Randomly 'Ever after'

In fairy tales, wedding end with happily ever after.

After my whirlwind wedding where everything from scratch

happened in four m ' onths flat, i have nothing much to say.

they say everything's supposed to change after marriage.

Many things do, and many things dont. But its all for the good.

I suppose, anyway, barely a month into it, I dont think I am

expert enough to comment about it. But then even after 50 years into it

i doubt if I ever will be!

But its interesting.

I though I had it all figured out, getting married has directly resulted

in ruthlessly shattering all my concepts.

In short I really dont have anything to say, so I force meaningless

random sentences to fill in the spaces.

In many ways I have realized that marriage directly cuts out

the meaningless randomness in life that we become so accustomed,

which sometimes is a little tough to digest!

And for a marriage to take place itself, a million random things

have to fall in place.

Than one day, when:

kids star calling you 'Aunty',

you stop worrying about you weight (no wonder women bloat after marriage),

you start believing in weird superstitions,

words like 'saving' and 'planning' enters your vocabulary,

you start taking neighborhood gossip seriously

its starts sinking in that you're actually married.

But I guess at the end of the day, its still a series of random events that weirdly adds up to to 'ever after'!

Four more days...

And even my name changes!

I guess love does that to you, Something in you dissolves, melts and an unconditional acceptance dawns. I feel scared, sure...

But then I am really not. I feel I am ready to take on new responsibilities, knowing that

some one's there to catch me when I fall, and correct me when I make mistakes.

With four more days too go, there is a frenzy of activity around, the accommodation, the catering, guest lists. I look at it all through the eyes of outsider. knowing that, all these events and activities will melt into time.

As I get married and become ready to step into a world that is alien to me, to nurture instead of being nurtured, to be instead of being...its only natural to be anxious (or so I tell myself to stop myself from passing out of anxiety!!)

Its funny, how during a wedding the focus is on the celebration outside, but inside there is a quiet celebration too, a much more vibrant and lavish one, and one that stands the test of time.

In four more days,

even my name changes....

Rest with feelings

The Art of Living Ashram is teaming with splendor of Navaratri.

Gurudev broke his silence today, with the message, 'rest with feelings'.

This poem is inspired by him.

In thick of celebrations

all around

from depth of silence

not a sound

the message was loud and clear

rest with feelings my dear

You have come after a struggle

so long so hard

you were broken into pieces

into shards

now its over, I am near

rest with feeling my dear

Wake up to the beauty

all vibrant and fresh

from the illusion of chaos

delusion of mess

perfect as a juicy ripe pear

when you have rested

with feelings my dear

And now the sky's so blue

without a cloud

every thought can be heard out

aloud

dont doubt, all pain ends here

just rest with feelings my dear

Rest with feelings

Life's no longer an

unfulfilled dream

Rest with feelings

as sweet as cherries

as light as cream

A love so deep, cant help

but shed drops of tear

rest in bliss with feelings

my dear.

I'm just surprised.....!

1. 

At the way things have turned out (for the better)

How weird co-incidences turn out to be the best things in your life

How things change in-spite and despite

How everything changes and so will this

How come some people just dont get it!

The best things in life are purely by chance, by luck or by grace.

The fact that I got the best things in life by doing nothing.

How just being there can make all the difference

How some things cannot, will not and would not ever happen...and you know it!

At the fact that walking blindfolded is much easier than with eyes wide open.

That knowing that I dont know is the peak of knowledge.

When thing go wrong....its okay...it really is, it could get worse, and thats okay too.

How taking yourself sincerely not seriously makes all the difference.

How being happy is a decision not an end result.

How the only difference between getting something you always wanted and not getting something you always wanted is the word 'not'.

How taking bigger risks gets bigger results, if it fails, gets bigger learning.

How till the time you're really, totally absolutely clear about what you want to do, you're wasting your time, so if you're wasting time anyway, why not experiment and have fun.

That if you're not having fun, then something is seriously wrong.

Knowing that there is no bigger fun than being and doing right.

Its not surprise really, but a wonder, a sort of awe, at how things are so simple yet so complex. And its nice to be in this perpetual state, it adds a lot of spark to life.

So Hot!

From everything, the weather to people to food to politics. If you want to be set on fire, AP is the place to head. As a YES!+ teacher this is the first time I am travelling outside to an unknown city, and my destination is Warangal in AP.

After a 13 hour bus journey to Hyderabad, Raghav (another teacher) and I took Konark express to Warangal, about 3 hours away. Luckily it was raining, so I didn't experience the fiery bit right away. My first experience was simply my first meal, with my tongue on fire, and smoke fuming out of my ears. The excessive chili in everything, made it simply impossible for me to even decipher different dishes and tastes.

To neutralise the effect oodles of 'ghee' was added, which helped my tortured taste buds no better. Unfortunately in India, excessive love is equated with excessive food, which if refused, especially as guests is considered excessively rude.

So I endured the fate for three days, after which my mouth is so full of ulcers that, making it torturous to even look or breath in the direction of spices. So now my staple diet consists of Ice-cream and ghee rice, although I am doing my best to make up by doing extra suryanamaskar during the course, the chances are, that I'll have to go on diet as soon as I hit home.

The Art of what?

Hi all, this is my first attempt at story writing (if you can call that), so be brutal with you feedback, don’t waste comments being polite or diplomatic.

Although the work is purely fictional, its of course inspired by real-life people, situation and events while working with the Art of Living.

I am the absolute last person to do a 'course' on spirituality

I really dont care about saving the planet, its too late anyway

And unless I’m doped or drunk, I don’t usually smile at people

And to tell the truth, I don’t want to change the way I am either.

And if I am to believe in news (which I don't) and media, Guru's don't have the best reputation!

I just like to know certain things and there are times I go a little overboard finding out. Like the time when I suspected my mom was mixing curd, in everything I ate, which I hated a morbid passion, I actually took food samples from home to my lab in 8^th grade to test whether they contained the lactobacilli bacteria.

But before I go into anything to do with Art of Living or Breathing, I needed to find out about the person who was teaching it. And no, I did not hire a PI, with social networking sites, and 6 degrees of separation, almost anyone can turn into a PI. But something, I have no Idea what, makes me insanely curious about knowing more, the same insane curiousness that made me test my home cooked food samples for lactobacilli.

But I am a hard nut to crack, it will take me more than a seven day crash course on spirituality and an irritatingly happy instructor to turn me into one of them ‘save the planet evangelist’ .

So I thought, If not for anything else, I could spend a few hours everyday for a week for a memory of comic relief in future.

The curiosity started the day I met Bindi

I met Bindi on a rainy afternoon, struggling with three over sized bags and a dysfunctional umbrella. I think I know her, I said to myself, and went to help her out with her bags, in a tearing hurry, she handed me her bags and said, “are you going to Bhannerghatta road”, “yes", I said, without thinking, the poor girl needed help anyway.

“Great, then we can take this Big 10, its about to leave. Oh look, there’s even place to sit! I so hate it when it rains in Bangalore, the roads are jammed, and the buses get over crowded.”

I hope she knows she just met me

And it was that fateful bus ride that changed my life. But like I said, this isn’t my story, and for my own reasons I’d like to remain anonymous.

“you want to know a secret?” she asked invitingly

“okay (like I have a choice?)”

“I am a new person right this moment on”

“really (did u get like a sex change operation)?”

“I finally, finally quit my job, to do what I really love to do.”

“and what’s that?”

“Teach people how to breathe and be happy, I teach the Art of Living workshops. Oh my stop is here, I need to go, it was great meeting you, you should really learn to breath", she said, handing over a contact number and disappearing into the crowd.

If someone can look so ridiculously happy after being drenched in rain, and carrying 30 kg weight, there has to be something. Thats when I grudgingly accepted her friend request on Facebook.

And she knew her stuff alright, so it wasn’t easy to be her friend.

a) You had to had to be a vegetarian

b) You had to agree with her most nonsensical, impulsive of ideas

c) You’d have to be okay with phone calls at 3 am, and listen to her business plan

Bindi was a business freak, she’d wanted to be an entrepreneur since the age of eight. At school, she’d sell stuff like Barbie clothing’s she got her maid to make, and wrote poetry for other people and sold them. As she grew older, she wanted to own a juice shop, a dessert shop (sugarfree, eggless, vegan, healthy), a shop that sold gadgets , one that sold jute bags. Her profession as a software engineer was a complete anti climax to who she was as a person. But that’s what set her apart.

This is what she said in the ‘about me’ section of her Facebook profile.

And they say, I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one……..

Right now three things rule my life

The Art of Living courses,

Yes! I teach them, unfortunately it aint one of those plush studios in upmarket areas that rakes in loads of moolah. In fact I teach more as a volunteer, as it totally opposes my ethics of commercializing something that is such an ancient and a beautiful science.

My work, that is the unglamorous part. I work as a software Engineer at one of the biggest software firms in Bangalore, they say if you throw a stone in Bangalore, chances are that you’ll hit an engineer. This is my story. There’s nothing great about my life. I haven’t changed the world (yet), I am certainly not someone famous (again, yet!).

And finally remember watching Captain Planet on cartoon network, when everyone wanted to be engineers and doctors, I wanted to be a Captain Planet, with a band of planeteers, saving the earth. And I guess I can proudly say that this is the closest to being one.

(to be continued)

forever 24

As a 16 year old I was obsessed with Backstreet boys and Harry Potter, I thought being a cricket commentator was the perfect career choice, and if you were unfortunate enough to be my parent, the most random question would evoke an emphatic 'no'.

The only purpose in my life was how-to-look-cool-in-front-of-people-who-I-thought-were-cool'

And now at 24.....

Everything has changed, the purpose of my life, my obsessions, my likes, dislikes

but something in me hasn't.

That something which was there in me as a naive 16 year old, as a mischievous 12 year old, and as a 24 year old.

Its been almost a week since I turned 24. And I celebrate in silence. No matter what happens, there is something in me that will remain eternal in this ephemeral world.

True freedom

They say that we gained freedom on 15 Aug 1947, to me its an ongoing quest.

They say that the British never used atomic arsenal on India.Only much worse, that generation after generation of Indians being born in their own soil have a maligned perception of their own land, it persists as though it was a form of a genetic mutation.

We read about Buddha and Ram, but we Idolised Michael Jackson and Madonna. We ate the humble ‘dal-chawal’, but craved for Mc Donalds. If I had a choice between wearing a Salwar-Kameez and Jeans, its obvious what I would choose. One evening while pondering on why I preferred all things ‘western’, I came across the following statement of Lord McCauley in his speech to the British Parliament, to colonise India, on Feb 2,1835

"I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have notseen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I haveseen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre,that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless webreak the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual andcultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than theirown, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture andthey will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.

The ‘Education system in India’- its one of those ‘cliched’ debate topics that I would get to hear at every debate competition in school. In college the reality of all the debate sunk in, when I first encountered the ‘reservations’, and finally when I got a job, it was reduced to being a mere butt of all jokes. But it never stopped affecting my life, or the lives of all those around me. As an innocent child, I first read about Bhagat Singh, referred as a ‘terrorist nationalist’, and my only knowledge about the ‘Jaliawala Bagh Massacre was a paltry three line mention, where the description mearly said ‘British opened the fire’. I never learned the fact that Pythogores theorem was discovered first in India by a Mathematician called Bodhayanah in 800 BC.Growing up, it was cool to read Enid Blytons and Tintins, and uncool to read ‘Amar Chitra Katha’.So guess what I ended up learning, it was those biased and even delebrate misinterpretation by the westerners to mislead a generations after generations of Indian kids, who grow up feeling inferior to the west. And the results are clear, India has become a truly dominated nation. So much so that an average Indian dreams of crossing the shores to the ‘superior territory’, and no sooner, their inferiority catches up with them with instances of racial discrimination. So much so that we never grow up to be proud Indians. Bringing us back to the ‘Great Western Hangover’, which is solely attributed to our education system. And unfortunately with the Indian government assuming a ‘Socialist democracy’, by frontier Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, a self confessed anglophile himself, a legacy was thus set, where education system has become but a playground for the politicians to roll their dice and create the bane of ‘reservations’, where instead of youth being empowered, are further marginalised.

“Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such
calibre,that I do not think we would ever conquer this country.”

How I wish the statement would have stopped at that. But the British didn't give up. And I dream of a nation that doesn't give up either. In spite of the challenges we face today, we are changing, slowly but surely. I recently noticed that while shopping I don't look for Jeans anymore, and I skip McDonalds without a second look. The best part is that its not just me. Those ‘Amar Chitra Kathas’, are selling out in book stores, and Indian who went abroad are coming back to find the green pastures, right here at home. Great Western Hangover still exists, affecting many lives, if only we could break out of the shackles of our education system, and let the spirit of true Indian nationalism shine forth. And for that we might need another freedom movement. A spritual freedom movement.

Without you where will I be?

I have been a little bogged down for while, have been a victim of opposites in life. Its not as though its the first time I’ve come here. But it definitely feels like the first time every time. I know for sure, what's right and what's not. But that doesn't help me when my mind’s clouded.

Today is Gurupoornima, and instead of a sophisticated explanation on the significance of a guru in one’s life, I decided to write something personal, hope it makes sense!

So my mind’s so clouded that every shred of my awareness and integrity goes for a toss.

I decide to go sugarless, and the next moment I am ready to sell my soul for a DBC (Death by chocolate).

I decide to wake up early, next thing I know I wake up two hours later than usual.

I decide to meditate for an two hours everyday, and I struggle to squeeze in 20 minutes of ‘me time’.

Then something magical happens.

I close my eyes, and look back at the past five years and things have definitely changed for the better. In spite of my doubts, fears and all the obstacles.

I close my eyes and just breathe, and feel that presence that taken care of me, very dearly, all this while.

I close my eyes, all my discomfort vanishes into thin air, and a smile appears, and the opposites in life disappears.

And I know for sure, I am not lost in the opposites of life.

Animals and Ayurveda

I wanted to post about Ayurveda for a long time, so I decided that since the topic is so large, I'll post it in series. I always thought that Ayurveda was about alternate medicine and healing. But to my surprise, Ayurveda is a way of life. Allopathic medicine provides cure for diseases, while Ayurveda tell us how not to get those diseases in the first place. And food is categorised in three catagories, Satvic, Rajsic and Tamsic. I stumbled across this piece on the net and thought that it aptly described the 'Three gunas'.

The Elephant, The Tiger, and The Jackal

"You are what you eat." Ancient Indian texts explain Aahara, or diet, by using the example of the elephant, the tiger, and the jackal. The elephant is a vegetarian. This animal represents the sattvic mind. With Sattva, we can think clearly, and act appropriately, according to the laws of nature. The elephant is strong, gentle and intelligent. The tiger is carnivorous. He represents the rajassic mind, which is action-oriented. He kills and eats animals, which makes him fierce and aggressive. The tiger is restless, always on the prowl. The jackal represents the tamasic mind. Tamas is destructive, but this is not necessarily negative. We need to finish something, complete it, before we can move on to the next. The jackal survives by eating food left uneaten by other animals. He is fearful, cunning, and lazy. Our goal is to acquire the saatvic qualities of the elephant. One way we can do that is to favor a vegetarian diet, and eating fresh foods, beans, and almonds to to increase calmness, clarity and creativity.

*source- CoffeyTalk.com

And you can see the effect of these foods on you body and mind. So judging by the predominant activity you do, its good to eat the corresponding 'Aahara', just even the knowledge of these aspects helps us be more conscious of what we are putting into our body. And its also good to observe which of the 'Three guns' are predominant in us, and you will be surprised that its exactly the kind of food we eat, though not always, that in fact also depends on our individual 'Prakruti' and 'Dosha'. I'll save that for the next post.

Two of a kind

Living with roomates is like having the best of both worlds. You get the care and concern of a parent with delicious home cooked meals. Also no unnecessary nagging inflicted on you as though you were an eternal teenager. And I for one have been very lucky to have two brilliant girls staying with me.

Karpagavalli

If you want to do a crash course on south Indian culture, just step into my house, most likely you’ll be welcomed with a strong aroma of ‘Rasam’, that's been prepared by KK or Karpagavalli. An engineer and YES!+ teacher.

And don't be surprised to find an equally beautiful girl, sporting a gigantic tattoo, working on her macbook. that's Priya, an advertising professional.

Both teach YES!+ workshops, both stunningly beautiful Tamilian Iyers (in fact I share those traits in common trait, especially the beautiful part) and that's where the similarities end.

One cooks, the other eats. One is a fashion diva, the other rooted in traditiona. One the epitome of enthusiasm and zest for life, other, the personification of ethereal calmness. One totally into chic flicks, other, Sci-fi freak (she watched hard core Sci-fi three nights in a row)

Tattooed: Priya Mani

Opposite values are complementary and this is a real, live, practical example.

Now that I’ve created enough curiosity, I’ll leave the rest for you to discover. An easy way will be doing the YES!+ workshop that they teach at Koramangala one from 25th to 1st july, 5-9 pm @ Indian Heritage Academy.


Warning: The above text was NOT written for matrimonial purposes. Please do NOT start spamming my inbox with those intentions (even otherwise spamming is bad!).

Thayir Sadam

Note: this post is dedicated to my brother in the dire hope that he is graced with the ability appriciate finer things in life (meaning, he unfortunatly does not like Thayir Sadam, although he lives in Tamil Nadu)

On a hot evening, after a long day’s work, I get back home. First thing I do is scout my refrigerator for ‘something to eat’. And today, there’s nothing but a packet of curd, probably gone sour, some curry leaves on the verge of fossilising and a half cut pomegranate looking more like tiny blood shot eyeballs.Its hot and I’ve had a long day. And I need dinner.

Its one of those unfortunate days when KK’s (my room mate and a brilliant cook) gone outstation, and I haven't eaten while out on an assignment (that's how I manage dinner). Back to reality. I need ‘something to eat’. My first impulse is to walk down to ‘Raghavendra Upahar’, and pack an Idly vada, which costs 20 bucks. But the very idea of facing that mind-numbing traffic, which took me an hour to get out of today is alarming. My second impulse, ‘order a pizza’, then I remember, how much I’ve been eating out lately resulting in a bowel activities incurable by a dozen Triphala tablets.

I take another peek into the fridge, hoping that out of a miracle, my Mom’s Sambar-Sadam and Thayir-Sadam (Sambar rice, curd rice) would materialise. Tough luck! I guess its a sign that I need to fast. My mind, body and senses protest violently. And I resign to my fate. I need to cook something. What! I mean what if get food poisoning, what if I set the house on fire, ....I don't cook, I taste people’s cooking and write what went wrong with it.

I take another peek into my fridge, and empty out the contents, and am hit with a sudden epiphany. Thayir Sadam....there’s curd, I have finally mastered the art of making rice in a cooker without it exploding, and there are these pomegranate seeds. The ingredients are perfect. So the next fifteen minutes I busy myself. The rice is cooked. The tadka is ready, so is the garnish. I mix it all with rice and add the curd finally. And Viola! I am struck by an overwhelming aroma of Thayir Sadam, bringing back all the nostalgic memories of a dish that is more of a Tamil legacy. I don't remember a time when it wasn't a part of my meal. My grand mom would use the leftover rice, and add curd, making a quick snack before the next meal. I grew up in mostly in northern parts of the country, where the concept of curd rice was non-existent, I clung to this part of my Tamil identity. Thayir Sadam with Urga (pickle) or Vathaikozambu beats the world’s most exotic and gastronomic delicacies.

I take another peek into the fridge...and this time its really a miracle. In a beautiful glass dish is the sacred ‘Thayir Sadam’. As I remove it out with utmost care, the soundtrack of ‘Chariots of fire’ plays in my mind. And I know that today will go down the history as the first time I made ‘Thayir-Sadam’. I am so super impressed, maybe I could open a Thyir Sadam exclusive restaurant. We could have flavours of Thayir Sadam, pineapple, strawberry, grapes. Abhishek and Ash would visit the restaurant, and my interview would be flashed on TV as breaking news .....whoa wait!

Right now this moment is what counts. Me, My Thayir Sadam and nothing else.

Thayir Sadam Recipe

Ingredients
Rice

Fresh curd

Asafoetida

Green chilies

Coriander leaves Salt

Ingredients for seasoning

Mustard seeds Curry leaves
seeded pomegranate/ grapes

Method of Preparing Thayir Sadam
Rice is sieved, washed and boiled. Later it is cooled and mashed. In the mashed rice, milk is added and kept aside. A cooking pan is taken and white oil is heated in it. Then mustard seeds are crackled in it with curry leaves. It is tossed in oil until light golden in color. Then chopped green chilies are added. Then mix rice with curd along with asafetida and add salt to taste. Finally mix the seeded pomegranate/ grapes and garnish with coriander leaves.

March against media

Its was an event by the YES!+

March 1st 2009 was a historic day for youth of our nation. Where The March was organised

In Delhi, as more than 10,000 youth marched on Parliament street to stand up against corruption and terrorism along with likes of Prahalad Kakkar and Kiran Bedi supporting the cause.

One would imagine that such a news would be covered by all major media, its BIG news for sure. Well all major media like NDTV, CNN-IBN, TOI etc were present, and surprise surprise, none of the big channels and print names reported one word of it.

‘The March’ also happened just before the elections, and reporting such an event would definitely be a slap on the face for the government, which unfortunately got re-elected. A few days back I stumbled upon this interesting forward, which I suspected had some truth in it, especially after having a first and experience working with TOI.

* NOTE: the contents of the below article are of questionable origin, it may not fully true, it is used purely for the purpose of illustrating a point.

Who owns the media in India ?
Let us see the ownership of different media agencies.
NDTV: A very popular TV news media is funded by Gospels of Charity in Spain Supports Communism. Recently it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because Pakistan President has allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan . Indian CEO Prannoy Roy is co-brother of Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist party of India . His wife and Brinda Karat are sisters.
India Today: which used to be the only national weekly which supported BJP is now bought by NDTV!! Since then the tone has changed drastically and turned into Hindu bashing.
CNN-IBN: This is 100 percent funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches in all over the world with HQ in US.. The Church annually allocates $800 million for promotion of its channel. Its Indian head is Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.
Times group list: Times Of India, Mid-Day, Nav-Bharth Times, Stardust, Femina, Vijay Times, Vijaya Karnataka, Times now (24- hour news channel) and many more...
Times Group is owned by Bennett & Coleman. 'World Christian Council¢ does 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.
Star TV: It is run by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church Melbourne.
Hindustan Times: Owned by Birla Group, but hands have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in Collaboration with Times Group.
The Hindu: English daily, started over 125 years has been recently taken over by Joshua Society, Berne , Switzerland .. N. Ram's wife is a Swiss national.
Indian Express: Divided into two groups. The Indian Express and new Indian Express (southern edition) ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and latter is still with the Indian counterpart.
The Statesman: It is controlled by Communist Party of India.
Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle: Is owned by a Saudi Arabian Company with its chief Editor M.J. Akbar.

Looks like we have a huge task ahead to reform our media.

Ephemeral Flower

Dear all,

As you can see, my blog has undergone a total makeover, its the same old me, just a new look.

I think all of us need to infuse some newness in life every once in a while, just like nature does, its ancient, but evergreen, ever vibrant and ever fresh. I hope to do the same with my writing, consequently have it trickling down in life as well, with an experience of a new life with every breadth, and in this case, with every word I type and every click.

Yours comments, criticism and feedback mean a lot to me. So keep them coming. Also tell me what you'd like to read and what you'd not.

Lots of love

Ephemeral Flower