This New Year

MAHASHIVRATRI- AOL

14th July 2017.

An international color to a Hindu festival Mahasivratri....

# The 'mamopartha-samastha- durodhachayadwara..." ritual...with right - fist - on - left - palm sankalpa.. .

# 70 odd countries mix in a 150000 human mass under the clear sky, doing as told....

# A four hour upward journey transcending all pettiness ...

# Om Namashivaya namsankeetans in an outbreak of global vocal synergy....

# Soul - stirring Vedic chants reverberating in the cool scented spirtual air...

# Is this hysteria, faith or frenzy ? Exemplary Tolerance ?  A Vasudeva kudumbakam in the making ?

# Citizens of all color.. creed.. caste ...shaking a leg..Senior citizens too (I smuggled myself in here)....

Lord Shiva would endorse all this. Can happen only in this enthralling venue. Blessed I was.

Long way to unravel spirituality. But looks like i am on track.

Thanks AoL team. Thanks Shrey and others..

OM NAMASHIVAYA.

On meeting Guruji at the airport...

12th July 2017

Love is a many splendoured thing.

I had the privilege of meeting GURUJI at such close quarters at the airport this evening thanks to our ever- dependable Shrey.

Argentina, Seattle, and devotees from as far as Boston had arrived at the airport just then for the WCF... unsettling me as I was getting nervous and jittery about my first meeting.

Believe me .....for me this was the first time and I was speechless in wonder finally  seeing him floating into my range of vision. Stunned into a sheepish mode I was paralysed and ran out of words till Shrey prompted me to speak out. When I sought his Blessings he asked me my name....

To me Bhakti was never something I experienced. I am a seeker....one of this inane humanity. Simple and innocently selfish...perhaps.

I am however content tonight....for the time being. Feel like I did 4 advance courses. Ha.Ha.

When the world sways to his grace....there is innate pride. An unspoken unconditional connect. I can call this bhakti. Yes I have become spiritual...I am sure. Om Om Om

Jai Gurudev....

Trust me, babe...!!!

Dec 1998

As I flounder in an abstract air of uncertainty

with a load weighing heavily now in me

seeking just one possible escape route…

.. the wicked mind whizzes past a million

incoherent sequences that bring chaos and controversy

encompassing myriad patterns of eventualities;

Shaken terribly by the supposed aftermath

of this unintended mental exercise, I cease to react …

as your frail form quietly drifts into my mind’s vision.

You have borne me and my follies dear...

no not any less than my mother did;

jointly we’ve waded thru clear and troubled waters this far…

And now when time like speeding stations from an express train

leaves behind a horde of events so mixed …

with you darling a decent destination we’ll soon find.

Trust me !

Lààta...The refresher.

That ceasefire Smile...
that quickfire sparkle;
remedy post an outage..
ever at ease to leverage
the Clan's warm lineage..

In all our troubled times
you rise duty bound..;
reach out to assuage,
withdraw to cement...
any unseen wound.

Now there to light up..
ever to lean on ;
now there to rear ..
even there to mother.
Yes we will all recall...!

Complex inner emotion
dilutes your ..
vague nuclear vision
and exposes...
'Laata the Phenomenon'

With Time and its' passage
the mind stays trained..
the body strained..
and some image,
stained...

Say your say like you always do..
Stay your way like we
all know you.
Sway all day
Dear...Laatoo..!

She-bliss

My life had twisted and
you filled in
to flow
like in fiction.
Walkways opened,
Bridges arose and
Lo ..you set us back in motion..!

Tying tongues that wagged,
clubbing heads that shook..
you braved in with firm resolve  ;
that opened the skies and
stifled the heat,
a new rainbow
began to evolve.

When its dark dear ..
right out of a nightmare i snuggle closer
to you and connect..
there is comfort in the touch,
in the thought
that with you our lives will be
picture perfect..

Threshold...

Having walked around the fire more than once in my chequered marital life a threshold that would lead you into a new world of companionship is not really a novelty.

Wish all those who need companionship post a distracting or a deadend wedlock get to see this. A threshold. A threshold....that opens a whole new world of Laughter, Joy and that quiet little comfort of true companionship.

Underplay....

It is so very difficult to take sides today. In a highly engaging society that is getting more and more vocal on all issues starting from sanitary napkins to global warming..I don't seem to be insulated from being tossed around, tormented, troubled or at least trolled even if I were to voice my honest opinion on even not-so-very-touchy subjects.

Social media is a very vibrant and an important networking medium and it is customary to pass on all the forwards received to all and sundry just to keep the warmth glowing in a make-believe society. Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter...they are the status symbols of a trendy, supposedly well- informed lot. I am not branding all of them out there to belong to this masquerading lot. I am a very low key player myself...and would prefer to remain that way. I am not sure if I will ever be heard or read even if I were to have voiced all that occur to me every time there is a controversial topic discussed. I play safe and remain passive.

MODI or RAGA, Amar or Asgar, Rightists or Leftists I mumble my cautious sympathies to the affected or the offended and post my honest prayers for PEACE.

In a depressing world the freedom to express is only for the brave. I am cool and will like to be called a diplomat. Period.

Play Neutral. Play Safe.

That is my "Bold Tweeting Mantra"

CHANDRUNNA

       

               

  In full blossom he stood tall

   in all that he did

...and now let’s define what he did,

what it meant to stand tall and how ‘tall’ was ‘tall’?

His fondness to love and cuddle... all that was cuddly;

his love for cute small stuff like pens and pins;

his untiring, unprovoked bursting

into old Tamil melodies.

His untarnished voice spelling melancholy that

would tug at your heartstrings;

that you’d think he suffered more than the actor who

donned that role.

His fetish for cleanliness..,to break away

 from the gathering filth;

to wash with Rin and coat again with a

dash of Ujala all day long…

His spotless white attire matching with his

blemish-less curd rice;

             his diary recording of mundane daily events;

             his inherent craving for perfection.

His love to relate and regale audiences...his instant

switch to boredom when uninterested;

his limitlessly curious mind

to know more about the ordinary.

His inadvertent display of ignorance, raw innocence;

his childish delight at the small

things that now stand denied...and his quick

resigned acceptance and adaptation.

His carefully cultivated curls now thinning

where it should not … and his

receding hairline accentuating his bright

dazzling complexion now glowing and expressive as ever.

His quick emotional endurance 

to news of mixed events;

his self-imposed smile when in a hospital bed…

not once displaying his plight.

His reaction to the realisation of being a victim

of science’s most flaunted diseases like

diabetes, hypertension and renal impairment…

 just his passive, resigned shrug

Never a display of despair though can’t miss his furtive eyes

Lurk out for the next fried chip.

And his version of how well he adhered to 

prescribed, disciplined self-care.

As he religiously pursues the imposed schedule of

do’s and don’ts over the next few months;

one can soon see his triumphant smile

when he bites on a forbidden benne masala dosa.

   He ‘tall’ stands like only ‘he' can..

and that is the brother I adore,

compliment, love and even emulate

and for him I will my kidneys store.

Ramble again

I AM BACK..


Well well... it's ages since I connected with this blog page and I had almost forgotten the access to this. And today thanks to my ever dependable Sandhya, my wife for over a decade and a half, here I am! At it again...!

What is this blogging after all to me. Even as recently as 2 years ago I remember a new comer to my office then had remarked that she had seen my blog and was visibly moved by what it contained. Which of course was my last blogging effort way back in 2013 or so as I remember. Since then I have been asking Sandhya to help me retrieve that blasted access point to blog again and wait for another stranger to tell me that I moved her too. Thereby inferring that I still had the moving potential.

And today at this specially anointed hour I have begun to pour forth all my thoughts both prosaic verse and verbose prose to ensure that I keep myself occupied in the leanest of my periods in my more than eventful corporate career that was...!

I promise to be around and address an imaginary audience. I am sure I have an assured viewership in my family. I take care of them well,

Ha Ha ...!!!