கற்றது கையளவு...

2011 California to Tennessee road trip

2011-07-08T02:14:00.025-07:00

19 May 2011:

Left San Jose at 8:30pm after bidding farewell to Jaya family, Vels, Haripriya and Vidya who came to send us off. Stayed at Biju's home after a nice dinner at Denny's. My choice tonight- Apple Cranberry salad. I guess we'll be eating more at Denny's over the next 2 weeks.

20 May:
Divya prepared a delicious Semiya upma for breakfast. We left Concord at 11am, shopped for some fruits and vegetables at a nearby Mexican stall and continued our road trip. We took an exit near Reno for lunch at Taco bell. Weather was warm and pleasant.
As we entered Nevada and crossed Reno, it was quite nostalgic. This is one of the places that we visited in our first US trip. We drove through snow-clad mountains and then the desert. Nevada has casinos everywhere, especially near the state boundaries. We stayed at Days Inn (Rent $63) at Elko, NV - The heart of Northeast Nevada. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. We went at closing time, so got a "To go" of fried rice, spring rolls and wanton chips. We also had Avocado that we bought at Concord, CA.

21 May:
We woke up at 8:20 and after yoga practices, had oatmeal for breakfast. We had lunch at a Thai restaurant at Twin falls, ID. The waitress was very friendly with the small town attitude.
We had Panang and red curries with rice. We then spent some time at Twin falls that had a beautiful canyon with a wonderful falls view. Back in the car for the scenic drive towards Yellowstone national park. Instead of the south entrance as planned earlier, we decided to drive to the West entrance. Entered Montana and stayed at Evergreen motel at West Yellostone(rent $59).

NOTICED WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAYS at 70 mph :-(
So many flies are killed as we drive fast on highways. The front glass is smashed with blood and body fluids of these flies that crashed on our car. Is this why the ancient Hindus(as per Vedas) refused to create airplanes though they had the technology to do it. We don't see these insects as we drive past them, but hundreds of these flies are killed for our need to drive fast. In most ways, our current way of life is not doing any good to Mother Earth. However, even as we walk, we kill, so what is the difference. I don't know :-(

22 May:
Checked out of the hotel at 11am. The receptionist suggested the 'Running Bear Pancake house' for brunch. I had two pancakes(peach, walnut, blueberry topping) and Narayan had omlette. My pancakes were so big, Narayan had to pitch in to finish it off. It's the best pancake I've ever had. IHOP is nothing compared to this. It was fresh, soft and delicious.
We then drove into Yellowstone through the west entrance and finished the south loop today.

Just as we were walking towards 'Old Faithful Geyser', it started erupting. It was a sight to behold forever. We would have had to wait another 90 minutes if we had missed this. The whole day, we saw geysers, hot springs and fumaroles in different sizes and shapes. The smell of sulphuric acid(rotten egg smell) was too strong in some places.

We saw colonies of extremophiles - organisms that live in extreme conditions, generally considered unsuitable for most living beings on Earth.
Thermophiles are organisms that live in extreme heat. There were too many of them in these geysers and springs. They were in different colors and they live in large groups that give a multi-coloured mat appearance.
Thermoacidophiles - Organisms that love both heat and acidic environment. Hydrogen sulphide emanates from the Earth's crust and on contacting water in the Springs, turns to sulphuric acid and this is what becomes home to these millions of thermoacidophiles.

We saw bisons, elk and an wolf on the road as we were driving through the park. It was exciting to see them in wild. We stayed at Yellowstone River motel (rent -$69) at Gardiner - a small city at the North entrance.

23 May:
After a fresh Subway sandwich for breakfast, we headed towards the Mammoth Hot springs. We went for a 1.5 mile walk around the spring. The spring was so massive and beautiful. It was quite hot throughout the walk and we were tired after this short walk. This is where we saw fumaroles in the parking lot too.

We then went to the Norris Geyser basin. This was unimaginably amazing. Too many thermal areas - looked like a graveyard with smoke everywhere. We walked over the boardwalk through these thermal areas. This is a very unstable area and a geyser could erupt any moment. Any thermal activity is possible in unexpected places. This unexpected nature brought silence into me. The Earth and my Life - so Fragile!!!

We then drove to the Canyon village - we went to both the North and south rims. The view at south rim was great. It's called that Artist's point - a challenge for artists to capture the too many colours and hues on the canyon. The different colors are a result of the different minerals on these canyons.
One of the most amazing places I loved here is the frozen lake. The lake that vanished in the movie 2012, was frozen at this time of the year. There were fumaroles in this lake and those were the only places where we could see water, it was frozen otherwise. We exited the park thorugh the east entrance which was closed during the day for maintenance work. They were supposed to open at 8pm, but they opened at 8:40pm only. There was a long line of cars. The drive towards Cody, the nearest city was very scenic. We were driving along the lake for a long time and then it was snow all over. We even crossed areas where there was an Avalanche warning(at about 8700 feet above sea level). We reached Cody by 10:20pm and stayed at the Big bear Motel(rent $52).

24 May
Had pizza at a nearby Pizza hut and started our drive towards Mt.Rushmore, South Dakota. Earlier, we were debating whether to go to Kansas or South Dakota. If Babu had been around, we would have gone to Kansas. The drive was very scenic - canyons, trees, snow, drove through a pass that was at 9600 ft. There was lots of snow. Saw many ski resorts along the way. It was fun and interesting to drive without any planning. Everyday, all we wanted to do was start the day with yoga practices and and then drive towards Kentucky - seeing some places along the way.

25 May

Mount Rushmore - it was amazing to see the sculpture on the big mountain. Walked through the President trail, rather rushed through since Narayanan wanted to go to the Missile museum. Since we couldn't make it on time to the museum, we went to a missile launch site where a 'Minuteman II missile' was on exhibit. During the cold war, this was the launch site for this missile. Hundreds of such missiles were setup all over South Dakota. The missile has a hydrogen bomb that is 100 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima. These missiles were not used, but their presence stopped USSR from attacking US. The missile was capable of hitting Moscow within 30 minutes of launching. It would fly over the North Pole. I shivered realizing the amount of destruction humanity is capable of bringing onto itself.
We then continued driving to Mitchell, SD. We drove through the Prairie grasslands - grasslands as far as the eye can see. We stayed at Thunderbird lodge at Mitchell, SD.

As we were driving on the highway, just before Mitchell, we saw a cop's car and both of us looked at him. All along this drive, we saw very few cars on the highway. So when we saw the cop, we thought he might follow us. First we did not see him, but after a minute or so, he was just behind us. He then came to our blind-spot. After a while, he came to our side and looked at us and then went back again. It was interesting to see how he checked us out without even stopping our car. He must have checked our car registration number on the move itself.

26 May:
We met an elderly couple at breakfast at the hotel. They told us about the corn palace and few other places that we can see in Iowa. We kept bumping into each other at the Corn palace. Just like in rural India, these people also spoke very slowly and patiently.
At first sight, we were disappointed at the Corn palace because there was very little corn and some parts of the wall was painted. Also only the front and south side of the building had corn murals. Later we learnt that due to the Fire code, they couldn't put corn all over. All the corn murals were atleast 6 feet above the ground level. We took a short tour of the palace. We saw beautiful corn murals inside. The corn is replaced every 10 years in these murals. The design of these murals are not changed like the ones outside the palace, which are changed every year. The mural design usually begins in June when the first corn is harvested. By August, all types of corn are harvested and the mural is completed then. The idea of corn palace begun just to show to the rest of the country that corn grows in abundance in this state. It was a tactic used by the locals to invite more people to move to their state which was considered uninhabitable by most others.

We then continued our drive and wondered where to have our lunch. That day, I longed to eat Indian food to celebrate our one week on the road. Luckily found one on our way. We had buffet lunch at "Shahi Palace - India Grill" at Sioux Falls, SD. Decent taste, but very limited items.

Narayanan wanted to see the corn fields in Iowa and was excited as we entered the state. But the crop was just a few inches tall. We did drive through miles and miles of corn fields which was beautiful.

The couple we met earlier at breakfast also suggested a place called 'Grotto of the Redemption' - a marvelous building decorated completely with gems and precious stones. This is in a small village called 'West Bend' in Iowa. As we entered West Bend, we saw huge corn elevators where corn is cleaned and stored after harvest. As we reached the Grotto, we were dumbstruck. This village looked too small to have one of the best sight-seeing spots in Iowa. The Grotto is famous, but due to the remoteness off the village, it does not get a lot of visitors.
The Grotto was designed by a Catholic Priest who came from Germany to this little village's church. When he was young, he fell sick once and he promised Mother Mary that he will build a temple for her if he recovered. This place is to keep up that promise.
Many Jesus stories were depicted using beautiful stones - stones from all over US and a few from India, China, Mexico and other countries. There was a 2000lb stalactite from a Mexican cave(which is now a protected national park in Mexico). I was amazed at the kind of stones that were used there.
After this, we drove to Cedar Rapids, Iowa where we stayed at Days Inn(rent $55) for the night. This would be our last hotel stay in this road trip.

27 May
Narayan was excited to make his own waffle at the complimentary continental breakfast at the hotel. Fresh made waffles are way better than the frozen ones that I'm used to. We then hit the pedals again on our 8 hour drive to Vandhana's home in Louisville, KY. On the way, we first stopped at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Museum. It was interesting to read about Hoover - especially a lot of positive aspects. We also saw childhood pictures, letters of other presidents. I'm glad we visited atleast one President's museum before leaving USA.
We then stopped at the 'largest truck stop' in the world - 'IOWA 80' on highway 80. There was a trucking museum there and we saw many old trucks and old gas pumps. We then crossed Illinois, Indianapolis and reached Vandhana's home by 12midnight.

28 May
Relaxed and had a wonderful time at Vandhana's home. We bought an outdoor inflatable water pool for Rohan and we could see Satish getting worried about the extra work. Nevertheless, we were quite sure that Rohan will love this pool. Had home made food after a very long time :-)

29 May
We were supposed to leave for Tennessee today, but decided to spend one more day with Vandhana and help her with dress shopping. Narayan cleaned our car and got it ready for it's new owners.
Rohan had a wonderful time in the inflated pool. Luckily the sun was out today, so he had fun.

30 May
We left Vandhana's home at 9:30am and drove towards Mammoth Caves national park in Kentucky - the last national park in this trip. We had to wait for 2 hours to get on a tour since it was a long weekend. Meanwhile, we had a veggie wrap and brownie with ice cream :)
The 2 hour 'Historic tour' at the park took us through the mammoth caves - it was magnificent, huge and long.At one point the ranger switched off the lights and we were in complete darkness. COMPLETE DARK!!! I loved those few moments when I couldn't see anything, I felt so merged with the darkness. There was no way our eyes could get adjusted to that darkness because there was absolutely no light.
We then continued our drive to Isha Institute of Inner Science, Tennessee.

After 3300 miles cross country road trip :-)

We used iPhone heavily in this trip - to find routes, hotels, restaurants. We would also yelp and get reviews before going to any place. It felt like a perfectly planned trip, while the truth is we only planned to go to Yellowstone park, Vandhana's home and iii.
Every evening, as we drive, we would wait to get to a place where there is good phone signal. Then we would call a few selected hotels (based on reviews) and check out the rates and availability. We used google maps to find the cities on the way.

One more decision we took at the beginning of the trip was to not attend calls from anyone. We called our parents twice during the trip to let them know we were safe. I stayed away from emails too :-)

1 Jun
All the residents and visitors at the ashram had a surprise meeting with Sadhguru - What a wonderful way to spend our last evening in USA. I'm so glad we decided to leave from iii.

2 Jun
Morning, we were told that the shrine is now open to all and we were going to be the first visitors. There were 4 or 5 other meditators who joined us for the shrine visit. We spent 30 minutes inside the shrine. As always, I have no words to explain how I felt in there. I remember all the precious moments I have spent in this room and I was so happy to spend this time there before leaving USA.
Jagga drove us to Manchester from where we took the airport shuttle to Nashville.

Bye Bye America !!!

More people, more money, more consumption, but the same planet

2011-02-22T13:21:00.002-07:00

A growing, more affluent population competing for ever scarcer resources could make for an "unrecognizable" world by 2050, researchers warned at a major US science conference Sunday.
The United Nations has predicted the global population will reach seven billion this year, and climb to nine billion by 2050, "with almost all of the growth occurring in poor countries, particularly Africa and South Asia," said John Bongaarts of the non-profit Population Council.
To feed all those mouths, "we will need to produce as much food in the next 40 years as we have in the last 8,000," said Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
"By 2050 we will not have a planet left that is recognizable" if current trends continue, Clay said.
The swelling population will exacerbate problems, such as resource depletion, said John Casterline, director of the Initiative in Population Research at Ohio State University.
But incomes are also expected to rise over the next 40 years -- tripling globally and quintupling in developing nations -- and add more strain to global food supplies.
People tend to move up the food chain as their incomes rise, consuming more meat than they might have when they made less money, the experts said.
It takes around seven pounds (3.4 kilograms) of grain to produce a pound of meat, and around three to four pounds of grain to produce a pound of cheese or eggs, experts told AFP.
"More people, more money, more consumption, but the same planet," Clay told AFP, urging scientists and governments to start making changes now to how food is produced.
Population experts, meanwhile, called for more funding for family planning programs to help control the growth in the number of humans, especially in developing nations.
"For 20 years, there's been very little investment in family planning, but there's a return of interest now, partly because of the environmental factors like global warming and food prices," said Bongaarts.
"We want to minimize population growth, and the only viable way to do that is through more effective family planning," said Casterline.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110220/ts_afp/scienceuspopulationfood

Ananda Alai in Tamilnadu

2011-01-06T10:11:00.002-07:00

Seeing the tears and joy in thousands of people all over Tamilnadu, I cannot stop the tears in my eyes. Anandam...Anandam...Anandam

http://www.ishafoundation.org/public/Anandha-Alai-2011-Photo-Gallery/#

Sadhguru........

2010-11-20T16:10:00.006-07:00

Lights vs human ratio

2010-11-14T19:44:00.004-07:00

As I was flying from Seattle to San Jose yesterday, I was looking at the night lights in the cities and highways. Could it be possible that there are more lights than humans in this country?
Even at home, we keep the lights switched on, in most of the rooms after it gets dark. I'm now sitting in my living room, there are 2 lights here and one in our aquarium. 3 lights for one person:-(
We are taught from childhood not to keep the house dark. I've seen homes where all the rooms are lighted until everyone hits the bed. There are homes where they leave one or two lights switched on even if they go on vacation for 2 months (hoping that thieves wouldn't eye their home).
So much for the fear of Darkness and for security.
Reminds me of a news article i read recently about a cruise near San Diego where the ship went without power for 3 days. On the first day, there was this couple who slept for 24 hours because they didn't know what to do without power. And..they were just married.

What have they done to milk?

2010-11-10T16:57:00.003-07:00

I have been seeing this "half & half" in the dairy section. After all these years, I decided to figure out what exactly it is. It's supposed to be half milk and half cream. It's not palatable as it is, but used as a creamer in coffee and in ice creams. Here's an interesting article from CBS News. The last line gives a nice punch :)

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/03/60minutes/rooney/main1007432.shtml

The milk we get from cows has always had a special standing among the foods we eat. Mothers are always saying to kids, "Drink your milk."

So what in the world have they done to this simple and basic food? I'll bet a calf wouldn't drink most of the stuff called milk now sold in cartons. You can’t tell some of it from Diet Coke.

The companies that sell milk are upset because people are drinking less milk then they used to and they don't know why. Has it ever occurred to them that people aren't drinking it because milk isn't as good as it used to be?

Rooney picked up some cartons at the milk section of a grocery store: Lowfat Milk, Fat Free Milk, 2 Percent Reduced Fat Milk, Skim Milk.

Before milk was homogenized - that's mixing the cream in with the milk - cream came to the top of your milk bottle. If they took the cream off the top, they skimmed it off. What this ought to be called is not "Skim Milk" but "Skimmed Milk."

Saturated fats are bad for our arteries. We all know that, but do you know how much fat milk has in it as it comes from a cow? About 3.2 percent. So 2 percent is no big reduction.

I like half and half on my shredded wheat but when I say "half and half," I mean half milk and half cream. I bought some half and half the other day and I didn't like the taste so I looked at the label to see what it was half of and what the other half was. Listen to these ingredients: "Nonfat milk, milk, corn syrup solids, artificial color, sugar, dipotassium phosphate, sodium citrate mono, and diglycerides, carrageenan, natural and artificial flavors, vitamin A palmitate". This is half and half? It's not half anything I want and it has nothing to do with something as good as milk.

Three and a half percent is what they call Whole Milk. Why don't they just call it milk? Some of this other stuff tastes more like whole water.

They all like to use the words "farm" or "dairy" on their cartons.

One came from Farmland Dairies in Wallington, N.J. We went to Wallington looking for a dairy farm. The address was 520 Main Avenue. At the "farm," there was no cow in sight.

My suggestion, if they want to sell more milk, is that they go back to selling what comes out of a cow.

Rajesh Durbal - Live Free, Live Amazingly

2010-11-03T12:52:00.004-07:00

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/The_inspirational_Rajesh_Durbal_1771.html

ST: Tell us about your mantra and what other people might take away from it.

Rajesh: “LIVE FREE” “Live Amazingly” That came about, crying in pain while running in the rain, on my walking legs training up for my first Olympic triathlon last year. I was faced with many obstacles that tried to hold me down, and no one around to help me and all I had was my faith and prayer. I kept on praying wanting to be free from the chains that hold me down – small and large. I wanted to be free, and then Live Free was born.

Live Free, doesn’t mean you have to be physically challenge. It’s for everyone. Everyone can relate to a struggle they are dealing with in their life.

Live Amazingly, came from living life with purpose - Striving to live an Amazing life everyday. Amazing is not the mountain tops we look for. Amazing is seeing beauty and peace with simple things in life, knowing your purpose here is larger than a mountain top.

What's time for a pig?

2010-11-02T11:47:00.006-07:00

There was once a man from the city who was visiting a small farm, and during this visit he saw a farmer feeding pigs in a most extraordinary manner. The farmer would lift a pig up to a nearby apple tree, and the pig would eat the apples off the tree directly.

The farmer would move the pig from one apple to another until the pig was satisfied, then he would start again with another pig.
The city man watched this activity for some time with great astonishment. Finally, he could not resist saying to the farmer, "This is the most inefficient method of feeding pigs that I can imagine. Just think of the time that would be saved if you simply shook the apples off the tree and let the pigs eat them from the ground!"
The farmer looked puzzled and replied, "What's time to a pig?"

Source: http://www.whatstimeforapig.com/2010/10/whats-time-to-pig.html

Skydiving at Monterey Bay

2010-11-01T21:20:00.006-07:00

Finally....after a 9 year loooooong wait, Oct 31, 2010 was the day. I was so thrilled from the previous day, as soon as I registered, though I was a little upset that my husband didn't want to join me.

We(3 friends came along) reached the skydiving center by 8am, though our appointment was at 9:30 only. We finished all the paper procedures - signed almost 20 papers, maybe around 40 signatures. I should have had a good breakfast, instead of 2 hawaiian bread rolls, because by the time we got onto the flight it was almost 12noon.

There was not a single moment where I had a second thought about diving from the sky. I think I've waited too long, now only desperation remains. For a moment, I considered going for the 15000 feet jump, instead of 18000 feet - to save $60. I'm glad I decided to go for the 18K(4 miles), that gives an extra 30 seconds freefall. The freefall would now last 90 seconds and then we would parachute down to the land.

We went to the landing ground and waited for the 1st 2 groups to finish the jumps. As we were watching the 2nd group's flight take off, we saw the flight slowly vanishing into the sky - giving us a glimpse of how far we would go. We couldn't see the jumpers until they opened the parachutes and I loved to see how beautifully they flew around before landing gracefully on the land. My excitement started to grow.

My instructor(a man in his 50s or 60s) jumped twice before he took the flight with me. I wore the harness that would connect me to the instructor and got onto the flight. The cameraman beautifully captured all the moments, even as I was walking to the flight. I was eager to get all the instructions correct, that I didn't have time to be afraid or excited. I wore my goggles and went to the door in a crouching position. I think staying in this position would give the instructor a better control while jumping out of the flight. Just as I jumped out of the flight, I was filled with joy and amazement. I was in complete awe. I was falling towards the earth at a speed of 120 mph(or maybe more). After a few seconds, the instructor deployed the drogue parachute(a very tiny parachute to slow the freefall speed), and asked me to open my hands.

The cameraman then floated around us and took many photos. I held his hand and all 3 of us floated together for a few seconds. It reminded me of the human chain formations in the sky that I used to watch in television when I was young. All of us were falling towards the earth, but it only felt like floating. I could feel the wind on my face, but it still felt like floating.

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY.....

The instructor then made us spin around for 3-4 times, though I really couldn't feel it when I was there. I realized this only when I saw the video later. Those 90 seconds of freefall was really amazing. The cameraman was always near us(I wonder how he managed to maneuver himself) and I kept smiling at his camera(you can see the result in the photos). Suddenly I realized that I'm really flying and then I looked at the land below. It was such an incredible feeling.

How many times I've looked at birds and wondered how it would be to fly like them. Here I was, flying(actually falling.....LOL) high up in the sky, I just can't find words to describe how ecstatic I was.

The instructor kept a watch on the altimeter(measures the altitude) and deployed the parachute. The moment he opened it, we were pulled upward (or maybe I felt so because of the sudden drop in speed, not sure) and then once the parachute opened completely, we started descending slowly. He then taught me how to operate the parachute. To move left, I had to pull the left side strap(attached to the parachute strings) towards my shoulder. To move fast, I had to pull it to my hip. When I pulled it to my hip, the parachute actually tilted and it gave us a beautiful spin on the left side. The instructor then took control of the parachute.

After the freefall, this slow descending seemed dull and boring. This was the time for me to enjoy the "bird's eye view" of Monterey Bay area.

As we came down, the instructor taught me how to make a smooth landing. I landed correctly in a sitting position. When he asked me to get up, I couldn't because I was laughing like crazy. I was laughing for another 3-4 minutes. It's an incredible feeling to fall from a flight and fly like a bird.

I'm glad I was not afraid even for a single moment, that would have ruined this whole experience. I am grateful to the instructor who takes such a huge risk with beginners like me. The cameraman also did wonderful in capturing these moments - worth the extra money for video and photo shoot($89).

When I was young, I never dreamed of flying in an airplane, forget about diving from it. Life always has its surprises and I love it.

Life is Beautiful!!

3 months after Anaadhi

2010-10-27T16:41:00.005-07:00

It has taken 3 months for me to even grasp a little of what's happening after Anaadhi.

After Anaadhi, I traveled to India and Singapore - 2 months of pure family time. In the last one month, I had a lot of time to myself.

Everything seems unimportant. Except for one instance of extreme anger, my emotions are not intense. Even when I was angry and expressing it,I could see the whole thing as a movie - happening outside of me. There were a few days when I was bursting with Devotion. Mostly I feel blissful and untouched by external situations.

I used to be a determined, hard-working person. Both these qualities don't seem to define me anymore. I used to feel guilty very easily. Even that doesn't happen nowadays. Before Anaadhi, if I skipped my practices, I would beat myself up and feel so guilty. Not anymore. I know very clearly that I need to do my practice, but I don't feel bad for missing. I know that I'm not the doing the correct thing, but no determination or guilt helps me to do my practice. The realization of what has been offered to me is what makes me do the practices. The more aware I am, the more connected I'm with nature (especially the Sun), the better it is, for my practices.

I'm not a nice person now. I've always tried to be nice with people regardless of how I feel deep inside, but not anymore. The truth is just blurting out of my mouth in a confident tone (might look aggressive to some people).

So everything that's defined who I am is not "me" anymore. So I get confused. However, even this confusion does not worry me.

Yesterday I realized what this could mean. Have I become a clean slate? Of course, there are many more qualities that still define who I am, but the moment I am aware of that, I lose that quality. As I write this, I don't know even if this is true. I feel like I can now be defined using certain terms(subtle qualities) that were never 'me'.

All of my qualities that were deep rooted are not strong anymore.

What does all this mean? What should I do in this life? How should I be? Confusion suddenly led to a realization that this is how I can create my life the way I want it. Rather I should now be able to face Life "as it is".

Just go with the flow of the river that is LIFE. Be like water that takes the shape of the vessel in which it is contained.
I have not done anything to be like this. Sadhguru has led me to this point, holding my finger and gently guiding me. There were times when he had to drag me along as I struggled with all that is "me".

Oh Shiva! I'm so blissed out with your GRACE. This insignificant person that I am, I have no way to express my gratitude, because nothing is close enough to how I feel.

SHAMBHO!

அழகி - திரைப்படம்

2010-10-22T16:16:00.001-07:00

வறுமை வலிக்கிறது
அந்த வறுமையிலும் பகிர்ந்து உண்ணும் மனம்
நெகிழ வைத்தது

Devotion

2010-10-14T15:13:00.002-07:00

When I was young, I tried to be devotional. My grandmother taught me devotional songs and how to pray. It was nice, but it wasn't true. I think I only "tried" to be devotional.

Now I tasted and experienced Devotion in such a beautiful way. Devotion is just a feeling like "Love" or "Anger". It's how I feel within and is not oriented towards anyone or any object, just like Love.

When I'm loving, I love everyone around me. When I'm devotional, I feel devoted to everything around me - no wonder we are capable of worshiping a tree, animal or even a pebble.

pre-Anaadhi

2010-08-11T15:19:00.005-07:00

From a dear friend - beautiful birthday gift :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a certain conviction it takes
straight to be with life
to traverse the depths
of seemingly simple surfaces
painful it is, a lot of times
worthless it seems, many a time
to stick on in the thick of temptation
it does take a lot
that conviction you earned this life,
may you know it to its depths
the time is ripe
the guide is wise
into the ninety day cocoon
a very timely birthday gift
a little less thought
and you are all set for the ride
another year just rolled off
but the realm of the timeless cares less!

எப்படியோ...நல்லது நடந்தால் சரி

2010-04-08T12:11:00.005-07:00

Old man said "I don't have any children. I don't have any other commitment. So I can dedicate my life to do something good for this society"
Young man said "I want to dedicate my life to do something good for this society. So I won't have any children or create any new commitments in life"

Irony

2010-03-12T15:04:00.005-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8557215.stm

What an irony - KSBC is opening hospitals specialising in treating alcohol-related problems. So you first market alcohol, get people drunk and then open hospitals to fix problems - now this will be the non-profit venture of this corporation.

Reminds me of a conversation with a friend. I was listening to a radio show where the host was interviewing a Pastor who is helping gangsters come out of their gangs and lead a better life. One service that he offers is tattoo removal. My friend commented "Interesting, first you open a tattoo business, attract gangsters and tattoo all over their body. Then start another business for tattoo removal". I felt bad when he said that because I really appreciated the efforts of this Pastor. When you look at the society as a whole, yes, it might look as though you create problems in one side and then fix it - all the while making money.

Watching a live basketball game

2010-03-12T13:05:00.003-07:00

I was at the Oracle Arena last night to watch a basketball game between Warriors and Blazers. This is my first time in a basketball court. I've watched 2 baseball games, but other than that, I've never been to any games. I enjoyed the game, but more than that I enjoyed watching the spectators(not all of them looked like fans).
In the first half, I was surprised to see that people were not very excited about the game. Some of them looked like they didn't have anything better to do on a Thursday evening, so decided to come here. They didn't seem much interested in the game. However, this changed in the 2nd half - one small group of Blazers fans were making lot of noise. So the whole stadium started making noise supporting the Home team.
During the break, I noticed that balloons were distributed to fans in one section. These people were sitting right behind one basket. Later I realized that this was a deliberate move to distract the Blazers from scoring points. Whenever, the Blazers team were trying to score a point, the fans would wave the balloons to distract the player.
Also, the music that was played when the teams tried to score was different - a motivating cheering music for the Home team and a boring drum beat for the Blazers.
When the home team got a 3-pointer, it was flashed on the screen, but when the visiting team scored a 3-pointer, nothing happened, just their score was updated.

All this was really shocking to me, I was fine with the fans supporting their home team, but the whole environment was against the Blazers. It was funny though when I realized what they were doing.

Cheerleaders, dancing girls, the Flying Warriors(who jumped on a trampoline, did some acrobatics before throwing the ball into the basket) and some clown like people entertained the fans during breaks. There were free t-shirts, pizzas, sandwiches and other gifts that were thrown randomly to fans who made the biggest noise.

The game as such was good - Warriors were in the lead mostly, but towards the end lost by 5 points. It was a good experience on the whole :)

Love between husband and wife

2010-03-01T14:25:00.002-07:00

When I got married, I was so against the rituals and thali and everything else, because no one gave me any acceptable explanations. When I saw wives wearing 'thali', but in an unhappy marriage, I was only confused. Here, I finally realize that there is a meaning to it, though it's not done properly these days :-(

And what an amazing explanation on the relationship - especially how to handle it when the chemicals stop working :-)

Tuktastic

2010-02-19T12:02:00.004-07:00

நம்ம ஊரு ரொம்ப முன்னேரிடிச்சு
http://tuktastic.com/

Running barefoot

2010-01-16T17:14:00.003-07:00

http://barefootted.com/uploaded_images/FooterRunning072209-735560.jpg

Flight travel when sick

2009-12-10T15:38:00.005-07:00

This is interesting. See where technology has taken us. If you are sick with high temperature, you cannot hide it from the airport authorities anymore.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1946595_2010916,00.html

Ghosts in the Machine
A thermal scanner shows the heat signatures of passengers arriving at Seoul's Incheon Airport. Such devices were deployed in the spring to help prevent the spread of swine flu.

Sunitha Krishnan's fight against sex slavery

2009-12-08T12:10:00.001-07:00

As Sunitha says, it has become a fashion to discuss topics like this. It feels good and correct to help these victims by giving money, but what is required is accepting them in our lives.

Silence within

2009-12-07T12:40:00.007-07:00

SILENCE - brings in more clarity and patience too. When I don't react to external situations immediately and just watch it all silently...wow!! it's such a wonderful way to handle life.

Over the last one month or so, I've been having issues at work. My bad health and the fact that I'm staying away from my team complicated it further. I just wanted to quit my job. Then I decided to be silent and not think about this for a while. One week - I just didn't react to any situation at work. I just did what had to be done. I just took my life as it came without thinking a lot. It was difficult in the beginning, but slowly after 2 days, I noticed that my mind started to calm down. And today, I handled all the situations very smoothly.

Thanks to Suresh, I came across this article today. It's wonderful when we can make this a reality.
http://www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2005/March/feature3.htm

TED Talks - Beau Lotto: Optical illusions show how we see

2009-11-04T17:39:00.004-07:00

This talk was so powerful, especially when I read Beau's detailed explanation here. Here's the piece that I loved to know

For instance, while looking at one of my color illusions (say the multicolored cube) you're aware of one reality: that two tiles look very different, while simultaneously being aware of an opposite reality: that the two tiles are in fact physically the same.

This capacity to be an observer of yourself is phenomenal and possibly unique to humans. Indeed, to literally "see yourself see" is in my view the principal act of consciousness, which has the power to transform one's view of the world and of oneself.

The importance of the above observations stemming from my own work and that of others transcend neuroscience. They show us in an explicit (and I hope engaging) way that our senses are not "fragile," as many would have you believe.

They show us instead that we are not outside observers of nature defined in isolation. We are instead indivisible from nature, defined by the trial and error process of interaction, a process in which we can choose to become active agents (but too often choose not to).

Understanding this point is I believe critical to personal and social well-being, since the typical barrier to a deeper insight into oneself and others is the overriding, but necessarily false impression that what "I" see, what "I" hear and what "I" know is the world as it really is.

But, by "seeing yourself see," in other words by actively exploring how your thoughts, feelings, beliefs and even the colors you see reflect your physical, social and cultural ecology, only then is it possible to understand the source of coherence and conflict within and between individuals.

Put another way, only by accepting my own humanity can I accept the humanity of others. "Seeing myself see" creates the opportunity for this acceptance. Illusions, then, were not the point of my talk, but simply a tool for encouraging this process.

Resolving uncertainty is essential to our survival. Hence our fear of ambiguous situations is palpable -- e.g., the inability to resolve sensory conflict between the eyes and ears can result in nausea (like seasickness). And yet it is only by embracing the unknown within education, science, art and most importantly within our own private lives that we will find new routes to more enlightened ways of seeing and being.

Thus, courage not confidence is at the heart of this process of actively redefining normality, which is the route to compassion and creativity.

TED Talks - SixthSense

2009-11-04T17:29:00.004-07:00

Demo of SixthSense - a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment, enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data.

When I looked at the guy whose name and other details were projected on him, I was thinking about interviews. A face-to-face interview will have more meaning then :-)

Melting Himalayan glaciers

2009-10-05T14:08:00.004-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/10/05/himalayas.glacier.conflict/index.html

It's alarming to know that Ganges will become a seasonal river. 25 years is not too long..most of us might live to see this day. Imagine India like Darfur - scary !!!

We can do something about this, it's already too late to reverse the glacier meltdown, but we can atleast stop worsening the current global environmental situation. Consume less(water, electricity and everything else) only to the extent of what is required for our lives, avoid using plastic bags, let us build 'mazhai neer thotti' in our homes, plant trees and above all let us stop thinking just along economic status and realize that there's much more to our lives and this world. It's important to earn money for ourselves and our children and also give a good education to our kids, but we are forgetting what is more important - to leave them with enough land, air and water for the rest of their lives. We are not even talking about our grandchildren. The next generation is going to be impacted.

When we look at the magnanimity of the problem, it's so easy to say that we can't do anything about this and call it as FATE. It takes tremendous courage and will-power to take this situation in each of our hands and do what little we can, to make the situation better. First of all, we should be aware of this happening around us, DENIAL is the biggest sin. Once we acknowledge that this is happening, then we can do what is required to change or fix this. There are a lot of people and organizations who are working to make this better, let's see how we can help them. Atleast we should be able to do the minimal things by looking at our lifestyle and making slight changes that will cause less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Let us spread the awareness first. Read about the latest scientific developments and keep yourself informed.

Society's rules - sky is the limit :(

2009-08-27T12:05:00.004-07:00

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-comedian-mother-in-law,0,2777028.story

Comedian Daughter-in-law sued by mother-in-law for making jokes on her.

Here's something that shocks me more...
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/08/27/howard.bestbuy.firings/index.html

Best Buy fires its employees after they tried to stop a shoplifter. It hurts more when I understand why Best Buy has such a policy. No company wants to deal with a situation where the armed shoplifter starts shooting other shoppers. Also, there is a possibility that the employee who chased the thief gets hurt and then later demands compensation from the company for getting injured while at work. Now, these are just possibilities and companies don't want to leave such options open. So they just fired two employees who acted on their instincts.
The company does not worry about the items that were stolen because insurance companies will pay for it. Huh...insurance companies - that's a whole different sad story.

So where is our society going? We are controlled by too many things and we only talk freedom. We are not even allowed to take responsibility for what is happening around us. I am atleast happy that there is a law to protect 'Good samaritans' - who try to save someone in a life threatening situation. Otherwise, people may not even come forward to help someone whose life is in danger.

Green Tirupur Movement

2009-08-19T11:19:00.010-07:00

Green Tirupur Movement - click here for details

If you know Tirupur you know how badly the environment has deteriorated there(sadly, as in most places of the world). Green Tirupur movement was started by the citizens of Tirupur with Project Green hands(an Isha Foundation initiative). Please click the link above to see how these people have taken a wonderful step to change their environment before this city gets plagued by diseases and famine. It'll be great to see more cities and countries joining the band wagon.

Please share this news with everyone you know, especially children. Children should know about such people-led initiatives so they grow up knowing that people do care about the world. They will also learn to appreciate these efforts and care for the environment as they grow up in a 1.7 billion people country(by 2050, that'll be India's population).

Firefox extension for Verizon minutes used

2009-07-15T15:20:00.003-07:00

For people like me who tend to overuse the verizon minutes, here's a very useful firefox extension
http://verizon-minutes-used.blogspot.com/

One thing that I like the most is the 'Projection for the month'

Confusion Unlimited

2009-07-01T14:05:00.004-07:00

Just 2 days ago, I had this deep urge to pen down what I was feeling inside. I struggled and kept staring at the blank screen. I came up with something in English and then switched over to Tamil, but just couldn't get it right. Then I was going thru the orkut Isha group and saw this poem. Oh my!! How wonderfully this brought out all that was happening inside me. For me this is not a poem on Sadhguru, it's about all the stupid stuff that goes on within me, hence the title. Now, here's Selva's contribution(sorry, I neither know who he is, nor have his contact details).

Poem on Sadhguru

Here is a poem on my guru who is a mix of red, green and blue:

Jaggi, the only one!

He, the only one, who guides me from one to zero and zero to one,
He, the only one, who is the mix of the moon and the sun,
He makes me realize, that I am in everything,
He makes me realize, that I am a nothing.
Unable to understand the logic of his.
All this being wants to know is bliss, bliss and bliss.
He says" I shall take you from the limited to the unlimited!"
All this brings in me is "Confusion Unlimited!"
In his presence, I am both happy and sad.
To experience a glimpse of god in him, I am very glad.
With him, I feel that I am both in hell and in heaven
I also realize that neither am I in hell nor in heaven.
When will all this confusion go?, that I do not know.
All that I want is to know, to know and to know

What am I missing here?

2009-06-12T15:00:00.005-07:00

In the last few months, I've been so busy in life, inspite of the fact that I didn't have a job. Usually, my life is such that weekends are so unplanned, but still those 2 days have always been hectic. Similarly, these past few days when I didn't have a defined 'day schedule', I kept myself so busy with Isha activities, cooking and friends. I can't believe I spent these few months without a television, browsing & blogging, books (that's a great surprise) and friendly calls.
The kind of activities I was involved in are so different from what I've ever done in my life. Procrastination was something that got out of my dictionary. There was no activity that I refused to do and no person that I refused to meet/talk to. I woke up everyday with so much energy and went about taking care of my To Do list. So much to do, but still not a moment was tiring. How can this be?
When some of my friends asked about missing blog updates, I realized that I was feeling so empty within and didn't have anything to blog. I don't remember ever feeling this empty.

Now that I've started working in a corporation again, life seems so different(and there comes the need to blog). It's a struggle to keep myself bubbling with energy throughout the day. What am I missing here?

In the Company of the Enlightened

2009-04-29T14:23:00.003-07:00

http://soulofthecities.net/2009/04/the-enlightened/

அன்புள்ள ரம்யா பிறந்தநாள் வாழ்த்துக்கள்

2009-04-28T09:22:00.001-07:00

அம்மாவின் அன்பு மாறாமல் இருக்கும்
அப்பாவின் நேசம் பிறழாமல் நிற்கும்
சகோதரிகளின் பாசம் வற்றாமல் நிலைக்கும்
துணைவரின் காதல் சிதறாமல் கிடைக்கும்

கௌதம் தரும் உவப்பும் மின்னலின் சிரிப்பும்
கண்களில் உற்சாகத்தை ஊட்டும்(kaattum)
நல்ல நண்பர்களின் நட்பு நலம்பெற வைக்கும்
உற்ற சுற்றத்தின் உறவு உவகை தரும்

வாழ்த்துக்களின் வலிமை வளமூட்டும்
வாழ்வதின் பொருள் வியப்பூட்டும்
சேவை உள்ளம் கொண்ட உந்தன் மலர்ச்சியே
தேவை எங்கள் அனைவருக்கும்

உந்தன் எண்ணத்தில் உறுதி கொண்டு
உள்ளம் பூரித்திட உயரிய வாழ்வு பெற்று
உன்னத லட்சியத்தினை குறைவின்றி
உலகில் நிச்சயமாய் நிறைவேற்றி

பிறந்த பயனை பிழையின்றி நடத்திட
பிறந்த நாளில் உளமார மனமார
உள்ளன்போடு வாழ்த்துகிறேன்
உன்னை/ வளமுடன் வாழ்க/

அன்புடன் லலிதா(அம்மா)

Volunteering

2009-04-21T14:48:00.001-07:00

Love and EGO

2009-03-17T21:20:00.002-07:00

Once upon a time there was an island, where all the feelings lived together.

One day there was a storm in the sea and the island was about to drown. Every feeling was scared but Love made a boat to escape. Every feeling boarded the boat. One feeling was left. Love got down to see who it was. It was EGO. Love tried and tried but ego wasn't moving also the water was rising.

Every one asked love to leave him and come in the boat, but love was made to love. At last all the feelings escape and Love dies with ego on the island.

Love Dies because of EGO.

Why eat meat?

2009-02-18T22:57:00.001-07:00

Almost 3 years of being a vegetarian(no dairy too), I know very well that it's the healthiest option. Cruelty to animals was not the reason why I chose to be a vegetarian, it's all about my health. Still, many people need a stronger reason to quit meat eating. Watch this video - if you are not that concerned about your health or the killing of animals, you will still not like what is shown in this video. You don't have to quit meat-eating, but you should know how our chickens, cows and pigs are treated before falling on to our plates. If you are weak-hearted, still you must see, because there is no point in running away from the truth - the truth of what we as human beings do, to other living beings on this "one and only Earth".

Teleportation

2009-01-30T12:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1874760,00.html?cnn=yes

How long are we going to remain blind to this?

2009-01-19T11:56:00.004-07:00

http://www.truthout.org/011109A

I have been reading a lot of reports like this. I have personally seen fertile lands being converted to industrial or residential areas in India. Some governments have started to take action, but not enough. We cannot wait for governments and world organizations to do something about it. If we don't do something now in our day to day life, then we will be hated by future generations. Let us stop believing that nothing bad will happen to us in our lifetime. Let us stop believing that this earth is capable of sustaining us forever.

It's time to take action. Let us do it now, since it's already late. We feel happy when we see a child. They will HATE us soon, if we don't take action now. Let us give them a sustainable world.

One possible solution:
http://www.projectgreenhands.org/

"THE" Question, Answered

2009-01-15T15:29:00.001-07:00

"What is the nature of my existence?"

Sadhguru's response – 'People ask the purpose of life when life is not going according to their way. Otherwise, life is so exuberant that if a person is living each moment to the fullest, this question does not even arise. Life is so enormous, that life itself can be treated as a purpose.'

Global Imbalance

2009-01-07T17:11:00.000-07:00

Eat, Pray, Love - by Elizabeth Gilbert

2008-12-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Eat in Italy
Pray in India
Love in Indonesia(Bali)

From the book: "Gilbert's aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature, set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well."

This book is a travel diary - a travel across nations and also deep within. Her language and writing style is very beautiful.

She amazingly explains her experience of getting in touch with the divine nature. After 'Autobiography of a Yogi' - this is one book that left me transformed in a very subtle way. When I read about how she meets her ex-husband in a different consciousness plane, tears started flowing down my eyes. It was not emotional, but something deep within me was touched. It was quite intense.

Check this site after reading the book
http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/faq.htm

பொன்னியின் செல்வன்

2008-12-30T13:10:00.001-07:00

பொன்னியின் செல்வன் பற்றி பேசிக் கொன்டிருக்கும் பொழுது, நன்பர் ஒருவர் இந்த தளம் பற்றி சொன்னார். பார்த்ததும் அசந்து விட்டேன். எத்தனை நூல்கள். நீங்களும் அனுபவியுங்கள்.

http://pm.tamil.net/akaram_uni.html

Isha Yoga - Inner Engineering

2008-12-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

http://v10vj.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-not-about-something-it-is-about.html

Any post I write about Isha yoga programme and my experience cannot be different from what Vijay has written - including the weight loss(20 pounds in my case) and backpain free part. Thank you, Vijay !!

J.K.Rowling's Harvard Speech

2008-12-16T14:24:00.001-07:00

The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

Interesting facts: Timezone

2008-12-16T13:54:00.001-07:00

Same longitude, but Kritimati is 1 day ahead of Honolulu
Honolulu(157° 51' 30" W) Tue 10:30 AM
Kritimati(157° 20' 0" W) Wed 10:30 AM

These 2 cities are along the same longitude, but there is a 2 hours difference
Chatham Island, NZ Wed 10:15 AM
Anadyr, Russia Wed 8:30 AM

More and more human beings on this earth

2008-11-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

Q: What is life? Why are we living this life? I don't understand.
A: Get married and have kids, you will not have the time to think about this question

After few years of getting married, the question remains...
Q: If you want, go ahead and adopt a baby, but you should also have a baby of your own.
A: If I adopt, that baby will be my own, why bear one more?

Q: You should have a baby of your own blood
A: As a matter of fact, it's highly likely that my baby won't even have my own blood group. So how can it be the same blood. I have donated blood few times..there are some people in this world who have my blood now and I don't even know them. They have my blood :-)

After some time....
Q: Why are you refusing to have a baby of your own? After marriage, everyone should have a baby, that's what the whole world is doing?
A: Just because the whole world is doing something, it need not be the correct thing for me. I do not feel the need to have a daughter or a son, so why should I give birth to a kid?

Q: You may not realize it now, maybe after 10 or 20 years, you will regret this decision
A: How can you be so sure? The reason why people go for children is because they think that it completes their life or because it's just a by-product of their relationship. I do not want a kid for either of these reasons. If I need a kid to make me feel complete, I will have one. But that's not the case. It's very inappropriate to say that a woman becomes a "complete woman" only after she bears a kid.

Q: Why are you so adamant? What is your problem? What is stopping you from having kids?
A: Imagine you are in a Apple farm given to you, just for you alone. You have enough apples to feed you for a lifetime. These trees were planted by someone else and you desire for something of your own. So you go about planting trees and wait for it to give you apples. You might feel happy. You will then start tending to these trees and forget the ones that were already there. Without any care and maintenance, those trees will perish. The apples from those trees would have been wasted. Isn't it foolish to create new ones when there is so much to take care of?

There is so much life on this earth that need care and love. Why create a new one?

'Left to Tell' by Immaculee Ilibagiza

2008-11-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

This is a must read book. When I had a discussion with a friend on how it is possible to look at an attacker as a victim, he suggested this book. 2 years ago, I would have thrown the book away considering it as a religious book or something on propagation of Christianity. But now I can see it differently. I see the power of thought and the power of positive thinking in Immaculee's prayers.

Until this book, I had never even heard of the Rwandan genocide - not that I have been aware of every important thing happening in the world, but I did read newspapers regularly and watched the news channels. I don't remember this being a big news that caught the attention of the world. Also this happened when I was in my final year in high school, and my whole world revolved around the board exams. It was also the time I believed that there was no war in the world(nothing bigger than what's going on in Srilanka and Kashmir). These kind of genocides/holocaust were a thing of the past. So when I read this book, I was shaken to the core.

800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by trained killers and normal civilians - with full government support. The whole country was filled with hatred towards the Tutsis and people stopped working until the 'job was done' - the job of killing Tutsis. I can't believe that radio was used to propagate the message of killing Tutsis who were referred as cockroaches.
Amidst all this suffering, it's amazing to see how Immaculee could remain optimistic. Forgiving the killers of her family is difficult, but she did it. Forgiving is not an act of kindness and definitely not to make the attackers feel good. It just gets the hatred and vengeance out of the victim. If a victim can see the attacker as a victim of his mind's craziness, then forgiveness happens naturally. With that, the victim will have the power over the situation and can walk through life, unscathed.

Here's a link to my friend's blog on this book.
http://deepakktrenewal.blogspot.com/2008/11/left-to-tell.html

நட்பு - சத்குருவிடமிருந்து இன்னொரு முத்து

2008-11-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.vikatan.com/av/2008/nov/05112008/av0901.asp

எனக்கு முதல் நண்பன் மூன்று, மூன்றரை வயதில் பள்ளியில் கிடைத்தான். அவன் பெயர் அச்சுத் என்று இன்றைக்கும் ஞாபகம் இருக்கிறது.

கல்லூரி போனதும் பள்ளி நண்பர்களை மறப்பதும், வேலைக்குப் போனதும் கல்லூரி நண்பர்களை மறப்பதும், இடத்துக்கு ஏற்றபடி நண்பர்களை மாற்றிக் கொள்வதும்தான் பெரும்பாலானவர்களிடம் காணப்படுகிறது. என்னால் நட்பை அப்படி வகைப்படுத்திப் பார்க்க முடிவதில்லை.

பொதுவாகவே, ஒருவருடன் உறவு ஏற்படுத்திக்கொண்டால், அது கடைசி வரை நீடிக்கும் என்றே நம்புவேன். ஆனால், நட்புக்கு மதிப்பு கொடுப்-பவர்கள் வெகு குறைவு என்பதை என் அனுபவம் உணர்த்தி-யிருக்-கிறது.

எனக்குக் கிடைத்த பல நல்ல நண்பர்கள், வேறு அவசியங்கள் வந்ததும், எங்கள் நட்பு குறித்த தங்கள் பார்வையை மாற்றிக்கொண்டதைக் கண்-டிருக்கிறேன்.

இன்றைக்கு பத்திரிகைகளிலும் தொலைக்காட்சிகளிலும் என் முகத்தைப் பார்த்துவிட்டு, சில பழைய நண்பர்கள் தொடர்புகொண்டு பேசுவது உண்டு.

என் நண்பன் ஒருவன் என்னைவிட இரண்டு வயது சிறியவன். காற்றில் பறப்-பதற்காக கிளைடர் வடிவமைக்க முனைந்தபோது, எனக்கு உதவியவன். கிட்டத்-தட்ட 27 வருடங்களுக்குப் பிறகு அவனை அட்லாண்டாவில் சந்தித்-தேன். அந்தச் சந்திப்பு மிக இனிமையாக அமைந்தது. அன்றைக்கு நான் விதைத்த பறக்கும் ஆசை இப்போது அவனை விமானியாக்கி இருப்பதாகச் சொன்னான்.

இதைப் போல் இன்னும் பல பழைய நண்பர்களை என் யோகா வகுப்புகளில் அடையாளம் கண்டு பேசியிருக்கிறேன். அவர்கள் முன்பு பார்த்த ஜக்கி வேறு இன்று பார்க்கும் சத்குரு வேறு என்பதால், பலருக்கு என்னை அடையாளம் தெரிவதில்லை.

உயிரற்ற சிறு விஷயங்களாக இருந்தாலும், அவற்றுடன் தொடர்புவைக்-கையில், அதை ஆழமான உறவாகவே பார்க்கிறேன். மைசூர் நகரத்தின் பூமியு-டன், மரங்களுடன், மலைச் சாரல்களுடன் எனக்கு இருந்த ஈடுபாடு இப்-போதும் இருக்கிறது. அங்கு எனக்குள் எழுந்த லட்சக்கணக்கான கேள்விகளும், அத்-தனைக்கும் ஒரே கணத்தில் கிடைத்த பதிலும்கூட ஒருவித நட்புப் பிணைப்பு தான்.

இப்படி, செடியோ, அமரும் இடமோ, பாறையோ, பூவோ, மக்களோ, எதுவானாலும் அவற்றுடன் எனக்கு ஏற்படும் பிணைப்பு வாழ்க்கையின் மிகப் பெரும் ரகசியப் பரிமாணங்களைத் திறந்து காட்டியிருக்கிறது.

இன்றைக்குப் பல்லாயிரக்கணக்கானவர்களுக்கு என்னுடன் தொடர்பு ஏற்படுகிறது. இதில் என்னுடையதைவிட அவர்களுடைய தேவையே அதிகமாக இருக்கிறது. ஆனாலும், அவர்கள் மீது நான் வைக்கும் நம்பிக்கையும் அவர் களுடன் எனக்கு நிகழும் பிணைப்பும் அவர்களிடத்தில் நேர்வதில்லை.

இதை ஒரு குற்றமாகச் சொல்லவில்லை. ஆனால், எதனுடனும் பிணைத்துக் கொள்ள முடியாத நிலை காரணமாக வாழ்க்கையில் எதையெல்லாம் இழக்-கிறீர்கள் என்பதை நீங்கள் அறிவதில்லை.

இந்தியாவில் ஆறு வருடங்கள் இருந்த ஒரு பெண் டாக்டர் அமெரிக்கா திரும்பும் முன் வியந்து பேசிய விஷயம் ஒன்று உண்டு.

''இங்கே எல்லாமே கூட்டாக நடக்கிறது. வகுப்பில் ஒரு மாணவி எழுந்திருப்-பாள். பாத்ரூம் போய் வர அனுமதி கேட்பாள். அனுமதித்ததும், 'மேடம், என்னு-டன் அகிலாவையும் அழைத்துப் போகலாமா?' என்பாள். பாத்ரூம் போவதற்குக் கூட யாரையாவது கூட்டிக்கொண்டு போகும் அளவு இந்தியாவில் சேர்ந்தே இருப்பது ஆச்சர்யமாக இருக்கிறது.''

அன்பினால் சேர்ந்து இயங்குவது மதிப்பானது. தேவையினால் சார்ந்து இயங்குவது அருவருப்பானது.

நண்பர்கள் விலகிப் போகையில், அது என் இதயத்தையே உடைத்துப் போட்டுவிடுவதில்லை. ஆனால், நல்ல நட்பை ஆழ-மான உறவாக பலப்படுத்திக்கொள்ள முடியாதவர்கள் எனக்கு ஏமாற்றத்தை அளிக்கிறார்கள். அந்த விதத்தில், நட்பைப் பொறுத்த வரை, சமூக அளவு-கோல்-களில் கொஞ்சம் பின்தங்கியவனாகவே இருக்கிறேன்.

பள்ளியில் எனக்கு மிக நெருக்கமாக இருந்-தான் ஒரு நண்பன். இருவரும் சேர்ந்தே பல நூறு கி.மீ. சைக்கிளில் சுற்றியிருக்கிறோம். மலை-களில் அலைந்திருக்கிறோம். பள்ளி முடிந்து வேறு வேறு கல்லூரிகள் சென்-றோம். எங்கள் நட்பு தொடர்ந்தது. தொழில் செய்ய முனைந்த-போது, அவன் தேயிலைத் தோட்டங்கள் வாங்-கினான். திடீரென்று தொடர்-பைத் துண்டித்து-விட்-டான்.

ஏன் என்று 15 வருடங்-களுக்குப் பிறகு தான் தெரிந்தது. தொழிலில் மேலும் மேலும் நஷ்டமாகி, கடன் சுமை கூடிவிட்ட நிலையில், அவன் என்னைப் பார்க்கத் தயங்கி பின்வாங்கிவிட்டான். அவனை அழைத்தேன். ஒரு வேலை தந்-தேன். அவன் தன்னை நிலைப்படுத்திக் கொண்-டான். பின், ஆப்ரிக்காவில் வேலை தேடிக்-கொண்டான்.

அதற்காக நட்பை உபயோகமானது என்றோ, சாதகமானது என்றோ, வாழ்க்-கையை வளப்படுத்திக்கொள்வதற்கான வாய்ப்பு என்றோ நான் ஒருபோதும்பார்த்--த-தில்லை.

70 வயது டாக்டர் ஒருவர் தன் நட்பு எப்படி சிதைந்துபோனது என்று என்-னிடம் சொன்னார்.

''முன்பெல்லாம் என் நண்பனைச் சந்திக்க வீட்டுக்கு எப்போது போனாலும், பியர் கொடுப்பான். உங்களைப் போல ஏதோ ஒரு குரு சொன்னார் என்பதற்காக, திடீரென்று குடிப்பதை நிறுத்திவிட்டான். எனக்கும் பியர் கொடுப்பதில்லை. அப்-பேர்ப்-பட்டவன் வீட்டுக்கு எப்படிப் போவேன்? எங்கள் நல்ல நட்பு சிதைந்து விட்டது.''

இது போல், ஏதோ ஒன்று வழங்கப்படும் வரைதான் சில நட்புகள் தாக்குப்பிடிக்-கின்றன.

உலகில் இன்று மிகுந்த செல்வாக்குள்ள தலை-வர்களுடன் பழகுகிறேன். ஒரு போதும் அவர்களுடைய தொடர்பைப் பயன்-படுத்திக்கொள்ள விரும்பியதில்லை. ஆனால், அவர்களுடன் சேர்ந்திருக்கும் கணங்களில் எங்களுக்குள் மிக ஆழமான-தோர் பகிர்தல் நிகழ்கிறது.

நண்பர்களுடன் பகிர்தல் என்பது கொடுக்கல் வாங்கல் அல்ல. அது ஒரு விதத்தில் ஒருவர் மற்றவரில் கரைந்து போதல். இதை உணர்ந்தவர்களால்தாம் நல்ல நண்பர்களாகத் தொடர முடியும்!

Smile

2008-11-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

It was one of those days when my spirit was at a low ebb. Something shocking had come to my notice and I was shaken totally. I was more shaken to realize that this thing has been going on in the world always, but just because it came to my notice, I got so hurt and heartbroken.

It was almost 24hours since I was like that and I was walking to the parking lot from my office on this friday evening. I had a long face and deep in my thoughts. I just crossed a bar when an old man(looked American, but he had a little accent) came out and told me 'Smile'. That was it, I forgot everything and I was just there at that moment. I smiled big and he said 'look how pretty you are when you smile'. I just couldn't stop feeling happy at this lovely reminder on what is important in life.

He spoke to me for a minute - I hardly remember what exactly he spoke. He was telling me how important it is to smile. He asked me if I was a bartender and I said 'No'. He asked me if I was studying, and for some reason I nodded my head. Then his parting statement was 'Don't talk to strangers, except me' and he walked away to get his car. I crossed the road, all the while smiling and feeling so happy. After crossing the road, I turned around to acknowledge him and he was driving away, but he did look at me and we waved at each other. I felt so grateful.

Who was he? I have no idea, but he came at the right moment in my life to give me such a simple reminder. This life is full of surprises and hope - if alone we could open our eyes and see it.

Will I exchange this life with any other

2008-09-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

"பெண்ணாய்ப் பிறப்பதற்கு மா பாவம் செய்திருக்க வேன்டும்"
Whenever I heard someone say that, I never argued with them. I knew why many women would say that. I never analyzed to see what it meant to me.

However, today I'm so very happy and consider this life to be the best boon I could ever get. A dog, cat, tree, stone or any other thing in this existence may not be able to see life the way a human being can see it.

2 weeks back, when I was on top of the Camelback mountains, the heavy wind that was sweeping me away was so refreshing. After such a hike, it was weird to feel so energetic, thanks to the wind. I stood on the summit and looked down at the city of Phoenix basking in the early morning sun. I always loved to watch the sun slowly light up the city, as it rises over the mountains. This wonderful sight, the feeling of the wind on my skin, the whooshing sound in my ears, the smell of the early morning fresh air and the awareness of all this - do I want to be anything else or anyone else at this moment? NO, NEVER.

Last week, on a full moon night, I was sitting with my husband in our patio. The moon was so white and bright and my whole being felt like it was washed by the moonlight. Just looking at the moon, relishing its beauty and all that it had to offer, blew me away. Where was I and what did I do all these years? I kicked myself for missing hundreds of full moon nights in my life. If I were anything other than a human being, would I have enjoyed these? I really doubt it. So will I exchange this life with any other life - NO, NEVER

கடவுள்

2008-09-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

கடவுள் எங்கே என்று தேடித் திரிந்த என்னிடம்
கல்லையும் ஓவியத்தையும் காண்பித்து
இதுதான் கடவுள் என்று அடித்துச் சொன்னாய்
பிறப்பும் இறப்பும் கடவுளின் செயல் என்றாய்

ஆனால் காலன் உன் வீட்டிற்கு வந்ததும்
கடவுள் இல்லவே இல்லை என்று முடிவெடுத்துவிட்டாயே

கடவுள்தன்மை எங்கும் எதிலும் உள்ளது என நான் உணர்ந்துவிட்டேன்
இனி,
உன் தேடல் தொடங்கட்டும்

ஆயிரம் ஜன்னல் - சத்குருவின் புதிய ஆனந்த விகடன் தொடருக்கு அவரின் முன்னுரை

2008-08-16T12:19:00.000-07:00

வாழ்க்கையை நீங்கள் காண்பதெல்லாம் அங்கங்கே திறந்திருக்கும் ஜன்னல் சதுரங்கள் வழியேதான்!

பாதி உண்மை என்பது உண்மையே அல்ல. அதே போல், அரைகுறை வாழ்க்கை என்பது முழுமையான வாழ்க்கை அல்ல. பெரும்பாலான சமயங்களில், நீங்கள் முழுமையாக இருப்பது இல்லை!

சமூகத்தின் ஆதிக்கத்திலிருந்து விடுபட முடியாமல், மற்றவர் செய்வதையே செய்துவந்திருக்கிறீர்கள். வாழ்வது என்பது வளர்ச்சியின்றி, ஓரிடத்தில் நிலைபெற்று நிற்பதல்ல. புதிய அனுபவங்களுக்குத் தயாராகாமல், பத்திரமாக இருக்க வேண்டும் என்று உங்களை நீங்களே சிறைக்குள் பூட்டிக்கொண்டுவிட்டீர்கள். அதனால், வாழ்க்கையின் முழுமையான வீச்சை நீங்கள் உணர்வது இல்லை.
என்னைச் சுற்றி அந்தச் சுவர்களை எழுப்பிக்கொள்ளாததால்தான் என் வாழ்க்கை வித்தியாசமாக அமைந்தது. அற்புதமாக மலர்ந்தது. மற்றவர்களால் என் கேள்விகளுக்குத் திருப்தியான விடை அளிக்க முடியாதபோது, அந்த விடைகளை அனுபவப்பூர்வமாகப் பெற்றுவிட நானே தேடிச் சென்றேன். வாழ்க்கையில் என்னைச் சுற்றி நிகழ்ந்த ஒவ்வொன்றும் எனக்கு ஏதோ ஒரு அர்த்தத்தைக் காட்டிவிட்டுத்தான் போயிருக்கிறது.

என்னை வித்தியாசமானவனாகக் காட்டிக்கொள்வதற்காக வலுக்கட்டாயமாக நான் எதையும் செய்யவில்லை. எதையெல்லாம் என் வாழ்க்கையில் அர்த்தமுள்ளதாக உணர்ந்தேனோ, அதையெல்லாம்தான் செய்தேன்.

சில விஷயங்களைப் பெறுவதற்கு வேறு சில விஷயங்களை விலையாகக் கொடுத்துதான் ஆக வேண்டும். கொடுக்கத் தயாராக இருந்தேன், கொடுத்தேன். கொடுத்ததைவிட கோடி அளவு அதிகமாகப் பெற்றேன்.

''உங்கள் அனுபவங்களை எங்களுடன் பகிர்ந்துகொள்வீர்களா?''

''ஓடும் நதியிலிருந்து ஒரு கை அள்ளி, நான் உங்களுக்குக் கொடுக்க முடியும். அவ்வளவுதான். அதனால் உங்கள் தாகம் தீர்ந்துவிடப் போவதில்லை. தாகம் தணிய வேண்டுமானால், நீங்களேதான் குனிந்து நதியிலிருந்து அள்ளிக் குடிக்க வேண்டும். நீங்களே அருந்துகிறபோதுதான், எனக்கு நேர்ந்ததெல்லாம் உங்களுக்கும் நிகழும்.

உங்களை வாழ்க்கை முழுவதும் பாதுகாப்பு உணர்வே பிரதானமாக இயக்கியிருக்கிறது. அந்தத் தந்திரங்களை விட்டு விலகினால்தான், வாழ்க்கையின் முழுமையான உண்மையான அர்த்தத்தை நீங்கள் உணர முடியும்.

உங்களுக்காக சில ஜன்னல்களைத் திறந்து காட்டுகிறேன். ஆனால், சுவர்களை உடைத்துக்கொண்டு நீங்கள் வெளியேறும் நாள்தான் உங்களுக்கு முழு விடுதலை!'

க்ராண்ட் கேன்யன் - என் தம்பியின் பயண அனுபவம்

2008-07-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

"எனதருமைச் சகோதரியே!

கணிப்பொறியின் திரைக்குள்ளே
மணிப்பொழுதைக் கரைத்திடும் வாழ்க்கையிலே
சில நாட்கள் கிடைத்ததே பாசம் கொண்டாட
என நினைத்து உனதில்லம்தேடி வந்தால்
எங்கென்னை அழைத்துச் செல்கின்றாய்
மைத்துனனின் துணையோடு?

பூக்களின் மணம்வீசும் பூஞ்சோலைக்கா?
குளிரோடையின் சுகம்பேசும் பனிமலைக்கா?
எனக் கேட்டேன் ஆவலுடன்.."

எனதருமைத் தம்பியே!
உனக்கெப்போது பொறுமை வருமோ?
சொல்கிறேன் கேள்!
எனதினிய துணைவனின் துணையோடு
உனையழைத்துச் செல்வேன் ஓர் அரிய இடத்திற்கு!!-அங்கே

பூக்களின் மணம்பேசாது!
குளிரோடைக் காற்றும் வீசாது!

கண்டயிடமெல்லாம் கரும்பாறைகளுண்டு!
செல்லும்வழியாவும் கடும்வெயிலுமுண்டு!
தாகம் தணிக்க நீரும் இராது!-வியர்த்த
தேகத் தினிலே உப்பும் இராது!

அவ்விடம் கண்டு, ரசித்து,
ஓர் கவிதை வரையடா என்று
அன்புக்கட்டளை யிட்டாள்!
இல்லை! சவால் விட்டாள்!

என்ன இது!
பல்லாயிரம்மைல்கள் கடந்து
என்ன நிலைமையில் இங்கு வந்துள்ளேன்
என்றுனக்குத் தெரியுமா?
கவிஞனென்று நானா கூறினேன்?
கூட்டத்தினுள்ளே எவரோ கூறினால்
நானென்ன செய்வேன்? - என்று
வடிவேலு பாணியில் அழுதாலும்
விடுவதாய்த் தெரியவில்லை!

உம்மிருவரையும் காணவந்த
எனக்கு இதுவா நீசெய்யும்
விருந்தோம்பல்? என சின்னதொருகோபம்
எழுந்தது எனதுள்ளத்தில்.
மௌனமாய், மலைப்பாய், உடன்சென்றேன்.

சாலைகள் கடந்து
சமவெளிப்பகுதியும் கடந்து
புள்வெளி மரங்கள் கடந்து
அவ்விடம் அடைந்தோம்!

பள்ளத்தாக்கு! - எனது
உள்ளந்தாக்கிய பள்ளத்தாக்கு!
திகைத்தேன்!
விரிந்தவிழிகள் இமைக்கும் தொழிலை மறந்தன.
பிரமித்தேன்!
புவியரசன் வாய்பிளந்து மிரட்டினான்.
நானோ வாய்பிளந்து மிரண்டிருந்தேன்!

பள்ளத்தாக்கின் ஆழம் சில ஆயிரமடிகள்!
விரிந்துகாணும் அகலம் பத்துமைல்கள்!
நீளமோ சில நூறு மைல்கள்!

இருவரும் பள்ளத்தாக்கின் கதைகூறினர்!

"பல்லாயிரம் ஆண்டுகள்கடந்து பின்சென்றால்
இன்றுள்ள பல்லத்தாக்குப் பகுதி
சமவெளியாயிருக்க அதன்மீது
தூரத்துப் பனிமலைகள் உருகி
காட்டாறொன்று பாய்ந்தோடியது!
கொலராடோ எனும் பெயர் கொண்டு!

சமவெளியில் பாய்ந்த அந்த நதி
தனது கரைபுரண்ட சீற்றத்தில்
கர்வம் கொண்டு
நிலமகள் பொறுமையின் அளவறிய
தனது அகழ்வுப்பணியைத் தொடங்கியது!

ஆண்டுகள் நகர நகர நிலத்தின்
ஆழம் அதிகரித்தது!
நதியின் அகலம் சுருங்கியது!
அகழ்வுப்பணியை முடுக்கியது!

புவியரசி தன்னுள் புதைந்துள்ள
பலமுகங்களை பலநிறங்களை
கம்பீரத்துடன் காட்டத்தொடங்கினாள்!

புன்னகையுடன் நதியிடம் சொன்னாள்,
நதியே! சீறிப்பாய்வதும்
நிலத்தை அகழ்வதும் உனதுகுணம்!
எந்தவொரு சீற்றத்தையும்
உள்வாங்கிக் கொண்டு
பொறுமைகாப்பது என்குணமென்று!

நாணத்தால் நதிதன் அகலம் சுருக்கி
ஆழத்தில் நிலத்தின்மடியில் தவழ்கிறது
தாயின் பொறுமையுணர்ந்த சேய்போல!"

இவ்வாறு கதைகூறிமுடித்தனர் இருவரும்.

எனது தலைகவிழ்ந்தது!

மொழிக்கு அணிசேர்த்தால்
கவிதையாகும், பாடலாகும், கட்டுரையுமாகும்!

புவிக்கு அணிசேர்த்தால் அது
பூஞ்சோலையாகும், பனிமலையாகும், மலைமுகிலாகும்!

இங்குநாம் காணும்காட்சி
இலக்கணமறியாக் குழந்தையின் மழலைமொழி!

மழலைப்பேச்சின் அழகிற்கு எந்த
அணியிலக்கணம் தடைகூறும்?

கட்டுக்கடங்காத இந்த எழிலை
கவிதையென்னும் எல்லைக்குள்ளா
கட்டிப் போடுவது?

இப்படியே விரிந்துகிடக்கட்டும்
இதன் இயல்பான கம்பீரத்துடன்!
எனக்கூறி நழுவினேன்.

"சமாளிப்புத் திலகமே!"
வந்தனம்!என பட்டம்கொடுத்து
வழியனுப்பிய இருவருக்கும்
என் மனமார்ந்த நன்றி!

- சரவணன்

tamilkey - இது அற்புதம்

2008-06-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

http://tamilkey.mozdev.org/installation.html

இது நாள் வரை தமிழில் blog எழுதுவதற்க்கு, special keyboard அல்லது ஏதாவது தளத்தில் எழுதி பின்னர் இங்கே copy செய்ய வேன்டி இருக்கும். ஆனால் இப்பொழுதோ, tamilkey உபயோகித்து இங்கேயே எழுத முடிகிறது. ஆங்கிலம் - தமிழ் என்று மாற்றி மாற்றி எழுதுவதும் மிக சுலபமாக உள்ளது. இதற்காகத்தான் இத்தனை நாட்கள் (அறியாமையில்) காத்திருந்தேன்.

Change is huge

2008-06-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

Change is huge, be it change of school, change of city or changing the world. But any change requires some effort from our side, without which we cannot survive.

Many of us know that trees should be planted, roads should be cleaned, wildlife should be preserved, food contamination should be prevented, bribery should be abolished, violence should be shown its exit door, kids should be protected from abuse, current education system should be changed and more and more. We keep waiting for that one person who will come and change this world. Yes, we had a Gandhi to help us get independence, but if lakhs and lakhs of people had not come out of their homes to fight against the British, we wouldn't have had this independence. So why are we now waiting for just that one person or organization to work towards making this world a better place. Isn't it time we give atleast little bit of our time, effort or/and money to make this change?

http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/view/id/147

"There's never one right way to make change....
One can do it as a Tech person, Finance person, non-profit person or an entertainment person. Everyone of us is all of those things and more. And I believe if we do these things, we can close the OPPORTUNITY gaps, we can close the HOPE gaps and if we can do this, the headlines in 10 years might read something like this...
New AIDS cases in Africa falls to zero
US imports its last barrel of oil
Israelis and Palestinians celebrate 10 years of peaceful co-existence
Snows have returned to Kilimanjaro
eBay listing for a presentation - obsolete museum piece, contact AlGore"

That's when he brought tears to my eyes. Many of us, even those involved in making this change, lose hope sometimes. Thanks to people like Jeff Skoll, this Change is inevitable!!

In the Presence of the Master

2008-06-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

A weeklong Sathsang with Sadhguru at IIIS

Hiking the Camelback mountains in Scottsdale

2008-06-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

After a wonderful trip to the Grand Canyons, my husband was quite pepped up about hiking. So the next weekend, we decided to hike the Camelback mountains which is a few miles from home. The trail is just 1.5 mile long and the summit is at around 2700 feet. I didn't know that the trail has been ranked as a strenuous one. All I was worried about was the Arizona summer heat. So we had 3 liters of water for the two of us and took some salty snacks - suggested for a Grand canyon hike, not required here :)

We started the hike 2 hours after sunrise, at 7am. Initially it was very interesting - walking along the trail which was a little bumpy. A rattle snake crossed our path on our way up. The snake and every other fauna and flora seemed to merge with the landscape. Everything was brown in colour - with the exception of a few bushes and the Sahuaro(the long cylindrical cactus plant in the photos). Last week, Sahuaro had beautiful white flowers, and now we could see red fruits which added colour to this scenery. Scottsdale with its palm trees and golf courses looked green and beautiful from our trail.

Click on the photo to see other hikers on the summit.
The sun was getting on to us. Atleast 4 times, I had to pour water on my head to cool me off . It was very hot and we were getting tired. I envied those people who were climbing down, since they had started earlier. When we crossed a mile, we noticed that we just crossed the first hump of the camelback mountain. We were wondering if we should go back, since this is the first time we were trying something like this. Fortunately, after drinking more water and taking some rest, both of us decided to continue. The last half a mile was very strenuous. We had to literally crawl/use all our 4 limbs to climb up. The photo was taken from this last half a mile. There was no trail here.

This is just the 2nd time I'm going for such a hike. The first one was in Bangalore - don't remember the name of that place - where we went so unprepared. There was no trail and we hiked just after a heavy lunch. We had no water and I blacked out then. That has been a good lesson. With enough water, I now know that I can survive any such hikes.

We loved it so much that we decided to hike every weekend. Last sunday, when we went again, we started hiking at 6am and it made all the difference. Last time, we took 2 hours to climb up, but this time we made it in one hour. However, the return trip took the same 1 hour.

One best thing about hiking is that you are always alert. Every step has to be taken consciously. With an ankle that is prone to sprains(old injury), during the first hike, I had to endure severe pain when I twisted my ankle. Also, I noticed that I let my body loose while coming down the slope. I always have a tendency to run down a slope, since gravity would aid me immensely. I could not afford to do that here, because, the trail was so rocky. I learned to control my speed and took every step with full awareness - I wish I could be this aware during my yoga practices. Maybe I should practice my kriyas somewhere on this narrow trail, where a slight misstep would result in a steep fall. Mind-body coordination also improved over the last one week. How amazing life would be if every moment could be lived like this!!

AIDS awareness - why is it difficult to reach the middle and upper class people

2008-06-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

http://specials.rediff.com/news/2004/nov/30sld1.htm

Why is it difficult to reach people who are not in the lower strata of life?

2 years back, when I met Dr.Manorama, she showed me a video on how this adoption materialized. I have written about this in my previous post 'Child Adoption'.

4 Books and 3 movies

2008-06-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

Sitting at home for the last 3 months, I used the opportunity to read a lot of books and watch some selected movies. Some of these impressed me, rather transformed me in their own ways.

Every Second Counts by Lance Armstrong
Before reading the book, I knew very little about Lance Armstrong - a cancer survivor who won 'Tour de France' title seven consecutive times between 1999 to 2005 . This book gave a glimpse of his life - living through the chemos, life after cancer treatment and preparation for 'Tour de France' in a great detail. True to the title of the book, he has lived his life as though 'Every Second Counts'. I hear many people talk about how a near death experience transforms them and it is after such an experience that they live life more intensely. This is a must read book to understand this better.

Autobiography of a Yogi - Paramhansa Yogananda
Wow...Aha....Whoooooaaaaa.....
I can't think of any more words to express what I felt while reading this book.

Snow - Maxence Fermine
A very beautiful poetic story.

The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
Not my best pick. But okay to read once. Got a glimpse of how life turns out when you you live in America and have Indian roots

3 Very interesting movies:

1. King Corn - After this movie, I started realizing how much America is living on Corn, from food to cars, there's corn everywhere. Almost every cereal box and fruit juice box has corn syrup in the ingredient list. The guy with a car registeration plate as 'CORNFED' said it all.

2. What the Bleep do we know
One other movie that brings Science(Quantum physics) and Spirituality together. Oh my, there's so much in this existence that we are unaware of, but we human beings go about assuming that we've got nature under our control. Pity us!!

3. Phenomenon
Review from Wikipedia: "George Malley (John Travolta) is a man whose life is transformed by a strange flash of light he observes on the evening of his 37th birthday. Over the course of the following days, George starts to experience an extraordinary form of genius-level intelligence, rapidly absorbing vast amounts of information, formulating new, revolutionary ideas, and even exhibiting telekinetic abilities."

Consumerism vs 'The Story of Stuff'

2008-05-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

I always wondered how a consumerism economy such as in America, was sustaining for such a long time. How can a society as a whole have this kind of a culture!

Why do Americans love shopping (more than people in many other countries)?
Why is it so easy to throw away stuff and buy new stuff in this country?
Why is it cool to have the latest electronic gadgets?
Why isn't it frowned upon when someone buys a new car every 6 months?
Why is it that people(especially the youth in cities) in countries like India are falling for this kind of culture and habits?

I got answers and better insight into the aftereffects of this from 'The Story of Stuff'. A must see for everyone who thinks that I've gone nuts by asking such questions. For others...hmm... you will anyway watch this.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Taslima Nasrin

2008-05-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

Taslima Nasrin - when I was in school, she was all in the newspapers. Her book Lajja(Shame) was released and the government of Bangladesh had banned it. The feminist in me got attracted and influenced by her. Reading Lajja was the next best thing I did. The book touched me deeply. I couldn't accept the atrocities people could do to each other in the name of religion. Anyway, my respect and adulation for Taslima grew and I watched her struggle over the years. When she came to India, I was amazed at how our country supported and stood by her. Little did I know that people had motives behind supporting her. The same vote-bank politics that supported her, has now thrown her out of India to win the fundamentalist's votes. Politics and the vote bank have become so important in our country, that you never know when someone is doing a deed just out of sheer humanity. 'Secular' India took a stand to support fundamentalists instead of Taslima.

It's heartbreaking to see such a great courageous mind being suppressed. It hurts to see death threats being issued by Indians and it hurts more to know that the Indian government wants her to leave India, because Muslim organizations do not like her in our country. The government cannot listen to such organizations that use violence to meet their requirements. Where will our country go if people start using this method to get everything that they want?

July 29, 1994, it is said that 200,000 people demonstrated in Dhaka demanding that Taslima Nasrin should be hanged. That's a lot of people. Just to see one person die(which is what will happen to all of us) why are we spending so much energy? If a small percentage of these people could really open their eyes and see what she's talking about and either prove or disprove it, that would make sense.

I read Lajja again when I was in college and then shared my book with friends and cousins. I haven't read any of her other books. In all these years, when Taslima called Kolkata her home, she would appear in the newspapers once in a while. I was not madly following her life or books, but everytime I see her in the news(even today), I'd cherish my childhood feeling of idolizing her. It is a must read book.

Some of her books can be read online at
http://taslimanasrin.com/

Letter from Salman Rushdie to Taslima when she first received the 'fatwa' in 1994
http://humanists.net/nasrin/rushdie.htm

Let Humanism be the other name for Religion - Taslima Nasrin

Eyes

2008-05-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

A friend mentioned how he was attracted by Sadhguru's eyes - very powerful. True, his eyes are really magnetic. More than the normal times, when I saw him at Sathsangs or during BSP, it was FIRE. There was so much love, affection, care and something very intense about it.
Well, the reason I'm blogging this is not to write about Sadhguru - for many know it. If you have not seen him, then these last few lines would mean nothing. The reason I'm writing is because this friend mentioned that he finds my eyes also very powerful. Oh yeah, I thought to myself, he should have seen me when I am confused or upset. No one would even want to look at my eyes - they would be so dull.
I then told him that everybody's eyes have that charm and power, just that they cloud their eyes with their own thoughts. If we can go beyond those thoughts, we can see the true being. If only we can see it, there will be no fights or destruction in this world.

Fun stuff

2008-05-01T11:08:00.001-07:00

What Your Flip Flop Says About You

You are an outdoorsy person. You feel most comfortable in nature.

Beautiful scenery and good weather always brighten up your day.

Being outside allows you to feel calm and connected to the world.

Problems don't seem so big when you realize how small you are in the scheme of things.

Your ideal warm weather place: Costa Rica

The Flip Flop Test

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant.

Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.

In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.

You are unique, creative, and expressive.

You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.

And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a warm hearted and open minded person. It's easy for you to forgive and forget.

You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds.

You see yourself with pretty objective eyes. How you view yourself is almost exactly how other people view you.

Your near future is calm, relaxing, and pretty much what you want. And it's something you've been anticipating for a while now.

For you, falling in love has never been easy. You can only fall for someone who is very patient and persistent.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

Spirituality in Democracy

2008-04-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

I was watching Vaibhav Shiva DVD, in which Sadhguru talks about how in early days, the Kings nurtured Spirituality. That's when, this thought just flashed through my mind. In India, the Kings encouraged and supported Spirituality. This was done not to win any election, but just to develop spirituality. However, in the last few decades, governments and other political parties have been developing/supporting a particular religion just to gain mass support. There is no spirituality in this.

I see that in this century, it's with common people's support that spiritual organizations have been growing. Then I realized, oh yes, people are the Kings in our country - that's democracy for us. So no wonder the common man - the King of today's India - is nurturing Spirituality.

P.S.: Please do not argue with me if common man is really the King of India. That's a theoretical statement which holds true atleast in the context of Spirituality.

பணமும் வாழ்க்கையும்

2008-04-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

பணம் சம்பாதிக்க வாழ்க்கை வாழ்வதோ
வாழ்க்கை வாழவல்லவா பணம் சம்பாதிக்க வேண்டும்??

Orange man

2008-04-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

A nice outcome of my 6 week long vacation in India. As a friend commented, this is what I did with lot of time and a creative mind(actually I copied this idea from a email forward) .

Food for the future world

2008-04-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

I visited my Aunty who recently constructed a home in Erode. The vegetables in her garden were very good and that's when I was told that the house is on a 'nel vilaiyum boomi'. Recently my cousin brother divided his agriculture land into many plots and sold them away. Even in the current world situation, we know very well that we do not have enough fertile land to produce food for the growing population. What with all these lands turning to residential areas!

I cannot blame my aunty or my cousin for doing this. My cousin said that he cannot profit from agriculture, since there is no support from government. Also, he mentioned how the yield has come down drastically in the last 2 decades, due to the use of fertilizers. Even though they have enough water to cultivate the land, they are unable to see any money, so he was left with no option but to sell it.

If this continues, where will the whole world go for food? Will we have enough land to feed the future?

Also check this...
http://deepakktsnapshot.blogspot.com/2008/04/global-famine-warning.html

Value of 'One' life

2008-04-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

Last week I was reading a news article on riots in a Asian country. It was about how local people claim that more than 100 people were killed by the riot police but the government claims that 'ONLY' 18 people died. I have been reading such statements since the day I started reading newspapers. However, what stuck me this time is that people are so bent upon statistics even when it comes to lives. Someone claims 100 people have died, but the government comes back to say that lesser people died - how does that matter? Even if one life is lost, it is very bad. What is the point in playing with numbers!!

Project Green Hands - Gift of trees

2008-01-16T17:30:00.000-07:00

Gift of trees - this is a great idea proposed and implemented by Isha volunteers. It takes US$1 to nurture a sapling and plant a tree in India(PGH is now spread across Southern India). US volunteers who wanted to participate in this effort to bring 33% green cover to Tamilnadu, decided to spread awareness and do some fundraising. Gift of Trees is one wonderful idea. We can buy a Gift of Trees certificate for different denominations($10, $20, $50, $100, etc) and send it as a gift to a loved one. Christmas, Pongal, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Valentine's day - there are many occasions when we would want to buy gifts/cards/bouquets. Instead, if we can buy this certificate, Isha's 'Project Green Hands' will plant 1 tree for every dollar in honor of the person who receives the certificate.

You can contact me if you are interested in getting these certificates for your loved ones.

http://www.ishafoundation.org/ProjectGreenHands

Stress and me

2008-01-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

I had resisted for a long time to write my experiences with Yoga. The last 1.5 years has transformed me to such an extent in every possible way that sometimes I don't recognize myself. My resistance to write was due to two factors - first, I could hardly get these experiences in words, in any language; second, it will be easy for anyone to judge me as one other crazy being. Anyway, whatever happened to me in the last one week is magical and marvelous(though not the first time).

Since I started practicing yoga and kriyas(www.ishafoundation.org), I have been very calm, composed, joyful and free of many physical ailments (especially back pain - my 24/7 partner for 6 years). Life was going in a very positive way. I got busy with volunteering at Isha yoga, Center for Visually Impaired(CVI, Atlanta, GA) and few other organizations. I had 2 amazing opportunities to give a car ride to Sadhguru. Got wonderful friends and social life in Atlanta improved. The list goes on and on.....

However, 3 months back, I started suffering from severe back pain and slowly I started feeling that I was going back to how I was 2 years earlier. I would get upset or emotionally disturbed without any reason. However, I was still not losing control and I was able to handle everything in a peaceful, calm way. But back pain was something that I could not tolerate and I tried changing my chair in the office, sitting posture, sleeping posture and also stopped doing Hata yoga. Nothing helped me. I realized that there was some problem with my mind or body that was impacting the other, but I couldn't figure out the problem.

Suddenly, last week(1 day after volunteering at the Isha Yoga Inner Engineering class), out of nowhere I felt like talking to my husband for a long time. I didn't know what I was going to talk. I just called him from work and luckily he was also free. As I started talking, I realized that there was one issue that came up 3 months ago and one part of my mind knew that it's not a big deal. Meanwhile, another part of my mind kept thinking about that issue and slowly a poison tree had been developing in me, without my knowledge. My good sane mind had been suppressing this. This suppression had developed so much stress in me without my awareness. Last week I got sick, rather felt so sick for no good reason. After I realized the problem and became aware that this is the root cause, life is back on track. Right after I was done talking to my husband, my body felt like water flowing in a river that we call 'Existence'. I felt like there were knots in every cell of my body that untangled themselves.

The next day I did surya namaskar and realized how flexible I was. In the last 3 months, I had trouble bending forward. It's so surprising how stress killed my body's functions. Inspite of reading about it and hearing it in the yoga class, it's great to learn this experientially.

Coffee stirrer

2008-01-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

My first encounter with this 'Coffee Stirrer' was during my college days. Hot chocolate was getting popular in Chennai and small stalls were sprouting up in all local train stations. One day, I decided to try it, finally succumbing to my tongue. I got a small cup of hot chocolate and he game me a straw(or that's what I thought). The straw looked different - tiny and cute. I used the straw to drink the hot(very hot) chocolate and the moment it reached my tongue, hmmm....you know what would have happened. Assuming that my taste buds have been destroyed permanently, I rejoiced when I started feeling my tongue again.

Anyway, even then I didn't realize that it's a stirrer and not a straw. But that story was long forgotten until last week. I happened to use a stirrer and suddenly remembered this incident and wondered why stirrers are hollow. I goodSearch-ed(www.goodsearch.com) 'coffee stirrers' and found this interesting article.
http://www.benratesitall.com/index.php?id=1128577696.Coffee%20Stirrers.msc

However, I couldn't find an answer to my question...
Why are coffee stirrers designed as mini straws, rather why are they hollow?

As Ben mentions in his article, is it just to save manufacturing costs. With everyone going "GREEN", maybe it's high time we start thinking about non-plastic stirrers.
Also, why do we have disposable stirrers - how much plastic is being wasted damaging the environment! Anyway, that's a topic for another whole article.

Arindhum Ariyaamalum in Ananda Vikatan

2007-10-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

For more than a year, I have been reading Vikatan every week. I would wait for Sadhguru's article. One day, I happened to read Prakash Raj's article and I was amazed at how daringly he wrote about his life. I don't know if he wrote that to get more popular. It might have been a conscious effort to share his life's journey with the world. For many people who think that the world is a perfect place and any small misdoing is punishable, Prakash Raj's article should have been an eye opener. It is not something that just happened to him, there are more people who would have experienced such a life. Anyway, I really admired Prakash for the way he was able to look back at his life. I am not saying that his life is correct or not - I am no one to judge another person's life. I am mentioning this because I want to appreciate Vikatan for publishing such articles. And this came to my mind, when I read 'Arindhum Ariyaamalum' by Gnani. This thodar has been going on for long, but I've just read the last two articles.

10 years back, I knew about transsexuals only because I was involved with CHES(Community Health Education Society). During that period they officially changed their name to 'Aravaani' - after their God. Gnani mentions that Aravaani is a Hinduiism based name and this name should not be imposed on Christians and Muslims. I liked Gnani for creating an awareness about homosexuals and transexuals. However, I did not like it when he came up with this religion based argument. People need to be a little more sensitive when they write in the media. Why would someone want to do this, I don't understand. There were some comments for the article saying that 'Aravaan' is not religion based, but it is our culture, history. Even the Supreme Court of India seems to have heard similar cases and ruled that there is a difference between 'Hinduism/Hindutva' as a religion and culture. I have not yet researched on these cases yet.
One argument is that Mahabharat and Ramayan could have a lot of mythological stuff. But they could be a part of the Indian history. So anyone who is born in India should consider this as our history and not associate it to a religion. I wonder why people are giving so much importance to names.

The Igloo

2007-08-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

"The people who make their homes near the top of the world have learned to survive in the harsh climate of the Arctic - a cold so intense it can crack anything it touches, with wild freezing winds and endless fields of snow. For part of the year the sun never rises, and for another part the midnight sun endlessly circles the sky. Hunger is a constant threat, and there are no trees and few animals. Everything the Eskimos need - their food, their clothing, their tools - must be devisedwith great ingenuity from the meager materials at hand. No creation of the Eskimos is more ingenious than the house they live in for much of the year - the igloo, which uses snow itself as a protection from bitter cold and wind."
- From the book "The Igloo" by Charlotte and David Yue

This is a children's book, I wonder why - is it because adults should have known all about the igloos? Well, I have found that children's books are very educative unlike the fiction novels. Anyway, when I saw this book in the library, I knew I had to read it. The only time I had read about an igloo is at school - some book where different types of housing was mentioned. The book explains the lifestyle of Eskimos and how they construct an igloo(illustrations available - I felt more like visiting a museum).

More to come........

Project Green Hands

2007-08-05T12:43:00.001-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18655811@N00/sets/72157600801107222

For more details on this project http://www.ishafoundation.org/ProjectGreenHands

Books

2006-12-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

Spies in the Himalayas: Secret Missions and Perilous Climbs (Modern War Studies) by M. S. Kohli, Kenneth J. Conboy

I borrowed this book from a friend in 2004. I have always been amazed at people living and trekking in Himalayas. It's a world that I have not yet experienced, and it's very much in my wish list. Anyway, this book was more like a thriller and explained the hardships faced by the climbers. With international politics coming into play, it got more interesting. The climbing experience has been explained in such a great detail, that my craving to be a part of a climbing expedition has deepened.

"Before you are too weak or old you must meet and merge with the beloved Himalayas - it is my wish and my blessing." - Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

God's Debris by Scott Adams
A very hilarious, but thoughtful book. At the outset, it seemed to be a very silly idea - God destroying himself and the resulting debris forming the Universe. Inspite of the disclaimer, it is very much possible to believe in his idea and accept it as a possibility. However, I liked the questions raised in the book and the way the whole existence has been explained. It just shatters some of the accepted ideologies and leaves you in a world where everything is unknown.

Code name God by Mani Bhaumik
A friend's father suggested this book when I was questioning a lot about God and Universe. I needed scientific explanations for many things that are happening around us. When Uncle suggested the book to me, I was not impressed with the name of the book. However, I knew that Uncle understood my situation and so I decided to try. I was surprised to know about the author - inventor of a kind of LASER rays that is used in LASIK. A Scientist author-- hmm...my interest in the book soared up.
The first part of the book did not impress me as much as I had expected. It was all about India's struggle for freedom and how the author's life was impacted by this. Little did I know that the early life of the author would help him to realise himself at later stages. The author's transition from being a poor boy to a student, researcher, Scientist, Rich man (sought after by Hollywood artists and politicians), lonely old Man and finally someone who understand so much about Life.
For the last one year, I have been hearing that E=mc2 and spirituality are related. However I had never understood theory of relativity as well as I should have, so I could not relate it to spirituality. This book helped me to understand Quantum physics and Theory of relativity a little more deeply. Some questions that have been troubling me throughout my life got answered, thanks to Mani Bhaumik. Here's one other person who achieved so much in the materialistic world, but experienced a big gaping hole in his life - there is something more in life than cars, houses, money, business, etc.

Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity by Herbert Kondo
After reading Code name God, I knew that my next stop would be at an Albert Einstein book. I think this is my 3rd attempt at reading a book on Einstein - and I was successful in completing this book. During my previous attempts, I was getting lost after reading couple of pages. Thanks to Mani Bhaumik for laying the foundation. This book is about the man, his life and his Theory of relativity. I wouldn't say that I understood the theory after reading this book - it'll be an insult to Einstein and to many other Scientists who are still struggling to understand what Einstein has found - but I am one step closer to understanding it.

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." - Albert Einstein

Population explosion in India

2006-11-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Population explosion in India is one thing that has been of concern to me all through my life. For any social problem(poverty, unemployment, pollution, environment exploitation, etc), the root cause is almost always Population Explosion.

When I knew that in countries like Singapore, the government gives incentives to families with more children, I always wondered how to bring about a population balance in the world.

When people migrate from India to other parts of the world, we can consider it as some means of population distribution. But what worries me is the fact that Indian couples who would have had just one kid if they were in India, think differently when they go abroad. One common excuse I hear is 'The kid will be lonely'. It maybe true that if there are 2 kids, they might give company to each other. However, this is not always true. Kids tend to spend more time with their friends as they get older. Also, in single child families, the kid finds a friend in his/her parents.

So why bother to have more than one kid. Some people may like to have more kids at home, why can't such parents consider adoption? When there isn't enough resources for the existing population, when we have failed to give our children a better world to live in, why are we neglecting those children who are in-need?

Another Salt Satyagraha!!

2006-11-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

I was reading this article about Salt Satyagraha - organised by Art of Living foundation.
http://216.151.32.17/Salt%20Satyagraha.htm

Until now, I was not aware of this salt ban.
http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/aug/gov-saltban.htm

After reading these articles, I was wondering what I should do. I used to have thyroid related problems 7 years ago. So maybe I should go with iodised salt. However, I don't have iodine deficiency now. Also, my husband does not have any such problem, so why trouble him with excess iodine? We get enough iodine from vegetables. I don't live in a iodine deficient area, so the vegetables should take care of my iodine requirement. Also, if there comes a time when I get iodine deficient, doctors would then suggest me to go for iodised salt. Until then, I should not worry about it. Who said 'Prevention is better than cure'? I don't want to take medicines or iodine to save me from deficiency issues in the future.

We get into these kind of confusions every now and then in life. The more you know, the more chances of getting confused. So what is the best way to resolve this?

When I learnt that Garlic, brinjal, onion, asoefetida and green chillies are negative energy items, I was able to cut down on these(I eat just 1 onion and 2-3 green chillies in a week. Brinjal, asoefetida - NO NO in my kitchen. garlic - I use it very rarely). I don't know about this iodised salt, but I stopped eating non-veg food, dairy products and the negative energy items, just by listening to my body. My body was not comfortable with these items. As of now I am not sensitive enough to know whether my body needs rock salt or iodised salt.

Researchers in the food industry and people who know the benefits of natural food will always make sure that we get confused with their conflicting information. It is left to us to take the right decision for us and our family.

CHES

2006-10-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.ravixp.net/IVA/similar_organisations_chess.htm

நிலாவைப் பார்த்தேன்

2006-10-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

நிலா - என்றும் என் மனதைக் குளிர வைக்கும் நிலா, இன்று ஏனோ வித்தியாசமாக தெரிந்தது. சூரியனின் ஒளி அதன் மேல் படுவதால் மட்டுமே அது நம் கண்ணுக்கு தெரிகிறது. இங்கிருந்து பார்க்க அழகாக இருந்தாலும், அருகில் சென்றால் இந்த அழகு தெரியாது. இவ்வளவு வெண்மையாக வெளிச்சம் இருக்கும் அந்த இடத்தில் இப்பொழுதுள்ள வெப்பம் நம்மால் தாங்கக் கூடிய அளவில் இருக்காது. ஆனால், இங்கே பூமியில் குளிர்ச்சி இருப்பதால் நிலவும் அப்படியே நமக்கு தோன்றுகிறது.

பகலில் ஒரு குளிர்ந்த கண்ணாடி அறையில் சூரியனைப் பார்த்தால் சூரியன் குளிர்ச்சியாக நமக்கு தெரியும். அதே போல் வெப்பம் நிறைந்த கண்ணாடி அறையில் இரவைக் கழித்தால், நிலா கண்டிப்பாக கொதிக்கும் அணல் போல்தான் நமக்கு தோன்றும். ஒரு பொருளோ, மனிதனோ இப்படிதான் என்று நாம் நினைக்கலாம், ஆனால் அதுவே உண்மை ஆகி விடாது.

Rate my life

2006-08-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	8.3
Mind:	7.1
Body:	8.6
Spirit:	7.6
Friends/Family:	7.4
Love:	10
Finance:	8.1
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Child Adoption

2006-08-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

If you've seen the movies 'En bommukutti ammaavukku' and 'Kannathil muthamittaal', you might know something about Child adoption. I started thinking more about the associated problems when I first heard Dr.Manorama(President, CHES - Community Health Education Society) say this-
"There are some people who are interested in adoption, but they decide otherwise after counselling".
This happened 4 years back. I wanted to know what are the problems that might change your mind and I came up with a list of questions. After discussing with friends and families, I realised that I had to go for a counselling to get the answers.

Before I jump into the questions and answers, I should write about my thoughts on adoption. My ideas are with respect to Indian families. Adoption is more common in US, I don't know much about their ideas.
1. A Couple might consider adoption if they cannot have a child of their own. Even then, they first try to adopt or take care of their sister's or brother's child. Only if that does not work out, they might go for adopting a child from an orphanage.
2. I've heard from a couple of friends who are divorced or who haven't found a life partner, comment that they might go for adoption.
3. Couples who say 'Have One, Take One' - Have your own child, adopt one more child.

I really admire such parents, who take such a great step towards a loving world. There are some couples who say that they don't have time for pregnancy and so they go for adoption. There are few others who are afraid of pregnancy. I am not sure if these reasons are strong enough. If you don't have time for pregnancy, then you won't have time for raising the child too. According to an adoption counsellor, giving a child to such parents might give the child a family, but the child might still feel as an orphan.

Sometime in 2004, a mother of two boys from the Chennai slum area attended an AIDS awareness campaign conducted by CHES. She then visited the CHES ashram where AIDS affected kids are taken care of. She became attached to a girl called Subhashini who was less than 6 months old. This mother decided to adopt the kid, but the kid was HIV positive. Until a child is atleast 6 months(or 3 months, I am not sure) old, we cannot be sure if the baby will remain HIV positive. The virus traces from the mother could be in the baby's body. So CHES decided to let Subhashini live with this mother under the condition that if Subhashini is found positive when she turns 6 months old, she will be taken back. I just admired this mother who adopted Subhashini under such circumstances. Also, she is an illiterate and poor. The slum people initially rejected Subhashini, then they started adoring the baby. Another mother from the neighbourhood also adopted a baby from CHES. Great minds and Divine people! Love and care does not come with education and money. We should learn from such people.

Note: I don't know the status of Subhashini now. I need to check with CHES.

When I went to India in June '06, I decided to go for the counselling. I got a lot of information and answers to all my questions. I decided to blog it for the benefit of people like you who are reading this.

I met a counsellor at Families for Children, Pothanur, Coimbatore. Here's what I learnt from him.

In India, especially in Tamilnadu, couples usually adopt children only after they've consulted different doctors, saamiyaars, temples and the ultimate Dr.Kamala Selvaraj. This is usually 10 to 14 years after their marriage. When they finally go for adoption, they would be desperate. So they start pampering the kid after adoption. Parents buy them anything and everything that the kid asks for, beyond their financial limits. They cannot discipline him because they cannot raise their voice to that kid. This spoils the kid's attitude.

Once you register for adoption, it might take upto 2 years for getting a child. After a child is identified, adoption does not happen immediately. The child will start living with the adopted parents - "pre-adoption foster care" - for 3 to 18 months. During this time, the families could be audited by a social worker. Then the legal adoption takes place.

As per Indian laws, Hindus can adopt a child below 15 years of age. The child gets property inheritance and other legal rights. Non-hindus can be appointed as legal guardians for the child. In this case, the child cannot inherit ancestral property, unless a Will is made.

Adopted parents have formed an association in Coimbatore "Adopted Families Association". These families meet once in 3 to 6 months. This way, adopted kids do not feel that they are different. Also, this helps parents to discuss day-to-day adoption related issues and get suggestions from experienced parents.

Adoption agencies suggest that it's never too early to tell the child that he/she is adopted.

It is advisable to tell the child before he is 8 years old. Once the child gets into the teen years, he will have other problems. When he is in his teens, if he gets to know that he was adopted, he will lose faith in his adopted parents. I heard about a parent who celebrated their adopted daughter's 2nd birthday at the orphanage from where she was taken. They told her that she came from that place and showed her the places where she would have played, etc. Also, by telling the child earlier, problems created by society can be avoided. If the child is aware of this and if someone in school tells the kid that he is adopted, the adopted kid can coolly reply 'Yes, I know. My parents have told me. So what?'. They can be confident and also assertive.

One such adopted girl did not know about her adoption until her puberty function was held. It was very grand. She heard someone commenting "Look at these parents. See how much they are spending for an adopted child". That was the end of her faith in her parents. More than gratitude, she felt that her parents cheated her. The daughter-parent relationship could not be mended after that.

Another problem in adoption is the age of the child. It's advisable to adopt a kid below 3 years of age. Once the child crosses that age, it will be difficult for him to get used to the new environment at the adopted parents' house.

What is 'Root searching'?
If you've seen Kannathil Muthamittaal, you can understand what it is. Inspite of having loving, affectionate parents, adopted children may be curious to know about their biological parents. As per Indian law, root searching is not allowed. Nevertheless, the adoption agency does maintain the records of the adopted children until they turn 18 years old. Children adopted by non-Indian parents can try to find their biological parents with the adoption agency's help.

Why is 'Root Searching' not allowed?
The biological parent might be poor or rich. If the biological parent is poor, the kid might try to help them. But those parents could emotionally blackmail or demand financial benefits. If the biological parents are rich, then the child could interfere in the biological parents' life.

For a couple to adopt a child, the composite age of the parents should not be greater than 90 and no parent should be more than 45 years old.

Once a couple decide to adopt a child and submit an application, a social worker will visit their house. There will be periodical checks. So it is advisable to first settle in one place. If we have a travelling lifestyle, then the social worker will mark it as a comment in the report. It may or maynot stop the adoption agency from approving the application.

After adopting, the parents should provide a status report with the child's photo every 3 months. The court may rule that this should be done for 5 years or more. The parents can also contact the agency to get assistance related to the emotional well being of the child. There have been situations when parents could not handle the child and the adoption agency counsels them. When I went to FFC, I heard about a boy who became seriously ill during the pre-adoption foster care period. The agency told the parents that they will take the child and care for him.

Adoption agencies suggest that support from grand parents and other blood related relatives should be obtained. Atleast people staying in the same house should support. Otherwise, the kid will have a tough time growing up.

Counsellors stressed on the importance of skin contact between an adopted baby and the adopted parents. Even if a mother does not carry the child for 9 months in her womb, skin contact has the power to establish a strong bond between the baby and the mother/father.

One question that many people ask when it comes to adoption is

"What if the baby was born to a thief or a bad parent? Won't the genes carry such wrong traits?"

Answer: Science has proved that certain features are carried in the genes. But being a good person or not is completely dependent on the way the child is treated and brought up. If the parents are loving and friendly, that will make a lot of difference. A child can be active or shy by nature. That could come from the genes. But if the parents can accept the child as is and appreciate the individuality of the kid, then life will be smooth.

All of us cannot adopt a kid. Each one of us should know what will give us happiness. Also, before making a decision, we should gather sufficient information. Then if we make a decision, it will be an informed one and we will never regret to have made that decision.

Disclaimer: These are based on my discussions with "Families for Children" and other such sources. Please do not hold FFC responsible for the content here.

Bombay Dreams at Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA

2006-08-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

Since the day I came to Atlanta, I wanted to go to the Fox Theater. Last week, as I was browsing through www.sulekha.com for some programmes in Atlanta area, 'Bombay Dreams' caught my eye. The show that was first staged in London in 2002 and later in Braodway in 2004 is now in our city! All I knew about this programme is that the music is composed by A.R.Rahman. I always had a liking for theater, thanks to my friend Sundar who introduced me to this.

On 11-Aug-2006:
I wasn't sure about the dress code at Fox theater. Last year, when we went for the Atlanta Orchestra Symphony, I bought a new dress. So my husband was worried if I would buy another new dress for this also. Fortunate for him, I decided to wear a churidhar.

Our seat was located in the Orchestra level, right in front of the stage, some 10 rows from the front. The theater was really amazing. I liked the infrastructure. After sitting down I looked up and saw the night sky. I got confused 'cos it was sunny outside. Then I realised that a small strip in the ceiling was setup as the sky. The best part was that the clouds were moving and they even changed their shape just as in the real sky. That was amazing.

Bombay Dreams started - the opening scene was in the Bombay slum area. The story is about a slum boy with Bollywood dreams becoming a movie star. Every possible masala in Bollywood movies was incorporated. The actors were not Indians, they were either Americans or British, some of them were of Indian origin. I was mesmerized by their performance. It was like watching a Hindi movie - LIVE. The actors delivered the dialogues, danced and sang, all by themselves. The best was the rain dance - they had a water fountain on the stage and the actors danced and sang. Initially I thought that the voices were given by someone from behind. When I realised that the actors were singing on their own, I couldn't but admire them. There were more Americans than Desis in the audience. They seemed to understand the heavy accent and they enjoyed the songs and dances. There was a marriage scene too - very colourful. There was a villain, who kills the hero's eunuch friend. The hero then stops the marriage between the villain and the heroin. After a small dishum-dishum(heroin hits the villain), the security(or police) guy carries the villain away - just as in our movies. However, unlike our Indian movies, the drama closed with the hero kissing(French kiss) the heroin.
Highlight of the drama - there were 16 songs in the 2.5 hour show

Though the story, costumes and settings were not new for me, I enjoyed watching the actors perform live. In one of the duet songs, the hero and the heroin changed their costumes thrice. Even the dancers in the background changed their dresses. Their planning and timing should be appreciated.

ஓவ்வொரு பூக்களுமே........

2006-08-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

ஓவ்வொரு பூக்களுமே சொல்கிறதே
வாழ்வென்றால் போராடும் போர்க்களமே (2)
ஓவ்வொரு விடியலுமே.. சொல்கிறதே
இரவானால் பகல் ஒன்று வந்திடுமே

நம்பிக்கை என்பது வேன்டும்... நம் வாழ்வில்
லட்சியம் நிச்சயம் வெல்லும் ஒரு நாளில்
மனமே ஓ மனமே நீ மாறிவிடு
மலையோ அது பனியோ நீ மோதிவிடு

உள்ளம் என்றும் எப்போதும்
உடைந்து போகக் கூடாது
என்ன இந்த வாழ்க்கை என்ற
எண்ணம் தோன்றக் கூடாது
எந்த மனித நெஞ்சுக்குள்
காயம் இல்லை சொல்லுங்கள்
காலப்போக்கில் காயமெல்லாம்
மறைந்து போகும் மாயங்கள்
உழி தாங்கும் கற்கள் தானே
மண்மீது சிலையாகும்
வலி தாங்கும் உள்ளம் தானே
நிலையான சுகம் காணும்
யாருக்கில்லை போராட்டம்
கண்ணில் என்ன நீரொட்டம்

ஒரு கணவு கன்டால்
அதை தினம் முயன்றால்
ஒரு நாளில் நிஜமாகும்

மணமே ஓ மணமே நீ மாறிவிடு
மலையோ அது பனியோ நீ மோதிவிடு

ஓவ்வொரு பூக்களுமே சொல்கிறதே
வாழ்வென்றால் போராடும் போர்க்களமே

வாழ்க்கை கவிதை வாசிப்பொம்
வானம் அளவு யோசிப்போம்
முயற்சி என்ற ஒன்றை மட்டும்
மூச்சை போல சுவாசிப்போம்
லட்சம் கனவு கண்ணோடு
லட்சியங்கள் நெஞ்சோடு
உன்னை வெல்ல யாருமில்லை
உறுதியொடு போறாடு
மனிதா உன் மனதை கீரி
விதை போடு மரமாகும்
அவமானம் படுதோல்வி
எல்லாமே உறவாகும்
தோல்வி இன்றி வறலாரா
துக்கம் இல்லை என் தோழா

ஒரு முடிவிருந்தால்
அதில் தெளிவிருந்தால்
அந்த வானம் வசமாகும்

மணமே ஓ மணமே நீ மாறிவிடு
மலையோ அது பனியோ நீ மோதிவிடு

ஓவ்வொரு பூக்களுமே சொல்கிறதே
வாழ்வென்றால் போராடும் போர்க்களமே
ஓவ்வொரு விடியலுமே.. சொல்கிறதே
இரவானால் பகல் ஒன்று வந்திடுமே

நம்பிக்கை என்பது வேன்டும்... நம் வாழ்வில்
லட்சியம் நிச்சயம் வெல்லும் ஒரு நாளில்
மனமே ஓ மனமே நீ மாறிவிடு
மலையோ அது பனியோ நீ மோதிவிடு

---ப.விஜய்

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

2005-10-24T23:57:00.000-07:00

Finally I finished this book.
It's more than 6 months since I heard about this book from my colleague. Later couple of my friends read the book and told me that it is a book that you just can't put down. So I reserved the book at the Alpharetta Library. I got it 1 week after my GMAT exam. As I was preparing for the GMAT exam, I had not read any book (other than Harry Potter 6th year) since July 2005. So I was very thrilled to start with 'The Da Vinci Code'. I just spent that sunday(Sep 18) reading that book. I did not cook or do anything else on that day. It's TRUE.
YOU CANNOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN once you cross the 4th Chapter.

I have never visited Paris. This book brought Paris in front of my eyes. I have seen Paris photos taken by my friends, but this book showed me much more than those photos. Now I'm just going to wait for an oppurtunity to go to Paris and see the Louvre museum. Of course, I wouldn't miss the 'Da Vinci Code', 'Monalisa' and 'The Last Supper'.

Well....coming to the book....It's a super thriller. I cannot discuss this book with any stranger, especially in America, for the fear of hurting their Christian sentiments. Yes....this book is a blasphemy. I felt like reading a history book. No one would believe that it is a complete fiction. As a matter of fact, I did google for 'Da Vinci Code' and found many articles on this book and it's 'FICTION'ary ideas.
Apparently there was a show in ABC News channel too - exploring the book's claims(fictional and dubious) about Christianity's historical origin.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3341518/

I am amazed at Dan Brown's fascinations. Until now, J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter series of novels topped "Ramya's top fascination book lists". DVC has overtaken that. When you read Harry Potter, you know that it is not real. But that is not the case with DVC. If you forget the fact that you are reading a fiction, you will surely believe everything in this book - Jesus' marriage to Mary Magdalene, Mary Magdalene in 'The Last Supper' painting, existense of 'Priory of Sion', The Holy Grail, ......the list is endless.

As I mentioned earlier, it was like reading a history book. I wish every history book in our schools could utilize this story-based learning. I still remember how I hated History in school. I didn't mind reading Indian history or the struggle for indepedence. But I really hated to memorize the dates, especially the French revolution and the world war dates.

This book reminds me of 'The Goal' by Eliyahu M.Goldratt - a management book in the form of a fascinating novel about people(managers) dealing with problems at work and at home. These books reveal how important it is to have a story based learning.

If you are interested in this book review, just google. You will find 1000s of reviews and other articles.

Happy Reading !!!

Donate your eyes

2005-10-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

என்னை வாழ விடுங்கள் என்றன
மண்ணில் மறைய விருந்த கண்கள்
--- My Amma's words

http://www.sankaranethralaya.org/eye_donation.htm