Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A dead end

Have you ever experienced what it is like when you absolutely have NO IDEA where you are going? When you just dont understand right and wrong and good and bad? Its one of those phases when you no longer know who you are and discover aspects of yourself you never knew you had. All you can see ahead is darkness and you just dont know what decision to take...its a quagmire and you dont know how to come out of it. Its suffocating you...You dont even have words to explain what you are feeling because that cannot be explained even to your own self. What do you do? Just sit in one corner and watch the world making no sense at all...

My favorite prayer

I have been a very spiritual person since I was very young. Our school had a very special morning prayer that always made me feel peaceful and happy. It had a verse from the Ishavasya upanishad,

Isavasyam idam sarvam
yat kinca jagatyam jagat
tena tyaktena bhunjitha
ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam

I was always curious about the meaning of this beautiful prayer and looked up its meaning on google. 
There are many translations and commentaries on it- 
I liked the one from the source: http://vedabase.net/iso/1/en1

So the meaning is:
Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.

I am no saint but its assuring to think that everything around us, truly belongs to the one supreme being. My interpretation of this is that all those things which are truly yours, will come to you no matter what. We should try our best and work hard, but HE is the supreme judge who decides what we truly deserve.

Keep walking :)

The reader can interpret whatever they wish to looking at this picture...:)

Friday, August 9, 2013

Two Women

   It was the month of July and I had gone there for a short summer course. The place was beautiful and to add to it, we were a group of thirty odd people who were keen on exploring what the city had to offer. I became friends with this girl instantly. She was my age, and our wavelengths matched well. We did crazy things together, learnt about each other's cultures and had a great time partying and dancing. Many evenings were spent talking to each other about "women" stuff. Cant really explain what that consisted of, but it always felt so much better to talk about it. Being from different countries, we still had so much in common. I got to know from her about her little sister who is a differently-abled person. I was so inspired and amazed at how people have to face so many obstacles and challenges in life and yet they manage to do so much. The rest of us, who are a little more fortunate, complain about the smallest of the problems. Anyway, getting to know her was a blessing really. To think that two women from such different backgrounds can bond together so well as friends is really nice. Life is funny, exactly when I needed some perspective on certain things, help in some matters, I happened to meet this person who guided me accordingly. Destiny and its weird ways...

Thursday, August 1, 2013

मी



मी म्हणजे नाइंटीस मधे, पुण्यात, एका सध्या
मराठी घरात वाढलेली. आई-बाबांची लाडकी लेक. बहीण-भावाची मोठी ताई. मैत्रिणींबरोबर सोसाइटी मधे लपा छापी,चोर पोलीस खेळून वाढले. दूरदर्शन वर चंद्रकांता, शक्तिमान, रामायण, आलिफ-लेयीला पाहायचे. शळेतून घरी आल्यावर दोन मिनिटात बनणारे मॅगी नूडल्स आणि कार्टून नेटवर्क. दर शुक्रवारी आणि शनिवार संद्याकाळी भरतनाट्याम चा क्लास. त्यामुळे उंची चांगली वाढली आणि आजोबा मला "लांबू टांग" म्हणायला लागले. आमच्या घरातला तो एक मोठा विनोद होता. दिवाळी, दसरा, गणपती म्हणल की आमच्या मॉडेल कॉलोनी मधे धमाका. पण इथे मात्र पेठे मधले राहणारे पुणेकर कसे एकमेकांशी खूप आपुलकीने वागतात तस नाही. फ़क्त कामापुरत आणि सणवार असला की एकमेकांशी बोलायच. लहान असताना बरेच लोक वाढदिवस असला की "आज तिचा हॅपी बर्थडे आहे" अस म्हणायचे ज्यावर आम्ही इंग्लीश मीडियम मधले मुल खूप हसायचो. पण वाढदिवस म्हणल की आई खूप लाड करायची आणि घरी पार्टी असायची. मे महिन्या मधे अजोळी गेल की आंबे, जांभुळ, पेरू, इत्यादी फळ आणि आजोबांनी बांधलेला झोका. मग सगळे जण बसले की म्हणायचे, "रेवती आता डॅन्स करून दाखव बर". मग माझ खूप कौतुक व्हायच. काही दिवसांनी शाळा संपली. दहावी संपली. आणि फर्गुसन च कॉलेज लाइफ. तेव्हा मैत्री काय ते समजल. त्यानंतर यूनिवर्सिटी मधे मास्टर्स. आता सर्व काही बिज़ी आणि हेक्टिक झाल होत. लहानपणापासून परदेशात शिकायचे स्वप्न (जे बर्‍याच तरुणांच अस्त). रिसर्च साठी जर्मनी मधे जायचे होते. तर बाबा म्हणायचे "जर मनात असेल तर जर्मनी". हा त्यांचा प्रिय विनोद. आता जर्मनी मधे बसून हे लिहिताना थोड चांग्ल, थोड वाईट वाटत आहे. चांगला कारण लहानाची मोठी होताना जे स्वप्न पाहील ते पुर्ण
झाल आहे तर वाईट वाटत आहे की लहानपाणाची "मी" आता खूप बदलले आहे.

Mind the mind

Its the mind that I am scared of. It thinks a lot, fears the future and takes rash decisions due to overwhelming emotions. Its all in the mind, the wrong and the right. It forces one to believe or disbelieve. Maybe having a good control on the mind is the key to a peaceful life. I recently read somewhere - "when the chaos and confusion in the mind stops, the truth appears."