Their spirit knows no bounds

We had prepared quite a bit for the 'Nav Chetan Shibir' which ended yesterday- if you recall, I had written about it a couple of blog entries ago. NCS is a program offered by the Art of Living organization, designed by Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar. The course is specifically targeted for people in the lower economic strata.

On Saturday last, Saurabh hired a drummer to walk along with us through the streets while we formally announced the Shibir.

To the sound of the drumbeats

The residents came out of their tiny tenements to see what all the fuss was about. We coaxed them to join us in the Shibir, at the venue (a temple hall). We told them that it would benefit adults and kids alike.

I guess they chose to only hear the word 'kids', judging by the fact that most of the attendees turned out to be in the three foot nothing range!

On the first day, the attendance turned out to be as lean as Shah Rukh's six pack abs. Nevertheless, those that turned up listened intently as we spoke to them about their health, the importance of drinking boiled water and ways to keep their surroundings clean.

They even followed our instructions during the Pranayaam sessions to a tee. Never in our other sessions did we see any adults perform with such precision and alertness.

Raise your hands and breathe in!

On Day two, they came in droves. A wonderful sight for any teacher to behold.

A teacher's Christmas gift!

We taught them meditation, or something which was akin to sitting quietly for a few moments. But what followed on Day three was an amazing transformation. The erstwhile noisy and restless bunch of kids sat still when we told them to meditate.

In a meditative mood

But of course, as we brought out the sweet packets, there was a mad rush to collect their goodies!

It was a truly wonderful experience for us. Saurabh's arrangements were superb, and Chaya really sparkled as she spoke in chaste Kannada.

If service should come with a smile- it comes real easy when you're amidst the three foot nothings...

Front L>R: Saurabh and Chaya, my fellow AOL volunteers

PS: I may not be writing in for a couple of weeks- am off for my Teacher's training course at the Art of Living Ashram. But I'll have lots to write when I return. :-)

Happy holidays!

The office looks festive with this dazzling Christmas tree. Folks are packing up to go home and soak in some Yuletide spirit.

Thought it's a good time to wish y'all Happy Holidays!

Here comes the Sun!

Here's a pic of the orchard in front of my office (VMWare) which is situated in a particularly green part of Bangalore. The orchard hosts Sapota and coconut trees. Sapota is a brown colored fruit of a medium size. The outer skin has a rough texture and each fruit comes with a shiny black, oval seed. The pulp, when ripe is really tasty. It has a unique flavor with a granular texture that tickles the tongue at the first bite.

When I 'framed' the orchard during my afternoon walk, the Sun seemed to have worked some magic of its own kind. Just look at the rainbow carressing the trees...

To do, or die

The debate of life after death is a very lively one, often kicking up a lot of heat and dust. Some say we just simply return to dust, while others insist that we simply move on, taking the comfort of another body. Like dropping the clothes you are wearing and wearing new ones.

So they say.

Not an easy notion to decipher, analyze and resolve. The debate will likely last a lifetime. Till death do it part, from us.

But I ask, while there's the present moment to live with, why really bother about what may happen later? Like, uh, isn't there enough to do in our current life?

Last Saturday, some of us AOL buddies went off to a nearby slum to invite folks to attend a program called 'Nav Chetan Shibir'. We've been conducting this program for slum-dwellers around our neighborhood.

Slums have literally mushroomed all over Bangalore ever since construction has kicked off in a big way. These people put together any odd pieces of plastic to create a makeshift tent. They cook, clean and sleep in these tiny tents.

The Nav Chetan Shibir program was designed by Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar. It teaches people about hygiene, sanitation, good food habits and some breathing exercises. It also mixes in some fun, as we make participants sing and dance. Three consecutive days, each session lasting around 1 and a half hours. None of these folks can spare any more time- they work so hard throughout the day.

The particular slum that we visited had tiny houses fitted with asbestos rooftops. Each house had a tiny room and an adjoining toilet. The front door couldn't possibly be higher than 5 feet.

Not all the scenes were as pleasant as the smiles of these two girls.

There was Thomas the drunkard who chattered incessantly, often mumbling to himself. Even as we tried to move away from his reeking breath, he would lean forward and generously invite us to his home.

We thought there was some animal enthusiast amongst these folks who had tied a red ribbon around the neck of the neighborhood dog. On closer look, however, we were shocked to find that the 'ribbon' was actually a nasty red weal caused by some infection. We winced at the sight and wondered how the children roamed about freely with sick stray dogs frolicking about.

The 3-day program starts this Friday. Hopefully, by the end of the program, many among the slum-dwellers will start boiling their drinking water, washing their vegetables, cleaning their surroundings.

Well, this is life. Never mind what comes beyond it.

Gooseberries are great but is there a God?

November seems to be the time for gooseberries. Mounds and mounds of them, in markets. Sorted out in different sizes.

The lemons are seen in plenty too. I noticed this when I visited the market a couple of weeks ago. A group of ladies clad in traditional saris were bargaining for what seemed to be a mountain of lemons. When the veggie vendor finally gave in to a mutually agreeable selling price, the ladies picked the best out of the ' lemon mountain' and made their way to a nearby temple.

I followed them into the temple.

One of them had brought a couple of knives and soon they sat down and set to cutting out the lemons into halves and scooping out the pulp. All the while they were smiling and chatting with one another. They seemed to have planned the project very well, for another lady brought out a bottle of oil, a matchbox and a big box of cotton wicks.


Soon they filled the lemon 'containers' with some oil and positioned the wicks so that one end of the wick faced the rim while the other was dipped in oil. They lit each wick and then placed each 'lamp' on the ledge that separated the inner Sanctum Sanctorum from the room where devotees were allowed to stand.

It was a beautiful site. The lamps reflected soft light on the deity, and I could almost swear that the Goddess wore an extra special halo, thanks to the loving work of these women. I heard later that the same process is followed with gooseberries as well.

Nature seems to take extra special care of us human beings. In winter, a windfall of fruits that are harvested are full of Vitamin C. Tomatos, lemons, gooseberries make their way to every nook and corner of the markets.

Nature has a very close connection with religion. During festivals, which seem to be clustered from August to December, the doorsteps are lined with mango leaves. Any Puja in the South India usually includes coconuts which are considered to be auspicious. A traditional meal is eaten off a freshly plucked banana leaf.

The Basil (Tulasi) plant is considered to be sacred and the leaves also have many medicinal properties.

A traditional Indian woman offers betel leaves with some fruit, when a lady guest visits her home. Hindus turn Eastwards in the early morning hours to pay their respect to the Sun.

I have often listened to and read about many academic arguments which center around questioning the presence of a God.

Do you know Him? Have you seen Him? Isn't the concept of God man-made, meant for insecure people?

The fact is that most people haven't seen God and those that muster enough courage to claim that they have felt an 'aura' only receive sardonic smiles from sceptics.

Must be your mental frame of mind. You know, psychologists believe that light can play tricks and make you see things.

So most believers and God realizers have learnt to shut up, fearing that they will be deemed weak or insane if they opened up to the general public. Now no one ever questions the presence of the wind (although no one has ever really 'seen' the wind).

For some reason, God is probably the most debatable subject in the world.

Perhaps that is so because He chooses to let us mortals argue and have some fun. Perhaps He even knows that He will have the last laugh. Perhaps He is actually humoring us from up above the mountains. From within our souls. And from the lemons that gently drop to the ground.

For my part, I simpy enjoy observing all the stuff that goes on centered around God and God presence.

I love listening to carol singers who drop by my house during Christmas time. I love watching children all dressed up in new clothes during Ramzan.

I have never tired of watching my neighbor create beautiful traditional motifs with rice flour in front of her doorstep each and every day. I had watched her daughter, (who is all grown up now), mess around with rice flour in her younger days only to receive a gentle slap on her hand by a vigilant mother.

So I wonder, why do sceptics spend all this time on proving the absence or simply disproving the presence of God, when they can enjoy so much along the way of knowing?

Why can't they shop for those lemons and enjoy lighting those wicks? If anything, they'd enliven any cold foggy morning...