Smiling God?

In many of my creations I simply wrote about God smiling from above the sky.

I still have a couple of poems where I wrote God typed a smiley and disappeared. Alas, last week I saw that. God had actually typed a smiley when we Indians were weeping of the attack in Mumbai.

I took a photograph from my terrace. Sceintists say it was a unique phenomenon were Jupiter and venus came together near the moon ( as we see it) to form this rare picture.

I say it was God telling us : "Here nobody gets killed and nobody is killing anybody!" He teases us for wailing. In the ultimate micro level ( apaarasookshmata) and the ultimate macro level (apaarasthoolatha) nothing happens. It is what happens in between giving us Sorrow & Pain.

സംകടം

സധൈര്യം ധൈര്യത്തോടെയും
സസ്നേഹം സ്നേഹത്തോടെയും
സകുടുംബം കുടുംബത്തോടെയുമാണെങ്കില്‍

സങ്കടം ഏതു കടത്തിന്‍റെ കൂടെ വന്ന പലിശയാണ് ?

Bandathre Innu !

ബന്ദ്ത്രെ ഇന്ന്!

ബന്ദ്ത്രെ ഇന്ന്!
ബന്ദ്ത്രെ ഇന്ന്!
ഹറ്ത്താലെന്നോമന ചെല്ലപ്പേരുള്ളൊരു
ബന്ദ്ത്രെ ഇന്ന്!

കോഴിയും കുപ്പിയും
കൂട്ടഞാ‍യങങ്ളും
‘കുണുക്കിട്ട‘ ചെവികളും
പഥ്യമത്രെയിന്ന് !

പാലും പത്രവും
ആസ്പത്രിയുമിന്ന്
ഔദാര്യ-സൌജന്യ-സമ്മാന മത്രെ !

കത്തുന്ന ടയറുക-
ളെരിയുന്ന കോലങ്ങള്‍ !
ആ‍ാംബുല്ന്‍സോടുന്ന ആളില്ലാ പാതകള്‍ !

കഷ്ടം; ചുടുചോറു മാന്തിച്ച നെടുനായകന്മാ-
രാഘോഷപൂര്‍വം നട കൊണ്ടുപോയി
ചുടുനിണമെന്നെന്നും കൂടപ്പിറപ്പായ് !

കാര്യങളെത്രയോ ചെയ്യാനിരിക്കവെ
കാരണമില്ലാതെ കാരുണ്യമില്ലാതെ
കൂട്ടിലടച്ച്ചിടാനാരിവര്‍ നമ്മളെ ?

ചിന്തിക്ക കൂട്ടരെ
എന്തിനീ സഹന മീ-
ക്രൂര സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യ ഹനനം?

ഉച്ചത്തിലുച്ചത്തില്‍ ചിന്തിക്ക
എന്തൊന്നു നാമിനി ചെയ്യേണമെന്നതും. !

SavanaDurga

Savandurga is around 60 kms from Bangalore towards the town of Magadi.

It was ruler Kempegowda's territory, marking the western end of Bangalore.

An year has passed since we visited Savanadurga. The area is trekkers paradise with huge mountain Rock - a giant elephant resting on lake side - largest single rock formation in Asia- Forest and a lake. Durga means fort Savana could be - meaning killing or dieing place - as many wars have been fought over here and people easily got killed. We did mountain climbing, Kayaking & trekking.

Let's fill our lives with Love!

It was on a cold December day that she came in to our midst. It was the year 1995 and I was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I left office a little late. When I reached my car, which was parked under a tree, I heard a subtle sound - a small silent cry. I looked around and found a young bird lying on top of my car. It was shivering with fear and of cold. I looked around and found a cat underneath. It was getting dark. If I leave the poor fledgling bird, which has no feathers, surely it will become a meal for the guy who is waiting underneath. So I thought for a while and wrapped it in my handkerchief and carried it home.

I had no idea how to raise a bird. What to feed and when to feed etc. I just wanted to save it. That's all. As expected when I reached home my wife was a little angry for bringing it home. So many questions… Where we will keep? What if it has some disease? How do you know? What we will give to eat? Will it eat? I just neglected those questions and took 2 plastic trays which we used to put clothes for washing. Put one tray upside down, tied it on both sides and made a cage and put the bird inside.

Next day morning I understood the poor bird could not sit on the floor-plastic base- like that. It needed to catch on to something so I inserted a stick in the middle to act as a bridge and kept the bird there. Now it was comfortable for it. The journey started from there. That morning I realized that the bird was a dove's chick. I had seen a pigeon chick before but never a dove chick. Pigeons will come near us. But doves are afraid. They stay far away. I gave it some milk. It drank a little bit. I was satisfied. I started giving some rice bits of corn flakes, bread crumbs it did not eat. Next day I searched for Dove food in the largest supermarket there. And Lo I found lots of them. I was surprised as to who was rearing doves over here? May be someone does. Otherwise there was no need to import that many packets from Canada. I bought a large packet of mixed seeds with meat balls. The packet was priced handsomely and the home minister did not forget to check the price label. It was highly incompatible with a Non-Resident-Indian’s pay packet. When she scrutinized, I bit my nails and hid behind a chair!

Well, now we started giving the rich imported Canadian food to the poor thing. The little chick grew by hours! Within a couple of days things started appearing on it - a strong beak, legs, feathers-and wings ! And it spread its wings - first flight – like the Jonathan Livingston seagull! I helped. Next, I said go man! I am not your mother. A crash land and after 3 trial runs - a perfect landing! My son and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Now my wife started liking it. She called it Chinchu. I called it Chakki and my son called something else. All - Kerala pet names. I described the features and emphasized that it is a female. But she forcefully said it is a male. The love for opposite sex was evident. My son had not grown up then so he did not mind - even if it was neutral he would have accepted. So it became the darling of our house. It flew from the shelf to the cupboard. From the Cupboard to the curtain rods. From the curtain rods to the carpet in a flowing ballet. When we called it, it just came and landed on the head or if we show fingers it landed on it. It wanted my index finger the other fingers he was not sure. So I sometimes folded my index finger when it reached me and cheated it. But surprisingly it used to recover well enough to fly up and sit on my head instead!

Weeks Passed. One more Canadian packet. Now the luxury had become a necessity and this time she did not check the price label. The only negative point was that when our friends came they had to close their nose. There was bird droppings hidden from us. Behind the cupboard, curtains and shelves. But we did not feel it as we lived with it. Now since more people started saying it I started thinking. A bell rang in my head!
The entertainment went on. Like they say, whatever happen the show must go on. It now showed it is maturing, it started walking in a different way when we looked at it - minded it, it also showed some affinity! A sort of a peacock dance followed. I was thrilled to watch it. I never thought a dove will ever do it. Perhaps a mating call? That was a second bell.

Soon June/July our vacation time will come and what we will do with it? I thought. That a third bell.
In order to avoid the smell I tried to put it outside - in the balcony. One night a big cat came, bit and tore the plastic cage and the noise woke us all and the poor thing was luckily saved. That was the fourth and final bell that rang in my brain.

So now I made up my mind. It is time to bid farewell. One fine morning I kept it on the cloth liner in the balcony and waited. At the same time another dove came and sat on the neighbors TV antenna. Our Chakki saw it, looked curiously turning its head to both sides.

And then, a sudden flight upwards, above the wall, above the tree, and towards that building and to the antenna. Now I could see two birds on the antenna. A job well accomplished and with a heavy heart - like the father who has sent away his daughter in marriage - I returned to the visiting room. That night was filled with only the sounds of plates and spoons. Without sharing a word we went to sleep.
One thing I learned. A pet generates love in your heart. Love is like fragrance. It spreads. Have pets! Fill your life with LOVE.

[Photograph of Shyam with Chakki.]

Chameleon of Bangalore

Who is this headless guy running away from me?

He was wearing a black trouser and a safron shirt.

Umm.. He is a chameleon - a native of Karnataka.. Nowadays he wears a safron shirt!

Ofcourse he knows who is ruling this state now.

Sep 5, Teacher's Day - a retrospective !

September 5. Teacher’s day in India. I was driving down home from ITPL, Whitefield with Balu, a friend and colleague beside me. I tuned the FM Radio. An ad sounded. A child’s voice. It said “East or West my teacher is the West” We laughed. I asked Balu “Has any teacher influenced you in your life?” He thought for a while and said emphatically: “NO” “Not at all. On the contrary I have had some bad experiences.” That jolted me. As a practice, on this sacred day, September 5th, we think, read and say good things only about our teachers. Now is it appropriate to discuss bad things about our Gurus? We have a saying ‘Mata, Pita, Guru Daivam” ( Mother, Father and Teacher – all are Gods) .

But I was bemused with Balu’s answer and asked “Like what?” .
He narrated a story. For Pre-degree he was in a Parallel ( that’s the name in Kerala for Private unaided college) college and while leaving the college he asked for a conduct certificate from the Principal, a Lady teacher. The teacher stared at him and said “You are not going to get a job; Never! so why do you need such a certificate?”. As I know Balu, he is a very quite person and in student days he must have been a well-behaved student. Otherwise he would not have asked for such a certificate. “Then what?”. I asked. “Immediately after that I wrote the Air force test and got a job” he said. There was silence for sometime.

I was just imagining how as a young man he would have received the teacher’s words. It would have been very painful for him. That’s the reason he still remembers it. Words have far reaching impact. We may tend to forget the physical abuses. But words -especially cruel and bad words - will create wounds that never heal. Teachers should abstain from using it.

I have always found urban school teachers more cordial than rural teachers. School teachers in small towns and villages ill treat their students. Fault could be on both sides. But children are innocent and it is the responsibility of teachers to understand that and behave properly.

Unequal punishments, a big punishment for a small offence, will also create a wound that lingers on in a child’s mind for long time. I thought of such an incident in my life. In Malayalam we write July as Joolaay. After the La there is an extra deergham ( a character to indicate a prolonged pronunciation !) So in a composition work I wrote the date with month name in English as Julaay. It was a direct translation of Malayalam Pronunciation of the month. But the Lady teacher got so annoyed she pinched me so ferociously on the tender inner portion of my arm – Near the arm-pit. It was so painful I still feel the pain there when I think of the incident. What an offence and what a punishment!

I thought of the question I asked Balu. Did any teacher influence me? I remember the face of one or two teachers who talked to me some kind words otherwise none. But I have no ill feeling towards anyone. We can’t blame them. Those were the times when people did things differently. Even our schools were different. There were no CBSE schools. Neither Shoe-tie-belt English medium schools. We walked all the way to school.

I remember my 8th Standard English teacher. He insisted that we put the shirt’s collar button. In the summer days without a fan we struggled. But to our utter surprise he often opened two or three shirt buttons. Since he did not wear a brief (baniyan) we often saw his nipples. He was quite a funny guy. He asked us to make sentences with ‘can pass through’, ‘received with pleasure’ etc. etc. When the girls start making sentences he will enjoy every bit of it. I remember an elderly girl saying ‘A snake can pass through a hole.” Then he would ask her to repeat it. Look, this sort of nonsense by teachers is remembered for a lifetime. Is any teacher listening?
Having said that, let me add, September 5th or 6th I respect my teachers.

My Hard Disk Crashed!

Rain and cloud carried the limping, tearful August. I could not post much. The reason: my Laptop hard disk crashed! Now I have a new HD and the software is being installed slowly. I have started penning again. Many of my friends have stopped browsing my blog because they did not see anything new. I promise I will keep it going.
I had written two long articles. I did not post it immediately. I was proof reading. Now it is lost. Along with gone are numerous files, Applications, Works, Photos, videos, worksheets and what not? I am sad. There were things I do not recall now. People say recovery will cost too much.

Have you ever been pick-pocketed?. If you have stayed in Mumbai for sometime you might have had a chance to ‘enjoy’ that feeling. I did. Once I was pick-pocketed. I had a terrible feeling. As if somebody pulled out my spinal chord. The same feeling was there when my hard disk crashed. I did not have a backup except for some important personal files. After 3 decades of serving the IT industry I still have not learned that basic thing. Backup. Although I have been backing up various employers data perfectly - on time through out my life, I never thought my own data as important as that. So I should suffer.

Hard Disks are like granaries. We keralites are familiar with Pathaayams(big storage boxes) It is something like that. We put everything in it. Music,video,docs. And always waste time in searching. What happens when one day the Pathaayam itself is missing?

Barbers do not cut their hair properly. Dhobis do not wash their clothes properly. Cobblers do not wear good slippers. Doctors won’t take medicine properly. I have seen several examples like that. So a programmer who does not take backup of his own file is not anything new. That is the Lokagathi ( the way the world goes).

What is the use of worrying about something that is lost? We are bound to loose everything one day. That day is not too far for me either. So let me laugh at the loss of some silly items I collected en-route to Khayamat – the day of the judgment! God will not punish me on that day because I have gotten rid of some silly pictures I was hiding in my hard disk. The crash saved me from the sins. I am no more a sinner, man! Hey Padre, catch me if you can. .

Let me now look at the blank slate and try to become cheerful. I keep telling myself : If you do not have anything you have everything. If you have something then you have that thing. Just that thing!.This philosophy has saved me many times. Extreme negative will surely touch the extreme positive. So I have now everything. I have a full empty slate to write many many things. I feel happy again. Where is the chalk?

Software F1 !

This is what happens when software engineers try their hands on an F1 Car!

A scene from International Tech Park, Bangalore.

Bandhangal!

Rudraprayaag

Rudraprayaag is one of the many holy places in Uttarakhand. If Kerala is God’s own country (ad line) Uttarakhand is known as Deva Bhumi (Land of Gods). We visited Rudraprayaag on the way to Kedarnath.

The whole of Uttarakhand is in the eternal grip of dhimi dhimi sound of Shivathaandavam.. The more you near Kailash you can feel it.. Its just my feeling :) .. If you have some inclination towards nature you can start feeling it the moment you reach Rishikesh.. The Himalayas..the mountains pulls you….There is tremendous attraction to go, in spite of the hardships one has to endure.. Earthquakes, landslides, snowfall, avalanches and what not ! You are enthralled in the ‘Raudra bhaava’ of the nature. At the same time you are awed at the humble, simple and peace loving nature of the people there. What a contrast! In Kerala I see the opposite. The Saumya bhaava (Peaceful nature) of the nature. The beautiful, serene, calm and quite landscapes. But the people are ever agitated. Here the Raudra bhava is in the people. Again what a contrast!.

Rudrapraayaag is the embodiment of this contrast. It shows at the same place the serenity and the calamity. On the right and the left. On the right (of the confluence - of the temple) flows Mandaakini, the serene, the slow moving river with crystal clear water. On the left it is Dhauli(white) Ganga ever rushing, noisy - what a contrast!. A hundred steps down to the temple (that you see in the Pic.) and more than 150 steps to the river. It was tiring journey we (Urmila & myself ) came down hand in hand giving support to each other. When we reached and washed our feet in the Icy cold water of Mandaakini we forgot every hardship. A well relaxed feeling went through our spines. We looked into the water. Did we see some faces in water ? Rudraprayaag is famous for Jalasamaadhi. Many sadhus have ended their life here. Here you can leave your body as you just remove your dress. No cases charged. Just end it in the confluence of contrast and disappear into the oblivion. What an IDEA sahibji !

Cat and Catfish

This cat is not interested in Catfish.
I don't know who put this name for this fish. May be because its whiskers (horns) resembles cat's whiskers. The fish has no other comparison except it is tastier than.. Oh.. I have not tasted a cat yet. I like fish. I am not afraid of a staring fish but I have to confess that I am little bit afraid of a staring cat - even if it is very small. I think most people with some imagination are. Catfish is not afraid of cat. But cat is. And this is the evidence.

The photograph is from Bhagini restaurant, near ITPL, Bangalore.

Ellaarkkumellaam..

(For bigger Font click on Picture)

Pothu - a thief deterrent

Coconut is/was the main commercial crop of Kothazham. Kothazhans fiercely protected it. Once thieves from some neighboring village (as if there are no thieves in Kothazham) came and started stealing coconuts in the night. This annoyed the Kothazhans and they protected it with Pothu. Pothu is a small covering of thorns - mainly made of bamboo thorns. It looked like the trees were wearing a small shirt.

Now to deter the thieves they put it at a fair height so that the ladder used by thieves will be below it. So the thief will not be able climb up. But the thieves were cleverer. They used bigger ladder. Perhaps they were more technology savvy and never used any ladder at all. We do not know. Whatever it is, Kothazhans always thought they are using bigger ladder. So they raised the pothu higher and higher but that did not deter the thieves. At last the pothu was placed on top of the coconut tree itself. Kothazhans wondered how will the thieves now rest the ladder in the sky ! No way. As expected the stealing stopped. Kothazhans patted themselves for a job well done.

The truth of the matter was the thieves were a bit cautious now because they thought that loosely kept pothu may fall on them at any time. Strangely history books have not recorded how many Kothazhan siblings have got injured by the falling ‘pothu’s.

Thunchante Thatha

(For bigger font click on picture)

About fragrance...

Monsoon Arriving..

Monsoon Arriving at International Tech Park, Bangalore - Photo taken from my car at 5:30 PM on Jun.05,2008. Click on the photograph to see it big.

The blue-green building ( with a digitzed look) is the upcoming Taj hotel.

My office is on the 6^th floor of the building on the right.

ചിലപ്പോള്‍ തോന്നുന്നത്

ഒരു നേരമോരിത്തിരി കഞ്ഞി ചമ്മന്തിയും
ഒരു കോണക മൊരു തോര്‍ത്ത് മുണ്ടും
കേറി കിടക്കാനൊരു കൊച്ചു കൂരയുമത് പോരെ
ഈ ഭുമിയിലിത്രക്കൊക്കെ വേറെ വേണോ ?

അമ്മാമ പ്ലാവ് - Uncle jack fruit tree

On the right is a jack fruit tree. I feel very nostalgic when I see it. We call it AmmaamaPlaav (Uncle jackfruit tree). Earlier many houses in Kerala had Muthassiplaav or Muthassimaav (granny jack_fruit tree or granny mango tree) . That was a time when houses were in large compounds. Now the situation is changed. Land got fragmented and nobody is having huge trees on a small plot of land.

This tree was planted by my grand ( I would prefer to say great) uncle Late Ammassam Veettil Konthunni Nair, whom we used to call Ammaama. The tree got the name because of this.

It has been there for more than 50 years now. I have been seeing it for the past 45 years!. Just like me it has started getting age related problems. Some of its branches got broken in storm & rain during last few years.

You can say that it grew with me. I must say on its own. Nobody looked after it. It is situated just behind our ancestral house called Pathaayappura. Its fruit is not that good compared to other jackfruits. But it has some special place in our minds. It has been there on the way to our temple / tank. So it can not be missed. I remember when it was a very young tree. I also remember the first fruit on it. Above all I remember that underneath the tree an urn containing Ammaama’s ashes were buried.

Now the house and the compound all are abandoned .Nobody stays in Pathaayappura. We all grew up and moved to distant places. Poor Ammaamaplaav it could not move out.

By the way the photograph is Ali-Babbed from my nephew Srijith unni. :)

Read his blog: (He is a prolific blogger !)
http://srijithunni.blogspot.com

ഗാന്ധിജി ഒരു ഓര്മ

ഇരക്കുള്ളതൊക്കെ ഇവിടുണ്ടെന്നാകിലും
ദുരയക്കുള്ളതീ ഭൂമിയിലില്ല കൂട്ടരെ
കൊടുങ്കാറ്റ് പോലോരാളീ വഴി ചൊല്ലിപ്പോയ്
കൊടുത്താര് ചെവി യാ മഹാനുഭാവനായ്?

Decreasing number of Crows in Kerala.

കൂരിരുട്ടിന്റെ കിടാത്തി നിനക്കെന്തു പറ്റി ?


I am deeply worried about this. Whats happening to our crows?
Last time I visited my native place in Kerala I looked for crows. There were none.
Couple of years back I had enquired with my Aunt and she had told me that the number is depleting alarmingly. No one seems to notice it.

Number of houses have increased. This is causing tremendous pressure on land. The big trees are cut. Other than coconut trees there are very few trees now.
They are smaller in nature and can not be used to build nest. Our poor village crows are not used to build nest on buildings yet.

Where did they go? We urgently need research on this.

I remember some poems recited in childhood :

Kooriruttinte Kidaathiyennaal
Sooryaprakashathinutta thozhi
Cheethakal Kothivalikkukilu-
mettavum vrithi vedippezhunnol

(Daughter of pitchy darkness
but a friend of sunny brightness
She pecks on garbage smelly,
Yet she is spick, span and shiny! )
(own traslation :))

Another one from Sippi Pallippuram ( who wrote several poems for children):

Karutha kottum Kaalurayum
Kakke neeyoru vakkeelo
Pakshi kkotathi vakkeelo ?

(Long black gown
and long black coat
Are you a lawyer
in the winged folks court ? )

Salted Mango Pickle !

The story of pickle and Kothazham is very interesting. The main temple in Kothazham is that of Lord Shiva, the destroyer in Hindu pantheon. The imposing temple atop a small hillock, with 39 steps has a sprawling complex with a huge pond mainly for devotees to take a dip before entering the temple precincts and the priests to bathe before beginning the pujas.

In olden days when the village had a large number of jackfruit and mango trees, people used to preserve it for non-seasonal use. And for making pickle, they used to dump the mangos into the pond, which had salty water those days. (There is some incongruity in the belief of salt water in the pond at a place on the Eastern Ghats. This story could have taken place, if at all it did, at some place near the seashore. But by fate accompli befell on Kothazham).


Now after a couple of months or so when the pickle was ready, the villagers gathered around the pond to collect every person's share. First one villager tied a big Chinese earthen pot used to preserve pickles onto his neck and jumped into the pond. As he did not come up as expected after some time, other got panicky, not for the safety of the first jumper, but the very thought that he might be collecting the whole pickle. So they all followed suit, one by one and jumped into the pond with the big earthen pot tied onto their neck.

And in no time, a large number of able-bodied men in Kothazham went down the pond, never to return with the pickle they were supposed to fetch!

(courtsey - N.B.Nair - ANI Delhi )

Ceiling Inside Taj

We have seen many pictures of Taj Mahal.
But have you seen anything like this?
This is the ceiling view of Taj.
Is n't it beautiful?
Taj is beautiful from inside as well. ;)

ZAZEN - Sitting practise - Zen -> Dhyaan

Zen Buddhist Texts talks about the Sitting - Not the simply sitting but Zen meditative sitting.

Home Sitting -zazen- with our eyes focused on the hard wood floor, the polish reflects the falling snow outside the window. We watch our breath passing through our body. We are aware of the present moment. Sit on the forward third of a chair or cushion. Arrange your legs in a position you can maintain comfortably. In the half-lotus position, place your left leg on your right thigh (or vice versa). In the full-lotus position , put your feet on opposite thighs. In the Burmese position, tuck both your feet together near your crotch. You may also sit simply with your legs tucked in close to your body, but be sure that your weight is distributed evenly on three points: Both of your knees on the ground and your buttocks on the round cushion. On a chair, keep your knees apart about the width of your shoulders, feet firmly planted on the floor. Sit straight up but not rigid. Straighten and extend your spine, keeping it naturally upright, centering your balance in the lower abdomen. Chest back, stomach in. Imagine a straight vertical line through your nose to your navel Sway your body gently from left to right, until you naturally come to a point of stillness on your cushion. Tighten your "hara" the area about 2 inches below your navel. Look to the floor about 3 to 4 feet in front of your body,eyes neither fully opened nor closed. If the eyes are closed, you might start to daydream or visualize things. Place your hands on your lap with the one palm up and your other hand (palm up) resting on your lower hand, thumb-tips lightly touching, forming a horizontal oval. This is the mudra of zazen, in which all things are unified. Place the sides of the little fingers against your abdomen, a few inches below the navel, harmonizing your center of gravity with the mudra. Place your concentration there, or if you grow drowsy, concentrate your attention on your forehead between your eyes. Take three breaths, inhaling with the stomach going out instead of just expanding the chest, then exhale fully. Let your breath settle into its natural rhythm. With proper physical posture, your breathing will flow naturally into your lower abdomen. Sit still and begin to count your breathing, 1 on the inhale, 2 on the exhale, etc up to 10, then start over. Getting to 10 is not the point, if you can't keep track up to 10 (many beginners can't -- it's surprisingly difficult) count as high as you can, even if it is only 3 or 4, and start over. If you lose count or get to 10, start over. Keep counting. Be attentive to everything: your count, your breathing, the sounds and smells and feelings around you. At the end of your sitting period, gently sway your body from right to left. Stretch out your legs; be sure they have feeling before standing. Practice every day for at least ten to fifteen minutes (preferably 25).

____________________________________________________________
Courtsey Portland Zen community

Aztec Wheel

I love this Pic. Hope my readers also will love it. Intrinsic design and clarity of photograph is amazing. It is an Aztec calendar wheel which looks like a Konark Dharma wheel on the right side.

Amazing similarities exists between Asian Indians and Amer-indians!

Aztec indians & Inca Indians were sunworshippers and amazingly Konark ruins are of Sun temple.

The Manohara Krishna Sankalpa

The essence of beauty that is .. Krishna
(wait for some action in the picture)

മിന്നും പൊന്നും തരിവള കടകം കാഞ്ചി പൂഞ്ചേല മാല
ധനൃ ശ്റീവത്സ സല് കൌസ്തുഭ മിടകലരും ചാരു ദോ രന്തരാളം

Essence of beauty? yes. The beauty is in beholder’s eyes.

I think the Krishna sankalpa (imagination) itself is beautiful. Always smiling face. Even when he killed gory demons he smiled. Never can you see anger in Krishna’s face. No suffering either. He was an infant when he killed poothana. A child when he killed Kaliya, An adolescent when he killed Kamsa, youth when he killed dozens of demons. But the innocent, calm, adorable lovely faces every where – at least that’s what the mythology, writers and the poets reveal before us.

He is the embodiment of love and love alone. He can be your child, He can be your friend. He can be your protector and savior.He can be a father figure. He can be a conjugal lover. He can be a seedless giver of immense pleasure. He has no moustache or beard. He is not hiding in clouds. He is in your very own courtyard. You can scold him. You can call him any name that you may please. Yet if you want He can be your God!.

Once you know him you can’t forget him. He will be there ever smiling for you! What a Sankalpa!

ഹേ പീതാംബരധാരീ

ഹേ പീതാംബരധാരീ

ഒരു കൊച്ചു കച്ചയുമോരോടക്കുഴലും
ഒരു മുടിന്കൊലും ഒരു പറ്റം പയ്ക്കളും
നിസ്സ്വനായല്ലോ കാണ്മാന് ആഗ്രഹിപ്പൂ ജനം
നിസ്തുല സംപത്തി ന്നു ടയോന് നെന്നാകിലും !

Good humor. Laughter. Rest. Happiness.

Why are we so gullible?

You might be considering yourself very smart. You might say, no, I am not gullible. But hold on. Have you taken any loan recently? Have you opened a Bank account? Have you entered in any lease or Rental agreement? Have you signed an employment contract? Have you ever applied for an electricity connection or Water connection? Or any other service provided by the government? Are you paying excess tax? Have you read the tax clauses properly? Have you done any investment recently? Have you purchased a car or any heavy equipment that needs maintenance? Do you know the clauses in there? In all these things there are clauses and conditions that may have gone unnoticed.You might say how can we remember all that? We do everything in good faith – until we are cornered. That’s the catch. We allow ourselves to be cheated – we are gullible.

If ever you find a good lawyer and sit with him with all the documents you have you probably will be amazed that on every opportunity you have been taken for a ride. People, establishments, government were someway cheating on you. The agreements you signed were either not clearly understood or not read. When we sign a contract we sign it in good faith. We believe in the person contacted. The bank manager, the friend who came to our house, our neighboring Insurance agent, our close relative who suggested this thing or that thing – we trust all of them.

Never sign a contract without reading the terms and conditions and understanding it.

Never sign anything in a hurry (The loan agents of financial companies & Banks often bring the original agreement at the last moment. These forms will have conditions other than what is mentioned in the proposal document that is given to you for reading prior to the deal.)


Never take it for granted that the terms and conditions are ‘as usual’ or ‘normal’. There is nothing called ‘as usual’. Any condition is amendable as per your demand. People believe in the printed forms and think that they are statutes that can not be changed.

Insist on the signed contract copy. Preserve it.

One thing we should know is that with the advent of consumer courts and consumer protection rights, the manufacturers, the dealers, Banks, establishments, government organizations have become cleverer. They take extra precaution. They overreact and go to some extremes. I recently got a document to sign from a reputed financial institution. It said that it is a SEBI requirement and upon checking I found that it is not.

By the way did you check your recent bank statements thoroughly? It says that if you do not inform them within 15 days, what ever is there in it would be treated as correct!

If you are living in Kerala look at the terms and conditions they print behind an electricity bill.

Dog in the well

Here is a brand new one. A dog fell into a well in Kothazham. Kothazhans got alarmed. The dog saved itself. Fully wet, tired and shivering with fear was resting in the ring of the well. Kothazhans could not dial 101 or 100 as BSNL had jammed Reliance phones or vice versa. Airtel and 'vada' phone had not arrived then. They tried many things to save the poor dog. Like asking it come out, barking at it, dropping a rope, a ladder, dangling a fish, extending a rice ball etc. etc. They tried to drop a cane basket and asked the dog to jump in it. That also did not work. At last they listened to village sex bomb Ponnomanakutty’s bright idea. She explained that it is now Kanni maasam ( Malayalam month Kanni – zodiac sign Virgo ) and it is the mating season for the dogs. So why not we drop a bitch (female dog) who is in heat?. Everybody agreed that it was a novel idea. So they caught a bitch and dropped it in. As soon as the vallikotta (cane basket )came down, the religion, caste and the horoscope matched, the shivering dog immediately jumped into it. Sesham chintyam ( Rest is history !)

Stork soup

Here is another one. Kothazhans wanted to cook some good Kotti curry ( Stork or crane Curry – These days nobody cooks it fearing they will be misunderstood as kothazhans. All Keralites have become foreigners eating only chicken curry! ). The Kothazhans devised many plans to catch Kotti ( ‘tt’ should be pronounced as in American ‘Patty’ ) .All the plans turned out to be foolish ideas except for one. This idea was of a brilliant young Kothazhan whose name was Ittikkandappan. He explained the thing brilliantly with power point slides. According to that : When the sun shines at about 11:00 A.M. in the morning the Kottis normally go to sleep. So at that time take some butter in your hand . Go slowly near to a kotti. Sh… no sound …. Put it directly on its head. Now due to the heat of the Sun the butter starts melting. Now the kotti senses it and alas it can not open its eyes. Catch it now ! … What an idea! Screamed the Kothazhans. They did not wait for the Presentation to end and Laptop to be closed. They rushed to the fields!

That day they must have enjoyed the kotti curry with lot of ghee in it!

Stealing Well..!

One of the famous joke about Kothazham is that one day a Kothazhan ( male member. Kothazhathukari – for female) went to another village and happened to drink water from a well. He found it so sweet and tasty. On his return to Kothazham he spread the news. Many Kothazhans went there and tried. They found it true. Now it is natural that Kothazhans also wanted a similar well in their village. They dug many wells but it was same old water. Nothing comparable to the neighboring village well emerged!. They discussed and debated the issue for many days. There was no intelligent Pranay Roy or forceful Barkha dutt or intimidating Sreekantan Nair to anchor the debates. So at last they decided on one thing. That they will steal the well from the neighboring village!. And the story goes thus that for ONE FULL NIGHT they did try it ! What happened the next day morning is left to the imagination of readers.

Why farmers commit suicide ?

Recently a prominent web site conducted a POLL . It was related to farmer’s suicides.

They asked five questions.

Why are farmers committing suicide?:

Psychological imbalance

Climatic changes

GM(Genetically Modified) Seeds

Are they committing suicides?

Government Policies

VOTE

This is surprising . It looks the questions have come from urban comfort. These kind of ‘intelligent ‘ journalists are ruling the ruse. I remember having seen a debate program in NDTV while I was in Delhi. There were about 100 people in the audience. The debate was about issues to be discussed in parliament. The anchor asked “how many of you support farmer’s cause?” To my utter surprise there was literally no one to raise the hands!. The anchor also got surprised he then said “ What is this ? are you guys not eating anything ? “

They all laughed it out and continued with another topic. This is how urban India thinks of agriculture.

Look how easily they decided upon five points. Are there no other points? Where is the economic hardship? Rise in price of products in general and sky rocketing labour charges? Is there a comparable increase in price of agriculture products?

What about change in life styles? I think in my home state that is the main reason. Climate change and consequent untimely rain is a recent incident. Since that has happened to many people government has plan to compensate the losses. Indebtedness is another major cause. Government is addressing this issue in an awkward way. The writing off of loans will only encourage farmers to take more loans. There will be more collective and continued demands to write off future loans and it may be politically inspired also. What are we going to do?. Tax payer’s hard earned money will be wasted like this. A whopping 60,000 crores! And the politicians take pride on this. They do not care how it is distributed. As long as they can project this amount in election meetings that is enough! It is clear that the government do not have enough machinery to verify the loan and check the distribution. Honest people who paid up their loan suffering much hardship will be neglected and unscrupulous guys who did not pay up will be rewarded.

Coming back to Changing life styles. In Kerala, mainly farmers from Wayanad are committing suicide. I would say besides all other things Change in life style is a major cause here. Earlier these farmers lived in remote areas inaccessible by road. They lived with minimum things. They had very limited needs. Now there are roads to every nook and corner and there is electricity too. Along with electricity all gadgets came. Television is the most important thing. It spoiled the mindset. The demand for things hither to unheard and unused increased dramatically. More shops and shopping complexes was the result. More avenues to spend money drained the purse. But there was no income to cope with this. The prices of agri products reduced because of globalization. Import of pepper, copra, cardamom and other spices from Sri Lanka, Africa etc. caused less demand in local markets. The labour charges increased considerably because of leftist interference and unionism.. Since the family’s life style changed the farmer had to meet the demands. He wanted more money to live. On the other side his income decreased. The banks and local moneylenders came forward merrily. Loan melas of Wayand were famous. Every bank had conducted loan melas. Couple of years … and the Japthi notices starts arriving. It reaches point of eviction from houses. What the poor weak minded farmer will do? Other than deciding to leave the place quietly? Sometimes en-masse with family.

Things have not been corrected or amended. No new ideas are discussed to thwart the problem. People are still living in same conditions. This 60,000 crores write off will not do anything. UPA and allies are thinking that will fetch more votes. We have to wait and see. The money is going to go to different hands. Come next budget this 60,000 crores will have to be doubled!

In order to sustain economically many farmers are turning to cash crops. This has resulted in food problem. Swami Nathan is at the helms now and green revolution is failing.

What’s the way out ?

I think large scale co-operative farming or inviting big multinational corporations by opening up Agriculture sector to foreign investments is the only way. There will be many people opposing this suggestion. They would suggest public sector undertakings or Indian companies for the job. They would also argue that we will be slaves of MNCs.

But I think ultimately that is what is going to happen. We have no know-how or technology to mass produce agriculture products. Neither do we have storage capacity or storage technology. There is no visible invention or progress in these sectors. India is a fertile land. It can produce the rice needed for the world. Sure these small time farmers will become employees of MNCs. But their living standard will increase. Small farmers with small land holdings should cultivate vegetables,fruits, spices & medicinal plants not food grains. That should be left to big corporations. Government has to help the marginal farmers in this way and not by writing off the loans. I think this everyone will benefit. India government will become richer. We will control the food market. Americans helped the Gulf states to drill for oil. Both benefited but now the Gulf states control the oil price.

Wrong perceptions about our rights and freedom should vanish. Leftists will oppose it in a big way because of their inherent decease called ‘USmania.’ But time will tell they were wrong at every turn.

We are now waiting for crop failures, farmer’s suicides, and the food problem.

We need calamities to learn.

We need hundred of thousands of deaths and destruction to act.

Until that time let’s sleep.

Simply Sitting technique - Answering a query.

I wrote this as a reply to my friend's what if query.

Simply sitting ideology !

I must admit I coined the word - unwittingly. I don’t know if anybody has used that term as plain as that for meditation. No cult or group will ever choose it because they will not benefit in anyway. No body wants to learn such a thing like ‘simply sitting’ by paying money. If you call it ‘Zazen’ ( for Zen – sitting) may be people will pay.

Simply sitting is an Art. Most people think they know very well ‘ how to sit simply’. The truth is that very few know and very few can unless trained. You may wonder. A few days practice will definitely tell you that. I frankly think that - that is meditation. Just simply sit for half an hour. Not sleeping, Sit with full awareness and NOT THINKING OF ANYTHING. That is the catch. If you are able to sit idle without thinking anything for at least half a minute then that itself is a great achievement. More than minute you have good chance of becoming a Yogi. You don’t have to recite any mantra or say any prayer. You can keep all your pseudo secularist pretensions in tact. No worry of allegiance to any group. No need to wear any saffron cloth. Your prestige pressure cooker will not fall tumbling down. But even that won’t be possible for simple ordinary souls. People have lot of false notions. How they will answer to the question to “why are you sitting idle”? They may not be able answer properly. Without a cult? without joining any yoga class or without going to any satsang? Without changing one’s belief? They are not supposed to sit like that. If he is a family man, wife and children will suspect him. They will take him to doctor. If a child does, parents will get upset. Our duniya is like that. A worker ant is not supposed to stop. If it stops then there is trouble.

I firmly believe and practice daily this simple ‘simply sitting’ technique. You can also try it. If you know some meditation then it is icing on the cake. It is a great experience. It is not my invention. For hundreds of years learned men from the east and west practiced it. Rishi-Munis, Sufi saints, Zen Gurus, Assisi fathers and many more.. They did not name it as I did. Upanishads explained it at great length. They say Dhyanam Nirvishayo Mana: (Meditation is mind without any thought).

Zen has this practice. They call it Zazen. But they concentrate on breathing. And count breathing. They do not close the eyes fully - fearing you may start visualizing something. But no doubt Zen gurus achieve ‘bliss’ early. After years of practicing I can not convincingly say that I have experienced it even for a fraction of second. But I can surely say that on freak occasions I have sensed a ‘happiness’ that is on the way. I would call it ‘satisfaction of existence’. Then fraction of a second is long time. If with years of accumulated ‘Karmadoshas’ I could achieve that then imagine what the pure souls could achieve.

Now if your mind is not calm and receptive skip the next paragraph.

Zen Gurus always practice silence and live in the present with full awareness. Now read next sentence very slowly. Keep your mind as soft as white cotton cloud. Leave enough time gaps after every word, every full stop…. Zen gurus lives very peacefully. They make beautiful clay pots. They cut wood. They water plants. They see leaf. Stones. Brown pebbles. Black seeds. White petals. The difference is that they SEE. We Look. ….If you have been truthful to yourself you would have seen how agitated your mind was.

It is very very difficult to make people understand subtle matters. Things can not be told like that. It is like explaining the unknown fragrances. There definitely has yet another dimension to the otherwise seen mundane world. Your ‘what if’ questions.. are all related to this chaotic – cacophonic - ( perhaps you may call realistic – I would think twice to call it realistic ) mundane world. Our spiritual leaders have always called this samsara chakram or samsara sagaram..(loukika Jeevitham) Knowing it very well and keeping aloof from it is the technique Geeta teaches. So many ‘what if s’ can be answered by just one ‘what if’ as you explained at the end. What if, if you and I were not born at all!

I would end this with a Zen guru joke:

Once a businessman got interested in Zen philosophy and he decided to become a monk. He joined a Zen ashram and lived there with Zen Gurus hoping to learn everything soon. They did not teach him anything. Six months passed .The businessman got frustrated. He slowly approached Guru. He told him plainly that he has not learned anything from them. Guru simply asked “Did you drink Kanji?” To this business man said “Yes”. Guru: “Did you wash your plates?” To this businessman said “Yes”. Guru: “Then go to sleep”.

I think the next day the businessman must have left the ashram. What do you think?
What is the underlying meaning or meaninglessness here?
How can this be explained to ordinary folks?

A 'What if' Question !

This is in reply to posting "Maharishi and Simply sitting ideology.." The comment is too large to be posted as comment. So I publish it. Besides I hope readers will get interested.

Read on...
___________________________________________________________________
'What if ?'

Hi Valsan,

'Simply Sitting' Solutions!

Very interesting!

Whoever has coined this phrase has unwittingly made 'TM' and 'Meditation', the words that are associated with rich and lazy more socialistic!. Now ordinary people can afford to practice it ! They need not join any cult praticing 'sudharshan kriya' and pay for it proprtionate to the amount of air they breath in and breath out ...or get suffocated by the hugging amma..

Standing on my one leg,inside the 8.46 Borivali-Churchgate fast local, my head sandwiched between two tall guys, struggling to take the hot and foul air inside thru my nostrills, I was yearning to sit in a corner and see solutions for whatever I can ...

I was thinking ...What, if ...

I get up in the morning and simply sit in a corner.. No need to rush to kitchen to boil the milk, prepare tea or cut vegetables .. No need to rush to catch the bus whcih comes at 8.40 and hop from the bus to catch this local ... dodge the vehicles to get into my office bus ... No need to rush to my PC to open 'windows' using 'mouse' to get greeted by some new gene of virus.. Or, see unwanted emails and increase my BP after seeing the sensex graph falling... No need to worry about how to develop the algorithm that goes inside the front-end tools to trigger an event that activates the back-end processing..the output of which is taken as input by some remote server simply sitting in some corner of the world!

What if,

My wife gets up in the mornng and simply sit in a corner. She also has to enjoy this 'simply sitting'. She refuses to rush thru her brushing and rush to kitchen to see if I have started the ground work! No need to prepare tea ... no need to worry about steaming Idlis or pouring dough on pan to make dosas which refuses to go round and round and prefers to simply sit in one side of the pan... No need to worry about preparing 'sambar' and accompanying 'Uppery' and stuff it in lunch boxes ...the daily chorus she wants to escape from...

What if,

My daughters get up in the morning and simply sit in a corner ... No need to visit the kitchen before turning the morning pages of daily ...and the colourfull supplements full of 'Bollywood' crab ... No need to get up and open the door when the door bell rings by the newspaper boy or the milk man or the garbage collector...

What if,

The sweeper, the bus driver, the motor man, the rikshawala,the traffic constable, the vegetable vendor, the postman,the pilot,the police .... and all those who make this city move decide to sit in a corner ...and continue to be in that posture.. till they get solutions for whatever the problems ....

Globally thinking...

What if,

Mr.Bush had been given lesson on 'simply sitting' solutions prior to his sending men to make Mr.Osama run, who was till then 'simply sitting' in a corner of some cave in Afganisthan without bothering anybody...

What if,

Mr.Osama had been given lesson on the benefit of 'simply sitting' solutions prior to his activating 'sleeping cells' to take the civilian aircraft and simply hit the twin towers...

What if,

Mr.Bush and Blair had been given lesson on the benefit of 'simply sitting' to find solutions before they decided to jointly undertake annihilation of Iraq looking for that ever elusive weapons of mass distruction...

What if,

Mr. Musharaf had been aware of this 'simply sitting solutions' before he ordered his men to climb up Kargil and 'simply sit' there till our men in uniform reach there to wake them up ...

What if .... I hadn't seen your blog praising the benefit of 'simply sitting solutions'....!

Regards,

SOman

What if .......................................................................................................................?

Sports - Olympics - China - Tibet - India

My dear compatriot, reader, let me ask you, what is the rate of your self respect? How do you rate your patriotism? If you are keen on India’s foreign policy, proud of India as a citizen, then you should be following the recent incidents. You must know how China humiliated India recently. First, the incursions on border second the salvo on Arunachal Pradesh Third warning on Dalai Lama. Fourth is height of humiliation calling our Lady Ambassador at 2:00 A.M. and give warning for the Tibetan Protests in New Delhi. What is our response? We oblige unlike in 1962 when our ambassador was called at 2:00 A.M. we also called their Ambassador at 3:00 A.M. Then for a long time China did not disturb us. But now things have changed. Money speaks now. Business interest is above human right violation. Or is it sheer spinelessness? Fear of a bully? Regional superpower? If you follow the news carefully, you will know that on every occasion China has humiliated us. But each occasion our politicians in Delhi have been compromising, obliging, adjusting - slipper licking! And what not!

I am sure our Ambassador Nirupama Rao, the strong Keralite lady, should have decided to answer appropriately by saying that we can meet during office hours. But alas When she checked with South block the answer was Go Immediately!. Even after prostrating before them they accuse us of encouraging Tibetan Protests. We should in fact unleash large scale support for Tibetan cause. Tibet’s culture is more assimilative in nature with ours than Chinas. Tibetans have been looking for India’s help for years! They have been living peacefully in India for long time now. All right-thinking people should support Tibetan cause. We can not have refugees staying in our country for more than 50 years!. Tibet must be free. And Tibetans should go to their homeland. After all Dalai Lama says he is not seeking Independence he is seeking just true Autonomy. China should listen.

There are people actors, sports persons who say that politics and sports should not be mixed.They did not like Baichung Butia’s decision not to hold the Torch. People like Aamir Khan, Saif Ali khan ( what do they have to do with sports I don’t know – In India celluloid heroes catch the Olympic Torch – perhaps our sports minister thinks they run faster than PT Usha ) are eager to hold the Torch. Almost all sports persons in India from P.T.,Usha to Leander Paes say politics should not be mixed with sports. So is Kiran Bedi. I am amazed at their statements. Where were they when India did not play in Pakistan for more than decade? Why did we boycott South Africa for a long time?

I think it is a good opportunity to humble china. India should boycott Olympics. Any way we are not going to loose anything expect a free vacation trip for some funny guys in Delhi. You should check how many guys went for last Olympics and how many medal we won. You surely will agree with my statement. There are some big fat guys permanently sitting ( I mean - sleeping ) in Indian Olympic committee. They damn care how many medals we bring. If we call off their pockets will be lean by couple of crores. The saved money can be utilized for coaching the athletes for the Commonwealth games and build infrastructure for it.

Otherwise nothing happens by boycotting the Bejing Olympics.

See an artist’s impression how the Chinese developed the Olympics emblem:

Should we boycott Olympics ?

My dear compatriot, reader, let me ask you, what is the rate of your self respect? How do you rate your patriotism? If you are keen on India’s foreign policy, proud of India as a citizen, then you should be following the recent incidents. You must know how China humiliated India recently. First, the incursions on border second the salvo on Arunachal Pradesh Third warning on Dalai Lama. Fourth is height of humiliation. They called our Lady Ambassador at 2:00 A.M. and gave warning for the Tibetan Protests in New Delhi. What is our response? We oblige. We kneel down. In 1962 when our ambassador was called at 2:00 A.M. we also called their Ambassador at 3:00 A.M and gave warning. Then for a long time China did not disturb us. But now things have changed. Money speaks now. Business interest is above human right violation. Or is it sheer spinelessness? Fear of a bully? Regional superpower? If you follow the news carefully, you will know that on every occasion China has humiliated us. But each occasion our politicians in Delhi have been compromising, obliging, adjusting - slipper licking! And what not!

I am sure our Ambassador Nirupama Rao, the strong Keralite lady, should have decided to answer appropriately by saying that we can meet during office hours. But alas I now hear that when she checked with South block the answer was - Go Immediately!. Even after prostrating before them they accuse us of encouraging Tibetan Protests. We should in fact unleash large scale support for Tibetan cause. Tibet’s culture is more assimilative in nature with ours than Chinas. Tibetans have been looking for India’s help for years! They have been living peacefully in India for long time now. All right-thinking people should support Tibetan cause. We can not have refugees staying in our country for more than 50 years!. Tibet must be free. And Tibetans should go to their homeland. After all Dalai Lama has been saying that he is not seeking Independence they are seeking just and true Autonomy. China should listen. They should start dialogue with Dalai Lama.

There are people actors, sports persons in India who say that politics and sports should not be mixed.They did not like Baichung Butia’s decision not to hold the Torch. People like Aamir Khan, Saif Ali khan are eager to hold the Torch. ( what do they have to do with sports I don’t know – In India celluloid heroes are asked to hold Olympic Torch – perhaps our sports minister thinks they run faster than PT Usha ) Almost all sports persons in India from P.T.Usha to Leander Paes say politics should not be mixed with sports. So is Kiran Bedi. I am amazed at their statements. Where were they when India did not play in Pakistan for more than decade? Why did we boycott South Africa for a long time?

I think India should boycott Olympics. We are not going to loose anything expect a free vacation trip for some funny guys in Delhi. You should check how many guys went for last Olympics and how many medal we won. You surely will agree with me. There are some big fat guys permanently sitting in Indian Olympic committee. They damn care about how many medals we bring. If we call off, we save some money. The money saved can be utilized for coaching the athletes for the Commonwealth games and build better infrastructure for it.

Otherwise nothing happens. See an artist’s impression how the Chinese developed their Olympics emblem: