connecting to GOD

Connecting to God

I don’t know how to name him or to put a finger or a pulse to this being, this spirit which guides us to a better person. I just know simply that I was so caught up in life and smug in thinking that I was controlling everything and everyone connected to my life. In short my ego was manifesting itself in every way possible. You know, when we keep on saying I know this, I can do this , Don’t worry listen to me , I have it under control. I was guilty to all these and more.

Then suddenly a little jolt which made me realize how fragile our existence is, how the threads of our lives are in the control of BIG BOSS , not to be confused by the actor who goes by this name or with a dear friend . I had forgotten my creator, my real self, the security blanket which I had and temporarily pushed it to a back burner thinking He knew it all. I had my reverence for Him, he had all my respect all the regard, so it did not matter if I did not take out time to remember Him? He knew, that’s what mattered. I was busy living life and living it to the full. I had no regrets, everything was well so all was good.

Well, wham my applecart was upset and then I realized how important it is to have the discipline to remember Him. It is an ongoing process and  is akin to breathing. And I had forgotten how to breathe .

Life goes on and will always go on, with me there or not. My existence or lack of it is not going to be a major shake up in God’s entity. But my bowing in front of this superior being, this enlightened being which makes all the world go makes a difference in my existence.

Connecting to God is something we all will do, at one point of our lives, and I hope it is in happiness and not in sorrow but take out time to connect with Him. Connecting does not mean getting an express Paath or asking a granthi to come and do the reading of the scriptures so that it is a formality. One thing is for sure you cannot hide or lie or buy your way out with this guy. He knows it all. I connected and breathe better so when do you start?

Note please :

Even starting with an app on the smart phone is a start and make time on the GOOGLE calendar , you’d be surprised how the day goes better.

People who don’t believe in Him ,well lets have a discussion.

The eternal debate

This is not about Genesis. It's not even about whether who ate the Apple or didn't. It's been proven by the sales that eating the apple made for a killing in the tech industry and the other companies are still trying to catch up with funny sounding operating systems  . And not even coming close.
This is not even about casting my vote , whether I voted Akali, or Congress or for the hastily married SM. My vote was meaningful and we got what we deserved. This is not even lament on the budget , it's not an intelligent discussion on the rising prices or the car which is getting more expensive or the fact that movies are cheaper. This is a direct impetus for the nation to watch more and more Ra to the infinity , Krishh sequels ! In fact Salman , Shahrukh and Hrithik will never grow old.They have hit upon the never age recipe you see.
This is also not about one question which makes women squirm, their weight or the diet they should follow. I actually follow the worst diet possible , note to self ( eat healthy !) . Coffee, chocolates, simple yellow deal and with innumerable cravings is what i survive on. In short live life normally. I mean the minute we introduce stuff like bran ,oats only , no veggies, eat a digestive to our bodies, they start malfunctioning. I mean be desi , be kind to the body . She didn't come from the west so why make her suffer? Just go basic , folks and you will see the results. Trust me , she was born Indian so why make her suffer through the oats, bran , routine...
See , rambling again , my debate is something which plagues us all the time. We , the fairer sex , the women have to decide what to wear tomorrow?
I'm plagued by this decision. Hmm, what to wear and what not to wear? What color ? Go traditional , or modern, demure or loud sassy or sexy ? I wonder if one is allowed to use the word sexy any more after the furore created by the word couple of weeks. Still wondering , till tomorrow though . It 's my eternal debate.
KISS.

kich kich

Kichh Kichh

I am not a Sunidhi Chauhan , a Begum Akhtar or even close to the shadow of the shadow of the Nightingale of India but my voice is decent , passable and apparently sounds good to some people. But this common affliction of a sore throat has me stumped and it wheezes, splutters, and now sounds like a fog-horn croaking away its melody.

The remedies range from adrak chai , to a hot toddy, to amla grated mixed with honey and lemon. A hot peppery dadi ma nuskha where peppers are mixed with almonds and raisins and is made into small balls and chewed. Trust me, the sheer hotness of the concoction is making me glow with a natural red tinting my cheeks to perfection .The glaziness in my eyes is not due to my secret swinging of a brandy here and there or the smelling of the poppies dotting my garden but a perpetual intoxication with the numerous downing of cough syrups.

The pharmaceutical industry, makes a killing every year , every month , every second selling these bottles which just knock you down temporarily giving you a buzz for the moment but kich kich remains the same. You know, that irritating feeling , in the back of the throat , gets drowned by the syrup but just never goes .

I have notes from people who say a hot toddy works wonder, done that so am a bit wobbly , ate and slept with rotis, just gained inches with that one! My next bet is the Gol –gappa stall in the midst of model Town … well bhaiyaji here I come .

Lost in Translation

Lost in translation

A social obligation, one I wanted to avoid brought forth a discussion and a chance to listen to one of the finest discussions I have heard on morality and the declining standards in Punjab. I went to this obscure village, off the beaten path to attend a Shagun, which I thought would be the same, sit in the shamiana and then see the customary traditions taking place. Was, I in for a surprise! In front of the gathering, a saintly person sat on the dais and started speaking in chaste simple Punjabi. My first reaction was that, Oh I was in for a long boring sermon and it was going to be a run- of the mill katha (discourse of the verses from the holy book).

Well this cynical jaded person was in for the best refreshing talk ever had. Babaji (the saintly person ), talked in detail ; over an hour of the declining moral standards of Punjab. He lamented over the falling moral views of the people. In fact, he says as the people have forgotten what was written in the scriptures , the times dictated , the raags to be read that the complete dis-regard and the moral degradation and corruption has led to the rise in divorce, killing of girls is rampant.

The angle which he highlighted appealed to me; he says that the time given was before 12 in the afternoon, a time which is pure the time given in the SGGS but now the time of marriage vows is as late as 4 pm. Incidentally that is time for the reading of the scriptures for someone’s death /demise.

How do we expect the union to be blessed, if it is not at the time stated? Hindus, always read the holy vows at the time stated and that is their auspicious time. Why are we after the materialistic pomp and show and have forgotten the times as set by our Gurus? Right now, the population of Punjab is in a mindless frenzy of show where everyone tries to out do the other by bigger marriage palaces, ostentatious display of jewels, wealth, senseless display of food, flowers and might. A union of two souls is sacred. Now, we  don’t give that importance or the time as dictated by the almighty but the whims of the pomp , band wallah, the caterers or worse the orchesterated wedding planner who decides what time the grand entry should be made!

His view-point also covered the rising silent unabated killing of the girl –child. An ordinary man gives all he can to marry off his daughter, what ever he can afford, or possibly mortgage to give his princess the marriage of her dreams but such is the trend that the boy-side will ask for the moon or the one thing which has not been given. He highlights a common homily of the town of Maalpur (a progressive town of Doaba) where a man a married his daughter and gave her every thing in her dowry, the wedding festivities carried on for four days. Maalpur is a town which geographically has a lot of ‘choes’ and when the wedding procession was going back , the bullock cart got stuck in the mud , so the father inlaw remarked that the girl –wallahs should have atleast given a shovel…

Hearing this the girls father said , it would have been better to have kill the girl when she was born rather than face this day .

One word captures , Punjab sad.

This according to him was the numero one decision why girls are being killed unabashedly . When girls were married off in earlier times, the father gave his turban to the the boy side; a sign of izzat, and his honor which he was giving to the groom , and his family . Now it is not about the girl, the human behind the name but how much is exchanged when the ‘milni’ is done. It is all about the clothes, the expensive shawls, the blankets, the gold so exchanged. How are we putting a monetary value on something so precious as life?

 His discourse lamented over the total disregard of the teachings left by the Gurus. Should’nt we have been the dispeller of the dark ages with the advancement of civilization; instead we have thrown ourselves back into a dark deep abyss where light cannot reach ever.

Punjab , currently tops with the highest inequal ratio between sexes and is not far behind the discrimination and harassment of women. Where has all the talk of Shakti , primordial force of life and the land where great saints, pirs once walked gone , a poor reflection of the golden age?

Has the translation been lost by the so –called keepers of religion? Religion remains the same it , is the keepers who are defiling it.

The Rebel Mind

The Rebel Mind

I used to meditate, I stopped.

I used to do paath, I stopped.

I meditate sometimes but don't have the discipline to do it everyday.

I meditated , but now my schedule is too hectic; can't seem to make the time.

Which of the above line sounds familiar?

We all prepare ourselves to work, focus and concentrate on a job to reign in the mind which would rather make you do anything except work. Ask me , I've been playing hooky for the last ten days.Just became materialistic and started gauging everything in monetary terms . We all want to work and get instant results , just like the microwaved coffee . You know the instant coffee, which is coffee but lacks the punch.

I asked someone innocently , you know the normal question one asks , in the beginning of a conversation , " How are you doing?" and the person replied,' Do I really want to know the answer to the question honestly? ' In fact we all give a perfunctory answer and go ahead. You know ," Chalta hain".

We all do it . Every day , every waking moment many a times of the day and forget the centre of outlives. The fulcrum. We forget who we are and trade our happiness and peace for worldly things an ago ahead with life repeating the mantra ,' if only ' and what if'. 

Look back and think back how many times we forget who we are. We trade our peace and our identity for things  we believe to be more important. All of us go on searching for that temporary ,elusive thing which  keeps on eluding your grasp. We all feel empty and keep on sensing that something is missing. What happens is a chain reaction , we try to feed the emptiness. The need to fill the emptiness sparks us to do something and the quickest is to buy something to fill the void. And this goes on like the energizer battery.

The real question is what am I looking for? What will truly satisfy me? What will fill me so that I no longer feel empty? Will the new Hermes' bag or the bigger sized diamond make me happy? 

Well, I think the trick is to feed the emptiness or the void. Just let it be. Stay empty . Feel the emptiness . Don't be afraid. It's not going to swallow you . Enter it. Be one with it. Instead of letting that empty feeling drive you to buy or do transitory extra things and take you to the other side ; just feel the emptiness.

Once this happens you will go into this world and not be swayed by the toys but you will rather enjoy the toys. It all boils down really to the senses. It's these senses which jerk you around like a headless carriage. They tempt you sway you and suck you in for the journey.

Juat ask one question , " Do I need this? Can I live without it? Will this matter in the next month, the years down the road? An hour, no.

So why lose my equilibrium ? I know preaching sounds very lofty and Im sounding very high and mighty and pompous but trust me I'm trying to take the first step too.

Just been honest here.

Mobiles or Loos? CHOOSE babes

BREAKING NEWS:                      Jairam Ramesh says women want mobiles and not toilets....

This is an open letter ( Please read with a pinch of salt and gram masala , oh note to self though ..a pinch said due to rising price index and inflation )

a) Is the remark directed towards us that we just want to talk and gossip and that takes priority over a personal human requirement ?

b) He has reason to believe or has secret scientific knowledge based on a secret study funded by an undisclosed agency where it was found out that women prefer the open , airy , au natural  way to bathe and attend to their ablutions.

A sub-committee also has reported that using mobiles by women will increase the rays and that will eliminate the feces . In fact Google and Nasa have reported the colorful spotting of these weird fly-away objects and then two legs which are seen . Are they aliens or some national code?

c) We are a Kamasutra nation which likes bathing in the open , we have no inhibitions.

d) He is in cahoots with the departed soul of Raj Kapoor( my respects) thus wants to do a Madakani scene bathing under the gushing waterfall ( water which is a mere trickle now)

On a serious note what would you prefer , a toilet to bathe use , or a mobile to talk and then go to the Sulabh Sauchalya in the fields ?

Munni, Chameli , Santi , Banti 

stupid cupid

As a child we all planned out our wedding day and a wonderful fairy tale love. People think to be happy they have to find their true love; their soul mate. We all want to find that one person that we can express our secrets to. Everyone wants someone to come home to. Blah Blah Blah! I have heard it all before, in fact I create all of those fairy tale endings. Yes, my name is Cupid and if it weren’t for me you wouldn’t even be here right now! If i hadn’t struck your parents with love you would have never even existed! No need to thank me though, it’s my job!

Picking the perfect couple and giving them their “happy ever after” has been my job for billions of years. You could say I am a professional. I was always meant to be the matchmaker. I found joy in making others happy, but one valentine’s morning I didn’t get the same satisfaction that I usually do. I got tangled up in making sure everyone had a significant someone for Valentine’s Day that I forgot about myself. I lounged around all day in my heart shaped home watching sappy movies and eating pink strawberry ice cream. I went outside to fly around to get some fresh air and all I could smell was red roses and dark chocolates from the couples below me. I sensed the love I created all around the world, although I couldn’t feel any in my heart. 

I decided it was time that the love master found his own partner. It couldn’t be that hard! I know exactly what women want: a sensitive man that cooks and surprises her with romantic flowers when she comes home. If anyone could find a girlfriend it would be me! 

I invited my best friend, Robby, over. You probably know him better as the Easter Bunny. We conversed over coffee and carrots. I revealed my plan to him about finding my true love. Robby informed me that in today’s advanced world people find their true love over the internet or on game shows on television. I asked him which one I should do. He told me game shows would be more affective and fun. He didn’t seem too serious about the situation at hand but I went along with it any ways.  And it was what he said , its just too difficult to find true love . Love in today's time is ransom to gifts, value in monetary terms and the size of the outlandish gift which will outweigh the other person.I realized with searching and looking gfor  my soul mate that it would just happen , I couldn't make it happen nor was it subject to reason . It didn't follow any dating guideline or tips via a web site which claimed that these 'x' steps would mean undying glove. Nor did using any perfume , aphrodisiac or otherwise made me lovable,  it however did give me a sever allergy reaction ! love is love , you can't rush it nor can you lay claims or demands .

That is why I have grown so much to love what I do. I never take it for granite anymore. I have now been awarded the honor of being Cupid eternally. My days are spent floating around shooting people with my love arrows giving people their love. So do not rush to find your one true love, or rush to get into that fairy tale life. I promise you I will shoot you with a love arrow one day and you will be perfectly happy! Thu s, I'll always be the stupid cupid looking for my love somewhere in the horizon .