Friends returning from the US have observed how clean the country is, how organized the traffic on the road is,how regular the queues are, how our country pales in comparison etc. I always proffered the population card as our country's inability in such debates.Now, I was on a short vacation to the United States.
I enjoyed the land and its vast space. I admired its clean roads too.Felt happy at their morale even at this period of intense recession.
The following incident by a desi irked me very much:
We were waiting for a ferry ride to Liberty island and this guy kept spitting on the wooden plank. Other than feeling disgusted (like many Americans did) I showed no other reaction.Perhaps if I were twenty years younger I would have certainly gone up to sort his problem."Rajani" behaviour was my wont those days.
But now,
I feel we have a choice to act in a certain manner individually or collectively as a country and I exercise mine and he his. That and no more..
Devi mahtmiyam
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Or is it not fashionable...
For the past 20years I have been asking so many people about the status of remaining pandits that are driven out of their homeland kashmir, and why our media does not report on the killing of kashmiri hindus.I am unable to understand why not a single movie worth its salt is made on the plight of the minority there.
Is it taboo to speak up for a section because it happens to be hindu? Or has it become unintellectual? Are we not a democracy?
Is it taboo to speak up for a section because it happens to be hindu? Or has it become unintellectual? Are we not a democracy?
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Rajneeti
I will not forget going to see Rajneeti in Satyam Cinemas in a hurry. Got the tickets delivered on time. Shiv and I had started out by 6pm, giving a buttress of 30 min for the traffic.The stretch of less than 3km took us over an hour what with the CM blessing Satyam with his entourage to enjoy the film vamsam.Understanding the difficulty of the aam aadmi,the flick started late. I hurried inside not without buying popcorn,puffs and water as is tradition with me.Ignoring " saapida vandirukkiya illai cinema parkava" from Shiv (dear, why should the two be exclusive for God's sake ran in my mind)but not forgetting to smile( I had made up my mind to enjoy the film)I settled down and started syncing from Naseeruddin shaw feeling guilty and leaving Bharti with a note..
Then came Bhanu with a fiery speech in front of the multitude and collapsing and the story never looked back.
Thanks to the CM and the delay, all the songs were cut and thus the script was rendered tight and enjoyable.
Nowhere could I say Ranbir said this/Nana did this/Katrina did not do this etc. It was the director and the story ( drawn liberally from the Mahabharath)all the time.Oh yes, Ajay Devgun looked as if he just got out of bed in all the scenes!
O director saab, why did you have to make Samar summarize the whole story in the end to Kat? Man that was deflating.
Did you think we could have come into the theatre only in the last five min of the movie? Sir, the bureaucracy is not that bad yet!!
Then came Bhanu with a fiery speech in front of the multitude and collapsing and the story never looked back.
Thanks to the CM and the delay, all the songs were cut and thus the script was rendered tight and enjoyable.
Nowhere could I say Ranbir said this/Nana did this/Katrina did not do this etc. It was the director and the story ( drawn liberally from the Mahabharath)all the time.Oh yes, Ajay Devgun looked as if he just got out of bed in all the scenes!
O director saab, why did you have to make Samar summarize the whole story in the end to Kat? Man that was deflating.
Did you think we could have come into the theatre only in the last five min of the movie? Sir, the bureaucracy is not that bad yet!!
Friday, July 2, 2010
DM-1.4
Rishi Medhas reflects,the mahamaya incarnates in many ways. Listen here to some of her manifestations.
Once when there was this great deluge, when the universe was but an ocean and the Lord vishnu in mystic slumber on adisesa, two demons madhu and kaitaba spring up from the ear wax of the sleeping lord and seek to slay brahma (the father of beings) seated at the naval of the lord vishnu.
Brahma, with a view to awaken the lord extols mahamaya:
creater,sustainer and consumer of the universe;
cause of the embodied vishnu, siva and brahma himself;
goddess of all good fortune, intelligence,contentment and forbearance;
you are at once the most terrible armed with sword, spear,club,discus, conch, bow,arrows, slings and mace AND the exceedingly beautiful.
Devi of delusion thus extolled draws herself out of vishnu's eyes, nose,mouth,arms and heart and appears before brahma.
Vishnu thus rid of inertia, rises from his couch to fight Madhu and Kaitabha with his own arms. The battle goes on five thousand years. Madhu and Kaitabha thus frenzied by their own power lose focus and are defeated and slain.
"I will tell you the glory of the devi again" says Medhas to Suratha.
Once when there was this great deluge, when the universe was but an ocean and the Lord vishnu in mystic slumber on adisesa, two demons madhu and kaitaba spring up from the ear wax of the sleeping lord and seek to slay brahma (the father of beings) seated at the naval of the lord vishnu.
Brahma, with a view to awaken the lord extols mahamaya:
creater,sustainer and consumer of the universe;
cause of the embodied vishnu, siva and brahma himself;
goddess of all good fortune, intelligence,contentment and forbearance;
you are at once the most terrible armed with sword, spear,club,discus, conch, bow,arrows, slings and mace AND the exceedingly beautiful.
Devi of delusion thus extolled draws herself out of vishnu's eyes, nose,mouth,arms and heart and appears before brahma.
Vishnu thus rid of inertia, rises from his couch to fight Madhu and Kaitabha with his own arms. The battle goes on five thousand years. Madhu and Kaitabha thus frenzied by their own power lose focus and are defeated and slain.
"I will tell you the glory of the devi again" says Medhas to Suratha.
Here ends the first chapter of the devi mahatmiyam
DM-1.3
Continuing the rishi orders the king not to marvel at such uttering by anyone!
Mahamaya is the tamsic power of the lord of the universe, he adds. She throws the minds of even the wise into disturbance. She creates the seeming universe and commands boon, calamity and liberation. Verily she is the supreme knowledge and the cause.
Suratha with his head bowed in respect, requests Medhas to relate devi's origin, her nature and her sphere of action.
Obs:In most of our scriptures there is always an allude to the 'seeming universe'. Then there are our saints who entreat us to focus on the magician and not the magic. Does it mean they are able to see more than one universe here? Why is anyone not able to explain the delusion as it were?
Also the scriptures always talk about satvic, rajasic and tamasic as powers. Tamas or ignorance is treated as an angle and why not? There is always overlapping of knowledge and ignorance everywhere!
Mahamaya is the tamsic power of the lord of the universe, he adds. She throws the minds of even the wise into disturbance. She creates the seeming universe and commands boon, calamity and liberation. Verily she is the supreme knowledge and the cause.
Suratha with his head bowed in respect, requests Medhas to relate devi's origin, her nature and her sphere of action.
Obs:In most of our scriptures there is always an allude to the 'seeming universe'. Then there are our saints who entreat us to focus on the magician and not the magic. Does it mean they are able to see more than one universe here? Why is anyone not able to explain the delusion as it were?
Also the scriptures always talk about satvic, rajasic and tamasic as powers. Tamas or ignorance is treated as an angle and why not? There is always overlapping of knowledge and ignorance everywhere!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
DM-1.2
Both Suratha and Samadhi approach the rishi Medhas. The king introduces his new friend Samadhi. Seeking permission from Medhas, the king bares tumultuous thoughts of Samadhi and himself.
Though the king considers himself fairly intelligent, he is at a loss to accept how he could be easily cheated by his own ministers when he least expected it. He wonders how he could still be agitated thinking about his kingdom and his lost glory.
Suratha also presents Samadhi's case thus: "This merchant has been disowned by his wife, sons and sycophants but still broods over them with affection".
He beseeches the rishi to throw light on how seemingly sane and intelligent people get deluded as though helplessly about their importance, from where do clouds shroud logical thought processes.Where do knowledge and discrimination hide when most needed?
Unperturbed by the agitated king and the merchant, Medhas proceeds to explain:Every being perceives knowledge of objects by senses.Certainly human beings are endowed with knowledge,but beasts and birds cognize too.
The birds drop grains into the beaks of their young ones even when they are hungry themselves.The young ones when fledged seek the sky never to return.Human beings are attached to their children too and raise them with love, only to expect the children to take care of them in old age.
On the one hand it is by delusion that the birds feed their young and seemingly do not miss them when they fly yonder and on the other hand it is by delusion alone man becomes attached to sons,riches and comfort.Men are hurled into whirlpool of attachment and pit of delusion through the power of Mahamaya, who makes the existence of the world possible.This Mahamaya creates the entire universe, tantalizes it with boon and bane...
Obs-2: The rishi is aptly named Medhas (which means intellect). Intellect sees the world as the work of Mahamaya's sport, seems to arrive at this after logically dissecting lives and behaviors.
Obs-3: Mahamaya is referred as female.
continued..
Though the king considers himself fairly intelligent, he is at a loss to accept how he could be easily cheated by his own ministers when he least expected it. He wonders how he could still be agitated thinking about his kingdom and his lost glory.
Suratha also presents Samadhi's case thus: "This merchant has been disowned by his wife, sons and sycophants but still broods over them with affection".
He beseeches the rishi to throw light on how seemingly sane and intelligent people get deluded as though helplessly about their importance, from where do clouds shroud logical thought processes.Where do knowledge and discrimination hide when most needed?
Unperturbed by the agitated king and the merchant, Medhas proceeds to explain:Every being perceives knowledge of objects by senses.Certainly human beings are endowed with knowledge,but beasts and birds cognize too.
The birds drop grains into the beaks of their young ones even when they are hungry themselves.The young ones when fledged seek the sky never to return.Human beings are attached to their children too and raise them with love, only to expect the children to take care of them in old age.
On the one hand it is by delusion that the birds feed their young and seemingly do not miss them when they fly yonder and on the other hand it is by delusion alone man becomes attached to sons,riches and comfort.Men are hurled into whirlpool of attachment and pit of delusion through the power of Mahamaya, who makes the existence of the world possible.This Mahamaya creates the entire universe, tantalizes it with boon and bane...
Obs-2: The rishi is aptly named Medhas (which means intellect). Intellect sees the world as the work of Mahamaya's sport, seems to arrive at this after logically dissecting lives and behaviors.
Obs-3: Mahamaya is referred as female.
continued..
Thursday, May 6, 2010
DM-1.1
There are 700 verses in all. These are broadly classified into three parts namely: first that is devoted to the mahakali aspect, second to mahalaxmi and third to mahasaraswati. I shall strive to gather what I have understood about the devi aspect itself in a separate post.
There are 13 chapters;
The story mainly is simple, yet important. It appears to me as a guideline to look at life in general.
I do not know big words like kalpa, manvantaras, vedas, upanishads and the like. What I do not know, I do not elaborate on. I am not going to relate the names of the period and lineage of the players etc
What I understand or catches my fancy comes in a sequence below.
The mahatmiyam of the devi is set this way: Sage Markandeya is relating to his disciple.
First Chapter:-
Suratha is a valiant and mighty king. He treats his subjects as his own children. He fights many battles and in course makes powerful enemies too. Then comes a time when his own ministers turn hostile, his treasury is looted by his army. It will be but a matter of days when the thus saddened king is usurped by his ministers. So thinking the dejected king rides on his horseback into the nearby jungle seemingly going hunting!
First, the lost splendor tugs at his heart. He wonders whether the royal horses and elephants are treated with as much respect and love.The king spends his time alone, thinking of the turn of events and surprised at his own naivete. He sights a hermitage and the sovereign is welcomed with friendship and serenity in the ashram of rishi Medhas. Thus comforted he now roams the jungle with an introspecting mind.
Soon he comes across a well dressed merchant sitting under a tree and lost in thought. Samaadhi the merchant, feeling instant kinship with Suratha unburdens his woes. He is a wealthy man with sons and relatives living with him and doing his bid. In course of time affection makes way to greed for wealth and his wife and sons misappropriate his funds and cast him penniless. Woebegone Samadhi wanders into the woods and still pines for his family and their wellness.
Observation: Samaadhi(also means equanimity) is drawn to Suratha( a good charioteer). It is wonderful is it not?
continued...
There are 13 chapters;
The story mainly is simple, yet important. It appears to me as a guideline to look at life in general.
I do not know big words like kalpa, manvantaras, vedas, upanishads and the like. What I do not know, I do not elaborate on. I am not going to relate the names of the period and lineage of the players etc
What I understand or catches my fancy comes in a sequence below.
The mahatmiyam of the devi is set this way: Sage Markandeya is relating to his disciple.
First Chapter:-
Suratha is a valiant and mighty king. He treats his subjects as his own children. He fights many battles and in course makes powerful enemies too. Then comes a time when his own ministers turn hostile, his treasury is looted by his army. It will be but a matter of days when the thus saddened king is usurped by his ministers. So thinking the dejected king rides on his horseback into the nearby jungle seemingly going hunting!
First, the lost splendor tugs at his heart. He wonders whether the royal horses and elephants are treated with as much respect and love.The king spends his time alone, thinking of the turn of events and surprised at his own naivete. He sights a hermitage and the sovereign is welcomed with friendship and serenity in the ashram of rishi Medhas. Thus comforted he now roams the jungle with an introspecting mind.
Soon he comes across a well dressed merchant sitting under a tree and lost in thought. Samaadhi the merchant, feeling instant kinship with Suratha unburdens his woes. He is a wealthy man with sons and relatives living with him and doing his bid. In course of time affection makes way to greed for wealth and his wife and sons misappropriate his funds and cast him penniless. Woebegone Samadhi wanders into the woods and still pines for his family and their wellness.
Observation: Samaadhi(also means equanimity) is drawn to Suratha( a good charioteer). It is wonderful is it not?
continued...
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
devi mahatmiyam
This is a work extolling the devi..
How she enables mortals to overcome their hurdles..
Either you are attracted to it or you are not..
I have been musing over devi mahatmiyam for some time now..
I want to put into record what I have felt reading it over many times now..
My children may want to find out, I humor myself :)
How she enables mortals to overcome their hurdles..
Either you are attracted to it or you are not..
I have been musing over devi mahatmiyam for some time now..
I want to put into record what I have felt reading it over many times now..
My children may want to find out, I humor myself :)
pals
Dohas and quatrains told us when we were kids in school that there will be a lot of people to share happiness but those who stand by lows in life are rare..
I think those who share happiness are not common and they should be equally cherished. Think about it..
I think those who share happiness are not common and they should be equally cherished. Think about it..
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
It is not funny.
All these articles and forwards and posts about how India's some historic building or the other had a temple of some deity or the other underneath and how these truths are not made public by the Govt, people etc,..
Man this is tiresome.
We may have had gazillion shrines built 600years ago and which were super imposed by so many other structures. Split hair on what temple stood inside a mosque or a mausoleum?, what do we prove?
That we were dumb enough to allow it centuries ago? Stop for God sakes.This incites impressionable, bored and 'generally have nothing to do' individuals to make protests in the internet time and again.
Man this is tiresome.
We may have had gazillion shrines built 600years ago and which were super imposed by so many other structures. Split hair on what temple stood inside a mosque or a mausoleum?, what do we prove?
That we were dumb enough to allow it centuries ago? Stop for God sakes.This incites impressionable, bored and 'generally have nothing to do' individuals to make protests in the internet time and again.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
clarity
i realized speaking to a dear friend
i am a clear thinker, and not afraid anymore
to recognize that.
i am a clear thinker, and not afraid anymore
to recognize that.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
is not time everything?
but usually hybrid is shunned and pure extolled
is there no way we could see some years ahead?
there is a difference between hybrid and pure varieties
but over time hybrid will become another pure variety
is there no way we could see some years ahead?
there is a difference between hybrid and pure varieties
but over time hybrid will become another pure variety
each in a groove
some sing, some listen nodding
some dance, some observe smiling
some cook, some eat relishing
some blog and some read appreciating.
some dance, some observe smiling
some cook, some eat relishing
some blog and some read appreciating.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
wonderful in built mechanism
Been watching for some years now. Spend a whole year writing numerous letters with dates and when Dec rolls over to a Jan of a year, the transition in the mind is smooth.
Wonderful..
It is so like consciously living but easily' transiting' changes in the physical body.
Wonderful..
It is so like consciously living but easily' transiting' changes in the physical body.
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