Sleep, Meditation and Spirituality

There are different types of ‘sleepers’. But the most distinguished ones are the ‘light sleepers’ and ‘heavy sleepers’. Who are the lucky ones?

I personally know couple of people who can sleep at anytime they want. If they want, they can spend the whole day and night sleeping, except for waking up for eating and answering natures call (saw this happening during weekends). I know one person who can fall asleep within 10-15 seconds, if tired.

By saying someone as a heavy sleeper, I also include those who go to a very deep sleep and can sleep for about 10 hours in one go without waking up in the middle. Some people don’t have any issue going to sleep even if the room is lit or people are moving around in that room or even talking. I have seen people falling asleep while watching TV or reading (am not talking about watching/reading some boring stuff). Some can fall asleep while texting on the mobile!. Worst, some people can sleep even while standing (in a train etc)!!!

I being a light and troubled sleeper, many a times I thought the heavy sleepers are the lucky ones. Did God show a partiality by creating light sleepers and heavy sleepers? Are the heavy sleepers the blessed ones and the light sleepers ‘less blessed’ ones or unlucky ones?

The practical aspect of spirituality can never be understood without meditation. Yep, even a person with mediocre brains can understand the theoretical aspects by listening to some talk or by reading relevant books. But to personally experience it, one has to undergo through some process where meditation plays the biggest role.

What is the feel we get after meditating for two hours? We need to meditate to get the feel. And to meditate for two hours, one needs to practice meditation for months or even years. It is like me telling about Gulab Jamoon . Indians and those who already tasted it will understand how sweet it is. For others, I can just tell how it is made, looks like or how sweet it is. But those wonts help. If one want to know how it tastes, one need to taste it. Meditation is a must tool for spiritual growth and this tool can be used for other purpose also; like a hammer can be used to powder/crush something, flatten something, hammering a nail or even kill a person ! But what I am talking about this time is the meditation used for the purpose of spiritual growth.

How can the heavy sleepers manage meditation? I observed and talked to some of the heavy sleepers I know. They fall asleep as soon as they start meditating. They can not meditate easily. And for some, it’s almost impossible to meditate even for 5 minutes without falling asleep.

Is it normal to fall asleep during meditation? During the very early days/stage of practicing meditation, many beginners’ falls asleep, that’s normal. This is coz of experiencing deeper relaxation for the first time. I had witnessed even a ‘snoring competition’!

Is there anything wrong in falling asleep while meditating? If we ask this question, we get a mixed response. Those who can meditate well might say “YES” and those who tried and fell asleep might say “NO”. And some might say “It depends”. Yes, it depends…

There are situations where meditation is used to manage sleep related issues (meditation is not sitting alone and daydreaming or keeping silence). That is, here, what the practitioner is trying to achieve is better sleep and that is the only aim. In such cases, falling asleep while meditation is good since it can offer a more relaxed sleep and one can wake up more refreshed (troubled sleepers usually do not wake up fully refreshed). Even heavy sleepers can use meditation to improve the quality of sleep.

What if the person is after spirituality? Well well well…

Those who fall asleep during meditation (almost all the time) can not progress in spirituality. Here I am considering only the practical aspect of it, the ‘getting the feel of it’ aspect. One interesting thing I observed is that heavy sleepers are hardly/rarely spiritual ( though we can find many religions ones, including ‘I will die for MY faith’ types, among heavy sleepers).

(Here, we need to make a note that being spiritual and being religious is different. Religions always can be used as the stepping stone for spirituality but one need to grow further if ones path is spirituality. Just reading scriptures or chanting/shouting (!) God’s name or praising the God won’t help. It’s an evolution. One need to evolve through many stages, one need to evolve through experiences. This process is common for people from all faiths and it’s beyond religion).

Staying awake during meditation is very important for a person who is in the spiritual path. If we fall asleep during meditation, we can not fully make use of the benefits of it. The level of awareness (brainwave frequencies) in the conscious, sub-conscious, meta-conscious and super-conscious mind is different during sleep, meditation and hypnosis.

If a person falls asleep during meditation, that will lead to dreams and many people misunderstand it as visions. I am not talking about those who are using meditation get better sleep. Once they fall asleep, a dream is dream for them. But for the hardcore religious ones, these dreams can be confusing. Sometimes the dream can be the result of a deepest desire a person has and it could be mistaken for God’s will !! Same is applicable for the voices heard during the dream. It could get misinterpreted as God’s voice !!

So?

So, it all depends on the path. If one is after spirituality, being a light sleeper is lucky; it’s a blessing. In the material world, a heavy sleeper enjoys the 'blessings'.

Chrysalis

Some thought he doesn't exist
Some thought he died
“What’s wrong with him?”
Wondered some more.
He did not breathe
Nor did he make any move
He did not drink anything
He did not eat either.
He looked mummified
Though he wasn’t dead.
He was just transforming
Like a pupa to butterfly.
He transcended the time
And travelled to places.
Through the clouds and
Through the wind; through
The sky and through the ocean.
And now, it’s just a waiting
Waiting to be re-born, with
Peace within and peace around
Love within and love around
It is just a waiting, just
Waiting to be re-born.

Yahoo Status Message - How to Delete

When we keep changing our status messages in yahoo messenger (version 9), it goes on and on and becomes a long drop-down list. It’s not easy clearing the list. So how do we do that?

This is how we can solve that, on a windows based system. We are going to play with windows registry so, be DOUBLE WARNED. Do not mess up anything, else the system may not even boot. But done carefully, there is nothing to worry.

Sign-out from yahoo messenger

Start-Run (or press windows key + R key).

Type ‘regedit’ (without quotes) and press Enter

Go to - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\pager\profiles

We can see the list of all the usernames that had been used to sign-in; select /expand yours

(Single) click on ‘Custom Msgs’

On the right hand side, we can see the list of current messages. There will be two entries each for every message (1_DND & 1_W, 2_DND & 2_W and so on). To delete a message, just delete the corresponding pair (look for the first digit) of entries (by selecting it and pressing Del button, and confirm it)

Exit from registry editor. Done

A Swine Appendix

This is about my previous blog - The Swine

Somebody asked whether I took the whole thing from George Orwell. No, I wrote the first half and ONLY the second part belongs to Mr.Orwell.

Sorry for the confusion, if any.

The Swine

“How dare you? You swine! You Pig!” Shouted the Man
The pig looked at him for mercy and said
“Its not me, believe me”
“You filthy creature, shut your mouth”
“I fed you...”
Tears came from its eyes…
But…

-------------------*****-------------------

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man and again; but already it was impossible to say which was which"

- George Orwell

What is Yoga?

(Taken from one of my mails to a friend from Philippines...personal referring(s) removed/edited)

****
Sorry for the belated mail.

Ok, I don’t know what you were expecting from me in this regard. First of all, understand that Yoga is NOT JUST another form of exercise as promoted by many. In reality, it’s a way of living and its one of the 6 major philosophical systems that exists in India (Yoga, Sankhya, Vedanta, Mimamsa, Nyaya and Vaisheshika. I am not talking about them since it’s out of the scope of this mail). Yoga means union….union with the divine….union of self with God. To achieve this, one need to practice the twofold aspects of yoga, that is, the spiritual aspect and the physical aspect.

There are many paths of Yoga; like Karma Yoga (this is ‘work is worship’ kind. Doing good deeds without eyeing on the return), Njana (knowledge) Yoga , Raja yoga (mastering the mind), Hatha (determined effort) Yoga, Mantra Yoga etc.

The postures, mudras and many breathing exercises (e.g. pranayam) you see are mostly from the Hatha Yoga (and Raja Yoga) system. And the authentic text followed is ‘Yoga Sutra’ written by Sage Patanjali (year 200 BC).

Yoga is becoming very popular day by day both here in India and abroad (that’s why you came to know about it). But have you ever heard of 'Yama' and 'Niyama' ? They are the code of conduct prescribed by Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutra, for every practitioner of yoga.

These days, 99% of those who do yoga follows only the physical aspect – doing the asanas (postures/body position/sitting position). It doesn't mean that it is of no use, of course it is useful but the real goal of yoga is not achieved. Yama and Niyama are the spiritual aspects of yoga. Yama is the social discipline aspect and Niyama is the self discipline aspect.

Yama are of 5 kinds.

Ahimsa (non-violence) – it is self explanatory, isn't it? Don't harm others in your acts, words or even in thoughts. This can include killing of animals or even cruel to them.

Satya – Be truthful and don't lie. This also includes your act, words gesture etc

Asteya – Non stealing. Be honest and also don't take advantage of others.

Brahmacharya – being celibate when single and being faithful to your spouse after marriage. Let you control the lust and not the other way.

Aparigraha – Don't be greedy. Take only what you really need.

(Some spiritual leaders add some more, but as I have not gone through the yoga sutra myself, so far, I don't know how many are there exactly.

Kshama – patience
Daya – compassion
Mitahara – eat moderately
Dana – Charity or the " art of giving"
Astikya – complete faith in God, Guru, your spiritual path etc
Sidhantha Shravana _ listening to scriptures
Vratha – adopting the religious vows in one's life (like you do in your lent period)
)

Niyama

Saucha – Cleanliness. Keep your body, mind and surroundings clean.

Santhosha – Be happy. Be happy with what you have and don't worry about what you don't have. This does not mean that you should not have any ambition in your life.

Tapas – Austerity. Practice those things which help to burn the impurities in your life. This includes the practice of yoga, meditation, pilgrimage, proper sleep, your regular fitness programme etc.

Svadhyaya – Self study or self examination. Apply what you learnt from the scriptures in your life and see the progress. Try to find who really you are.

Isvara Pranidhana – Worship God. Do puja (lighting the candle/lamp, offering flowers etc) and japa (chanting)and surrender to God. If you don’t believe in God, its fine. Don’t worry too much about it.

You won't believe, but long back, first we needed to practice yama and niyama before we actually practice the asanas (postures) . But now a days, this spiritual aspect of yoga is almost completely forgotten. People just want a healthy and well toned body, that’s all.

Wherever any worship element comes, you can follow YOUR faith.

I hope now you have some basic idea about what Yoga is. If you want any explanation about any aspect I mention here, don’t hesitate to ask me.

Bye for now and take care.

Jay

Unplanned Pregnancy

When I was active in Yahoo Answers, I have seen many types of questions flooding there. People ask different types of questions – intelligent ones, doubts, technical questions and even questions like ‘I want to change my name, can you suggest any? Among those, one strange and interesting question I have seen, asked by many, is

“My period got skipped, I am afraid..am I pregnant?”

I don’t know whether the asker was serious about her question or not. But I happened to see that question many times (asked by different people), even in some other forums. Some say they are now living in agony, fear and tension.

I do understand the fear and tension part (from the point of a husband over an unplanned pregnancy). But I don’t understand why people live in confusion mixed with panic and run here and there looking out for a solution. Here is what one can do in such situations (any suspected pregnancy cases), it’s very simple.

If you are sure that you did not have any sex, relax, unless you are a character in a myth or holy story.

If you did, that too unprotected one, go and get a home pregnancy test kit, right away. You need only one USD (or less)or its equivalent, about two-three drops of your urine (collected in the early morning, for best results) and less then five minutes time. If you see only one distinct line, RELAX and if you see two distinct lines, fix an appointment with a gynecologist, ASAP, coz the situation demands it (well, if you did not see any mark, go and get another kit).

Yes, the earlier the better, in both cases – 1. You want the baby 2. You don’t want the baby. If you want the baby, you need care and need to seriously watch what you eat, especially the over the counter medicines for silly pains, aches, cough, cold, flu etc. if you don’t want the baby, then also earlier the better coz in the very early stage of pregnancy, its easy to do the MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) using a couple of tablets (else it could be a day’s affair spending more money and time)

Yeah, that it.

Not Again !!

Did I break up with a friend (or two) of mine? I don’t know. That too just for trying to give their space? If that’s for real, I feel it stupid. I still remember an old near break which left a deep wound in me. But that incident taught me some lessons. And hence today I have only a headache. I am not shattered. Thanks to that old friend.

Sometimes it is like that. We will get crucified for no reason at all. Worst thing is other person doing the wrong act and we standing at the receiving end. Then it really pains. Though it has nothing to do with friendship, one incident comes into my mind. My then house owner’s dog’s death and he suspecting me for that. In reality , I was the one who tried to save that dog. I was the one who fed the last drops of water.

Just like the dog story, may be it has nothing to do with what has happened to me. But something comes into my mind. When someone spends some time with us, that doesn’t always mean that, that person don’t have anything else to do. When someone spends some money for us (it could be a greeting card, a phone call, an SMS…), it doesn’t always mean that, that person lives in luxury, or having some time pass.

God, at least you know the truth, right?

Mind it !

I don’t live between the ears
I do live in every cell of yours
I don’t live just in every cell
But I live beyond the cells
Who am I?

Random Acts of Kindness..

When one gives ones cloths for ironing, or laundry, sometimes (or may be many a times) it may not be a luxury. It could an act of kindness. They (people who iron it) are making a living out of it. So is a flower girl. Buy some flowers. If you don’t have anybody to give, offer it to God; just keep it near the deity/idol/scripture/candle… The list is not short…

We may be able to do so many things by ourselves, but if we can involve somebody into it, who is making a living out of it, we need to consider it, especially if we can afford it.

Act of kindness brings something positive. It even affects/changes the (bad) karma in a subtle way..

Ooops @ Hong Kong

I wrote my earlier Hong Kong blog in a hurry. There was this slight jet lag, when I was writing that. Jet lag is nothing but lack of sleep to which I am used to. But after writing, when I went through it, it was a surprise – lots of mistakes. (Lack of sleep can do many such wonders. I have experienced it. Math related things are difficult during that kind of state. I have this experience of sitting with ‘how do I do this’ feeling when I had to solve some basic fraction problems. Remembering math tables too becomes difficult during that time) I fixed most of them and then published it. I think I missed out many little little things. Some observations, some incidents, names of many places I passed…

One thing I observed during the 4 days of stay there in Hong Kong is that I did not see any local people with dandruff. And some guys don’t even comb their hair.

A Muslim lady wearing burkha approached me and asked :
“Excuse me, are you a Muslim?”
“No”
“Can you please tell me where I can get halal meat?”
Very funny! When she asked me that, I was in look out for vegetarian food !!

Some of my regrets during this visit – 1. Did not find out Bruce Lee’s house. I can’t believe that I completely forgot to enquire about it. The authorities are busy making it into a museum and I hope this will get added to the tourist info, very shortly. 2. Not eating food from Po Lin monastery 3. Not eating egg tart (suggested by super star Jackie Chan in Travel and Living TV channel). 4. Missing out to take some particular/critical photos – like the food at the vegetarian restaurant and we eating it with chop sticks. And then the picture building where I stayed….there was many such silly things

There was a pleasant surprise (may be for Indians) and big relief - Taxis; they wont cheat. They will put meter and will return the change. They wont ask more money from a tourist.

There is this ‘feeling guilty thing’ too, in connection with this trip. I did not inform any of my friends (with whom I was in touch or with whom I used to share such info) about my vacation. I thought I will send a card from Hong Kong and thus I can give them a surprise. When I could not do that, I felt guilty (may be for no reason).

These are the things I remember for the time being

A Smile a Day

Start your day today with a smile. Oh yeah, it’s me who is telling this, the man who don’t smile. Many a times when I go through my own photos, I ask this:

“Why can’t he smile?”

I like people smiling at me, though I don’t have an externally smiling face. Smiling is one thing that distinguishes humans from animals. In the animal world, if an animal shows teeth, it should be read as a threat though it might look like a smile.

Smiling is good for our health.

Have a good day..

The Hong Kong Affair...

09-April-2009, Thursday

It started at 8.10 pm by making a move to the Bengaluru international airport. I reckon it was slightly late considering the situation. It was a long weekend (Good Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and hence this possibility of people going for small vacations. There was heavy traffic and I reached the airport by 9.50 pm. The flight was fully booked and most of the passengers took the boarding pass earlier than me. The result was no window seat available (I really love watching those sights we get during take off and landing; plus the magnificent clouds during the journey.



It gives a feeling to give a hug to God). OK, fine, after all, it’s a night journey.

I boarded the plane (Thai Airways International) at midnight and it zoomed into the sky at 12.35 am (00.35 hrs). May be that is the reason, the day became 10th April. The food served onboard was nice




(yep, vegetarian meal). I couldn’t sleep properly.

10-April-2009, Friday

Reached Bangkok ( Suvarnabhumi International Airport) at 5.35 am (local time, which is one and a half hours ahead of my time).


The connection flight to Hong Kong was only at 10.40 am and hence there was more than enough time. I had been to this Airport twice before and I like it. So, I walked around to recollect memories and stuffs. I boarded around 10.15 and it took off at 10.45 am. This time too I did not get window seat. But the American lady who was sitting next to me (enjoying the window seat) was nice and hence when we are about to land, she sat in such a way as to not to obstruct the view I was getting.

The aerial view of Hong Kong was fantastic. Sea, islands and boats, just like the ones I had seen in pics and movies. It made me soooo happy. I became bit excited too.

I reached Hong Kong airport at 2.30 pm local time (which again is one hour ahead of Thailand time).



I was taken for a surprise when a bunch of people comprising both men and women suddenly appeared and one guy told me ‘Immigration’. I thought those were guys who are trying to help me for a fee. So I said ‘NO’ to them and tried to evade. They covered me and said ‘Passport checking’. Then I said sorry. He smiled and he was friendly. Usually we queue up near a counter to meet the immigration people plus they wear uniform. These guys were in jeans and with different type of shirts and coats. He asked what the relationship between me and the lady who was travelling with me (my wife...it was a 'we two' trip). They just checked the passport and let me go. There was a long queue to get the Visa stamped. After a couple of questions, including ‘what is the relationship between you....’, the officer gave the typical 14 days Tourist Visa.

I had collected some basic info about Hong Kong. So, first thing I did after converting some USD into HKD was to buy an Octopus card.



Octopus card is a smartcard used in Hong Kong mainly for transport. This card is also accepted in many restaurants. The minimum amount was HK$150. Out of which we can spend $100 and 50 remains as deposit and will be refunded when we return the card (to avoid inconvenience and make things more friendly, it goes to minus amount with a warning beep, when it falls below Hk$ 50). This card can be recharged at all the railway stations and 7 Eleven stores.

There was assistance in getting a taxi. They wrote the destination address in Chinese to show it to the taxi driver and asked me to take a Red Taxi (there was this Green one too). Luckily, my taxi driver understood English.

Sky scrapers. There were lots of high raise buildings and I saw many constructions going on.



There are over 100 such buildings here. The tallest one, which will have over 100 floors, is under construction. As of now, it is the International Finance Centre or IFC standing tallest with its 88 floors (10th tallest building in the world, as on this date). I passed the big HSBC building. There wasn’t much rush till I entered the heart of the city.

Drivers strictly followed traffic rules (a BIG surprise for me who comes from Bangalore). They were driving at good speeds within the city. Bikers were zooming. There were lots of Double Deckers and trams too. Hong Kong is the ONLY place in the world where all the trams are Double Decker trams.

Though Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, it is truly capitalistic and is world’s one of the top financial centres (in fact, there is an agreement with China that it wont impose its socialism for the next 50 years starting from 1984). It is like another free country except that the foreign policy and defense is handled by China itself. There are over 250 islands here but the major ones are Hong Kong, Lantau Island, New Territories and the Kowloon peninsula. I had booked my room in Mong Kok (Kowloon)

I reached there by 4.30. The owner, Jacky Chan, speaks English. He is not a soft guy. Or better put, he is a ‘you mind your business and I mind my business guy’. He showed me my room, which was on 9th floor and asked me to handover my passport to him. He said he will return it once I make the full payment (in advance). By doing that, he was giving me time to freshen myself by taking a shower and changing my dress. The room had many notices (one said if we forget to switch off the A/C while going out, he will fine HK$100) which indirectly tells us that Mr. Chan is very strict. But it was a safe place with CCTV placed at many common areas including lift. The room was tiny, but the rent was reasonable compared to the prevailing rates in HK (Hong Kong’s GDP mainly depends on service sector which includes hotel industry).



And local calls were free for us (may be this clever guy was sure that we wont make much local calls). The cot/bed looked like it was made for a 5 feet tall person. So was the quilt. Well, I am not tall (as per Indian standard) and hence it wasn’t an issue.

When I made the full payment, he returned my passport and gave the receipt. Mr. Chan owns a cute dog, which was friendly to me and wagged its cute little tail looking at me with its big eyes.

Went to McDonalds with a hope that they will have something vegetarian but resulted in practically learning the meaning of ‘high hopes’. Went to another local restaurant and they did not even understand the word vegetarian. There was an eatery just down the corner of my building which sells local food. The smell was really awful for me. I saw even some western tourists closing their nose and go. But since I felt it insulting, I just held my breath whenever I passed that shop (me and my wife never talked during that ‘take a deeeeeeeeep breath and hold it’ time).

There is a saying in Malayalam, my mother tongue, ‘ onnil pizhachal moonnu’ which means ‘if first one fails, the third (will be a success)’. So, tried KFC and I was lucky. They had some potato stuff and Veg salad. After this incident, I met Mr. Chan and requested him to write the required thing in Chinese to get vegetarian food and he wrote something which he himself translated ‘ I am a vegetarian, no meat’. He said there are no vegetarian restaurants around (which was a wrong info. I found out a restaurant which serves ONLY Chinese vegetarian food). Anyway, then on, breakfast was bread and bun related stuffs coz of one more reason – food is very expensive here and thus food started eating the budget I had kept for other things.

For a 500 ml Coke, we need to pay four times the amount we pay in India. Soap, brush, paste, cosmetic, gift items, Tshirts, Jeans... for most of these items we need to pay almost 7 times more compared to my city (when converted into my money). A Nokia E-71 mobile was costing 22000-23000, that too on sale. The same is available here in my city for 19000. Gatorade costs double. To put it in a nutshell, for anything which was available both at Hong Kong and in India, we need to pay more there in Hong Kong.

The day’s plan was to visit ‘A Symphony of Lights’ at Avenue of Stars.



It’s located along the Victoria Harbor waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui. (Like the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Avenue of Stars is autographed by the hand prints of Stars and personalities from Hong Kong film industry. There is a sculpture of the one and only Bruce Lee too).



This holds a world record as world’s largest permanent light and sound show. 44 tall buildings across the Victoria harbor participate in this show, every day, exactly at 8 pm. The show uses laser beams (cost of implementing this technology was over 40 million HK$). This was a superb show.



I had a strange experience at this place. I was walking along the Avenue of Stars and I heard a “Namaste Ji” (a form of greeting by Hindi speaking Indians) from behind. I stopped walking and two Sikh men appeared. One guy was smiling at me and one guy, who was the elder one, was staring at me. I greeted him back. The smiling one introduced himself as a resident of Hong Kong (HK has a minority of Indian residents from Hindu, Sindhi and Sikh community) and told me that the other guy is a ‘baba’ (kind of religious teacher) from India who is visiting him. Then the other guy looked at me and told something about me, my luck and a comment on my past life. He said how many kids I have got, asked me to pray in the morning and finally, took a piece of paper and scribbled something and made it a ball and gave it to me. Then he said:

“Tell me the name of a color”

Two colors came into my mind. White and blue and I was confused which one to tell and finally I said:

“Blue”

“Now open that paper and read it. If what is written is blue, what I said is right…”

I opened it and, yes, he had written blue. It was a real surprise to me and I looked at him. But he was standing like nothing special has happened….I discouraged him from further talks and walked away.

I was moving around mostly using the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), the metro rail system. And couple of other times, I used the bus. The public transport system in Hong Kong is excellent and this is the only place in the world where over 90% of the population depends on public transport for their daily movement. There is this notice to wear a mask if one is suffering from cold and cough and I saw people following it ( yes, a real surprise for any Indian). Hong Kong looked disabled friendly, even for those who needed a wheel chair. There was a mechanism at the metro exits which when operated becomes kind of escalator for wheel chair people. When it rained, there was this “Floor is wet, please be careful” warning at MTR stations.

The place I stayed was very convenient.



Bus, Metro, Taxi, Shops, 7 Eleven, KFC, McDonalds….everything was near. Found out an eatery which serves excellent and exotic dishes based ONLY on fruits. I had something which contained mango, strawberry, papaya and some other fruits. It was sooooo yummy.

Went to bed bit early and zzzzzzzz purrrrrrrrrr

11-April-2009-Saturday

I slept without waking up in the middle, which was unusual. I was damn tired yesterday. Lack of sleep. I did not sleep while I was onboard on my way to HK plus I did not sleep well the night just before that. Thus two night’s sleep was due and my body’s water level was very low. Overall effect was a headache. I felt like I just woke up from my grave, completely drained. But I couldn’t afford to rest. So, after having a pumpkin bread and coffee breakfast, I had a pain killer and started the day. Off to Ngong Ping 360 (yep, we get a 360 degree view), which was in Lantau Island and I had to cross Hong Kong Island to reach here (I was staying in Kowloon Island).

The aim is to reach at the top of a hill, where there is this Big Buddha. There are three ways one can reach there – hiking, bus and then cable car. The attraction is cable car.



The difficult part was the queue and waiting to get the ticket. I waited for two hours and in that, one hour was under sun. Since many years, I wished to ride a cable car and finally Lord Buddha decided to grant my wish. It was a nice and cool ride. Sometimes luck comes in a strange way. The car got stopped (and then came the announcement saying we are safe and there is nothing to worry about) in the middle and thus we got a chance to have a great view. We can clearly see the airport while sitting in the cable car. This was about 5 km ride.



The Po Lin Buddhist monastery is located here.Here we get very good vegetarian food. We can see the Big Buddha from the cable car. There were many shops, restaurants, tea house etc. which were other attractions for a tourist apart from some major ones like ‘Walking with Buddha’ and ‘Monkey’s Tale Theatre’ which I did not visit.

I went to a restaurant and showed that ‘I am a vegetarian’ slip written in Chinese. And they suggested some noodles. No offence meant, but I felt like vomiting coz of some sea weeds that was part of this noodle soup. It smelled like fish. I could not eat it fully. Lord Buddha’s blessings came in the form of Starbucks Coffee. I had a Cappuccino and some muffin. A blueberry cheese cake smiled at me and I said ‘No No, I am stuffed’.

There was a shop which had many souvenirs, which included some Buddhist stuffs too. I checked in that shop. I asked a lady in that shop to suggest an audio CD. She asked me what kind of song I am looking for. But I was unable to express it. Anyway, at the end, she suggested 4 CDs. There was a song (or I better say tune) in my mind since long time which I wanted to hear. I had spent hours and days in search of that in the internet but in vain. All of a sudden I heard it. And I told that lady "This is the one I was looking for".( Am sooo happy to have that CD. Love you, Lord Buddha !)

I came back by bus. It was a ‘beautiful’ travel. Lush forest, beaches, boats, hills and man made tall buildings too. it was a mixture of nature’s gift and man’s crafty work. The roads in Hong Kong Island were more sloppy/steeply compared to Kowloon.

When I reached my room, I rested for a while and had coconut bun for dinner. Then went out and had an awesome mango, strawberry, rice ball thing. WOW. It was soooo niceeee. Then I checked out the ‘Ladies Market’ which was just a street away from ‘my apartment’. Well well, we need to bargain a lot. For one Chinese fan, from 60 HK$, it came down till 30. So, I decided to play safe and did not buy much from there. If we don’t have some idea about the price, we might easily get cheated.

Most of the people here were wearing Jeans. And black was the most common color for Tshirts and jackets. I had this impression that I can buy Chinese make mobile phones at cheap rate from Hong Kong. But that proved wrong. Most of the people use Nokia or Sony Ericson (or Motorola). And I observed that many people carry two mobiles. Majority of them were seen with the (hands free) earphones plugged into their ears (white color was the most common). Playing PSP while in the metro was a common thing. I saw free internet kiosks in some metro stations (may be its there in every station and I just did not observe it) For the first time, I saw a girl with a very colorful shoe which had different colored shoelace for each shoe.

The zebra crossings were assisted with light and sound for making the life easy. That is, we hear a kind of beep when the pedestrian crossing light is red and the beats become faster when it’s green. Then again for the last 10 counts, the beat is different. I found it very convenient. Most of the pedestrians follow traffic rules.

Went to bed at 11.30

12-April-2009 – Sunday.

After breakfast went to Times Square which is located in Causeway Bay, in Hong Kong island.



This is a huge building consisting of shopping centers and office complex. Most of the (or all?) shops were exclusive ones for international brands. There is no bargain. I did not buy anything but had coffee and blue berry cheese cake from Starbucks.

Off to Stanley market, in a Double Decker, this is the right place in Hong Kong for purchase, if anyone is interested in shopping. The rates for same items in most of the shops were same (for fan, Tshirt, umbrella, torch, pen etc). There were lots of shops. An interesting thing I saw was one shop selling food products from India (MTR brand heat and serve items). So far, the only thing I found cheap (in Hong Kong) was Chinese apples.




Hong Kong is a very neat and clean place. Fines are heavy for littering at public places (HK$ 1500) and smoking at public places (HK$5000) and eating food onboard a bus or train and paid areas of metro (HK$2000).



But once I saw some girls breaking this eating and drinking rule and nobody fined them.

I had pizza for dinner.

13-April-2009 – Monday

It was Victoria Peak (or The Peak) for today, which was in HK Island. Just like any other tourist, I too decided to try the Peak Tram.



This is a special tram which climbs the mountain. At some places it moves at 45 degree or more and we can feel the strain in our neck. It was a nice experience. At the top, there is wax museum (Madame Tussauds), shops, restaurants, coffee shops etc.




If we want to go to the top of the peak tower, we need to pay. And if we want to use the BIG binoculars, we need to pay again (we can pay using Octopus card). We can see Hong Kong, Victoria harbor and Kowloon from here and it’s a wonderful panoramic view.

Who can afford to miss the star cruise at Victoria harbor, during a Hong Kong visit? So I too tried it. I sat in the upper deck. It was a short trip.



Just hung around the Nathan Street and Jordan Street and found time for a blue berry cheese cake.




I had burger from Burger King for lunch. After taking a little rest, I visited Golden Computer Arcade, which is the place for electronic and computer goods. It wasn’t that cheap and CDs and DVDs were costlier than my city. Hence I did not buy anything.

It was time to have my last dinner at Hong Kong for this trip. There was an exclusive vegetarian restaurant in Yau Ma Tei. They had lots of Cantonese dishes including ‘vegetarian chicken and fish’. But I had noodles, spring roll and Chinese tea, all authentic Chinese dishes. This was a nice experience.

I became a little sad when the thought ‘oh, I have to leave tomorrow early morning’ came into my mind. So was the case with my wife, coz we really started liking Hong Kong.

Met Mr. Chan and told him that I will leave in the early morning and asked him about the check out formality (and about the availability of taxi at that wee hour).

“Just leave the keys in the room and go…taxis will be waiting down”

So, ‘trust’ is still alive. Nice to see that.

14-April-2009, Tuesday.

Did not sleep well the other night, but woke up at 3.30 in the morning. Left the room at 4.20 and as Mr. Chan said, there were taxis. The driver did not understand ‘Airport’. He called up somebody who can speak English and gave us the phone. Done… He was a very careful and cautious driver who never crossed the speed limits.

Reached Bangkok airport around 9.45 am local time. My next flight was only at night. I booked it that way coz I had a plan to get a transit or regular visa and go out. This was to meet a friend of mine and spent some time with her. And then, I can do some shopping at MBK, if I get time. But she was busy and hence I could not meet her. So I ditched the plan to go out for shopping too.

Bangkok was on the verge of a civil war. There were these anti-government protests going on which even became violent. One person died coz of police firing. So, anyway, it wasn’t a good idea to get out of the airport, especially for a tourist.

So, I spent the whole day at the airport. It never was/is boring to spend some time at this airport. It’s a big and beautiful airport with so many shops around. And since it was Songkran festival time, there were live shows which were connected to the art, culture and music of Thailand. Enjoyed a Thai meal for lunch...later, snacked at Starbucks and Burger king . Did some purchase from Duty Free shops and there I go off to Bangalore, with a ‘not so happy but soo happy’ mind.



15-April

Reached home at wee hours.

A Rambutan-free Dream

It really was a strange dream, the one I had yesterday night. I don’t understand the meaning of it. When I tried to recollect the dream, I am not able to figure out where it actually happened (the place). It was a meal scene dream. I am sure that its not dinner, coz it was happening during day time. It was a reasonably bright day.

There were at least 4 people around a dining table, which was kept outside the home, in the open air. There were trees around, but we weren’t sitting under any tree. In the dream I was able to see only three people though there is a very strong possibility of a fourth person.

One was I myself. I was looking younger than the ‘now I am’. If I imagine that scene again, the ‘me in the dream’ was facing me. To my right hand side, there is a little girl of age 9-10, who was wearing a light colored plain frock. To her right hand side, there sat a woman, who wasn't tall. She neither was thin nor fat. Well, not medium built too. May be a couple of pounds more than a medium built lady. I wasn’t able to see her face since I was seeing the dream facing me (hence I was having a view from the back of this lady). Her hair was till her shoulder (I think it wasn’t touching the shoulder). The color of the hair neither was black nor gray.

It was a happy scene. I had a broad smiling face. I was putting something to my plate from a ceramic bowl. The little girl was talking something to me, like a chatter box. She was soo happy and smiling. Her feet weren’t reaching the ground, and she was shaking her legs to and fro while talking (plus eating) to me. Then I heard the lady calling her:

“Lhanieee”

I guess the familiarity of that name might have given me a shock and I woke up, coz I cant remember the rest of the dream.

Lie

It was supposed to be
Made In This country, but
It was Made In That country.
When it is written, it is fake.
When it is spoken, it is lie.

He, She and Time

She was happy coz
She had time for him
He asked Time :
‘Excuse me, Sir..’ but
Time told him :
“Sorry, I don’t have time”
She is happy coz
She doesn’t need time for him.

WATERmark

I was referring to a particular type of banana, to a friend of mine who lives in a different country. That banana wasn’t available there. In my native place, we get lots of varieties (over 10) of banana (and mangoes too). Some fruits which were available in that country weren’t available here. There are some trees in my State, which is not there in the rest of the world. This world is like that, its diverse.

But there is one thing which is available in every country. It is present in every living being – Water.

People call it with different names in different languages, in different counties. It can stay in all the three major forms – solid, liquid and gas, irrespective of countries, languages and cultures. And it can assume any form depending on the container.

Water is a symbol....it has something more to tell/teach you…

Divine Will

Is there anything like a Divine Will? May be. Or may not be. Or is it a mixture? May be. Or may not be. It is a debatable matter on either way.

But if there is a divine will, there are certain things which can stand between us and the divine will. Yes, there are some impediments. Two of them are – Anger and impatience.

Cuttlefish !

She is like a Cuttlefish
She said she loves me
She said the same to him
And she loved another him

Voice of God

How similar is the voice of God and Satan? They are similar.

If we ask people who were/are involved in religion related killings or those ready-to-die-for-‘my god’ people who disturb peace and harmony in a society by imposing their ideas, they might say ‘God asked me to do so..I heard his voice’

No, it’s not God who spoke. Either it was the reflection of their own innermost wish/desire or it’s Satan who did the trick. (when Maricha called ”Laxman, o’ Laxman”, Laxman thought it was Lord Rama who is calling, coz the voice was just the same)

(Food for thought: But, if there are no satanic activities, will we ever think of God?)

A barren thought..

The shower of Thy blessing
Fell on this parched ground
Which was barren as a desert
At first, I did not believe
That aught could soften it;
But Thy miracle hath changed
This waste to a flower land

- Swami Paramananda

When not praying..

When to pray? Where to pray? How to pray? Well , that’s not the thing here. But the thing is what when we are not praying….

It may sound strange, but our prayers are well directed and answered when our mind is clear and thoughts are pure when we are NOT praying; that is, during rest of the day. So, doing lots of negative things all the day and praying at the end of the day is not something good.

Yes, that is the thing.

Thinking?

I was thinking -
From where the thoughts
Comes from and where
The thoughts go; then
I realized that I am not
The thinker and
It was just a thought

Uno and Astrology - Luck Changes with Time?

The time was past 3 in the evening and I was playing Uno with my son. I couldn’t believe but I kept on losing..1, 2, 3, 4… at least 15 times in a row. There is this saying ‘luck changes with time’. Then, after 4 pm, I won one game. Then I started winning again and again, continuously for about 7-8 games (and we stopped). The point is not who won or who lost but the saying ‘ luck changes with time’.

So, what changes with time? What makes the luck to change? Is it really the time? What happens when the time changes? Well, the planets change its position when the time changes. For some brains, it may be very difficult to accept this truth. Then….

Better luck next time…

An Ocean of Love

An ocean lies between us,
With its deep and bluely water.
Are we really miles apart?
Dazed I sat on the sandy shore.
The cooly breeze sung a song, and
The moon shone bright, high above.
I know you are looking at it
With twinkles in your eyes.
I walked into the mighty sea, and
Got hugged by the wavy hands.
Then I knew the truth behind
This sea is not any distance maker
And its not keeping miles apart.
I know, yes I know what it is
WhenYOU stand just a shore away.
It is that, an ocean of love
An ocean of love between us.

A Women's Day I don't understand...

(Edited on 13-Mar-2009 - Sorry, yesterday one person said 'Thanks')

8th of March is the International Women’s Day. I wished almost all of my women friends on that day (through mails and couple of social network comments). But not even a single person (except one whom I wished in a chat) cared to say a thanks...none of them responded…. Where did I go wrong?

I don’t understand…

Silence of the Sign Language

There is silence in mediation (in general; we can meditate on sound too). Then there is this practice of going to silence without mediation. Here the person carries out his/her work, but keeps silence. It is the Mouna Vratha. These kinds of stuffs are practiced by both religious and spiritual people; some knows what they are upto and some just follow it.

I have never seen my father doing a Mouna Vratha. Among my relatives, it was only an uncle of mine who used to practice it. Once, I too went into silence for three days, some 4 years ago. Is silence just silence irrespective of when and where it occurs? Nope. It has different flavors and purpose.

Silence at its best is the one we enjoy during meditation. That is where we have a possibility to be in touch (modern psychologists use the word ‘tap’) with our Higher Self or God or whatever. When we are in Mouna Vrutha, we are just with us. We spend the time with us. We just talk to ourselves. And we just listen to us. But the funniest thing I have seen/observed is, when the silence is performed for a longer time, as a group, most of the members becomes expert in ‘sign language’ !!!

Silence is not voice rest…

Worship ...

What is worship?

There could be so many definitions. I am not talking about any celebrity worship but about the worship of God.

In Sanadana Dharma (known as Hinduism, these days) there were two types of worship. One was distinctive to us; offering to fire through Homa. Here idol has no importance. This system requires skills and hence performed only by those who had/have that set of skills. It wasn’t meant for the common man. They, the common man depended on places of worship, like temples.

But one thing is common among all religion (for the time being , for convenience of writing, I am including Hinduism too in the list of religion). Worship at places of worship – Churches, mosques, synagogues…

So, what are the ways to worship? Or how should one worship? Sanadana Dharma/Hinduism gives a clear idea about it. This can be followed by people from any faith. The only change one should adapt is to stick to their place of worship and scripture etc.

There are 8 (main) ways to worship God. These suggestions are passed on to us from 7000-10000 years ago . I am not going to explain these things in detail.

1. Shravanam – (uses ear) Listening to prayers, scripture related talks (I don’t mean those kind of talks where the talker says ‘our religion is the only one leading to truth and others are fake ones’ lets forgive such folks for their ignorance), listening to chanting of mantras or names of God etc

2. Keerthanam – (uses tongue/mouth) here, it the worshiper who is doing the chanting and prayers. Singing devotional songs too comes under this category.

3. Darshanam – (uses eyes) statues of Jesus/Mary kept in churches, the idols in temples, some symbols used by some other religions etc falls into this category. These are used to ‘see’ or make some impression in our mind (at a higher level, the worshiper may not need any picture or symbol)

4. Smaranam – (uses mind/brain) this is just remembering the God in our mind. We usually do this before eating. The thanking or expressing gratefulness to God before sleeping is also one way of swaranam.

5. Vandanam – this is bowing our head or any other form of expressing respect.

6. Archanam – offerings. This can vary from flower to agricultural produce (by farmers) to candle to money to….

7. Samarpanam- mainly helping with a good heart/intention. This also is kind of offering but it has some difference. Donating eye, giving food to poor, sponsoring orphans…similar kind of good deeds comes under samarpanam

8. Sevanam – it is said that ‘manava seva is madhava seva’ which means serving the humans/needy is serving the God. But this is not limited to humans. Serving of plants and animals too (well, all Godly creations) falls under this category.

So, at any point of time, any time of the day, we can worship God, if we really want to, even while working (there is another saying ‘work is worship’; if done with devotion)

Thank YOU

God,

Yes, today there was this unpleasant news. Killing again. But you know what? I am happy…

Sometimes it’s like this – I underestimate you. Or that’s what I think now. Can I compare your brain with a computer? If yes, why your computer works beyond logic and ours go wrong when we code logically incorrect programs? well, I know you have some answer. Don’t forget to tell me later, ok?

I liked your idea. You are really clever. Initially, I did not think today will be a happy day. But I wanted it to be one and you made it just for me. I liked the story you showed me about true friendship. Love makes us weak? huh? It was worth a drop of tear..

My day wouldn’t have been a happy one without my friends around. I thank every friend of mine who popped up for me, today. God, please give them a special bless. And what about you granting them one wish?

Love you

Me

:) Be blessed

No blog for today, though I wrote one....Just wishing you all a blessed day today. Yes, it will be a blessed day today..

Silly? Seriously

Are there circumstances in our life where the situation is really silly and we might behave damn serious? I don’t know about others, but at least in my life so far, there is one such moment. And I can never forget it.

It was some 10 years ago and my son was a baby. One of my friends visited me with his wife and kid. We were talking, watching marriage album, having some snacks etc. I went to kitchen to fetch something. When I came back, my son was not there. There were only four people in that room. My wife, my friend, his kid and wife. Where did my son go?

“where is he?’ I asked my wife

“who?” she asked

“am asking where is he?”

“who?”

I lost my temper..I felt irritating..I looked others..they too looked confused…so I asked specifically..

“where is our SON?”

“oh ! you are holding him’

Then the situation became hilarious…

The Slumdog

The Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Oscars. Wow ! Now India will be in world’s one of the top tourist place. Let’s promote slum tourism…

Mr.Rehman (Oscar for best music), you are a musical genius and you deserve it. And Mr.Resul (Oscar for best sound mixing), I really liked your comment and the way you dedicated your award to this nation. All the best guys..

Tamasoma Jyothir Gamaya..

There are many beautiful prayers. I love this one from Brhadaranyaka Upanishad..It's a Gem of a Prayer. This has both outer and inner beauty...

Om asato ma sad gamaya,
Tamso ma jyotir gamaya,
Mrityorma mritam gamaya.

Meaning:

O Lord, lead us from untruth to truth,
Lead us from darkness to light,
Lead us from death to immortality.

Happy Birthday !

The other day was my birthday. A day without cake, candle, balloons or wine. Usually there is this system of cooking some sweet at home. This year, that too wasn’t there. My wife had a plan to make one; but in the morning, she found out that one ingredient (ghee or clarified butter) is not there. So she dropped the idea.

I got two greeting cards, when I woke up. One from my wife (which she bought) and one from my son (which he made). Many of my e-friends wished me a happy birthday.

The ‘plan for the day’ was a lunch. Only me and my wife. It was a nice vegetarian restaurant, which was a little far from my apartment. We had a buffet lunch. There were more than enough food items. And I enjoyed it. Wife wanted to buy me a sunglass. Instead, I went for a track pant and a bottle of perfume.

I was happy on that day. And it was my birthday…

Thank you, God !

5 of a kind...

5 people had lunch.

Q: Did you have lunch?

A:

1 – Yes, why?
2 – Why?
3 – Yes
4 – No
5- No, why?

Do or Die

It took more than minutes
It took hours and days
It took weeks and years
Finally I reached there
At the top of the mountain
I saw the entire world
I shouted: “I hate you”
The whole world echoed it
It made me sad and
I jumped from the top.
I died.

It took more than minutes
It took hours and days
It took weeks and years
Finally I reached there
At the top of the mountain
I saw the entire world
I shouted: “I Love you”
The whole world echoed it
It made me happy and
I climbed down happily, then,
I lived.

Reflections in Water

Reflections in water.
It was just reflections
I saw the sky, I saw the clouds
Standing trees and flying birds
Giving notion it has depth.
I touched the water and
Felt it factual; but, the
Reflections got rippled away
Depth is lost so is splendor
It was just reflections
Reflections in water.

February 17

Today, after 17 long years, I attended a guitar class. The tutor said guitar is one of the not-so-easy-to-learn musical instruments to play, to which I did not agree. The guitar I used was a horrible one plus his first lesson… it made my finger really pain. I think this is not the way to start (usually they start with open string exercises, I guess)…may be he wanted to show me that guitar is a tough instrument to learn… sorry sir, I wont give up easily..

***
Didn’t I get hurt my feelings today? Thank you God for helping me to take it lightly, at least today. It is always better not doing sins than doing sins and then praying to God. God won’t take the words we utter for granted, but he looks at our heart. We better stop worshiping God if we can’t be truthful even to ourselves.. or we better remove that attribute from us….or may be some religions and their gods permit this…I don’t know…or…or…or… I don’t know

***
Sometimes, helping a friend could result in losing the friend or worsen a friendship.

***
A good detective too can think like a criminal. But the intention is not same, but opposite.

The Abundance...

What is energy? Simply put, it is the ability to do work. That’s the definition I learnt when I was a kid. I don’t remember to what extend I understood that when my science teacher asked us to by-heart it. I think the definition did not change much. At college, it became the capacity of a physical system to perform work. Not much for a change. It always flirted around work.

Those definitions are not capable of giving a clear idea about what energy is, for a small kid. And that’s why the definitions immediately followed by the forms of energy. Then it became clearer. It gave a feeling like ‘oh we weren’t just mugging up something…it really exists’.

What is beyond the definition and an example like ‘we get energy from the food we eat’ or ‘when a bulb glows, electric energy is converted into light energy’?

The first law of thermodynamics is a pure revelation which made me think of Einstein as a modern day Rishi (In the olden days, our Rishis had knowledge about virtually anything and everything). So, energy can not be created nor be destroyed.

We are just using something which was already there and which will be always there, whether we know it or not, whether we accept it or not…. When the universe was created, it was there. It still is there and it will be there. We can not see it, but we can feel it. Its there in many forms, though it’s formless in nature. So, it fills the entire universe and every stuff that exists in this universe contains it….That’s interesting.

Well, is there anything else(?) which was already and always there that can not be created or destroyed which has no form but just changes form, which fills the entire universe and its contents, that which makes this universe ‘nothing’ when subtracted from the universe, that which is the reason for this universe?

Where do they differ?

Priceless ! Outstanding !!

In my life so far, I have studied (apart from computer) accounting, costing, economics etc. And for quite sometime I got opportunity to work as an accountant and auditor too. Hence I have some idea about price, cost, profit, loss, bills and stuffs like that. But I never ever thought of this kind of a situation: one is worth more than what he really wants, but he is not able to buy it….

Sometimes it is better to have a price tag for us. We better know what we are worth…Don’t believe me? Look at this:

“…then why don’t you buy that for me?” Me

“It will cost a hundred thousand” My wife

“So? Don’t you think I am worth that much?”

“You are priceless!”

Man, when did priceless become price-less?

Well, if that is the case, I was an outstanding student many a times. A student who stands outside the class (punishment)!

Impossible is Nothing !

There are many professions where we need to think out-of-the-way. In software industry, it’s testing career. Testers should be able to think like the end user. Plus he should be able to think beyond, looking for the (possibly) existing and non existing bugs (don’t ask me ‘then why Windows Vista is a junk?’). A professional chef, innovative music composers, painters, the ‘rain makers’ …yes there are many such professions..

Which among the God made things give the message ‘think out-of-the-way’?

60-70% of our body is nothing but water. About 70% of earth’s surface is covered with water. Water helps us in so many ways. There is no life without water. One of the properties of water is its fire fighting ability. It can extinguish fire. But how did God make water?

HE just mixed Hydrogen, which is highly inflammable and Oxygen which is essential for combustion, a fire helper!

Senas and Warriors for Valentine !

A new outfit called Sri Rama Sene is ready to spoil the Valentines day and this created a wartime unity among the every other political party who were looking for ‘something’ to go against the government. Sene (means troop) people declared themselves as the custodians of Hindu culture. Very funny. Those who read something about the Mangalore pub issue saw the picz of some of these culprits. If those boys are the custodians of Hinduism, all the best…

It is interesting to observe the detour of religions when it falls into wrong hands. Now there is a troop for Rama, many warrior groups for Jesus, Jihadis ready to behead for Allah…

In the name of Rama? Jesus? That’s too much. I cant think of a Jesus as who leads a war just for spreading Christianity, luring with money, material benefits …and if the ‘enemy ‘ say no , taking a gun with a dirty smile on his face…nope, that’s not Jesus…that is not his style. That is not the wisdom he gained from the east….

An army for Rama? Rama won a battle almost single handedly. Army for Rama who sent Laxman to Ravana, his enemy, to learn wisdom from him? The Rama who stopped fighting (and said ‘ go home and take rest, you are tired…we will continue tomorrow morning’) when his enemy lost his weapon and fell out of chariot? … He was maryada purushotham….an Army in his name? Rama Rajya (the kingdom of Rama) can not be achieved by creating an army in his name and creating public nuisance.

Where are we going?

A maze? or Amaze?

Old days are gone coz they are old. Everything old is not gone...we still see old people and things around. In old days, in a family, members had some kind of role. Then we became modern. Moderns considered the others as countries. These days, in most of the families, members have more identities. This no way mean that this wasn’t the case in those good old days. Well, there is kinda change.

If one member switch off a particular light at night for a couple of days, it becomes his/her job. This is not limited to lights. The list goes on and ‘toilet’ falls somewhere in the list…

Coz we are modern

****

He was sitting near the river, on that rock. He loved that river. The river loved him too. Or that is what he believes. It always was there to soothe his mind. The gurgle of the river is so calming. Though it sounded something same it told different stories. In fact, she always had stories, lots and lots of stories. May be she used to tell them to pebbles. Coz they too have stories to tell.

He remembered that day. He took a small pebble. It looked cute.

“sooo smooth..” He said

“I was rough” said pebble

“really?”

“Yep, very..”

“then what happened?” He asked

“I was proud. I had my sharp edges. I always had the feeling that I am mountain..so I fought…”

“oh”

“I had my identities….”

“Then?”

The pebble smiled at him..and looked at the river….there was silence, the silence which spoke a million words….

The one who always face the south too did the same

The river giggled and he came out of his thoughts..

He did not feel lonely. Though he could not see anybody visible…he had no idea where this river starts from or ends, though it wasn’t secret….

“where are you coming from?” He asked

The river thought for a moment …may be she was thinking where to start from…and whispered to herself

‘so, its back to home’

****

Today, for the first time, a cute little parrot came to my window. It said something which I don’t understand. I tried to take a pic and then it said something which I understood:

“I am camera shy”

Talk less..

Mark Twain wrote many books. He was quite known for his sayings. Apart from Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, I remember one of his quotes too.. Once he said :

“God has given us two ears and one mouth – listen more and talk less”

Mr.Ant MBA, Phd- The Management Guru

When we look around, we hardly see too similar things. Its all different. I have never seen two identical coconut palms. My apartment complex has lots of mango trees. None are similar. If somebody has 10 siblings/children, do they look just the same, though parents are same? Nope. God has created this universe in such diversity… Why?

In a partly joking way, my Guru used to reply “ Coz, God loves fun”. To know the exact reason, one should know the secret of creation. But it’s a secret. It dose not mean that no one can find it. But if someone finds it, he/she wont talk about it, but goes to silence. But other than that secret element, was it just fun? Nope.. Every God made thing has something to tell us. Something to teach us, including spiders…

Look at the ants moving. They go in line, mostly two ways. But they don’t face any traffic jam. They communicates well, give/exchange feedbacks, manages the network well…

What happens when we place some obstacle on their path? It wont stop there and go back but it will find a new and short way to cross it by taking a deviation or walking over it. Ants don’t quit, they have a goal and they are FOCUSED. And they have PATIENCE

God has given ants the ability to sense when it might rain or when the season change. The rest is carried out by them only. They plan that way and keeps enough stock (of food) for the rainy season. PLANNING

On its way an ant finds a food particle which it can not lift alone, what happens? It reports this to his pals and they all put their effort and move it. (I like watching these funny things. sometimes couple of guys pull in one direction and another team pull it in a different direction and the food moves to this direction and that direction…). TEAM WORK

Ant hills are architectural wonders, where they exhibit TEAM INTELLIGENCE, apart from the architectural skills.

Yep, an ant is a Management Guru.

Oh God Beautiful...

I just happened to see the picture of Sri.Paramhansa Yogananda. I thought of him for a moment. Tried to recollect his autobiography. Well, that act helped me remind myself that I don’t have a good memory since most of the ‘search’ did not return any result. I have great respect for him though I am not his devotee. There is a song sung by him and his devotees in his ashram or in yoga camps. I am an Indian, swami Yogananda was also an Indian but I first heard that song sung by an American. I sung that song with an American…strange. And that was for the first time I was seeing a twelve string guitar. He was really good at it. I still love that song (or prayer)….

O God Beautiful; O God Beautiful;
At Thy feet, O I do bow.
In the forest Thou art green;
In the mountain Thou art high;
In the river Thou art restless;
In the ocean Thou art grave.
O God Beautiful; O God Beautiful!
At Thy feet, O I do bow!
To the serviceful Thou art service;
To the lover Thou art love;
To the sorrowful Thou art sympathy;
To the yogi Thou art bliss.

A Breakkkk

Sometimes, whether it’s a vacation or not, a break is a break. This was such a time. I was mostly driving, or walking. Physically, it wasn’t a relaxing one but really tiring. The hot weather did its contribution. My wife asked me many times

“How did you live in this place for these many years?”

Well, sometimes even I wonder. Coz, it was me who was sweating all the time. I always wished to live in colder regions. This travel was a testing time for me as far as my legs are concerned. It ended up in real pain, which I did not expect. One thing I love about the long drives is that this feeling “oh, finally I can use the 5th gear”. We hardly get any chance to use the top gear when we drive in this city. Another thing is that I can drive very fast, though its bit risky sometimes. On the other side, during this particular travel, I drove in 2nd gear in highway for about a kilometer, for the first time in my life so far. There was this hellish traffic, even in highways.

My native city changed a lot. Better roads, more buildings, new apartments, new super markets…

It looked like its season for evangelists. I saw many such stuffs happening in many places. The most interesting thing is their new technique. Most of them had a Hindu name to catch more Hindus. Though they were addressing a group of poor people the preacher/performer was in expensive suit. May be they are hardcore fans of Benny Hinn. During this drive, I even thought:

“What will happen to the poor Hindus, after a decade?”

That thought hit a dead end, when I personally met some Christian foreign nationals who were after Hinduism. When I said “Hi” and extended my hand, they said “Namaste”. It’s picking up very fast in the Europe. Good to see them but sometimes I feel it unfortunate to see Americans and Europeans coming here and teaching us about our own stuffs. (Many a times I depend on a website by a German to find the meanings of Sanskrit words ! ) I had attended one meditation session conducted by one American Guru. I was just curious about him. But he proved that he had spent enough time studying our culture and related stuffs.

I went to a nice restaurant. I had never been there. And I even had no idea that such a restaurant exists in my city. May be its new. Lots and lots of food, both veg and non veg. It was like a feast ...only limitation was the capacity of our stomach. This still remains as a good memory of this trip.

I did not get enough time to meet any of my old friends and I feel very bad about it.

For the first time, I took ‘sea bath’ and I think I should thank my cousin for that. It was he who gave me some tips about playing with the sea. When I got hit by a BIG wave, I felt the power of the sea. I even got bruised. No wonder ancient Indians started respecting sea and even worshipped. But I couldn’t help smiling and thanking God for doing such a wonder creation. Yes, we can feel God in such occasions. The sunset was fantastic.

God, I love you…

Good Day !

Dear God,

Well, I was wondering whether I should address you ‘dear’ or ‘dearest’. That doubt itself shows that I am not fully convinced by my ‘dear’, right? That’s good, no?

I just thought I mail you. I was sad when I went to bed yesterday night. And finally when it started coming between me and my sleep, I decided to surrender my worries to you and go to sleep. You handled it perfectly and you know what? You gave me a great day today. I just can’t believe it. Man, you are simply great !

I know that you know about the strike and fuel crisis... that was a worry. But still, I tell you, the day you gave did not have enough space to keep much worries. So, I put it in the dust bin.

Thank you God…bless my friends...take care

BIG hug,

With lots of love,

son

Let us Start..

The start of every New Year has something in common. Resolutions. Many people take new year resolutions. This is the time we get asked ‘ hey, what is your new year resolution?’

And then many of us wish ‘hope’, new hopes.

What is the nature of a New Year resolution? The typical one would look like

I will spent more time with family
I will quit smoking
I will stop drinking
I will do regular workout and will lose weight
I will watch less TV
I will be more religious (well, some people take even such one)
I will do this…I will do that

Whatever be it, everything has got something in common, in general. These resolutions are not negative ones (am neither talking about any terrorist’s resolution nor a god seller fixing a new target). It has something positive in it. In general, these are harmless to others around us or the society. It won’t disturb the peace in any manner (like when a girl decides to shed some pounds). What does this show? In every human, there is a positive inner call, though it’s very feeble in many. Or may be in many cases, people don’t realize or register such an inner voice. This is something we all inherit from the creator Himself...

I had this experience of people giving a kind of smile, as if that person did something funny when I ask:

“What was your last year’s resolution and did you fulfill it?”

Yes, that smile will tell that it was just another resolution. New Year resolutions are those over which we have control. It has some personal touch. Something we can do for ourselves that doesn’t involve help from others. So, I was thinking why we need to pass a resolution to make a small change in our own lifestyle? Don’t we have any control over our mind? After all, there is no bad time to do something good, like making a prayer. But if somebody is looking for ‘where to start?’, a New Year has the answer.

New hopes. Yes, year after year, when the New Year comes, we hope for a better life. That too is part of every human. We might have hoped a better life during the last New Year and experienced a worse one. But still, we keep that hope. So, let us hope the coming year be a good one, for all of us.

I don’t know whether I am hoping against hopes but let it be a year of peace and harmony.

New Hope

Can love change this world?

May be sometime ago I might have thought that way. But year after year we saw religions, which were supposed to be the core of love, losing its purpose and tolerance and sowing the seeds of hatred and violence into young hearts.

God used to get lots of flowers and candles as offering, in the earlier days. But now he is trying to get adjusted to blood, bombs, bullets and grenades. God is becoming popular and so do this new breed of worshipers. They are the real threat to peace. They destroy the harmony of the society.

The growth of science or technology did not help a huge section of the society to have a better understanding about humans or humanity. Worst, many used these technological advancements to convert more humans into animals, brute animals. They proved that better education necessarily did not mean better understanding; some even proved that it is the other way. Some of them hid there face behind a mask of love. When love loses its purity its can fit into the synonym role to hatred.

It is so unfortunate that peace gets a meaning only when there is violence. But still…

A new day, a New Year…it can always give us hope…Let this year witness more peace and harmony than bull shits..

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

2008 - The End!

If I am asked to recollect my 2008, nothing much is coming into my memory. May be its coz it wasn’t a year packed with incidents. But one thing I am sure of:

2008 wasn’t a great year for me.

First thing that comes to my mind is my serious ligament injury that changed my lifestyle itself. For a moment, I thought

“Was it my decision to live like this? Within the four walls of my apartment?.. See what happened when I became active and started mingling with people, He sent me back saying ‘enough, now my dear son go and rest’” .

But I still have hope.

Mom’s first death anniversary…

The biggest terrorist attack still remains in my head, proving that there is a place for everybody in this world, even for dumb ass religious ones (the other day I read some argument telling God is a Jew! ). I don’t know when such people will start treating humans as humans, with respect.

2008 silently witnessed some titles losing colors. The Punching bag….Tatay (father)…. the Kuya (‘BIG brother’) and the confidante… fading fading fading and then vanishing in the thin air…realities wont lose its worth though we close our eyes to it.

A new friendship burnt out even before blossoming, but leaving some lessons. It was more like a reminder than a new lesson.

The start of a new global economic recession…

Barak Obama became the President of the US.

Played lots of badminton…swam a lot ….(yes, something positive)

Our airport got shifted from heart of the city to a far place! Its over 50 km from my house (well, with better facilities, but still it doesn’t sound good)

2008 was the year that I (sort of) kept away from scriptures of any kind, religious or spiritual practices, stopped my daily rosary, supported some atheists…but today is the end of 2008….it is time for a new beginning…

The Wine Story..

I get many junk posts. When our postal address gets leaked out, it’s quite possible. This is the spam version of the snail mail. The most common junks were from charitable organizations. Then these marketing ones. Such junk posts never gave me any surprise. But today?

It really was a surprise when I got a courier. Yes, it wasn’t a normal post but a courier in my name. It was a special invite to become a founding member….it offered a gift from France too. To become a member of what? A wine society !! And the real surprise is the way they address me:

“ Dear Winelover,” !!!

How did they find out that I am a wine lover? No idea. I am lucky that they did not found that I am yet to taste it. May be next time they will send a bottle of wine itself….Who knows?

Merry Christmas !

What is Merry Christmas?

It looks like it can vary from people to people and their perception. But for me, it was very simple. Today is Christmas and my friends gave me a reason to be merry.

Merry Christmas.

Charcoal's Holiday

Another week starts, which is the only full week of the year 2008. In ten days, 2008 goes as a memory. This week will start the holiday season, the biggest commercial holiday season every year has got. Most of my friends will go for vacations. For a person like me, who mostly depend the virtual world for friendship, it might look like ‘oh, something is missing here’. May be or may be not.

So, how will I spent these holiday season? I don’t know yet. I might answer more questions in Yahoo Answer….or may be I will go ahead with learning my programming. Anyway, I have to spend some decent amount of time preparing some question papers and study materials for my son… yes, 10 days will fly just like that. Emotionally, I wish to spend this holiday with a couple of my friends who can’t afford ‘celebrations’. This reminded me of a fact. The poor remains as poor, irrespective of caste, creed, religion or country. People and communities have got funds to spread and impose their faith on to others who don’t believe in that, even at the cost of disturbing the peace of the society. They are gifted with ‘long sight’. They can’t see people who are near them and they have long term goals.

This year, I was more comfortable facing the popular question of ‘why don’t YOU celebrate OUR festival’. I wonder why people can’t understand such simple things. Why doesn’t USA celebrate India’s Independence Day? The logic is so simple..

I want to leave a very small note to a friend of mine, though we are not friends anymore. There was a special moment this week and that was the only moment that pained me, this whole week:

“Friend, you could have at least shown the courtesy to utter one word ‘ Thanks’, when I greeted you for the biggest festival of yours. I understand that it’s nothing but religion that made you wise enough to push me away. But I want to tell you one thing. When I look at your face, I see a friend and not your religion. May be one day you will realize that this virtual man had a heart which understands love that give friendships a meaning. It is easy to preach love but hard to practice. All the best.”

I might look like a charcoal. But at least that is external. Thank God !

An Old Mail to An Old friend..

An old mail to an old friend at a not so old day

........

Since I did not come online yesterday, I had lots of mails to check (not from friends, I hardly get any mail from friends) ..mostly from our residents association forum , then those news letters I subscribe, then this spam mails…now its all over… yes, I did not come online yesterday coz I wasn’t feeling that well. Both physically and mentally or may be more mentally than physically, I don’t know. Now I feel very much better, though there is this nagging headache. As I said, I wasn’t angry with you..after all, I didn’t even knew that you might talk to me yesterday. Usually, its me who gets avoided and I don’t avoid people around me..that’s not my cup of tea. I think I better train my mind…I better get used to this virtual world and its code of contact. This virtual world is not always the right place for an emotional being like me. I know that, but still, sometimes mind hesitates to accept it. or may be it takes sometime for it..How do I know where I stand in the priority list of those around me? I felt silly, but at least I realized it..I understood what I am…I did not try to pretend or fake..that is better than many around….Don’t think I am talking about you, but am talking in general....

Craig Ewert and A Suicide That Sold Out..

Around the world, reality shows are very popular, these days. The other day there happened one such show in a British TV (Sky TV’s Real Lives digital channel). Nobody ever saw such a reality show in their life. It was a suicide. An assisted suicide, to be precise. It (the documentary) was directed by an Oscar winning director, John Zaritsky.

Craig Ewert, a Computer Scientist from the US underwent an assisted suicide in a Swiss euthanasia clinic. His wife was with him, by his side. He was suffering from a degenerative neuron disease which destroys cells that control essential muscle activity such as speaking, walking, breathing and swallowing. He he wanted to televise his death.

He said:

“If I go through with it, I die as I must at some point, If I don’t go through with it, my choice is essentially to suffer, and to inflict suffering on my family, and then die.”

“Some people might say no, suicide is wrong, God has forbidden it. Fine, but you know what? This ventilator is God.”

“I see the plants, and they’re dying, and I’m dying too..” “They’ll be coming back next spring — I’m unlikely to.”

“I think I can take my bow, and say: Thanks, it’s been fun.”

“I would hope that this is not a cause of major distress to those who love me, this is a journey I must make.”

“My dear sweet wife will have the greatest loss, as we have been together for 37 years in the greatest intimacy.”

Yes, he has reasons and it has a message too.

And says his wife:

“He was keen to have it shown because when death is hidden and private, people don’t face their fears about it..”

As a last thing, before he died, his wife told him, with tears:

“Have a safe journey, see you sometime.”

(This really touched my heart and made me sad…I think she loved him very much)

And the Director of the documentary, John Zaritsky said it would have been “less than honest” to make the film without showing the actual suicide because it would have left viewers wondering if the death was unpleasant, cruel, or carried out against Ewert’s will.

Obviously, there were some protests and some even called the TV as ‘Suicide TV’.

Hope somebody will not hire some television crew tomorrow and do a live suicide by hanging from the ceiling fan! Coz the media is ready do anything that sells…..

(May Craig Ewert's soul rest in peace. God bless! )

Finally 3G !

Finally, yes FINALLY, India goes 3G. Yesterday the Prime Minister inaugurated the first 3G service in India. A proud moment, of course. But…

But our politicians should be ashamed of delaying it for such a long period. India is world’s number one software provider (currently) and when technology coming to India, we are years behind even to (many) smaller Asian and Middle East countries.

Strange

Strange, she came to my dream or may be I dreamt of her…whatever. I never was thinking of her in the recent days. But it made me happy. She was my best friend, some long years ago. She looked the same as if she did not age. I know it’s not for real. She can’t be like that now. Good that, in our dreams and memory, people stays just like how they were when we saw them last. They always stay young.

And our physical body? What is strange about it?

Every second new cells are being created and old ones die. But we don’t look new, but we get old. We are getting older and older with the help of newer and newer cells.

God and His ways, it’s all strange…

Being Busy...

What is being busy?

I thought of it when it took a week for a friend of mine to give a reply to my mail…when it took a day for me to give a reply to another friend…when I did not get any reply (for my mail) from another one…when it took two days to get an SMS reply…when I did not get any response to an SMS of mine….

Is it a doctor getting more patients in the case of a doc? Is it a data entry operator having more data to enter? Is it a swimmer has to swim more laps? Is it a programmer getting more stuff to code? A teacher has to give extra lessons? A baker getting more orders?....Does it always mean more work?

Those situations will make them busy, but…

But in reality, being busy is we just getting occupied in some way. We not responding to something has a lot do with our personal priorities. Sometimes it even can be watching a movie for second or third time or reading a book…

Strange, but sometimes being busy is just being busy…

Beauty, Handsome and a Beholder

I am one such person who believes that there exist different types of people in this world. Not just people (and their shape) but culture, eating habit, the way they dress ….. every aspect of human life. And I study people too. This is my blog and I can write whatever I want. But this is not a place to criticize any particular person, especially my friends. But still, there are some limits, right?

Among the people types around me, mostly it is ‘I don’t care’ types. So whenever I end-up in situations where they show the ‘I don’t care’ attitude, I won’t get surprised. But this time, it was a surprise, a real surprise.

It is said that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. But dose it men that there is no ‘international standard’ for it? Yesterday I thought about it bit seriously.

Yes, there are different types of people in this world and their view on beauty can be different. I have seen girls cutting short their beautiful hair and trying to make it ‘more beautiful’. I personally don’t like women sporting men’s hair style. In some cases, when they cut it too short, some people even look like as if they are mentally ill. God did not make any mistake by giving women more hair than men (and He keeps that hair from getting bald too- in general).

Coming back to the ‘beauty is in the eyes of the beholder’ thing and the surprise element. I happened to talk about a Pilipino movie, its actor and its actress to a Pilipino lady. The lead actor or hero was John Lloyd Cruz opposite to Sarah Geronimo. I introduced John as one of the most handsome Pilipino and Sarah as a beautiful and cute lady. Then came the real surprise.

“I don’t think he is that handsome” she was referring to John
“I don’t think Sarah is cute”. She wasn’t even convinced of Sarah’s beauty.

I know some people who don’t like Filipinos. If the comment was from one such person, it wasn’t a surprise, but this is from a Filipino itself.

I am not a gay and hence I don’t get attracted to men in that angle. If John is not handsome, who is handsome? If john is not a handsome Pilipino, no man in this world is handsome. For me, it’s as simple as that.

John

If I am remembering correctly, the person who made this surprising comment considers herself as beautiful. I wanted to convince myself before I write this. So I did a small exercise.

In my social network portal, I have about 124 acquaintances. Out of that, over 100 of them are Filipinos. I checked each and every profile and then, many of their friends (my secondary acquaintances). I did not find a guy as handsome as John. There were beautiful girls but I wasn’t looking for the Gemma Atkinson (or Pamela) aspect of Sarah. That aspect is not that which makes a girl cute.

Sarah

I got convinced myself that Sarah Geronimo IS a beautiful Filipina without any doubt. And we need to accept another fact that she was voted as the third most beautiful woman in her country (in 2006).

And I got convinced that beauty is really in the eyes of the beholder…

But still, there is a limit, no?

Hapi Hapi December

Hapi hapi December, she is hapi in December
She is so excited coz Xmas is on her way
She is singing, she is dancing
She is jumping, she is hoping..
Hapi Hapi December, she is hapi in December

Good Night !

Thank you Lord for the food I ate
Thank you God for the lovely treat
Thank you Lord for the ache you gave
Thank you God for the friend you gave

Bleeding Hearts

Things around him were normal
It had all the normal abnormalities
He could still feel those rules
He could still see those laws
Sometimes, or may be many times
He used to think of it – ‘why’?
Their Do’s were his Don’ts .
He woke up with a hope
He hoped that the world will change one day
And today can be that day, he hoped.
But he did not see any change, today.
Their Do’s were still his Don’ts.
He gathered courage and asked:
'Why did you come close to me and
Why did you come close to my heart?'
Answer wasn’t sufferable for him, but
He remembered the preacher of love and
The bleeding heart given by his pal
It was one among the twelve, yes
It was from one among the twelve.
“I came close to you, because,
I can push you down, and
I came close to your heart,
So that I can break your heart”