शुक्रिया


पेड़ की छाव
सूरज की गर्मी
फूलों की मुस्कान
है हर मौसम में एक समान

बांटे  तू ख़ुशी,  बढाए उमंग
मेरे हर  मौसम में

आज समझी क्या है तेरा मूल धर्म
प्यार, प्यार, बस निर्मल प्यार 

ए खुदा, शुक्रिया




 
   


 

Realisation

It was getting dark, hence everyone started leaving after the evening Satsang. Murali stayed back as he wanted to talk to Sharma Ji bit more and understand the spiritual journey he has gone through.

Murali asked Sharma ji, how did you get interested in the spiritual path? I had heard from people that once upon a time, you were like a free bird, for whom enjoyment meant something else. I am really curious to know what made you change so much.
Hearing the question, Sharma Ji smiled and said, everything is in His hands.

Murali Ji left after hearing this, as he felt that he cannot force Sharma Ji to reveal. If he wills he will tell on his own in one of the Satsangs.

Sharma Ji did his routine meditation and then helped his son do his homework, when his wife announced dinner is ready, he quickly took bath and then had his dinner with family. As he went to bed, his thoughts went to the question  Murali had asked, and he went on a flashback.

Since college, he had a huge circle of friends, loitering with friends, catching a movie or just chatting on random topics was his favorite pass-time. Luckily, the person he got married too was also fond of food and going outdoors. Friday evening meant going out with his gang. Weekends were for family, which always had movie plus dinner in agenda on one of the weekends.  His fun-filled food rich life was reflected in his body, his face became round from oval and his waist acquired some inches of additional circumference.

One day his wife's mother came, she used to follow some baba and would religiously watch his discourse in evening. As a result, even Sharma Ji and his wife was forced to see the same program. Sharma Ji was listening to the discourse half-heartedly and his thoughts went to the cricket match he was missing out. The baba talked about satvic food and the benefits of it and then went on to talk about the 4 principles, do not kill anyone, don’t say lie, be truthful, be loyal to your wife.

After his mother-in-law had gone, he was happy to go back to old routine and was looking forward to go out with friends on Friday. Friday evening, they went to their usual place and ordered chicken curry and beer. Sharma Ji could easily take 3 glasses without any issue, for some reason, he could not take even a single glass that day. He puked as he tried to do bottom's up. Sharma Ji felt may be it’s because of season change. The following sat, the family went out for dinner and they order KFC chicken burger. As soon as Sharma Ji took the first bite, his body made him vomit. 

Sharma Ji and his family was clueless as to why this happened. The same thing happened following week too, Sharma Ji decided to go to the doctor, as he felt his immune system seems to have gone down and must have acquired some new dreaded disease. The doctor examined Sharma Ji and found no issue of any kind, on persistence of Sharma Ji asked him to get some test done. Sadly they all came normal. Sharma Ji slowly stopped going out for food and because of him, even his family stopped going out. Sharma Ji now began spending time reading books, hearing discourses. 

Slowly everyone could see a change in Sharma Ji, he seemed to be always peaceful and smiling. People started asking him the reason for change. Sharma Ji said that he is finding lot of solace in reading good books and hearing good discourses. Everyone asked him to share what he read with them once in a while, and that how the evening satang’s started.

As Sharma Ji, thought of all this...he realized that his path to spirituality began after hearing the first discourse and it was his body which walked on the path first :) and it made his mind follow the body.

प्यारी मेरी दुलारी

हे प्यारी, मेरी दुलारी, तुम क्यों हो सोचती
कि वक़्त बीत गया और अब तुम  न उड़ पावोगी

याद करो तुम अपने वो भोले  निर्मल सपने

जो लहरों  की तरह सीमा विहीन थे

जो तुम्हे कुछ भी है मुमकिन की सीख देते

माना की चाल है अब थोड़ी धीमी
पर मन अब  भी है बच्चे सा निर्मल 

जो  है जानता  सपनो की पतंगे  उडाना 

कटने पे नयी शुरुवात करना   

मत बांधो अपने पैरो में खुद ही बेडिया

तुम चलो  उन्मुक्त हो के

दो अपने सपनो को नए पंख
पूरी कायनात है तुम्हारे संग

Follow your heart, walk the invisible path
Set paths may give interim benefits
But its the path less travelled that takes you to a new world

Why Not This Way

Why is that for some the finishing line is more important than the thrill of the run

Why is that people look for a label for a relation instead of just enjoying the nameless bond

You talk about the materialistic things how about treasure hunting the priceless pearls of wisdom within and around

Why measure oneself on the weights recommended by society, how about becoming weightless in the world

How about for once living at the whims of heart instead of head

Kabir in Navadarshanam

Had gone to three day workshop on kabir songs, was sure it was going to be good..as i knew hearing Prahalad ji sing in person gonna be a great experience. What i did not knew then was how simple and frank he was as a person too...he is extremely warm and very down to earth. When i first saw him in the kitchen, i was not sure whether i would feel comfortable talking to him or not...but as the days progressed felt completely at ease to share my views and thoughts. Its amazing to meet people who walk their talk, he is a true follower of kabir.

Another thing that added to this magic was Navadarshanam, in specific Ananthu Ji. A place that follows the vision of the place to the core, teaching us all how to co-exist with surroundings and what we really need.

Being in the place itself, was an experience in itself. Eco friendly architecture, food, simplicity and warmth of people around just touched me so much. Coming to the place was like recharging oneself to full :)

Hearing Ananthu Ji talk is an experience in itself, he explained things so clearly...making us appreciate the poetry even more. Will always remember his child like laughter and the warmth he gave each one of us.

As a bonus, we got to hear some renditions of poetry from southern India by poets like purandara dasa. It was amazing to realize that all learned people, told the same thing. 

Overall it was a great experience, it was also nice meeting people from different backgrounds. Would like to thank Nikita and Anju for organizing it and giving me this great opportunity to experience this.

Double Trouble

The king and queen of Sumerkuda were staunch devotees of Shiva. Shiva was really pleased with their devotion, which was selfless and with no expectations.

One day, the king announced to his wife that, he is planning to construct a Shiva temple only for himself, wherein he only will be the priest and will serve his lord the way he wanted. Hearing this, the Rani said...what about me, even i would like to serve my lord the way i want too.  On hearing this, the king said, okay i will get two temples made side my side near our place. One will be your temple and another would be mine.

The next day, the king announced this decision to his ministers and asked the most skilled craftsmen in the kingdom to present their designs.  

Post 6 months, two grand temples which were replicas of each other were created. King and Queen were thrilled to see their wish fulfilled. Post that, both king and queen got busy with how they would like to praise their lords etc....Narada..seeing all this, came rushing to Shiva's abode and said, have you seen what your favorite devotees are doing, the king and queen have become the priests of their own temple. Shiva said, its just pure love and they are not neglecting any of their duties so let them do what they please.

Slowly, lot of ceremonies that were being held in the temples started happening at the same time and Shiva had to juggle his time between the two places...he always felt the guilt that maybe i am not doing justice to my devotees. Shiva shared his worries with his wife Parvati. Parvati said, why dont u just listen to the recordings using the time travel device. Shiva said, no no...i would like to give my fav devotees blessing at that moment itself.

Parvati knew how innocent her husband was and he will just worry about he not being able to do justice to their love. Parvati felt, she only would have to do something. She immediately called Narada and told him to keep her posted with latest developments in Sumerkuda and try to make the king and queen understand Shiva's plight.

Narada thought of an idea, he got two neighboring kings to invite the king on the same day and time.  Narada went to see the king to see what he will decide.The king was discussing with his ministers what he can do, he did not want to say no to anyone. Narada said, your deity is able to multitask between your and your wife's puja's i am sure you can also do something like this. Hearing this, the king said he is Shiva the lord, what he can do, i cannot do. Narada felt, he would have to do something else to drive the point.

After few months, Narada came rushing to Parvati and told her about the non-stop 24 hr celebrations being planned by king and queen on the occasion of Shiva Ratri...Imagining 24 hrs of non-stop celebration, Parvati felt she had to do something to put this to stop...she told Narada something in his ear, hearing which Narada smiled.

Next day, Narada went to the court, the king was thrilled to see Narada, while having lunch with Narada, King and Queen told him about their grand plan. On hearing this, Narada said, don't u know if husband and wife dont do pooja together on Shiva Ratri, Shiva is not pleased, he is after all a family man and represents an ideal household. On hearing that King and Queen got tensed and thought what they can do, as it did not feel good to neglect one temple completely after establishing the god there. Narada said, why don't you make one temple open for public and you both can do your puja together in one temple? Post marriage, you both resolved to live a single life, don't you think if you pray your favorite deity together, u will find greater joy.

On hearing this, the king and queen felt, it makes sense...instead of they thinking individually its better if they thought as one. They decided to do as suggested by Narada.

On the Shiva Ratri day, Shiva was pleased to see both of them praying together, he told Parvati, see how wise my devotees are. Parvati nodded and smiled.

Cracked Pots

Whom am i to pass a judgment on anyone
I who know the cracks in my own pot
though from outside it may seem all fine
The scars within and the recurring plastering
to keep on the surface smooth is only known to me


We all are cracked pots, with our own unique abrasions
Why this futility of finding faults in others
You cannot change a baked pot
but u can mold a pot which is still on the wheel of consciousness

No One killed Jessica

Saw the movie 'No One killed Jessica' today, also read an article in Tehelka on how actually they carried out the stings and unearthed the facts.

The first thing that stuck me was how aware was i of all this, i did hear about the case but did not follow the proceedings to that much detail. I just felt that, if we as citizens of this country, do not remain alert to whats happening around and voice our opinion, India will become a place were things run as per the whims of rich and powerful.

I know lot is wrong even now...BJP CM refusing to step down though there is so much of proof against him...land scams...victimization of people by police...the list goes on and on.

Will the educated masses think of relocating to other place as the only solution to deal with issues with the system? Who will clean the home then?

Tehalka magazine has definitely shown the power of media and what we as people can do if we identify with a problem...till we think of someone's issue/tragedy as just news to ponder for few minutes and move on in our routine drudgery, nothing will ever get fixed here....and we will just be living a life where all is happy and good, till nothing happens to me and my loved ones.

Happy New Year

New year...is like a new diary....each page is waiting to see what you write onto it.

I am really looking forward to this year and curious to see what i finally pen this year

Hope i have gone wiser with my past experiences :)

World....here i come :)

Wish you all a very happy new year...lets make it a rocking new year!