Mahashivratri 2019 - A fantastic celebration

Blogging after a long time... but could not resist how infectious the Mahashivratri event this time (March 2019) was.

The local people thoroughly enjoyed the Mahashivaratri this time. It was very well organized and was witnessed by literally lakhs of people.

If you were not live on the ground or at least online, you have definitely missed something mind-blowing this time. Here is the AdiYogi's Divya Darshan for such people.

The Annadanam food was fantastic and so was the entire event organization. How smoothly it was all done is simply astonishing! Suffice to say, it was just a blissful experience for me and my family :)

Those who have missed it this time, you just need to wait for the next Mahashivratri at Isha!

Science and Yogic Culture - Tasting the same divine

I happened to see some people under the guise of scientists making fun of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's comments on Twitter, by selectively taking them out of context and making videos out of it.

It is ironic that technology can be used by anybody to suit their needs but if one pays sufficient attention, the bluff can be easily called off.

Here is gem #1.

“Today modern science has admitted that it’s an ever-expanding universe or an endless universe, rather ever expanding is a yogic term, they are calling it a endless universe" ... admitted 😁 

Let's explore this first before going into others.

Till 1998, scientists did believe that the universe CANNOT be ever expanding. Till then, most popular Physicists thought the expansion of universe after the big bang would slow down and that eventually gravity would pull the parts of the cosmos back in. But then, they found that not only was the expansion not slowing down, it was speeding up. The universe was expanding at an accelerating rate.

Saul Perlmutter shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery that the universe was expanding at an accelerating rate. Perlmutter explains how supernovae and other astronomical artifacts are used to measure the expansion rate, and explains what physicists are learning about "dark energy" — the mysterious entity thought to be driving the acceleration.

The source for all the arguments above has been Published by National Public Radio (USA): https://www.npr.org/2013/05/10/182861376/exploring-an-ever-expanding-universe

Apparently, the critics of Sadhguru indeed have no clue that physicists themselves have changed their stance fairly recently and 'admitting' that this is an ever expanding universe.

Though the discovery was done in 1998, further studies were conducted thereafter and the Nobel prize was given in 2011 only. However, the expanding theory of universe was not an unknown phenomenon even before 1998. Professor Arthur Holmes (1895-1965), a geologist & professor at the University of Durham, writes regarding the age of the earth in his great book, The Age of Earth (1913) as follows:

"Long before it became a scientific aspiration to estimate the age of the earth, many elaborate systems of the world chronology had been devised by the sages of antiquity. The most remarkable of these occult time-scales is that of the ancient Hindus, whose astonishing concept of the Earth's duration has been traced back to Manusmriti, a sacred book."

Mr Holmes had already mentioned in his 1913 book about the Hindu calculation of the present age of the earth and the expanding universe theory from ancient Hindu calculations.

Dick Teresi is the author and coauthor of several books about science and technology, including The God Particle. He is cofounder of Omni magazine and has written for Discover, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic Monthly. Here are his words about Indian culture's contribution to cosmology:

"Indian cosmologists are the first to estimate the age of the earth at more than 4 billion years. They came closest to modern ideas of atomism, quantum physics, and other current theories. India developed very early, enduring atomist theories of matter. Possibly Greek atomistic thought was influenced by India, via the Persian civilization."

One should go through Teresi's book from 2002 "Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science - from the Babylonians to the Maya" to better understand the intertwining of scientific and cultural aspects in ancient civilizations.

In the yogic culture, there are countless stories about the cycle of destruction of universe through Pralaya and Srushti the creation. Lord Shiva's Thandava dance is supposed to be a symbolism of the cyclical nature of creation / destruction and expansion / contraction.

According to Hindu Vedic cosmology, there is no absolute start to time, as it is considered infinite and cyclic. Similarly, the space and universe has neither start nor end, rather it is cyclical per Vedic cosmology. 

Modern scientists are making an assumption that what is infinite can only be cyclical, ascertaining their view of universe, deriving their theories out of Vedic scriptures.

The current universe is just the start of a present cycle preceded by an infinite number of universes and to be followed by another infinite number of universes. Modern Science, on the other hand, is still dealing with only the current universe. Actually, the ultra-modern theory of parallel universes originates from the idea of infinite number of universes.

Ancient Hindu scientists predicted that the cycle of creation and destruction continues forever & symbolized it in Shiva's form, as one who holds the drum that sounds the universe’s creation in his right hand and the flame that, billions of years later, will destroy the universe in his left.

In  his landmark TV series Cosmos, Carl Sagan called Hinduism as the only religion whose time-scale for the universe matches the billions of years documented by modern science. Sagan filmed that segment in a Hindu temple (Chidambaram Nataraja temple) featuring a statue of the god Shiva as the cosmic dancer, an image that now stands in the plaza of the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva.

So, clearly the joke is on those trying to make fun of Sadhguru with half-baked knowledge of both science and ancient Indian culture. 

True Science does not bother where its inspiration to genius comes from, only some fake scientists do. 

Sannidhi - A Revelation In Our Life

One MahaShivarathri night a few years back, after the midnight meditation with Sadhguru, many Isha meditators were gathering around something and taking turns to bow down. Some of them just sat still on the carpets there. I was a distant watcher for some time. When curiosity got the better of me, I went to see what it was. The long queues discouraged mere onlookers and only the persistent ones made it.

When I went closer, to be honest, I did not know what to make out of it. Though I had heard of 'paadham' before, this was the first time I am seeing something like that. I just bowed down, took the vibhuthi prasadam and moved on. That this simple darshan would bring a profound change in my life was not even in my distant dreams!

Over time, I heard from other meditators that Sadhguru Sannidhi was very powerful, charged up, etc. We also heard from one of the Isha teachers that his mother just used to sit before Sannidhi daily during the presence time (6:20 PM) without doing anything and bliss out!

Then, Abi and I registered for bringing Sadhguru Sannidhi home a couple of years back. As we were (rather stupidly) apprehensive of 'maintaining' its sanctity in our house, we registered it for my parents living separately. I vividly remember the day an Isha meditator came to consecrate it at my parents' house. The person said 'Anna - Please choose where you want to place. You should not move it around just like that later.'

My heart sank at this comment! It was with great difficulty that I had persuaded my mom to drive up the attic some of the gods in her pooja room and make space on the granite marble for Sannidhi. However the consecration went on smoothly. My mother was surprisingly hooked on and started doing the Sannidhi pooja almost daily.

The whole house felt quite different & charged up the very next weekend we visited them! I was doing my Surya Namaskar & Shambhavi Kriya in the hall (Sannidhi was a good distance away in the pooja room) and it was all happening so effortlessly for me. My 4-year-old daughter, who used to be very clinging to us all the time, was suddenly behaving so matured and still having fun with everyone around! That weekend was our first-hand experience of how Sannidhi can transform the atmosphere of an entire house within such a short span of time!

My mom still does the pooja on many days without fail. Her practices have become more regular, her health and the overall peace in family are so much better now. These are definitely not coincidental :)

It was almost one year back that His grace descended upon us and we were able to register for bringing Sadhguru Sannidhi home. It so happened that we were to receive one of the 108 Sannidhis being distributed in Chennai on the MahaShivarathri night of 2013. How fitting an entry!?

Brindha akka came to our home, inspected the space we were going to hold Him in and performed the consecration process. I remember even today how bewildering and unbelievable it was for me that we had taken such a step.

The transformation we have undergone started with Bhairavi entering our home and once Sannidhi came in, the pace has been faster thereon. We do our Sannidhi pooja quite regularly and the very experience of sitting in that space before Bhairavi Yantra and Sadhguru Sannidhi is enough to settle us down most of the time.

While offering Guru Pooja at home in any room feels like it is in His presence. Apart from our practices becoming more regular & more volunteering opportunities coming our way pulling us up higher, we have been blessed with Sadhguru's darshan ever so frequently and more visits to the Ashram.

Since then, we have had the good fortune of witnessing two blessed individuals convert the rooftops in their homes to house Sadhguru Sannidhi. The transformation of these spaces has been very visible and they are being revered as the Isha local centers now at Nanganallur and Medavakkam.

These lines truly resound what Sannidhi means in our lives.

            Un padam panindhen,

                        ennaye marandhen!

            Un padam panindhen,

                        ennulle malarndhen!! 

Similar experiences galore in our friends and family circle. Now, living in a consecrated space like this has sunk in so much, we feel odd when we see someone without such an opportunity!

[PS: This MahaShivarathri, there is an opportunity for willing individuals to receive Sadhguru Sannidhi in Chennai itself. Interested people can contact me or call +91 9789983260] 

Leadership 101 as a parent

There was intense pain but I could not show it on my face. My daughter was keenly watching me and I suddenly felt I cannot show the fear of pain to her anymore since she might also become afraid later. Nevertheless when a dentist puts in two injections inside your mouth and pries open your jaws for 20 minutes, it does pain - at least till the numbness sets in.

So, it is in this context of a dental visit that some of my thoughts here on how my kid is learning from what am doing stepped from.

There has always been this quote from Sadhguru on my mind - "When a child has come into your life, it is time to learn and not teach". I thought I understood it well but am not sure anymore now! There seem to be a myriad dimensions to this one statement.

One aspect of it was the literal meaning that I took. I started observing how she learns from life and it has never ceased to amaze me from then till now as to how the children 'sponge-absorb' things & events from around them. Yes, we do teach her a thing or two as she feels necessary. In fact, Abi has been doing most of Isha's coaching with me watching from the sidelines. I have been more of a passive teacher so far for her. But the compulsion to push her academically is not there in us to the extent I see in so many other parents.

Today, Abi was talking about a long discussion she had with Swami Suyagna from Isha Foundation. I was asleep at that time and when I woke up, she narrated a gist of it to me. Unconsciously at first and then in awareness tears started flowing down my eyes because I felt touched by the deep management science that Swami was bestowing on her. Bearing a slight jealousy for the honour showered on her (of course she fully deserved it!), I kept listening.

Soon, a thought came in that what Swami spoke about leadership, mentoring, coaching, managing, etc. applies not just to corporates but also to me as a parent! After all, if making another Abirami or Rajasekhar is tough enough at office, imagine how tough it is to bring up your child to your potential at least. And Sadhguru says your child should dare to do things which you have not even dreamed of!

It was then that I suddenly realized Isha naturally prefers to do what we do at home very intensely, like me cleaning the house or Abi's dedication to Bhairavi or drawing for that matter. I certainly have to do better than what am doing in grooming her from now on.

An experiential realization dawned on me that leaders exist at all levels. Every one is a leader in their own right and they have a dedicated group of followers, whether they know it or not. What kind of society we will create in future clearly depends on how leaders of today, which is basically everyone, exist & influence by example.

I definitely feel the need to dig deeper in me to find the necessary integrity & courage to lead my life better and keep that striving for constant improvement burning.

Guru Ashtakam

Listening to the ashtakam sung by Isha Samskriti kids is a divine experience in itself! Beautiful lyrics and even better is the rendition :)


SHAREERAM SUROOPAM THATHA VAA KALATRAM,
YASASCHARU CHITRAM DHANAM MERU TULYAM,
GURO RANGHRI PADME MANASCHE NA LAGNAM,
TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM……….1

KALATRAM DHANAM PUTRA POUTRAADI SARVAM,
GRUHAM BHAANDAVAA SARVA METTADHI JAATAM,
GURO RANGHRI PADME MANASCHE NA LAGNAM,
TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM……….2

SHADANGAADHI VEDO MUKHE SHASTRA VIDHYAA,
KAVITVA AADHI GADHYAM, SUPADHYAM KAROTI,
GURO RANGHRI PADME MANASCHE NA LAGNAM,
TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM……….3

VIDHESESHU MAANYAHA, SWADHESESHU DHANYAHA,
SADHAACHAARA VRUTTESHU MATTO NA CHA ANYAHA,
GURO RANGHRI PADME MANASCHE NA LAGNAM,
TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM……….4

KSHAMAA MANDALE BHUPA BHUPAALA BRINDIHI,
SADA SEVITAM YASYA PAADAARAVINDAM,
GURO RANGHRI PADME MANASCHE NA LAGNAM,
TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM……….5

YASHO ME GATTAM DHIKSHU DHAANA PRATAAPAATH
JAGADVASTU SARVAM KARE YATPRASAADAATH
GURO RANGHRI PADME MANASCHE NA LAGNAM,
TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM……….6

NA BHOGE, NA YOGHE, NA VAA VAAJIRAAJAA,
NA KAANTAA MUKHE NAIVA VITTESHU CHITTAM,
GURO RANGHRI PADME MANASCHE NA LAGNAM,
TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM……….7

ANARGYAANI RATNAANI BHUKTAANI SAMYAK
SAMA LINGITA KAMINI YAAMINEESHU
GURO RANGHRI PADME MANASCHE NA LAGNAM,
TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM, TATAH KIM……….8

My encounter with the enlightened - part 2

Travel to onsite and work,work,work ... life took different priorities and slowly the practices took a back seat unfortunately. The light was still flickering and though the practices were not regular on daily basis, it still kept happening once in 2 days or 3 days. The touch was still on, but both Abi and I could see that the effects were visible. Irritability started creeping into our lives and we were bickering and fighting for the smallest of things (as we still do :) even today) ...

We happened to attend a quick Sathsang with Sadhguru when he visited New Jersey earlier that year and the awesome feeling of His presence returned :) By this time, I had also heard through our friends about this powerful 'Shambhavi Mahamudra' practice that was being taught in India. To be honest, I was surprised that the powerful Pranayama practices (as they were called then) will no longer be taught to public. But then, I also realized it is probably because of people like me who learn it & yet don't keep up the practice regularly that Sadhguru has decided to simplify the access to spiritual possibilities to people. 

It was in April 2006 that He decided to grace the US again and this time his visit was to be in Nashville. Both of us did all we could and managed to get initiated to Shambhavi Mahamudra with Sadhguru. Other volunteers suggested that we just attend the initiation and not the entire class as we have already attended the 13 day class. 

We chose to attend the full class anyway and it was a truly wonderful experience reliving it ... I realized the essence of the earlier 13 day class is still retained and Shambhavi seemed to be so tough to practice! By the end of the class, I was crying so hard (I surprised myself) ... it was out of the pain of ignorance and from the anguish that I could not be receptive enough to burst out completely in His presence! 

Late nights and weekend work was so common (as with most onsite stays in IT companies). But the grit with which we both kept up the practices for next 48 days was the turning point actually. It showed us that we can keep up the practices twice a day, if only we make up our minds and find time. That period marked the true beginning of our Sadhana.

Immediately thereafter was the enrollment for our first volunteering experience and that too for a program conducted by Sadhguru himself, turning out to be the first Bhava Spandana Program happening in the IIIS. In so many ways, that experience changed our lives permanently ... the wild streak in Abi turned more towards compassion to human beings and the rock in me began melting faster. As with all the BSP sessions from Isha, it left us on an emotional high, but with much more access to the richness of life.

Just when we thought, this is it, life cannot be any better ... Sadhguru announced the trip to Kailash & Manasarovar. Not knowing what it is about, we enrolled for it and stood in the line unaware that the next 10x event was about to hit us :)

More than 25 years back ...

For a moment, I was transported to almost 25 years back when my cousins used to gently push me to run along with them in the Perambur grounds. They would go round and round in the grounds and I would watch them sitting & gasping after just 1 round. 

This time however, no nudging was required and I started the 5 KM jog at 6:30 AM as one of the 8 (became 9 mid-way) Nanganallur gladiators, who met near the ATMs on Velachery MRTS road for practice run of Chennai Marathon - for Isha Vidhya.  

For the first time in my adult life, I had actually been jogging such a distance and there was a nagging thought if I can crawl beyond 1 KM. The fear lead me to gasp a bit after about a kilometre of jogging. But the moment I remembered that this could be the push for brightening the lives of some kids, the doubts dispelled immediately and there was a renewed energy flowing through. 

That Isha practices have certainly strengthened my body is very clear now and of course, without HIS grace, it would certainly have not been possible! We were one jolly group of folks, even crazy for some of the onlookers, the young & old cheering each other alike and sharing pictures when we halted for a breath ... this can only happen with an Isha group :-) 

50% attendance is actually not bad for a Deepavali weekend although we would like more people next time around ... some propoganda spreading would not hurt either!

The fact that I could actually jog my way back from near the MRTS station is still sinking in! Thanks Mani anna for this opportunity.

The fun we had and the confidence we have got from this start is prompting us to audaciously resolve for more such practice sessions. I hope .. nay, I am sure we will do more, before the actual marathon itself. Chennai .. here comes the Isha Vidhya wave!!

My encounter with the enlightened - part 1

Life changes and this in itself is known to everyone! However, there are 10x events for some people in their lives, where a single event or person changes the life course itself, in short 'a life changing experience'! Here is one from my life ...

Back in 2003, I used to read a lot of  'spiritual junk' and used to consider myself knowledgeable in that area. But I had not known much about Isha foundation or Sadhguru for that matter. Having heard some of His discourses over tape (this was before CDs became popular) and admiring His logical sequencing & content per se was probably my first step towards the path not known experientially to me.

On a casual evening, Abi and I came to know about the Isha Yoga program happening in Mambalam. Abi & her sister had come with the required money to join the program. But by the time, I went to the ATM to get the money and come back, the registration was full for the program and I could not join that session. 

Not being used to failure (most of my previous experience was only in academics), I was just furious and that fury forced me to look at doing at least one program with Isha at the same time! So, without realizing what I was getting into, I registered immediately for the Hatha Yoga program happening in the Ashram and went there the same weekend Abi was getting initiated into Shakti Chalana Kriya (earlier - Sahaja Sthithi Yoga). 

After my return to Chennai from the program, with a broken back and slightly mauled ego after intense Hatha yoga, Abi was bubbling to share how wonderful the Isha program was. I admit being a bit baffled and immediately wanted to go for the next Isha Yoga program.

The second time around, registration happened fine but I stayed the previous evening at a friend's place (absolutely unlikely of me) and did not get up early enough on time for my morning class! I was close to tears when I woke up in the morning and in fact remember blasting Abi for not waking me up early - poor thing!! But she spoke to the teacher from Ashram and arranged for me to attend the class in that evening. I was just so thankful for her. 

From next day on, I was promptly attending the morning classes by myself. Considering myself an intellectual, I immersed myself in the class content because it was so logical and structured, yet peeling off my ego layer by layer. We went on to attend the Bhava Spandana program in 2003 itself. What happens in BSP  is not for me to put in words. It was way beyond me and I understood finally that even intellectually, this was something just beyond my grasp. 

At the end of it, I knew I can never be the same again and was bubbling to share the same with everyone. So, people who know me before 2003 & post 2003 and have actually observed me, would know the change. If observers say I have become bolder, more efficient at work, more loving in personal life, less angry at work & at home, etc. etc. as the key things, those may be just side effects. 

I know now that the seed He had sown in me had started sprouting and that was changing the way I was looking at things. But the dormancy effect took over as I got slowly back into the rut of life and the next 10x event had to wait for some more time ...

Kalabhairava ashtakam

The lyrics for Kalabhairava ashtakam as sung in the 'Trigun' album from Isha .. mostly taken from this site: http://www.hindudevotionalblog.com/2008/08/sri-kalabhairava-ashtakam-lyrics-video.html

Deva raja sevya maana paavangri pankajam,

Vyala yagna suthra mindu shekaram krupakaram,

Naradadhi yogi vrundha vandhitham digambaram,

Kaasika puradhi nadha Kalabhairavam bhaje

Bhanu koti bhaswaaram, bhavabdhi tharakamparam,

Neelakantha meepsidartha daayakam trilochanam,

Kaalakaala mambujaksha maksha soola maksharam,

Kaasika puradhi nadha Kalabhairavam bhaje

Soola thanka paasa danda paani maadhikaaranam,

Syama kaya madhi devam aksharam niraamayam,

Bheema vikramam prabhum vichithra thandava priyam,

Kaasika puradhi nadha Kalabhairavam bhaje

Bhukthi mukthi dayakam prasashtha chaaru vigraham,

Bhaktha vatsalam stitham, samastha loka vigraham,

Vinikwanan manogna hema kinkini lasathkatim,

Kaasika puradhi nadha Kalabhairavam bhaje

Dharma sethu paalakam, thwa dharma marga nasakam,

Karma pasa mochakam, susharma dayakam vibhum,

Swarna varna kesha pasa shobithanga nirmalam,

Kaasika puradhi nadha Kalabhairavam bhaje

Rathna padukha prabhabhirama padayugmakam,

Nithyam adwitheeyamishta daivatham niranjanam,

Mrutyu darpa naasanam karaladamshtra bhooshanam,

Kaasika puradhi nadha Kalabhairavam bhaje

Attahasa bhinna padma jaanda kosa santhathim,

Drushti pada nashta paapa jala mugra shasanam,

Ashtasidhi daayakam kapaala maalikam dharam,

Kaasika puradhi nadha Kalabhairavam bhaje

Bhootha sangha nayakam, vishala keerthi dayakam,

Kasi vasa loka punya paapa shodhakam vibhum,

Neethi maarga kovidham purathanam jagatpathim,

Kaasika puradhi nadha Kalabhairavam bhaje

My Swing!

My anger, my joy, my frustration

Arising not from my wife nor my child

Neither from my society nor my god

Is all but a mere reflection

of what lies in me

Oh, these terrible chains! I wonder

how to break and go beyond

The Blessed One has seen me

Doting on Him to take me through

Beyond this pain and pleasure trough

Sweet Breath

With every breath, lies the key
inhale and you are not the body
exhale and you are not the mind

that should make you damned
for without the body and mind
you are forced to ask
who am I here and what is my task

I stay that way for mere minutes
but those few are so sweet
it eggs me on for more

Spread the Word ... please!

After a long time, again, my blogging silence is broken now. Nope, it is not because I saw an awesome movie or read a wonderful book. I just am letting out a bit of pain.

This is probably the first time am writing something about Him - usually I consider him too great to fit into my silly expressions. What I am today is completely, 100% attributable to Isha and Sadhguru. Life has taken a complete turn towards happiness since 2003 when I attended my first few programs with Isha.

So, quite naturally when I heard a few days ago that Sadhguru himself is conducting an intensive Inner Engineering class in Chennai (March 25th I think), it was pretty exciting to me! I just wished this is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to feel & realize what I have. And when it is from the Man Himself, what a great thing it is!!

But today I had a chat with my wife today and she said something that completely stirred something inside. There are about 15000 slots for this program and still some of them are open. I was shocked to know that ... for me it is unthinkable because anything by Sadhguru would & should get over-filled in a matter of days.

And it seems Sadhguru told something on the lines of 'If I have to go and invite people on streets, I would do it'!

The closest I have known something in my life to God is my Guru and if he had to say something like this, I can just understand what sort of a pain it is, not just for him but for the whole Isha foundation. There were tears welling up in my eyes, after a long time, due to pain. Usually, if it is, it will be out of joy - yes, that is what Isha had given me. But this made me sad indeed.

It is the least responsibility of every living being who has been influenced by Isha, meditator or not, to at least spread the word in whichever way possible and see to it that everyone they know get a chance at experiencing bliss!

Well, my dad and my brother are making it this time. I dearly wish my aunt also attends the program. I will do what I can for making this program a success by spreading the word, after all I am just an extension of Him operating at a different location.

Shambho ...

Green (err...) life

Why should life be all gloomy? This article provoked such thoughts in me immediately:

http://www.livescience.com/environment/earth-temp-may-exceed-livable-limits-100504.html

Why not we humans learn to see opportunity in the midst of calamity and look for alternatives?

Just a single alternative that I could think of - Is it not possible to plant a few million trees by then that could bring down the overall warming levels to a normal stage? If each of us can think of such ways by which this calamity could be avoided, we certainly can avoid it. After all, what is a society or civilization if not individuals!

Take a look at the Project Green Hands effort by Isha Foundation (http://www.projectgreenhands.org/). As Sadhguru says, to plant and nurture a tree to grow is one of the noblest things to do (amidst all other nonsense) towards the future generations. If of the 6 billion people, only 10% decide to plant just 1 tree and see it grow in their life time, we would still end up with 600 million trees making the earth greener by a big percentage!! And this is just assuming 1 person cares for only 1 tree in their entire life time.

If we teach our children in schools to plant / nurture trees, I am sure that will be one of the best things to happen to them too. The joy in seeing something grow, especially if it is out of your efforts, is to be experienced by everyone.

Let us make it happen ... Let us strive for a positive thinking happy world.

Fiercely Beautiful!

Do I feel good to be back at home? Not really .. For the first time ever in my life, I feel like I have left some part of me at the place of visit. In case you are wondering what the heck am talking about, you should have been there at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore for Linga Bhairavi Devi consecration.

As Sadhguru said, it is certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity or probably a once in several lifetimes opportunity. I am sure pretty much everyone who was part of it should be feeling the same way. Linga Bhairavi devi is supposed to be fiercely and wonderfully feminine at the same time. I do not know about the fierce part of her really because all I could see was the beauty and she has certainly taken my mind & heart. Still cannot forget the first sight of her!

She is "the most beautiful" among the goddesses I have seen so far in my life - so glorious and so full of life, you could feel it quite tangibly just by looking at her! This consecration was a prana prathista unlike the mantra prathista that happens usually at temples (even that does not happen properly in most places). But when "the man himself" is leading it, you could be sure it would be the most fantastic consecration that could take place. And it was. :)

If anybody does not get to see the devi in their life, they would not know what they have missed. But when they do come to know, it would be so painful to have missed out on something so fabulous and spectacular. I am not a great Bhakta or one who prays even irregularly (used to be so as a child but left that looong back), but I certainly am praying for Sadhguru's & Linga Bhairavi Devi's blessings, so a part of her at least will stay forever with me.

A trip down the memory lane

This is neat and feels great mainly because I am blogging after several days. Work for me has been tighter than usual at office and I was not even able to spend enough time for my fun activities in the last 1 to 2 months. Anyway, I got a chance to take a break from the regular gruelling schedule when Abi's team planned to visit their colleague at Nagercoil for his marriage. We had booked the tickets a couple of months back itself but I was still making up my mind whether to go or not till the very last day!

But there we were at the Central railway station and slowly people started to pour in one by one. I met some people nodding politely to acknowledge me and several others (12 in total actually excluding us) who did not know what to do! I was actually one among the latter group myself :) because though I had seen a lot of them before in a party once, that was long back and I am not in touch with them any more.

The journey got underway and once the games ensued (Lingo and Dumb-Charades), we were all gelling quite well before we even knew each other's names :) The trip is quite a long one - over 15 hours one way. So, there were lots of games and people making fun of each other. The cool part of it all was how sportive everyone took the whole pulling-other's-legs part and the way people tried to keep it that way without being brutal. I cannot remember another crowd I have been part of which accommodated me so easily as if they all knew me for a long time now.

There are so many unforgettable moments in this whole trip that it becomes very difficult for me to isolate any - Jey's vivacious comedy, Kala's ever laughing manner, Ramala's almost encyclopaedic knowledge of alphabets, Raj's brilliant organization of seat arrangements, Harini's 'upper berth', Path's 'thinking man' posture, Yunus' slow flowering into a glib leg-puller, Subanki's 'die-hard-vijay-fan-dom', Renji's 'first-time-train-travel-jitters', the reception we received at Nagercoil, Inigo & Prem's wonderful hospitality and the games themselves of course. And I do not think I have done justice to even half of what & whom I wanted to write about.

For Abi and me, the critical part of our journey's success was in assessing how Isha would take in the crowd, sustain the travel and survive the whole episode without falling ill. I believe going by that measure, it is indeed a success for us. She was her usual slow self to get along with people but was fine going with them once she realized(!) this is a long trip away from home and she will be stuck with them for a while :)) More firsts for us parents - Isha was reluctant to even go to a beach or any other waterbody before this trip. This time, she plunged right into the Thirparappu falls once Abi introduced her to it and was enjoying it so much that she refused to come out. The same happened when we went to the beaches at Kanyakumari & Muttom. It was so difficult to pull her out of the waters! She had a gala time.

Of course, all this would not have been possible without the loving support we received from every single person around us. And it really makes me wonder about Sadhguru's grace because I was very skeptical about taking Isha & was slightly harping on His grace being around to protect her.

And hey - I just remembered this is by far the longest journey I have made within India!