world celebrated Christmas, and got a gift- a gift from the devil. Thousands of devotees in India were busy offering prayers at the Virgin Mother's Church in Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India; when in a matter of minutes the scene changed completely. Celebration gave way to bereavement, merriment gave way to mourning, and Christmas of songs, dance, party, and fun turned into a Christmas of requiems, funerals, grief, and lamentation.

Sample this. In India, Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were the worst affected and together lost about 8000 lives till now. The toll will rise in the days ahead as we get a clearer picture. Meanwhile, there seems to be a high chance of aftershock tsunamis repeating the dance of destruction in the week ahead.Sri Lanka has virtually turned into the proverbial teardrop of the Indian Ocean. Indonesia, Thailand, Maldives have all suffered heavy losses. The total toll seems to be somewhere around 20000 lives.

This was the final straw in a year of forgettable events- events like the charring to death of small school children, of bomb blasts marking daily life- something which has been happening so regularly that they now fail to affect or influence anybody other than those directly affected, events which lead to glares of suspicion on everybody who seemed different and was carrying bags in public transport. Life seems to be so despicable, when you see people- young, disillusioned, depressed people, taking their own life in order to inflict harm on other fellow beings. When such sadist philosophies take over man, he no longer remains a human,but becomes a soldier of satanic forces out to destroy God's creation. When will this black night come to end? When will the sun of amity, love and peace rise? No answers.

Of course, people continue to fight in the name of God .People try to protect their religion from vitiation - by destroying its core beliefs. Tell me guys, which religion preaches hatred, or hate for fellow beings? None. Then how come you can fight against the basic tenets and principles of your religion, which are also more or less same as that of all other religions, and still claim that you are religious. Performing Sandhyavandanam, reading the Namaaz, or kneeling in front of the Holy Cross is not all that is to religion. You need to be a good human being first. When will the world wake up to this? No answers.

Even a most balanced person cannot remain unaffected when such things start to happen. The bright, beautiful world of opportunities is slowly and surely turning into a cynical, and pessimistic world, where you cannot trust anyone. Dog-eats-dog and man-eats-man seems to be the new norm as jungle law takes over civilizations. Is there any hope for man? No answers.

However, the mind continues to hope and believe- believe in the love of God and that He alone knows what He is doing, or allowing to be done. I await impatiently, the dawning of the new age- an age of happiness, trust and love. An age where man lives in harmony with his Creator, and fears no one. An age characterized by the second coming of Jesus. An age where Lord Vishnu appears as Kalki to rid the world of all evil. An age in which humanity is perceived as the greatest religion of all. Amen.