ThoughtBridge

Passing thought: On Clarity

2012-02-16T10:58:00.004+05:30

Clarity is not always about knowing facts but also the “feel” of it. For e.g. you may take water from the best purifier in the world. You think it is clear. But when you see water in a clear pond you really “feel” it is clear. In the first case your mind is saying “okay.. it looks clear”. In the second case it is saying “Wow! How clear this water is”. In the first case it is the mechanical nature of the purifier that prevents your mind from appreciating it fully.. in the second, it is the natural beauty of the water that makes your mind appreciate it. Machine works in discrete steps while nature works in a continuum.

Sree Rama Nee Namam Emi Ruchi Ra..

2012-02-02T22:47:00.002+05:30

How sweet is your name Sree Rama!

This is a song written by a saint named Ramadasu. The song has been exceptionally rendered by Dr. M. Balamurlikrishna.

“Ruchi” doesn’t translate directly to “sweet”. Ruchi is used when you talk about taste of food. “Delicious” is probably closer in meaning. When I first listened to this song I frowned thinking Rama’s name is not something that you eat and talk about the ruchi in it. But then I saw the movie on Ramadasu that showed that once the saint was being tortured beyond limits by the king’s men and he was given heavily salted bread to eat so that he dies of thirst. But Ramadasu being a staunch devotee of Rama remembers Him and wonders how sweet His name is and then goes on to praise Him. This gives him the strength to deal with his struggles.

Whenever I listen to this song I cannot help but ponder over the importance of a deity's name to a devotee. Name is, after all, a name I thought. Why not focus on the essence of the personality rather on the name. But I have come to feel that there is a profound reason behind the importance of the name. For a Bhakta or a devotee the name is not separate from the personality. Name encapsulates the personality’s essence. Name is an abstraction for the divinity in the personality. When a bhakta meditates over the name of the deity he/she visualizes the personality, gets enamoured by its qualities. Especially in difficult times, such meditation over the personality of the deity through His/Her name gives the devotee a blissful experience. It helps the devotee remain aloof from his/her worldly situation. It is like a oasis amidst the desert.

My logical mind still doesn’t agree. Name is still a name it says. My logical mind is not completely wrong but it doesn’t see the truth completely. It may be right about what it sees but it is clueless about what it doesn’t see. What it doesn’t see is that while the bhakta is meditating over the name his/her own personality is also involved with the personality of the deity. The name serves the purpose of evoking the latent bhakti in the devotee. After that it is the union of the two personalities. It is that bliss of union that makes the devotee sing in praise of his lord. If the name were to be personified, we could say it served its purpose well through its karma of evoking bhakti in the devotee. So, the true logic says that a devotee, his/her deity and the deity’s name cannot be separated. That also makes me believe that bhakti is a personal affair of an individual. There can’t be a group of bhaktas. Well, to see it may look like a group meditating over the name of the same deity but their experiences are different. Their internal state is different. So bhakti is strictly a personal affair, just as dreams are.

While the name has its importance, it is not to be believed that bhakti can happen only through the name of the lord. There are as many ways of bhakti as there are individuals. For some who live in the times of their deity himself/herself, name may not be essential. After all, they have experienced the personality in person. You don’t necessarily call a person by name when he/she is standing in front of you. Sometimes, it is an image or idol of the deity that serves the purpose. In any case, there is always a triplet of the devotee, the deity and something that unites the personalities of both that forms bhakti.

The idea of bhakti looses its essence when we ignore any part of the triplet. The moment we codify the aspects of bhakti and expect everyone to follow the codes we ignore one essential part of the triplet i.e. the personality of the individual and, not surprisingly, the effect of bhakti is lost.

Bhakti is personal. In a way, it is madness. The only kind of madness that one should try and indulge in. It is the passion of an individual bhakta.

The saint and the sparrow

2011-11-19T18:36:00.001+05:30

Once upon a time a saint was meditating under a banyan tree when a sparrow came chirping and disturbed him. The sparrow got afraid that the saint would now curse her. But the saint was strong in character and did not appear to be perturbed.

Human behaviour tends to be deceptive. The saint showed great character in tolerating the sparrow but there was something hidden in his behaviour. He could tolerate because with all his accomplishments he considered a sparrow’s life inconsequential. Such calmness can sometimes be attributed to the feeling of being superior. The saint still had a tinge of arrogance left in him. While he did not want to chide the sparrow, he had a clear intention to make her realize how important an activity he was involved in. He thus spoke.

“O little sparrow, where do you come from and where are you going?”.

“I was away the whole day in search of food. My nest is nearby on the other banyan tree. I am going back to feed my babies”.

“That is fine. But do you know where do you actually come from and where you finally go?”.

“Why is he repeating the question? He looks like a great saint. He would not be so stupid to ask the same question again and again.” said the sparrow to herself.

“Pardon me O great saint. I probably did not understand your question. Did I not just answer your question?”.

“You did, in your own capacity. But my question was about your life not about your day to day activity. Do you understand what lies beyond just flying here and there for food and roaming around making noise?”

The sparrow, intimidated by the high import of the question, replied in negative and continued “O great saint!, busy with my day to day activities I have not had enough time to think about what lies beyond.”

“Thought as much. It is a pity that you, like all other people of the world, seem so busy with your day to day life that you have become so insensitive to the life beyond, to the nature, to the creation and the creator. I wonder if you even think about God and try to understand His creation and understand the purpose of life. You may carry on with your business now.”

The sparrow understood that the saint was correct but she was also sure that he had grossly mistaken worldly life. While he was true about most beings he completely disregarded what day to day life could teach us if only we have an open mind. Somewhat offended, the sparrow said.

“O great saint, I would definitely leave you alone and never disturb you again but listen to what I have to say. Your words have hurt me. I may not be so accomplished as you but life has expressed a few things to me. You, of all the people, must know how to see beyond what is visible.”

“Oh really? Tell me little sparrow. What has life taught you?”

“Life has taught me to see my creator all around me. When I fly high and see the vast horizon, I see the expression of God’s vastness.

When a strong wind blows me away, I realize His strength. But when I still manage to find a shelter in the storm, I see His compassion.

When the kids jump with joy looking at me flying so swiftly and chirping, I see the expression of His Joy on their faces.

When I look at my babies, I see the expression of His tenderness.

With all my limited capabilities I manage to find food for my babies at the end of the day. What is it if not His support.

After all, what is this world if not His expression!

O Great saint, by conversing with me you have given great importance to my life. I thank you for that. I will see you again sometime.” and the sparrow flew away.

The saint was humbled by what the sparrow had said. He left his family and his people to understand life and God. While he had learned a lot through his practice now he also realized that he still has somethings to learn from the worldly life. He stood up and resolved to go back to his people again and lead a regular life and find meaning in it.

How to avoid arguments

2011-11-03T20:00:00.000+05:30

We all realize when we are about to get into an argument or sparking one but it is extremely difficult to avoid starting it or participating in it. However, with little, actually very little patience we could simply avoid it and walk away from it. It feels absolutely blissful! Your soul leaps with joy. On the contrary, taking part in an argument makes your soul inflame, sometimes even days after the incident. Sometimes it is a permanent damage to the heart. Beware.

Some tricks to get away from arguments:

Remember the saying "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink". Most often we get into argument because of our urge to persuade someone. We may be right or wrong. But assuming we are right, still we cannot always persuade people. You can discuss and put your points but not force.
Identify if the person or group you are talking to is open minded. People who have closed their minds for others' opinions/suggestions will not have an objective view. Objectivity scares them. It is absolute waste of time arguing with them. Even something that starts as a discussion turns into an argument when you talk to them.
If you know the person closely, you would also definitely know the points that trigger arguments between you and that person. Whenever, such a point comes up during casual discussion, either change the topic mildly or just agree to everything. Seriously speaking, in a bigger picture, your agreement or disagreement really doesn't matter.
Distinguish between when someone is trying to pour his/heart in front of you and when someone is genuinely seeking advice. If someone just wants to lighten up by confessing to you or sharing with you and if you mistake it to be seeking advice, in the process of giving advice you'll most likely get into an conflict of ideology/belief. Most often people just want to be heard, that's it.
Practice grasping the gravity of the situation. Most often we argue over trivial matters. As long as your conscience is clear, don't be reluctant to tell a small lie to avoid argument. This is especially true when dealing with bosses at work. For e.g. if your boss is asking you to work over weekend don't start arguing. Keep some excuse ready. Learn some acting. Escape out of it. If he/she tries that repeatedly, it is not a trivial situation anymore. Even then discuss or escalate it. Sometimes your work environment allows you to talk straight and disagree to such demands, which is good for you.
Don't start any conversation with an expectation of a particular result. The moment your expectation fails you loose your patience. Instead, be prepared for multiple outcomes or just leave the conversation open-ended.

Identity, society, life & death

2011-10-30T20:26:00.000+05:30

What is our Identity? Is it the language we speak? The religion we follow? Our sex? Our color? The job we do? The riches we possess? Our beliefs? What is it after all? Do we have a single identity or multiple?

In our day to day lives we posses multiple identities. This is also called as wearing different hats. Some or all of the above form our identity. We make all effort to uphold our identity, to preserve it, to defend it against all kinds of identity invasions. In the process of defending our identities we separate ourselves from other people. Even within a closely knit group, people share certain identities but still each of them possess their own private identities. Groups split when certain identities overpower the shared identities. There is violence wherever there is identity invasion. There is sorrow and desperation when our identity is wounded.

How does Identity affect our social life? Imagine someone who is born in one place, brought up in another, studied at yet another place and working in a different place. Such a one doesn’t identify strongly with any of those places. No single place dominates his/her identity. Being one such person, I know that such a situation is both good and bad. It is good because when you don’t identify to a place you feel “free”, you feel unbound. More importantly, you become more accommodating. I have observed that most people who strongly identify themselves to a place grow very restrictive in bonding with people from different places. They cannot stand different cultures, different habits or different language. They spend most of their time either criticizing or making fun of people from a foreign place. This happens especially with grown up people who have lived at a certain place for a long time and are required, for some reason, to move to a different place or deal with people from different places. That is the good part, that you feel unbound and you see every person as a “person”. The bad part of lack of “place identity” is that you remain eternally alienated. You have seen different worlds, different social principles at work. You have seen different “truths”. There is a point where you feel nothing is “true” about the world. You hear yourself saying there is no good or bad. As an example you have seen an ardent temple visitor as a good person. But you have also seen, at a different place you lived, that someone who is an atheist is also a good person. An equation that you believed to be true is now no longer true. Add up a thousand small jolts like that and you start believing that nothing is true. You can bear such jolts because it is your mind that is causing it. But whenever you express yourself in a society of people who still believe certain perceptions to be true, you are inadvertently giving jolts to them. Naturally, people don’t like that. Your public expression is kicking them out of their comfort zones. They start feeling that someone is invading their identity. Extreme paranoia for identity causes extremism.

Should we have no identity? I don’t think that is practical. We would not be living without an identity. However, it is important to broaden our identity as we grow up. Our identity begins with our birth. Death, I guess, is the greatest identity invasion that happens to us. It is a jolt that we cannot escape. It becomes a jolt because we have built up a narrow set of identities throughout our lives and death shatters them all. But if we broaden our identity beyond death, it is no longer a jolt. It is like a nomad moving from one place to another. There is no shock. Only wonder. That’s probably the reason death has central importance in Buddhism. That’s the reason why Nachiketas talks directly to Yama (the god of death) to understand the nature of soul (Kathopanishad).

Passing Thought on having fun

2011-10-12T22:49:00.001+05:30

"Common etiquette in having fun is to not delve into details. It spoils the fun"

Inner peace

2011-06-12T18:37:00.000+05:30

Day in and day out we keep struggling with ourselves. Mind is overloaded with perceptions leading to confusion. Life shows us good times and difficult times. There are times that make us question God's justice and even existence. Does He really care about me? Does He even exist? Probably we are left in this world to live all by our own and probably God is just a mechanism that some people invented to help deal with their problems. Who knows what happens after we die anyway? These questions cannot be answered definitively.

In my opinion search for the true God begins only with inner peace. Inner peace doesn't necessarily mean that there aren't difficulties any more. It is only a state of being where it doesn't matter if the times are difficult or easy.

The reason we struggle so much with questions like "Why me?" during difficult times is that our mind is already filled with different perceptions, it is in an agitated state. Mind is a tricky instrument. When it is agitated it cannot perceive subtle signals, it cannot be sensitive to divine help even if we assume it is there. That is why inner peace is so important. So that our mind can catch the inner voice and use it to our benefit.

Inner peace comes with acceptance. Acceptance of our current situation. Pure acceptance, not something you trade for better future. Times can get more difficult. I suspect the idea of "hope". It feels like conditional acceptance resulting in temporary peace. When you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel you again feel agitated. That is why pure, unconditional acceptance is what brings lasting inner peace. When inner peace is reinstated we will probably perceive God and divinity differently and not just as a personal care taker.

Free and Beautiful …

2011-04-15T22:00:00.001+05:30

Series of wars ... lead by Motivating leaders...
Followed by great moments of victory....
Leave us this wonderful, beautiful world today....

Just wondering are we free....
From inside..... from fears .. from worries... from bonds
Well, somewhere or the other ... our thoughts fail us...

Today one seems to wonder how to celebrate and cherish this freedom
looking back in time for bygone golden days...
when world was happy and content place to be in ......

Many enlighten ones have already walked the way for us....
'Live a life of simplicity and humility...'
Its simple yet hard, still the only one leading to success...

Live to inspire, love and celebrate…
With thought to make the world around better abode ….
For Journey would end …only when it has to...

Wipe and let go all that is bad
Leave the bad for good... carry the good….
For its beautiful part of you...

Realise the untold and unsaid from the nature around....
Become part of this beautiful world ... enjoy the real freedom....
Let not time just flee... instead try living the passing moment ...

Enjoy the gentle breeze ,bright sunshine and soothing nights
His creation is marvellous and there is too less time to grudge .,.
One can only smile at such ignorance and indifference

Let go the shrill moments, breaking free the icy bondages…
Let words open up from a longing war of thoughts…
Just as gushing waters, open up the tiny streams in damped land...

Live moments with innocence and grace...
With sweet smiles that out par the enormous minds ..
spilling happiness around and holding to peace within…

Nurture lasting love and patience in each bond...
Celebrate and love all that is part of your life...
And all that was....for it has made you what you are today...

Live life with acceptance and love... for life is free and beautiful…

Passing Thought - Loosing money.

2011-03-23T08:32:00.000+05:30

Loosing money could be a blessing in disguise... because it is almost impossible to part with it on one's own accord. (why on earth is it a blessing??.. well, time will tell).

Dharma

2011-02-07T22:50:00.000+05:30

The word "Dharma" has several connotations. Some say it is duty, some say it is religion, some say it is truth. It is difficult to say which is the original interpretation. If one gets serious about its meaning it can get confusing. However, there seems to be one clear meaning of Dharma i.e. Love. A mother may not understand what Dharma is but she definitely loves her child and from that love comes her sense of duty and responsibility. A soldier may not know the meaning of Dharma but out of his Love for his nation and people comes his sacrifice. Dharma was not probably meant to be adherence to social/religious norms or even one's worldly duties. It originally must have meant to be Love. Love has a broad spectrum. Every act of love is an act of Dharma. At a macro level, at a social level probably some aspects/effects of Dharma were codified with the aim of producing large scale effect of harmony and peace but without the solid foundation or cause of Love there cannot be sustainable results.

Passing Thought: Flowers

2010-12-09T08:04:00.000+05:30

Flowers seem to represent the transient nature of everything in the world in the most beautiful and tender manner possible.

Passing thought: One or many?

2010-11-02T23:22:00.002+05:30

When there are many representing one it is highly possible that the mind remains entangled in the variety of many unless it is conscious of the one and the existence of the one in many. Better is one representing the one. That one must be capable of showing you the variety in the one and the one in many.

Nourishing the soul

2010-10-21T21:14:00.000+05:30

Do not poison your soul, instead nourish it. The way we behave and act either poisons or nourishes our soul. Anger, agitation, lust and greed are the greatest poisons. Anger arises from unfulfilled desires or unmet expectations. Keep your expectations correct. Understand that not everyone thinks like you do. Understand that people need a strong motivation to change. They don’t like to be told what to do and how to do. Call it ego or whatever.

Do not argue. We may feel that we are arguing because we care. May be it is true. The objective is pious but the method is not effective. However painful it may be, observe restraint. If you know something is right, become an example of your ideals don’t preach them. Don’t have the desire to change someone. Desire to change someone is different from spreading the knowledge. In the latter you don’t expect people to change and hence you don’t feel agitated if they don’t.

First pray that you are shown the right path, then pray for the same for the other person. Know that the path may be different for both of you. But rest assured that you’ll both finally meet at the same point. If a person you care about is misled, it is your duty to bring him back. There comes the dilemma. On one hand you are not supposed to influence, on the other you are obliged to correct the person. Quiet impossible! Don’t even believe that it is possible. Let the miracle of transformation be a miracle. Say a true prayer for him/her. Trust that you’ll be guided in the endeavor. Be calm and restrained. Love is the most potent way to bring back your loved ones from the clutches of misfortune. Shower as much of it as you have on that person. You’ll see that the source of true love is perennial. Again, love doesn’t have place for agitation and arguments. It is only and only giving. You may weep in solitude for that person but hug him with a broad smile in person. It takes courage. It requires true faith. All the while it is important that you take care of yourself. However selfish it may seem but the mission won’t be accomplished if you become paralyzed. You need just enough health to fight the battle, not more, not less.

The opportunity called life is short lived. Keep moving. While giving an examination and time is short you become more focused. The same will happen in life provided you understand that there is not much time.

If something is bothering you, analyze your state of being. What do you feel about it? You’ll feel that the equilibrium is lost. Find the shortest path to come back to equilibrium. But beware that the path you choose should not hurt others. Expressing your anger may appear easy and quick but you would have disturbed the equilibrium of the other person. The chain will go on like a nuclear reaction and eventually explode. It may not be so fast as a nuclear reaction but as slow as a slow poison.

Before responding think through the effect of your response on the other person. Initially, you may end up responding too late to be heard but eventually it will become your second nature to respond sensibly and quickly. Keep the practice going.

Passing Thought

2010-10-19T10:13:00.000+05:30

Tougher the journey, happier the homecoming

Lines on our palm and what they remind us

2010-09-28T23:34:00.002+05:30

A baby in the mother's womb clenches its fist and makes a resolve that it will achieve its purpose in the world that it is going to enter. Those clenched fists cause the lines on our palms. They represent the conviction with which we come to the world. They represent life. They represent hope and faith that we had in ourselves. That was how my Sanskrit teacher explained to us the reason for having lines on our palms.

It is not difficult to dismiss this reasoning as a baseless one in the sophisticated world that we live in. However, if we could draw a graph of qualities like courage, conviction, hope, faith, trust through a human life, in most cases we'll see a declining trend. If we extrapolate it in the reverse direction, the reasoning makes more sense. Probably, before opening our eyes to the world we had more of those qualities . My Master observes that when you play with a baby and throw it up in the air to catch it again, it keeps smiling. It has faith. It trusts you. It is not the "fear of unknown" for it, rather the "bliss of ignorance" that makes it enjoy the moment rather than crying over the future.

But what happens after birth and through the later stages? Why do the most adorable and desirable qualities diminish? Why do we forget our resolution? What was the original purpose we resolved about? It might be impossible to recollect but should be possible to rediscover.

Seasons Unseasonal

2010-09-22T11:46:00.004+05:30

It's just like a day before...
As the memoirs seem to be afresh in thoughts...

Through the thick and thin lanes that we passed
Seasons just went past in a fly...

Summers, bright n' vivid as were our understandng of each..
Rains, streaming our thoughts and clearing the obstacles in the flow..

Snows, that took us through the shrills of the cold disputes
Yet clearing up in autumn and Springs, leaving blossoms and laughs every...

Wondering our friendship and seasons .. how the thoughts seem together..
Just thinking of times now... our bond seems to be not lasting beyond seasons..

Seasons dangle and not friends like you and me...
Let's bring back the seasons of past ... keeping alive the spirit of friendship..

My friend,.....friendship and love are unseasonal...
Lasting fresh through the forth coming seasons....
............as were the seasons in the past....

Passing Thought

2010-09-13T07:33:00.001+05:30

"Patience is the expression of faith. Faith that only that which is good for my Self will happen."

Passing Thought

2010-06-19T20:29:00.002+05:30

Diversity in culture and religion is good as long as we are aware of the unity in them. Otherwise the same diversity only serves to divide humans.

India has great diversity in culture and religion. In fact, several parts of the world are becoming more and more diverse. However, at least in India I am sorry to see a ceaseless growth of false pride in one's own culture or religion. True pride is too great to be visible in petty ways. People of one state are not able to tolerate people from other states. When it comes to business and money we can tolerate anything and anybody. In Bangalore the BMTC, the transport body, doesn't even bother to write the route names in English or Hindi. True that a state has the right to preserve its culture and language but not by causing inconvenience to other fellow Indians and that too deliberately. It seems India is getting more and more divided every day. We are failing to see the unity in diversity. We are failing to comprehend the fact that we are all humans first. My master rightly says that we should strive to be world citizens rather than citizen of Bangalore or Karnataka or India. I wonder what the central government or the state governments are doing to promote unity amongst people. Perhaps they gain when we are divided. It is up to us to make sensible decisions for ourselves and our country's future.

Climb two steps at a time

2010-05-13T13:44:00.000+05:30

For a change today I climbed two steps at a time. It was amazing to realize how stiff my muscles and joints had become because of monotonous, repetitive and limited movements day in and day out since I don't know how long. Our physiology looses its dynamism if our activities are monotonous. I believe that the same phenomenon applies to our psychology as well. Dynamism in our activities represents liveliness. Dynamism here is not same as not being inactive, it means not being mechanical. In any field of activity that we care about, that affects our lives positively, that is meant to enrich us, we should always wait for a moment and reflect and see if the activity has become monotonous lest it fails to serve the very purpose of enriching us.

Charity or duty?

2010-05-10T22:22:00.001+05:30

My master says that when we help others it should not be seen as charity. It is our duty towards our brethren. This belief is based on a spiritual understanding that we are all god's children and hence it is our duty to look after our brothers and sisters. Now, this is a very tricky situation to be in. It is a nagging truth. Nagging because we are always bound by our own and our family's needs, we can only help so much. But if we consider it as a duty to help our people we feel guilty of not being able to fulfill it enough. So do the parents who can't help their suffering kids. Life inevitably puts us in such situations probably to teach us humility. The popular idea of charity has a hint of arrogance in it, that I can 'help' someone. If we become sensitive to the problems of our brothers and sisters and find ourselves incapable of helping them enough that is when that subtle arrogance goes away and a true prayer from the depth of the heart begins. The truth is that we can't really help someone i.e. in the sense of 'helping'. It is His world and we are here to play our part, learn and move ahead.

The question now is that if everyone is our brother or sister why family first. There are two answers to it both equally moral. The first is that the family may not always be the first. There have been several examples in the history of humanity where great people put society before family. Right or wrong I don't know but the results of such sacrifices have helped generations live a happier lives. The second answer is that if everyone diligently performs their duties towards their family first then society as a whole is happier. Family is nothing but a ultra miniature society, again in a spiritual sense. It also leaves a room to think about others if we are capable. This approach falls in the category of several other things that work great only when there is a mass adherence to a certain principle. It is like everyone adhering to traffic rules. I personally feel both approaches are equal in effect. However, the second is easier to follow. It is like every small drop contributing to an ocean. In the eyes of god it is the fulfillment of duty that matters just as in a family parents are more worried about one of their kids getting a relief and not about which of the other kids help him. Those brothers who are capable will help him others will pray for him. Both equally important.

Whatever the approach sometimes we cannot help ourselves feeling guilty of our incapability. This is a social failure not an individual one. Today one such situation pushed me to think that if only every citizen of our country paid taxes legitimately the amount of misery amongst our people would have been much less. Taxes are probably one of the greatest instruments of social welfare ever conceived. We as a society have degraded enough not understand the principle behind them or rather willfully ignoring it. It doesn't stop with paying taxes. The people who are responsible for allocating them, our politicians, ministers, government organizations have to be equally responsible. If it were so, there would have been free medical service to everyone. Whatever the disease if it had a cure the patient would get it free of cost. What we have today is that we earn Rs. 100 and payback Re. 1 to the society all the while demonstrating our charitable nature. The other Rs. 29 is hoarded for our future generations as if they will grow incapable of feeding themselves. There may be several arguments against this. I might agree to them as well. This is too ideal a situation to be real but nevertheless possible, if only the social consciousness is awakened. Conscious society is not something unbelievable. Creatures as small in size as ants form a conscious society. Swami Vivekananda had highlighted the tiny effort of the squirrel in helping lord Rama cross the ocean. The lord appreciated its effort as much as He did others' efforts. As I said earlier what matters is duty. It is all up to us if we want it to happen through a social awakening or leave it to those who care but don't have enough resources.

Only the development of true faith within the individuals will result into a lasting social awakening. Once I had been to a school for a moral values session. When asked to share some good quote that she remembered one young girl quoted J.G. Holland who said god gives every bird its food, but He doesn't throw it in its nest. The first part is an assurance that we will be taken care of. The second part indicates that we are supposed to work and the fact that a little girl spoke about this great quote is an hope that the future is bright.

Note: I don't mean to disrespect any higher meaning of the word 'Charity'. I refer to the popular notion. It is more to refer to our attitude rather than the meaning of the word.

Life ..always a new beginning.

2010-03-18T22:13:00.006+05:30

Through ups and downs….Curves and steeps…
Out of dense woods … crossing gushing streams….
The path never seem to end..
With destiny far and out of vision…

Ignorant of the path the lead us to our destiny…
All appears to have come to a standstill…

Its then, that a moment’s act of thinking
And cherishing the entire journey covered…
Leaves us with lasting hope that…
Our abode might be just near and around…

Magic of this wonderful thought runs..
And empowers us with boundless enthusiasm and courage
To face the unknown in life…and to
Make a new beginning in life……

It’s said that each day in life is a new beginning…
Live life each day!!

Passing Thought

2010-02-18T20:34:00.003+05:30

Call it arrogance or ignorance, we humans want to control everything around us, we want to control what happens to us. The fear of unknown takes birth in us only when we want to know everything and we want to know everything so that we could control everything. Remember the advice that Master Oogway gives Shifu in "Kung Fu Panda"? He advises him to let go off the illusion of control.

Passing Thought

2010-01-21T21:59:00.004+05:30

World would have been a completely different place if only we human beings identified ourselves with Nature. We have always seen Nature as something external. Something that can spellbind us with its beauty, dwarf us with its immensity, scare us with its fury, bless us with its magnanimity but we have never believed it to have a life of its own, affected by our deeds and thoughts, hiding immense pain out of love for us, as something that is evolving just as everything else.

In knowing life .. and self....

2009-11-28T22:20:00.004+05:30

Today just thinking of myself… n’ my life…
I am awestruck and surprised… to realize the changes in my life and self …
Sometimes pleasantly surprised … at times depressed with the changing times
Just accepting things as they come… as been told all is part of life….

Those smooth times, when world seemed to move along with me,
With everything as bright as sunshine and everyone gay n’ joyful;
Life was just fun; made up of most beautiful & precious moments
Moments cherished forever …then

There were times, when I was sure of myself…
But at nth hour, I unearthed things differently from my thoughts
Yet surprisingly, I acknowledged it happily and poised myself…
Elegantly saying all that happens is for good….

And in times when my own thoughts and deeds turned mistaken ….
I found myself surrounded by current of contradicting thoughts …
Fortunate enough and thankful to God for giving me my dear ones…
And sailing me through those tough times……

I longed all along to understand and why is it so…
Times and me aren’t steady…
Time and life are intriguing as they are ….
Never revealing ever mystifying …

Still I try understanding life though self…
Writing these few lines...divulge my meager attempts to understand the life.

Realizing life just happens and can’t be made to happen all the time….
Decided to play safe… clinging to the popular saying ….
By just saying ‘It’s all in the game called life…’

My heart says..."walk with me......"

2009-11-21T15:29:00.020+05:30

Well, it was a walk… engrossed in thoughts

I started alone, step after step

Alone I walked many a times….

Walked a lot… in life, in dreams

Yet, this time it was all different….

Wondering, what this walk would leave me with…..

It wasn’t a walk after success or failure

Neither it was in joy nor grief….

It was a walk in passage of time …..

And in the changing times, I was searching for my steps…

Looking back for a while …

dangling thoughts around and in my mind

Am I there behind or am I moving with time…

What this walk in life all means ….

My heart heard back, like God answered……

Life is a long walk, One begins it alone

moulds and reaches abode with the loved ones around ….

And then part, to start all new beginning for love and happiness in life

In life parting is inevitable, still memories stay with us like an inexplicable gift

a treasure that can never be emptied nor can be stolen….

Steps paced with time …might take us away or bring closer…

Making or breaking the dreams in life ….

Yet, everyone has to walk forward

Hearing to inner voice in silience,

Fathoming how a lonely walk can open the mind…

I look around now, surprisingly find same surrounding more lucid …..

My heart says to all my loved ones…

Alone I found you… together let’s find life …..

Though not beside always….

You still are part of my life….

Just for one more time …. “walk with me by my side…..”