Nature and God

I was reminded of Tagore's Gitanjali when I heard the Meera Bhajan. I feel they have a common underlying theme - Seeing God in nature. Divinity personified!

Have you not heard his silent steps?

Have you not heard his silent steps?

He comes, comes, ever comes.

Every moment and every age, 
every day and every night
he comes, comes, ever comes.

Many a song have I sung 
in many a mood of mind, 
but all their notes have always proclaimed, 
He comes, comes, ever comes.'

In the fragrant days of sunny April 
through the forest path 
he comes, comes, ever comes.

In the rainy gloom of July nights 
on the thundering chariot of clouds 
he comes, comes, ever comes.

In sorrow after sorrow 
it is his steps that press upon my heart, 
and it is the golden touch of his feet 
that makes my joy to shine.

And below is my all-time favourite Meera Bhajan.

Below is the lyrics and meaning -

Hari aawan ki awaaj,Aaj suni mein Hari aawan ki awaaj
Today I repeatedly hear the foot steps of approching Hari (Lord Krishna).

Mahalan chadi chadi jowoon mori sajani,Kab aawey maharaj. Hari ........

I keep on climbing up the high terraces of my palace and look for Lord Krishna again and again. 

Daadur more papiha bole ,koil madhure saaj,

Koyaliya,koyaliya,koyaliya, koyal madhure saaj,Hari aawan ki awaaj,

The frog,the peacock,the Papiha(a song bird favourite of lovers) all started making sound to the accompaniment of the Cuckoo's melodious musical call. 

Surely I hear the arrival of lord Krishna. 

Barsey budharia megha bole daamini chodi laaj,
aaj suni mein hari aawan ki awaaj

Even the nature has become ecstatic,the raindrops have started to fall the clouds have started to roar and the lightening is flashing renouncing all its modesty. 

Lo! I hear the footsteps of Krishna approaching today! 

Dharti roop nawa nav dharia,Dharti roop nawa nav dharia,Dharti nawa nav dharia,

piya milan ke kaaj,
The earth has worn a new attire and appearing with a new look just to welcome my lover Lord Krishna. 


Meera ka chit dheera na maaney,beyg milo maharaj

Meera can no longer wait ,she is increasingly growing impatient! 
Oh Lord come and meet her quickly. Sure I hear the footsteps of the arriving Lord Krishna today!

A fussy foodie

Sometimes self-acceptance comes very late. For the last many years I thought I had very little preferences of  food. All that changed after I moved out of the comfort zone.

1.
A couple of years ago I had been to Delhi. I stayed there for over three months. People had given me a heads-up about the food which I then felt was exagerrated. Day-1 at Delhi was great. Had Parotha + Palak Paneer. A college treat in Mysore would typically be that. Day-2 was even better - Chole Batura. I thought how wrong people were. Day-3 was again some Aloo stuff. By Day-4, I was longing to eat Anna-Saru/Sambhar. I started thinking that perhaps my advisers had a point. But by Day-5, I had almost given up. I had realised that I am very fussy about food.

Two months passed on. The routine repeated itself. More paneer, more aloo, three times a day, seven days a week ! And then one day I and my roommates decided to take a rik to the nearest udupi which was half an hour away. Conversing to the waiter in Kannada was a unique feeling! Once the Anna - saaru was served, we were all speechless. After having the first sip of filter coffee, we were literally jumping, as if we were doped!

We then got many packs of "MTR ready to mix" sambhar and rasam and had our Rice-Sambhar feasts every Sunday. Heaven on earth experience it was!

2.
My curiosity of Italian foods took me to an Italian restaurant in Bangalore with my friend. The only Italian foods I even knew were pizza and pasta. When we looked up the menu, we could hardly read any of the delicacies! Finally we ordered one 7.4 and two 5.3s! It looked all colourful. But, I could hardly have more than a bite! I was trying to push myself to have more, but couldn't pursue my tastebuds to have more.We  concluded the dinner with a strong dose of coffee.

Call it social conditioning, or whatever, the hard reality is I am a fussy foodie !

Listening to self

There have been quite a few times when people have messaged/told me "thank you" after having a deep  conversation with me. Others acknowledge it differently. They tell me they feel much lighter. To be honest, I feel delighted to  hear such compliments showered on me!

They don't come to me with a "problem" or  seek a solution. Some just want have a conversation. I lend them an ear and sometimes a bit more. I often fear overstepping the boundaries and wonder of I am giving them unsolicited advice. But, they do feel relieved.

It however bemuses me when I am perturbed with a trivial thought. And lose my peace of mind. Why is it so?

Perhaps because when we listen to other's thoughts, we see it objectively. We don't lose the sense of discrimination. However, when it comes to us, we are overly attached. We cannot see where we are erring.  We don't have to succumb to the reality, but learn to accept it. This we fail to do.
We complain -
"But still, how could he say that!".
"I didn't expect this from her! "
"Why is this happening with me?"
and so on...

We only want to speak to ourselves. Shouldn't we also listen a bit?

A lonely exploration

Travelling alone is such a joy. More so when it is unplanned. I had recently been to Sringeri without a plan or a purpose. In a single day, I had many such interesting encounters. 

Meeting Statue-man Babu who poses for long hours as Gandhi, seeing first-hand a solar panel installation at a village near Kigga, watching the Khadi being spun and weaved by hand by the industrious Rathnamma , seeing the sun set in the crimson horizons at Agumbe, watching couples enjoy those moments, a kiss from a little sweetheart on my cheek and finally travelling to Mysore sitting next to an drunk anti-Naxal force sub-inspector listening to stories of naxalites, intelligence and magzines! I couldn't perhaps have hoped for a more eventful Sunday! 

It also gave me the time to reflect on Myself, engage in a conversation with myself, and enjoy the solitude amidst the crowd. Life is beautiful. 

Adios Facebook

Living in Mysore, away from my friends, facebook  helped me connect with many set of friends, lost friends from my school days, SJCE friends, fellow volunteers from Divyadeepa, family diaspora separated by the  oceans, former colleagues, other interesting people and numerous acquaintances such as  Free Software Movement folks, Homeschooling group and so one.

I would indeed miss networking with 350 odd people. But I would also gladly miss the expectations and the feeling of envy, jealousy, complexes, and so on through numerous feeds that spam your wall.

Someone "likes" someone's photo and I feel bad. I add a post and expect others to "like" it or comment on it. And keep checking for status updates every now and then. Its your birthday and you expect your dear ones and some "special" ones to wish you. If they don't, you feel low.

Inner noise is such a bad thing. It keeps talking to itself and you lose control over it. The source of this noise is the virtual world. We see numerous objects and get attracted by it. We crave to have it, thus living in the future. If we don't get it, we lose sleep over it, thus being in the past. In between this swing between the past and the future, we forget the now.  To live in the state of now, I have decided to quit facebook.

Yes, I do agree that like anything else, FB is only a tool, and it depends on how we use it. There are perhaps many of you who are able to truly use it as just a tool. You might call it my weakness, but so what? I am not shy of admitting it. Perhaps, perhaps, when I learn to control my mind, I might connect again.But for now, I want to be with myself, and lead myself into the reclusive realm of the void.



ದೇವದಾನವರ ರಣರಂಗ ಮಾನವಹೃದಯ ।
ಭಾವ ರಾಗ ಹಠಂಗಳವರ ಸೇನೆಗಳು ॥
ಭೂವಿಭವಜಯಗಳ ಭ್ರಾಂತಿಯಲಿ ಮರೆಯುವರು ।
ಜೀವಾಮೃತವನವರು – ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ ॥ ೧೯೨ ॥

The human heart is a battle front of gods and demons.
The fighting force is feeling, emotions and stupidity.
In the delusion to conquer wealth and the world,
Forgotten is the life's ambrosia - Manku Thimma

Mystery of the maya

Oh Almighty Lord, 

What pleasure do you get? 

By causing me to crave for the nectar,

In the oceans of salt.  

I know that it is unreal, 

Yet something tricks me, fools me, 

Keeps me in this delusion. 

From which I wake up,
Every now and then.

Mystery it is. 

Maya it is.. 

In my quest to unravel it, 

I slip and fall,

Determined to raise again.