Where is the time to blog?

So, its my fourth milestone in the path of physical life. Yes!! Though there are many small, simple milestones, I would track these as major ones – College, Work, Marriage, Kid J

We were blessed with a baby girl this year - 2015 has become a significant year in my life. Life has become busier with no time to turn back, (intro)retrospect and to pause/stare at beautiful butterflies.

Where is the time to blog??

Oh!

What keeps me coming back to write here? An urge to express or a vent to pen unspoken thoughts..well whatever it is, the action continues.

This phase of life is brimming with unanswered questions, pointless directions, confused insights and concrete ambiguity! Cos of these nullifying effects, it seems that the hourglass is frozen with the days still passing by.

Anyways, Iam trying to be with the flow of events. May be the “trying” itself is an obstruction. Is this the effect of Saturn’s transit?

The hope is there that this phase shall pass on too!

A game of Tennis

Trudging cautiously with eyes grounded to the floor fearing that a blink may make him fall, an old man dragged himself to the court. He was accompanied by a fairly stout lady who walked even more slowly towards the other side of the court. Yes, they were all set to play Tennis!

I gaped with mouth wide open from the nearby court seriously wondering how they would manage a game. Man did the first serve ensuring that ball hits within the reach of the lady. The lady took a beautiful back stroke and passed the ball back with hidden agility. The ball went few feet away from the old man, who was sure about the walk to pick the ball. It took nearly 5 minutes for him to get the ball to resume game. The lady was profusely shouting “sorry” and that did not deter the game. They played for 15 mins with a maximum of 8-10 shots. Finally, they collected all the balls and retired to the bench nearby for rest without an iota of irritation in their faces.

What is the spark burning in them for this game? Does 15 minutes of play worth enduring the hardships they displayed? And strangely, that spark has gone extinct in me – I had to literally drag myself to the court to catch up a game for half hour. Iam embarrassed and no words…

A wash to the washbasin

A simple stuff....but a passing thought to pen it here!

Stayed at many places, clean”ing” is part of living and it happened without any hue and cry. The count of basins that I cleaned would be 8+ including the one at in-laws house :-). Of all these years, I did not take the opportunity to wash it at my house - the basin that I saw every morning while brushing my teeth for almost 15 years!!!!

I did it today……..

Not sure if am fortunate or the washbasin?

PG, again..

"Whether this kajal will smudge or not?" This was the discussion that went on for 5-10 mins and then comes the practical stunt. Person who bought it applies it to her eyes and everyone around is kinda validating to pass their comments. Then the topic shifts to a hair gel and how it turns color of the hair to white. I was thoroughly amused and was wondering how such topics can go on and on. Next, it was about a new haircut that one of the inmates donned. Well, this is common when a group of beauty-conscious women get together. What is uncommon is me being from the women clan felt that all these topics are so outlandish! I just could not connect to it at all.

A room messy with clothes around, unwashed plates beneath the bed and a smelly bathroom are the items that invite me with a warm hug when I moved in to this new PG accommodation. Undeterred, I arranged my clothes in the cupboard given, made my bed and settled in with a book oblivion to the surroundings!

Then suddenly power goes off, followed by a shriek that goes like “what the hellll..aaaaan..how do I wash my clothes”? So, someone around checks the fuse and fixes the power supply. After this, you hear a round of applause for the brave job well done! This continues with the discussion on “Maths” for the dinner that was ordered..”who shld pay what?” This goes for some time till one lady realized that food is becoming cold!

Well, all that made me wonder how I got caught up with such a script in the drama of life. Paying guest accommodation is nothing new to me - the surprise was on how many such episodes I need to act :-) , phew!

All said and done, the new place still is like a family. Being together is a common theme – while having dinner, or a chat in the balcony, pulling each other’s legs or watching TV etc. One of them gave me a blanket as it was too cold..it was a very nice gesture! They all helped to make me feel comfortable - the plates were cleaned, clothes were washed and I was offered to join them in the fun!

Anyways, this would be a stint and I would be moving out soon. One of my friends quoted the current scenario as “Iam like a drop of water on a lotus leaf”. Iam fine being that way and appreciating the beauty / fragrance of the lotus. Its evident that I need to tread out of the leaf one day and merge with the ocean!

Paradox

It started with a frisson and the flow followed
Safest is
The hands of a mother

and then it went on like this..
Longest is
The road of friendship

Tallest is
The heart of a giver

Shortest is
The first step to summit

Loudest is
The trumpet of the ego

Deepest is
The ravine of knowledge

Widest is
The wall of jealousy

Slimmest is
The space between fingers of a newborn

Greatest is
The marvel of creation

Fastest is
The race of thoughts

Quietest is
The space between those thoughts

Tiniest is
The twinkle of a distant star

Slowest is
The force to negate greater will

Darkest is
The ignorance of greater self

Shallowest is
The mind with temper

Hardest is
The acquaintance of perceived bondage

Easiest is
The process of forgetting that bondage

Finally, the last 2

Obscurest is
The illusory will to “not seek” any of the above

and

Dumbest is
The belief that “illusory will” will lead to understanding of your nature!

What a match?

He lives to eat,
I eat to live

He is seldom silent,
“Silence” is what I speak

(He) Yoga n mediation – what?
(Me) No yoga n meditation – what?

For him, Books – ok, sometimes..
For me, Books – always!

Car racing is his passion
Thought of driving a car gives me stress

Prefers helicopter landing on mountains’ summit
I like hiking all the way up!

He is hale n healthy and it shows,
Iam under-nourished and it shows as well

Shopping n window-shopping is his need
My need would end up in shopping

He is Cancer (water sign)
Iam a Virgo (earth sign)

Mucky language is his second mother tongue
Too much of courteousness eats my speech

He is sentimental, sensitive and caring
Iam practical and indifferent

Well, who cares and how does it matter? We are all set to cruise the sea of life hand in hand!

AVATAR

As written on 1/06/2010 :

I was totally dumbstruck by the grandiose of the movie. The special effects, animation, story line and interweaving of shots took the movie to zenith of entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. The concepts like transmigration of souls across dimensions, bond across all beings and life source as one-energy are portrayed in a simple fashion! Some people may mistake it for fiction!

No wonder it took 10+ years to make this. It’s a must watch and I give full stars (if anyone cares)

Uninvited guest

Sunday slumber was suddenly disturbed by an intrusion of a “guest”...that too in the ear ! Yes, my friend got up shouting that something went into her ear and it was trying to fly there………

As the “thing” was not coming out, intuition forced us to put oil in her ears. I guess she felt a violent shake followed by silence. As something has to be done to remove the dead “thing”, we got a bus at wee hours and ran to a near by hospital. Got registered in the emergency category oblivion to the poor service rendered. The “thing” stayed, so the hunt for hospital continued.

Being Sunday and ENT not considered as an emergency, the next two stops did not help either. Finally, we went to a fourth hospital in which we managed to get an appointment after 2 hours. By this time, my roommate was actually getting used to her guest!

Then came the traumatic part – first doctor could not pull the “thing” out from her ear. She tried pump-piston, water, forceps etc. None of the jazzy instruments worked and the doc got scared. It was easy to see the missing expertise and confidence.

Atleast, she escalated the situation and a “hero” made an entry. The look itself said that the new doctor was indeed experienced. With skilled hands, he pulled the “thing” out. He had to repeat the action to pull the “thing’s” legs as well.

The “thing” was a mid sized cockroach!

I salute my friend’s strong will to sustain the entire drama for 5 hours. The highlight is we got her registration plus ID card done for 6 months and 5 years in two famous hospitals respectively.

He

It was such a surprise one morning to see Him seated outside our house. It seems that this was the first time He is here. Though He was not staring at me directly, I could feel his pervading presence. He was looking at a tangential direction from our house and Iam not sure if that was intentional.

His calm and composed nature was very attractive and it hit me with lot of intensity! He was such a crowd puller that I was jealous to see his huge number of fans coming from distant places to meet Him. They were taking my space and his undivided attention!!

Day 1 had lot of salutations and offerings. The place was fully decorated to celebrate his presence. He did not bother and I liked that!
Day 2 was almost a disco night with English pop songs blaring the speakers. This did not affect Him either
Day 3 had a movie screening allowing people to squat on the roads. They were whistling to the whims and fancies of the scenes. Movie did not budge him too!
Day 4 was sad as He left. He changed a sober street to such a happening place for 4 days. For the first time, I saw my neighbors and other people who live in the same lane. He moved with the crowd up and down the road to bid farewell. He vanished with a bang deserting the place and hearts of ardent fans like me.

Suddenly, I was feeling empty and hollow! I started missing him and so did my friend M.

Iam hoping that He would visit us next year as my wait has already started!

I met 'S'

It has been almost a year and then 3 weekends of “planning to meet”. Finally, it happened this weekend! Along with M, I went to meet S. The word “Shradha” led to confusion and we landed up in a wrong apartment. S came out and was having fun to see us carrying a big gift* and roaming down the street to find her apartment.

After quick call and clarification we went to her apartment. Guess, who was on the TV - it was none other than daily visitor named “Rakhi Sawant”. Iam not a big fan of reality shows and usually watch these to get a few laughs. On the contrary, my friends were dissecting each and every dialogue of Rakhi and her episodes. S and I agreed that M is almost making her way to get fame like Rakhi!!

S was the same except for her change in hairstyle!, that actually gave her a fresh look! After 3 rounds of Chai and one round of beer, the mood was highly elated! Crappy discussion made us to laugh out whole-heartedly. “Set up of a mini bar” in our kitchen and “Toyun” switch to tune FM in mp3 player were a few of them! There were lots of “LOL” and “ROFL”

Of course, the dinner menu - Pasta, Roti and Baingan Bharta topped all this! S’s Pasta was tasty and she did it with an expert touch! The taste is still lingering in my mouth! Chit-chat was on till 3:00AM with a quick touch of all common friends, treks, PGs, PG mates and PG aunties!

Though we hit the bed, none of us could catch sound sleep and morning was waiting with another round of Chai! This get together would stay green for quite some time! Thanks to M and S!!

M felt that I looked happy – guess that’s true for all of us. And it happens when friends get together!! It’s just that we need to do more of this to break the mundane work!
* Big gift is not for S though she did get other gifts!

Art of Diplomacy

Is being diplomatic an art? If you don the role of an arbitrator in a conversation, diplomacy comes very handy. Even otherwise as well, it saves you from being in the “bad” books!!

On the other hand, it strains you from speaking up your mind. You may just start lying and cover with the blanket of diplomacy. Being diplomatic means to say what others do not want to hear, you still say it and after you said it – they don’t mind it at all. Given that, it’s an art of what not to speak.

Someone said that being diplomatic is not a good thing cos at one point in time you will forget what you really want to say and try to just say things that you think others don’t mind. And another thing is you jus don’t take sides loosing your true thoughts.

So, do you need to be diplomatic?

If I say “yes” or “no”, Iam not being diplomatic. If I give a paragraph like above and say things like “ its really up to you” or “it depends on situation” then diplomacy is in my dictionary. Ha..That’s again a diplomatic answer.

Its all about pricking the needle without pain and also definitely about when to use that needle!

Meals - Mexican to Indian

The other day we went to Salsarita and were excited to order Nachos, Tachos and Burritos. An innovative idea came up – Burritos actually has rice and beans rolled into a bread (similar to “roti” not made of wheat). If we separate it, then humara daal, chawal aur roti ho gaya!!! Btw, Nachos are like chips and Tachos are like roasted papads!! We can have that as side dish or complementary papads!!!

Infact we were pondering about business options to promote the same..any takers?
No wonder we lovvved Mexican food!

Golf..at a glance

Tee, Irons, Driver, Putter …of course, Iam talking GOLF here. Last week I got a chance to play the game and it was a team play. This was my first stint with Golf and it was good! Being an amateur in the group, I got o learn all the techniques/strategies to hit the ball from Teeing box (that’s the start point) to the Green(land with finely cut grass, where a ball should land before you push it into the hole/cup). The game is played on a course consisting of series of 9 or 18 holes.

The whole idea of the game is to put the ball into the hole with minimal strokes. I did not find that easy, as there is lot of obstacles either as bunkers or water hazards! The first stroke from the Tee is key to take the ball farthest from you on the fairway and closer to green. There are varieties of clubs like driver, irons or putter to use at various places. For example, you usually use a putter when the ball is on the green. In the game we played, it turned out that I was good as a putter - did consecutive 4 balls to the holes. On the driver, I was disgusting - the ball seldom lifted itself from the ground when I hit.

Scores are done based on Par. Par refers to the number of strokes a skilled golfer should require to complete play of the hole. As any other sport, this also needs good practice and ineterst to keep up the Pars. Men and Women have different Tee box points. And all this fun is added with good snacks and beer! So, who would say no to Golf?

Bus Journeys

In the name of employee benefits, organizations give commutation facilities to them for a specified amount. No doubt that every employee would enjoy that rather than traveling in public mode of transport. Its crowd free, tension free and comfortable. Thanks to the brand-new buses from respective Travels!!

Most of the companies have buses at a frequency of 2 to 3 or more mainly in the evenings. As all employees may not leave at the same time, its been seen that only a few of them occupy a big bus. Yesterday at a signal, I saw one of them was lying down at ease in a three-seater of the bus! That was very amusing and triggered this post!

Time to ponder!!

Encounter with RU!

It was a flight from Blr to Hyd. There was a person with very familiar face talking to someone in the seat ahead of me! Well, you get to see so many faces in one’s lifetime and some images keep flashing isn’t? That way the thought about the person was discarded.

Then as we were disembarking, many congratulated him for his splendid performance and said they saw his photo in the newspapers. They also wished him good luck for the future!!

I quickly looked at the paper in the seat pocket and it dawned on me that he was none other than Robin Uthappa!!! Then, I accomodated more glances as I can!

Trek

I don’t know what inside me gets ignited when some one says lets “trek on a mountain”! That excitement on my face could never me concealed! Initially it was very tough as most of my friends’ jus dismissed saying “Who wants to walk simply like that, have better jobs to do rather than paying for walks”!

Slowly the “will in me” or “mere luck” brought me closer to folks who are ever ready to trek and that nurtured my spark to raging flames and then just peace! Peace because now Iam open to treks and welcome them as a break but don’t crave for it! The taste would remain forever and keep me contented!

To know more on my treks check out http://trudgingthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/08/counting-my-treks.html

More on Vipassana

Vipassana meditation revolves around the word “sensations”. In a 10-day course, first we need to observe our breath continuously as we sit for meditation. That’s how we get the handle to our mind. Then with that handle, one needs to observe the sensations through out the body – starting from head till toes. The exercise gives a good understanding of body and allows reflection to “sensations” that body emulates. These can be pain, throbbing or vibration, flickering etc.. The key is irrespective of whatever the sensations are, we need to just watch them with equanimity. That means no aversion towards pain or no craving towards “nice” sensations! More the practice, more your mind would be trained to maintain equanimity!

How this helps in day today life?

We need to project this concept to our life and be equanimous whether things are going good or bad! Well, its said easier than done!! The mere observing, being a witness to all actions that you do will help you in overcoming the miseries.

This needs a lot of practice, as we have been habituated to react, ponder and draw our conclusions to the situation around us.

The first step on the path of dhamma sows the seed to be in “present”, enjoy the moment rather than thinking of moments in past or future! Whether its dhamma or not, it’s a wonderful way to live life!

Anischha

Year 2007 ended with a bang..This “big bang” was totally different. If I describe it as amazing I would only end up humiliating my experience.

-Spent 10 days in a place out of city limits
-Did not talk for10 days
-Did 10 hours of meditation each day
-There were intermittent breaks for food and walking
-Observed nature – trees, plants, frogs, snails, butterflies and other living beings around
-Got an opportunity to practice dhamma – “The Way” taught by Gautam Buddha. Isn’t that hinting at something?
-Opened up inward and started observing the body, breath and sensations
-No mobile, books, treks, music, talk and got cut off from the rest of the world

It may sound boring at the surface, but one has to try it to see how exciting it could be. It opens up new dimensions. One can understand the miseries of life better and how to come out of it. Any one would want to live without misery. Some people just ignore it by saying “I have no miseries”. The first step is to accept it and then to overcome it. I can go on and on..but that’s not the intention.

Let me break it – it was Vipassana Meditation! Check out this http://www.dhamma.org/ for more information.

This meditation technique works and I can guarantee it - the only reason being that I want you to enjoy what I enjoyed and feel the change!

PS: Anischha means “Impermanent”

Woes of ‘flying cheaper’

We were heading to Kathmandu, Nepal. The Kathmandu flight was from Delhi at 11:45AM. The day started at around 6:00AM to catch a connecting flight from Bangalore to Delhi. Known to the uncertainties of cheaper airlines, we still hoped that we don’t get delayed. The hope was almost satisfied or that’s what we thought, cos we boarded the plane and got seated on time.

Then, something went wrong..It looked like AC was not working and we really did not mind that initially. Then came an announcement saying AC unit was not working and the plane cannot take off. The next question was for how long we need to wait and the irony is none of them had an answer! As we started feeling hot inside, all passengers disembarked the plane. It was a hot sunny day and we squatted in the shade of the plane. Time was running and people became furious. Another dismaying fact is that having fault on their side, the airline authorities did not bother to display any tinge of courtesy. Didn’t they go to any airline academy for training in dealing with the customers? It needs no further explanation to emulate the distress experienced by senior citizens/children without food and water

Apparently the AC unit got repaired and then it was realized that there was no fuel. Help from HAL was not at all timely due to internal politics with this specific airline.

It was 2-3 hours of wait in runway watching other planes landing and taking off-experience of my lifetime I should say!

The problem got fixed and we reached Delhi in time to know that we had missed our flight to Kathmandu!!! There was a “no show” for us on that flight and we could not even cancel the tickets.

Our journey continued on another flight, but will there be a “stop” to such traumatic experiences?