Happy New Year

Every year melts;
Every year manifests.
Every year bestows memory;
Every year begets hope.
Like the flowing river,
Like the blossoming flower,
Entering the unknown 2008,
And me, without a resolution.
On second thought,
Who cares?
Just Celebrate!

I have read, " A candle looses nothing if it is used to light another one"

The world we are

It pains! It hurts! And it is disgusting, when we hear of a bomb blast or assassination or shootout. An assassination in the name of some ideology, 20 people killed apart from the target and the suicide bomber.

Where are we heading to? From civilization to barbarianism?
Yes

From democracy to terrorism?
Yes

What do you call this ideology that divides people, that disseminates hatred, that curbs you off the very right to live?
Stupid


Is that ideal?
Definitely Not

Where is love?
Misdirected

Where is humanity?
In then developed nations

Where are the values?
In the books

Have we lost everything?
We have lost our senses

Then, why do we boast ourselves as civilized?
To satiate ego

Are we not morons, destroying this planet earth making it a hell for the people and the generations to come?
Yes. We are!

Is there a solution?
Yes

Do we know it?
Yes

What is it?
Love.

What else can be the cure for so much hatred? There is a need for the world to be obsessed in love, the universal love. We love our family and call relationship as love; we love our society and call interdependency as love, we love our country and call patriotism as love; We apply the gold plating of love on everything and call them as love. Is the love for your country love? Is it not patriotism? Is it not an extension of your ego till the boundaries of your country? Is the love for your religion and hatred for another religion love? Is it not fanaticism or bigotry or intolerance? We fail to extend love beyond these boundaries. When I say, love, it is the universal love – extending our self-love beyond our family, beyond our society, beyond our belief, beyond our country, beyond this mother earth, beyond this universe and beyond all dualities. Believe me, when we limit our love, it will endanger us. It’s not that love is dangerous. It is because, we are too narrow minded to contain it and it turns into a tool and gets misdirected towards achieving some mundane goal like sex, money, power, territory etc. When you love, you love for love’s sake. What else could be the reason?

Swami Vivekananda depicts this beautifully as “Sufficient unto him is the ideal of love, and is it not self-evident that this universe is but a manifestation of this love? What is it that makes atoms unite with atoms, molecules with molecules, and causes planets to fly towards each other? What is it that attracts man to man, man to woman, woman to man, and animals to animals, drawing the whole universe, as it were, towards one centre? It is what is called love. Its manifestation is from the lowest atom to the highest being: omnipotent, all-pervading, is this love. What manifests itself as attraction in the sentient and the insentient, in the particular and in the universal, is the love of God. It is the one motive power that is in the universe. Under the impetus of that love, Christ gives his life for humanity, Buddha even for an animal, the mother for the child, the husband for the wife. It is under the impetus of the same love that men are ready to give up their lives for their country, and strange to say, under the impetus of the same love, the thief steals, the murderer murders. Even in these cases, the spirit is the same, but the manifestation is different. This is the one motive power in the universe. The thief has love for gold; the love is there, but it is misdirected. So, in all crimes, as well as in all virtuous actions, behind stands that eternal love”.

Earth is deserted; deprived of love, compassion, passion, values and all that is divine. Why do we still cling on to the law of survival of the fittest, when every life that is born into this world has a right to live, not just exist? A change is needed. Change is not the right word. Change is from the known to the known and human mind is crooked enough to define the change to suite its selfish motives. A mutation is required. From the known to something supreme and divine.

May be we should take call these politicians to a nursery school and make them kneel on the floor and teach them how to laugh, celebrate, be egoless, be humane, be compassionate, be sensible and not to fight and not to be stupid!

Hope!

Sister Attracta

It was a pleasant surprise in the morning to see a mail from my friend Mark Antrobus @ Govinda in Kodaikanal wishing me Merry Christmas with a message, “Here's a picture of Santa in case you thought he does not exist.”

Santa seen in the picture is Mark Celebrating Christmas with his friends in Kodaikanal.

What a way to celebrate!

Thanks Mark!

Then, I happen to read a post by Mystic Rose on the eve of Christmas and was engrossed in the gist of her post. While, I thought of extending her post, I remembered the saintly Sister Attracta of St. Theresa convent, Kodaikanal. Sister Attracta was in in-charge of the dispensary in the convent where my dad did his primary schooling and where I studied for a brief period of 6 months. She had a motherly love for my dad and it flowed through the generation too. After I went to the plains for studies, I made it a point to visit her at least once a year. By then, she was very old, but still was actively dispensing all here duties as the “Hospital Sister”. That’s how we used to call her. The moment I see her, her face will light up with a big smile saying “My dear son, you have come!” followed by a big hug and a kiss on the forehead. Whenever I take leave, she would load me with a pack of First-Aid kits for my use in the hostel. One day after reaching the hospital, I realized it was the prayer hour and was about to leave. Suddenly, I heard her and it was followed by the usual smile, hug and the kiss. I told her, “Sister, it should be your prayer hour. I will wait her as long as you are back from your prayer”. She said, “Who said I attend the prayers? I never go there. God has destined me to serve in the hospital and this is my prayer and in severing the patients that I serve Him. What if a patient waits when I am in the prayers? Will it fulfill my duties? Will God forgive me for being non-attentive? My son, the greatest prayer I offer to God is to imitate him and follow his steps.” I understood some of what she said, but forget all about it for a while. Though she is no more, I still feel the warmth of her embrace and the kiss.

During my stay in Belur Math in 2002, I found that “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas A Kempis is one of the books that inspired Swami Vivekananda. I was able to relate the title of the book to the words of Sister Attracta and was desperately searching for the book. Finally, in 2004 that I got hold of the book, at least a century old hardbound one, from Fatima College Library, Madurai and lent it for a while through a friend.

It has become one of the favorite books too and still read a chapter or two when in a state of indecisiveness. The book starts like, “HE WHO follows Me, walks not in darkness,". The essence is to Imitate Jesus Christ and not to just follow some religious practices, dogmas and doctrines. Solitude and meditation, he says, helps you acquire the spirit and quotes that "As often as I have been among men, I have returned less a man."

The book is freely available on-line - The Imitation of Christ

We have lost the essence of every celebration and Christmas is not spared too. Celebrations have become synonymous with fire crackers, wine bottles, chocolates, discotheques, rejoicing in groups and of course the mass prayers.

It is the time to Imitate Christ, Follow his footsteps and beget Him in us!

Merry Christmas to you all!

The Flowering within

The flower blooms and the fragrance spreads on the winds in all directions, to be carried to the very ends of earth. But the crux here is the blooming of the flower. The flower is limited but not the fragrance. The flower has limitations. It is rooted somewhere in the earth. But the fragrance is not tied up. It simply moves, rides on the winds; it has no moorings in the earth.

The flowering happens within. It has roots. It happens and exists within. The flowering happens and the compassion spreads. The flower will die sooner or later - it is part of earth and the dust will return unto dust - but the fragrance that has been released will remain forever and forever!

A rejuvenating Trip

Here I sit, shriveled in the heat of the laptop, fretting on account of my idle legs, world-weary, will-weary, and one day I would be suffocated of my all-too-great self-pity. In a conversation I had with one of my friends, I was talking too much of the nature, streams, waterfalls, rivers, springs, cascades…..I realized the need, yearning, urge, itch and thirst to taste the sweetness of Virgin Nature and share some divine moments in the cradle of Mother Nature. Sensing that the Thanksgiving holiday in US would give me some bandwidth, I planned a day’s trip to Coimbatore with Shakthi.

Coimbatore is the gateway to various nature trails like Top Slip, Valpaarai, Athirampalli, Ooty, Munnar and the whole of Kerala. We reached Coimbatore on Thursday Morning and checked into Lord’s Park, the only hotel where the accommodation was available, owing to the marriages and function as the day was an auspicious one. After a quick wash and change, we along with headed towards, Siruvani Waterfall which is 40 kms from Coimbatore. This waterfall is also popularly known as Kovai Cuttralam. We reached the forest check-post at the entrance of the waterfall and I was happy to note that a thorough inspection being conducted by the forest guard for inflammable, plastic, polythene and other pollutants, before the entry. After passing the check post, we had to drive further to reach the parking lot. Then it was an enchanting 2 km walk through the thick forest of teak and various shoal trees.

The alluring fragrance of champak sprinkled on the dewy moistly breeze accompanied us through this tree caved path which lead us to the waterfalls. As it was a weekday, there were only a few visitors and we felt as if the entire place is reserved for us today. We bathed around the waterfall, stream, casecade and the pools for the next 4 hours. It was a natural spa, with water as sweet as the nectar, as scented as geranium, as cold as rose water, as clear as the crystal and as lively as a masseuse.

Everything flows,
Everything retains,
Eternally rejuvenates the water of existence.
Everything falls,
Everything returns,
Eternally resurrects water of existence
Everything drops,
Everything blossoms forth again;
Eternally manifests the water of existence.
Everything separates,
Everything integrates;
Eternally true to itself remains the water of existence.

In every drop begins existence,
In every dip is an orgasm
The center is everywhere.
For she is the pool of eternity.

We had to leave the place with a heavy heart owing to the pricking hunger and we headed towards the Dyanalinga Yogic Foundation set amidst a thick forest on the foot of Velliangiri Hills. It was a 13 kms drive en route Coimbatore from the Siruvani Waterfall. As soon as we reached, we had some hot dosas with herbal chutney and the hunger was settled. We were roaming around the beautiful garden around the facility meant for guest accomodation and I was happy to spot a couple of peacocks. Then we entered the Theerthakund, which is a tank built underground with a solidified mercury lingam in its center. We spent 20 minutes submerged in the tank hugging the lingam and I could feel that whole body was being transformed into .

Then we went to the dome, the sanctum sanctorum where the dhyanalingam is seated. One of the outer wall of the dome had a sculpture depicting Shiva in three states - Rudra, Hara and Sadhasiva. We entered the dome and found ourselves into a duct to be lost in meditation, just to be in a state of nothingness. No prayers told, No chanting uttered, No wishes thought of…. But I could sense that the nothingness also did not settle. May be, it was too short to expect it and there was expectation which would be great barrier to achieve it…achieve is not the right word though. May be attain… it wouldn’t suite as well. Achievement, attainment and all these objective terms would only be hindrance to nothingness. May be I should stay here for a few weeks to experience it myself. With a hope of returning soon, we left Dyanalinga Yogic Foundation. It was a memorable day!

A tag from Dawn

Thanks to Dawn for passing this tag to me and making the possibility of a post in my blog after a long gap.

As in every tag, the rules first!

1. One has to post these rules before one gives out the facts.

2. One must list one fact that is somehow relevant to their life for each letter of their middle name. If one doesn’t have a middle name, they can use the middle name that they would have liked to have

3. At the end of there post, they will have to choose one person for each letter of their middle name to tag. And make sure that each tagged person is notified about this via commenting on there blogs.

An interesting, yet difficult tag, at least for me. It is difficult because there is so much confusion with my name. The First Name, Middle Name and the Last Name - naming convention is of western origin and it becomes really difficult to apply it in the east (at least in India). Babies to inherit their father’s first name as their last name and married women to inherit their husband’s first name as their last name, babies inheriting their Surname from the family name or caste name or clan name and finally, all these chaos only results in the significance of the orgional name getting lost. The irony is, my TC (Transfer Certificate) has my name as M.Sivakumar, my passport has it as Sivakumar Manoharan, my voter id has it as Sivakumar, PAN Card (Permanent Account Number for Income Tax) has it as Sivakumar M. When I produce any of these 2 as proof (one as Photo Identification and the other as proof for Date of Birth or proof of Address) there is always a contradiction. To add to this confusion, there exists 3 more cousins with Sivakumar as their name and my name was prefixed with my native place and so to be called as Kodaikanal Siva. In spite of so many Sivakumars at school, there was less confusion as the Roll numbers were predominantly used for identification. However, during some competition, when it came to have the names printed in the t-shirts, I got my name printed in the reverse order as AVIS, to sound like a brand that existing in those times. Coming to work there was yet another Siva and hence, I am to be called as Kumar.

What is a Name? A means to identify an individual? I don’t think so! There are more individuals than the names under the sun. RFID Tags would be most appropriate to identify the uniqueness than the names. I believe, Name is a bridge to relate a person with another and hence is a form of Ego. A name is for others to call us by, where as the ego is for us to call ourselves. Name is the first sheath that is imposed on a person born into this world and we start relating the person with the name, its meaning, its numerology, its popularity, and finally inculcate the qualities of these factors and imitate them.The Kids are named with the assumption that, they would like the way they are called by and hence, if it is not meeting their expectations, they should be allowed to change their names at will. This tag especially gives me an opportunity to think as to how I would want myself to be called as and to add some significance to the name.

A tag extended from Dawn should start with a quote! As Gandhiji quoted “Be the change you want to see”, let me deduce the attributes that I want to see in me from the letters of the name I wish to be called as – SHIVA.

S – Saatvic – To attain the noblest of the three gunas
H – Himalayas – To live in the abode of Shiva, even when in a market place
I – Ishta – To and to be loved
V – Vairagya - To be able Discriminate, Detach and Renounce
A – AUM – To live in the Truth

Rules are rules!

Let me pass on this Tag to

Shirsha

H ---?????? -
Ideasnet – Meenu
Vijay Mithra
Aaizwaikcha – Princess

Hear! See!, Only the Auspicious

Mundaka Upanishad has always been considered as a treasure of knowledge. I present here, the following invocation stanza from Mundaka Upanishad that I feel is very significant, profound and beautiful and which represents the entire nectar of this upanishad.

"May we hear the auspicous things

with our ears;

May we see the auspicious things

with our eyes."

You may wonder, what significance this stanza has! I have heard in a discourse, a story that helped me comprehend the stanza. There lived an old king, who wanted to renunciate and enthrone the Prince as the King. Unfortunately, the prince was naughty, irresponsible and callous and hence was not worthy to be a king. The King took the Prince to his Master (Guru) who lived in a hermitage in the forest and told the master, "Master, Make him a good King".

The Master said, " Don't worry my dear King. I'll take care". Then, the King left to his capital.

The master told the Prince, " My dear Prince, Just go and wander around the forest and come to me after one year and then, answer the question, "What is the sound of the forest all about?"

The prince wanders around the forest hearing all sorts of sounds and wondering why he has been asked such a simple question. Exactly after one year, the Prince goes to the hermitage and tells the master, " Master, here is the answer. The sound of the forest is the chirping of the birds, roaring of the elephats and the lions, buzzing of the beetles, creaking of the trees, rustling of dry leaves, splashing of the water falls and so on."

The master says, " My dear prince, you have not found it. Wander around for another year and tell me the sound of the forest. Confused, the prince wanders around the forest, hearing exactly the same set of sounds he had heard the previous year. One year passed and the prinns to the returns to the hermitage and answers the master with the same set of sounds. The master again, asked the prince wander for another year to find the sound of the forest.

The prince started to wander again. The Prince thought that, as long as I keep hearing the same things and tell the same answer, I am just going to wandering around this forest all my life and hence, I should hear something new. One day, tired and exhausted, he lay down on a bed of grass below a tree and went into a state of complete relaxation. His mind was placid, the body was relaxed, eyes closed and was almost in a sleepy, but conscious. Suddenly, he hears the sound of a seed sprouting into a small plant, the sound of a bud blossoming into a flower, the sound a spider projecting and sucking its threads, the sound of a honeybee sucking nectar from a flower and a lot more unheard sounds.

After one year, he goes to the master and says, " Master, I have found the answer, The sound of the forest is, "the sound of a seed sprouting into a small plant, the sound of a bud blossoming into a flower, the sound of spider projecting forth and sucking back its threads, the sound of a honeybee sucking nectar from a flower and so on". The master said, " Prince, now that, you are ready to be a worthy king".

Lessons Learnt -

1. In order to be a leader, it is essential to hear the unheard voices and to listen to the heart of your people.

2. Elevate the art of seeing and listening. I need to mention that, we as human beings have only two faculties to learn. One is seeing and the other is hearing. Speaking cannot be considered as a learning faculty as, the moment we start speaking, the process of learning is blocked.

3. Leadership is in being subtle.

Feel free to add if you have discovered more from the stanza and the story.

Picture : Shot at a garden in Tirumala last month

A Tag on a book

I'm back with the longpending recent tag from Deepa. It is recent, because, I do have longpending old tags from Priya and Vishesh, probably saved for some future post. I'm sure, they will pardon me.

The tag requires me to share the 5th paragraph in the 123rd page of the book I am presently reading - A simple and an interesting tag!

Rules to be followed -

1. Tell us who tagged you... dont forget to give us his/her link
2. Present the 5th para in the 123rd page of the book you are presently reading
3. If the book doesnot have 123rd page ( and/or) the 5th paragraph.. you may present the last paragraph in the last page
4. You may either type the content - or - scan the page and highlight the paragrah
5. Tag 5 more people

The book I have been reading for the past 2 months is "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality" by Sigmund Freud. First published in 1905, it is considered as one of the most momentous and original contributions to human knowledge. Though there are only 109 pages in the book, the significant time it is consuming can be attributed to my intermittent reading coupled by contemplation and to the vastness of its investigation into the key aspect human behaviour right from chlildhood. There is always a pain associated with such books delaing with human psych, as we would start relating ourselves and the people around to the behavioural patterns and the symptoms discussed in them. The benefit of being associated with such literature right from my formative years, helps me read them in a dettached manner.

Here is the gist of the book:

In his first essay, "Sexual Abberations", Freud deals with the numerous deviations from the sexual object and the sexual aim. These deviations in sexual instinct result in aspects like inversion, degeneracy, animals as sexual objects, sadism, masochism, perversion etc.

Ideas developed in the first essay led logically to the second, which focused on sexuality in infancy and childhood. Every adult was once a child and should in principle be able to recall childhood in more than a fragmentary way, but most do not. Freud states two important observations. First, infantile amnesia affects everything concerning sexuality in childhood. Second, the strong moral condemnation that impacts all manifestations of sexuality leads to repression or gratification through sublimation. Freud explicitly states that oral gratification is a prototype for every sexual gratification, is pleasurable in itself, and is autoerotic inasmuch as it does not require any other object than the infant itself. He writes that the infant seems to be saying, "'It's a pity I can't kiss myself'" (p.48). Thumb-sucking is an example of manifestations of infantile sexuality. I was amused to note that, often infants self-impose constipation to result in abundant mass discharge of stool, resulting in stimulation of the anal zone, an example of manifestations of infantile sexuality.

The final essay, " The Transformation of Puberty", discusses the final stage of genital primacy, the various inhibitions, fixations and deviations, the forepleasure principle and the libido theory. It also includes the concepts of penis envy, castration anxiety, and the Oedipus complex.

Here is the tag -

I was tagged by Deepa :

A person of profound insight - My Perceptions

A great poet and a motivator- Appreciating Poetry

As there is no 123rd page in the book, here is the last paragraph of the last page -

"The unsatisfactory conclusions which have resulted from this investigation of the disturbances of the sexual life is due to the fact that we as yet know too little concerning the biological processes in which the nature of sexuality consists to form from our isolated examinations a satisfactory theory for the explanation of either the normal or the pathological."

A disappointing conclusion, causing further itch to discover more through the later works of Sigi or through the recent developments on the subject.

Friends Tagged:

Bharath, Jeeves, Kavi, Kumar, Sowmya

Connecting People

Connecting People.... Hey, I'm not promoting Nokia here. It's all about the status of the connections that exists among individuals through a sequence of communication leading to an established relationship, real in case of direct contacts and virutal in case of Blog or IM. Sometimes, the frequency of communication dwindles due to the apparent limitations like being occupied within the pond of our own life, relocating to a different place,disapperance of the common ground on which the relationship was established... may be there are countless reasons. Whatsoever happens, we still cherish the moments in any relationship and sometimes it is also revived as a pleasant surprise.

It just happened that, I published a post titled Mark Antrobus on 11 June 2006 in memory of one of my dear friend Mark, who became my buddy way back in 2000. We were in touch for 2 years and after I left my native place, the only time I remembered him was when I wrote this post. I realized that, all the gratitude and love for him was latent in my subconcious, till it found a way of expression and lack of remembrance doesn't mean lack of gratitude and love. A couple of months after I published this post, there was a comment from Elango, a friend of Mark saying that, Mark has been looking to contact me. Though I was happy, there was no means to contact him, as it was an anonymous comment with a name.

Finaly, in early March 2007, I got an email from Mark, expressing his gratitude for the post with the all his contact information. After a gap of 5 years, we found each other! Last month, I got a comment from Fay, who used to be a friend of Mark and his mom, when Mark and Fay were 17/18 years of age. I passed on each other's contact information and I hope they are in touch now. A few days before, there was an email from one Haggis, who knew Mark and his mom, probably in early 1960s. It is amazing that, even after a disconnect of nearly 50 years, friendship gets revived as a new blossom.

All that I could infer from these mails is that, Mark has been very inspirational and no wonder, he is still the same. I'm really happy that, I rediscovered a friend and Kodaihills is connecting people:)

Here is the post - http://kodaihills.blogspot.com/2006/06/mark-antrobus.html

Faux Fox - Lessons Learnt

I got reminded of a parable, when I realized the frequency with which I post now a days. Here goes the story...

A fox gets up early in the morning as the sun is rising. He comes out of the cave looking for some breakfast. But then as he comes out, he looks at his shadow. In the early morning sun the shadow is very long.

He says, “My God! I am this big! Even a camel will not be enough for breakfast.” He starts searching for a camel – it will be even better if he can get an elephant.

But time passes and he does not come across any elephant or any camel, and it is getting hot, and in fact the time for breakfast has passed. It is time for lunch and he is feeling really hungry. The sun has come just above his head. He looks another time at his shadow. It has shrunken completely, it is just under him.

He says, “My God, I have never thought that hunger can do that much. I have shrunken. I used to be so long – just in the morning – so huge and just missing one breakfast... Now even if I can get a rat, that will do – even for lunch"

Mind in its randomness and chaos, thinks with no limits; while the best of those thoughts crystallize and only the best of the best (as rated by the chaotic mind) is sent to be actioned. Most times, the period between the conception of the thought and its translation into action turns out to be so wide that, it is never materialized. I notice this phenomena happening in me time and again, even while blogging. I wait for translating a thought into a post till it attains perfection in the mind. However, it never attain perfection, as the mind is always greedy and looks for more and more satiation. The lapse time becomes, so long that, the posts get deprioritized and is ultimately lost in the void.

Lessons Learnt - Be spontaneous; Never postpone ; There is nothing like perfection; Be here and now!

Though, the parable can be interpreted in many ways, I have just related it to one phenomena.

What would be your interpretation?

The Red Poem

First, let me apologize for being so callous about my next post. It's true that I was hectic, occupied and pre-occupied, but due diligence should have been given to the blog in spite of all these lame excuses. For me, the thought of a post bubbles-up only when I find time for own-self. The only time I had for myself in this past month turned to be the time I drive from home to office and back. In spite of the shimmering heat of Chennai aggravated by the annoying traffic, I was able to conceptualize a flurry of posts and their skeleton. However, when I plunged into the work, everything evaporated, only to be left with the guilt of not having materialized those bubbles into a beautiful post.

Many thanks to Priya, Dawn, Vishesh and Mystic for their concern. Inspired by them, I share a poem that I wrote last week, for a team of 200 that my wife was heading for her company's family day. As a part of the Maui Hikers team's publicity campaign, my wife asked a poem on Red, the colour of the team. The poem was required to have attributes of Power and Action and I got the crux from the good old "Gimme Red" Eveready Advertisement. This poem got crystallized while I was driving from home to office. I concluded that, it's worth sharing the poem, when I heard that many people liked it -:)

Gimme Red
Gimme Red
The sunset dusk
In crimson Red

Gimme Red
Gimme Red
The human blood
In scarlet Red

Live-in Red
Live-in Red
The caution saves
In Striking Red

Live-in Red
Live-in Red
Passion and Love
At heart is Red

Being Red
Being Red
Tulips and Roses
Beauty in Red

Being Red
Being Red
Strength and Courage
In flaming Red

Love you Red
Love you Red
Maui Hikers
House is Red

The bird on the tree

A friend asked me the meaning of the picture I have posted in my profile. It is strange that, we, as human beings have grown used to look for reason, rationale and logic in understanding anything and our mind has become so calculative that, even a thing of beauty is measured using some quantitative method. We fail to accept things that are beyond human understanding and brand them as irrational, illogical, abstract and what not. For some reason, I had a reason while posting that picture and the answer was handy when I heard the question.

Mundaka Upanishad depicts its very essence through a parable narrated in verse of 4 lines.

A bird is sitting on an immense tree having innumerable branches and huge foliage. The branches were laden with fruits of different sizes, shapes and stages of ripening. The lone bird chirped and jumped from one branch to another. The sweet taste of fruits made him happy, and his eyes sparkled with contentment and joy. His breast swelled up with the pride of having discovered and enjoyed the sweet fruits.

But soon, the bird tasted a bitter fruit and his joy turned sour; his ego deflated. Again it tasted some sweet fruits and rejoiced with happiness and pride. Again, some fruits turned out to be bitter and the bird was feeling miserable and helpless. Cursing the whole tree, the bird pondered, “All this is useless; there is no happiness or joy in these fruits. I don't want any of them.' Ah! The glorious feeling of discrimination and renunciation occupied his heart.

He looked hither and thither, and his eyes caught sight of a calm and serene looking bird sitting at the top of the tree. That Bird appeared to be in state of meditation, golden effulgence radiating from His countenance that illumined the whole tree including our little bird. Later, the bird realized that, the bird sitting on the top branch is just the reflection of himself in the divine form.

The picture is just the representation of my aspiring soul. My friend was convinced. May be this story would fit into the lives of most of us. How about you? Can you fit yourself as this bird?

Love uncaused

I still love Kodai

Following the meandering

Curves of your crystal brooks;

Biking through the less-traveled
Nerves of your shimmering hamlets;

Hiking on your enthusing knolls,
Sniffing the earthly aroma;

Encountering the fierce stare
Of the majestic lone bison;

Bliss of the whisperings creeks
Gracing your evergreen shola;

Relishing the luscious comb
Brimming with glittering honey;

Brushing off the lush green tress
Dangling of your pine trees;

Sprinkling of the delicate
Fragrant petals of your flowers;

Sinking in the orchestrated
Serenades of the rattling beetles;

Lying in trance between the
Cushy bosoms of your prairie;

These cherished memoirs of the past
Remain dissolved in my dreams.

Though we have abandoned each other,
The way I miss you In my sleepless nights,
Is the only proof to reassure that,
I love you always and forever.

Celebrating Womanhood

Love
Trust
Beauty
Divinity
Brilliance
Radiance
Fragrance
Intelligence
Compassion
Motherhood
Womanhood
Consciousness
Perseverance
Competence
Authenticity
Awareness
Strength
Courage
Passion

Though my last year's post on the Women's day (Women's Day, A joke) focussed on the maladies of the unempowered women of India, this year I have decided to post on the ever empowered womanhood.

Woman is the radiance of God, she is not just a beloved.
She is the Creator. Rejoice in your womanhood.

The Path

Where darkness is the darkest,
Where wilderness is the wildest,
Where forest is the densest,
Lone stands a calf in loss .

In the hope of finding its herd,
Wades through the mounting darkness,
Across the Uphill and down dale,
Forging a tortuous path.


Perchance, a dog spots the path,
Treads to where it leads,
Only to stop where it ends,
At the shattered bones of the calf.

Forges that path farther hill,
Hobbles through the curves and crooks,
Wrecked, Weary and wounded,
Crosses the forest intact.

A ram with his flock of sheep,
On seeing the path wide open,
Leads its flock across the hill,
Paving the pathway wide.

The man treads across the same path,
Turing right and left along,
Croucing down and burshing the obatscles,
Ever cursing the tedious path.

Though rational in blaming ways,
Never thought of an alternate way,
Turing right and left all day,
When straight in-line is the shortest.

The path passed through the years,
To a main street of a avenue;
To a highway of a town;
To a expressway of a city.

The traffic swallowed the path,
Fuming and fretting as always,
At the worst possible alignment,
Hopeless, man remained.

The forest laughed at the man,
Who blindly follows any path,
Never caring to reason himself,
To see if it suites him the best.


Note: Adopted from a parable I have read.

You and I

Soul in mine

In Dream; In love

Celebrating Childhood

Insomnia

I've had enough
Of sleepless nights,
Of the clinging past,
Of the uncertain tomorrow,
Of the demanding work,
Of the overwhelming remorse,
Of my unspoken grief,
Of the preception of defects,
Of my rebellious self,
Of my tired wisdom.
Come my Mother,
Breath of the universe -
Veil of Maya-
Reveal yourself-
Come and dress my wounds
And be my cure.

Pria's TAG

Favorite Colors: White

Favorite Food: Anything hot and spicy

Favorite Month: December

Favorite Songs:

• Tamil: Nallathor Veenai Seidhe of Subramanya Bharathi
  

• English: Just the way you are – Billy Joel

• Hindi: - Hawa Dheere Aana (Nanhi Kali Sone Chali) from Sujata
  

Favorite Movies:

• English- God Father

• Tamil- Guna

• Hindi- Black

• Italian – Life is beautiful ( Dubbed in English)

• Iranian – Children of Heaven (Dubbed in English)

Favorite Book

• English - Lust for Life by Irving Stone

• Tamil - Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki
  

Favorite Sport: Basket Ball

Favorite Season: Monsoon of Kodaikanal

Favorite Day Of the week: Saturday

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate

Favorite Time of Day: Late evenings

During weekends: As it flows.....

8 CURRENTS

Current Mood: Happy and Relaxing

Current Taste: Chocolate

Current Clothes: Southern Spice Lungi

Current Desktop: Osho

Current Toe nail Color: Not Applicable :)

Current Time: 10:46 PM CST

Current Surroundings: Silence

Current Thoughts: Pria’s TAG


6 FIRSTS

First Best Friend: You too !

First Screen Name: Give me a hugzzz was your answer!

First Pet: None

First Piercing: Just like you - Ears

First Album: Colonial Cousins

First Movie: Ninaithale Inikkum

6 LASTS

Last Cigarette: I see someone standing with a stick!

Last Drink:

• Alcoholic: Jack Daniel's
  

• Non-alcoholic: Water

Last Movie Seen: Dances with the wolves ( in TV)

Last Phone Call: As I type this…

Last Book Read: Passions of the mind by Irving Stone

Have You Ever Broken the Law: Which Law?

Have You Ever Been Arrested: They were never successful :)

Have You Ever Been on TV: I have a 100 channel TV running in my mind

Have You Ever Lied: Many times, for good.

Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: Only in dreams!

5 THINGS

Thing You're Wearing: I thinks, I told you..

Thing You've Done Today: TAG

Thing You Can Hear Right Now: Cell phone vibration

Thing You Can't Live Without: Love

Thing You Do When You're Bored: Books, Travel and of course, blogging

4 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TODAY

Office, Apartment, Gas Station and Barnes & Noble

3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO

My Sister, My wife and My Friends

2 CHOICES

Be yourself

Listen to your heart

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE

Nothing

The TAG is passed to Shirsha, Jeeves, Kavi (If he ever sees this post) and Jeevan (Please ignore, if you had already been through this)

An encounter with God

Beloved Lord!

No prayers are heard.
Do you want me to conceive that you are deaf?
For I know, you understand only the language of silence;
In silence, I hear your voice.

No deeds are seen.
Do you want me to believe that you are blind?
For I know, you see only the light;
In light, I see your vision.

No warmth is felt.
Do you want me to conclude that you are a stone?
For I know, you feel only the fire;
In fire, I feel your warmth.

I breathe no long.
Do you want me to trust that you are just a void?
For I know, you breath only the life;
In life, I breathe your air.

Thirsty, I remain.
Do you want me to imbibe that you are deserted?
For I know, you drink only consciousness;
In consciousness, I’m drunk.

My five senses make no sense;
The world I live cease to live;
Just fill me with what you are,
For me to, live in you.

Shivoham! Shivoham!

Added on 17-Feb-2007 - Shared more pcitues of Shiva, as the post received 2 comments stating the picture is good.

Imbued in Love

Finally, the V’day has arrived. Though trapped in the house because of the storming snow, the air was filled with Love, as every media that we would peep into was only broadcasting love, love and love only. For having imbued in love, I can only express gratitude by joinings hands with family and friends.That too, when I think of this day as our wedding anniversary, with Pranav celebrating his first Valentine's day, the joy is doubled.

As a proponent of Love :), I'm sure that, Love is the most appreciated and accursed word in the history of human existence due to it its varied nuances, projections and the impact it is capable of causing to anyone who possesses it or to anyone who is possessed by it. It is like the sun rays passing through a prism. If we are a prism, love adorns us with a rainbow. If we are opaque, it leaves us.

Love is Divine; Love is Bliss
Love is Eternal; Love is immortal
Love is Illogical; Love is Irrational
Love is Awareness; Love is Madness
Love is Knowledge; Love is Innocence
Love is Possession; Love is Freedom
Love is Music; Love is Silence
Love is flowering; Love is Joy

Love is the force that masters everything,
I’m totally mastered by Love.

By the passion of love for love,
I’ve grown as sweet as sugar.
By myself I’m bitter,
Through love I’m sweet.

When depressed darkened I’m
Love lightens my mind.
By myself I’m a rock,
Through Love I’m a gem

Life ensnared me with desire and disease
While, Love holds me in its palm.
By myself I’m pain.
Through Love, I’m pleasure.

When life flings me into the air,
Love hoist me to the sky.
By myself I’m a slave,
Through Love I’m the King.

Birth made me wander in illusion;
Love has shown me my being .
By myself I’m death,
Through Love, I’m life.

To Lord, with Love

Oh Lord,
Take my mind off my soul.
Liberate my poor soul.
Fill me with nothing and
release me from my dreams.
If I hurt anyone, even by chance,
let fire burn me from inside.


Oh Lord,Take away what I want.
Take away what I do.
Take away what I need.
Take away everything
that makes me vice.

Melting in harmony

In the recent times, I have been fortunate enough to read some beautiful posts from my Blogzone, and to my surprise most were about liberation of women or subjugation of women, women’s right or in one way or the other connected to establishing women as equal to men. I am also baffled when I see articles or posts that exaggerates any accomplishments by women as if, she is incapable of what she has just achieved. People have forgotten that, we are living in the same world where the great warriors like, Joan of Arc, Rani of Jhansi, Rani Padmini, Rani Velu Nachiar had tread, great saints like Mira, Mary Magdalene, Florence Nightingale, Sarada Devi, Madame Blavatsky, Mother of Pondicherry and Mother Teresa had illuminated, great thinkers and scientists like Marie Curie, Ayn Rand, Jane Austen, Arundhati Roy had traversed. It is obvious that for centuries, women have been deprived of their freedom and that is one reason why last year I called Women’s day - A Joke.

I continue this post with the hope of illustrating the attributes of the two inevitable aspects of life, which are irrefutably significant in their own way and the one without the other is non-existential. Life exists only in duality and non-duality is beyond life. Having been a part of life that thrives in duality, where light and darkness, good and bad, moral and immoral, sin and sainthood, east and west, head and heart, Yin and Yang, Yoni and Phallus, female and male are just projections of same energy in dual forms in harmony, negation of one over the other is just ignorance at its peak.

For the sake of those who can accept the facts as facts, only if it is logical and rational, let us dissect the male and female aspects of life, through the attributes that makes them a one.

The primary reason why women were being kept in captivation is because, men were afraid of the mysteries of womanhood, ignoring the fact that manhood is also equally mysterious from women’s perspective. Moreover, the conviction that, how harder men try they cannot create life, while women are capable of creating life. Even in this conviction men ignored the fact that, without him she will not be a source of life, with the exception of the recent advancements of medical sciences. The urge to dominate the fear made men to start creating anything and everything he could create with his capability, making him more productive and physically stronger than women. This advantage in terms of production and strength made women dependent on him, precipitating a whole decoction of illusions that, men are superior, women are meant to serve men, satisfy his desires and needs, a means of procreation (the life creating aspect was renamed as procreation) and more.

In essence, male and female aspects doesn’t exist as two distinct entities, but as a blend with varied proportion. In India we have a deity called Ardhanarishwar. The god is half man and half woman. It is Shiva and Shakthi, the Hindu God, and half of the body is of the woman and the other half of the body is of the man. Up to the time of Carl Gustav Jung it was thought that, it is only a mythology, metaphor, poetry – but this cannot be true. Jung identified the anima as being the unconscious feminine component of men and the animus as the unconscious masculine component in women. Every person has both an anima and an animus. Jung stated that the anima and animus act as guides to the unconscious unified Self, and that forming an awareness and a connection with the anima or animus is one of the most difficult and rewarding steps in psychological growth.

Every man and every woman are both, because every child is born of a father and a mother. So, something of the mother and something of the father is present in every child, whether the child is a girl or a boy. The only difference can be that the man is a little more male, perhaps fifty-one percent male and forty-nine percent female, and the woman is fifty-one percent female and forty-nine percent ma.”

But the difference is not much.

If we really want to understand the mystery of women or men, we will have to understand the art of melting our head into our heart and our heart into our head. It will not only help us understand the mystery of women and men, but the whole existence.

Let us live like a pair of skaters. Skating in pair is a harmony. It's like two skaters coming together and becoming one.