It's rainin'...plastic?

Went to Lal Bagh this Sunday to do a dry run of Green Code.

Turned out not to be so 'dry' after all! One burst of thunder and soon the green canopy dripped sultry raindrops.

What with the Rain God in His element, the Sun took a short nap and here's how it all looked after that. Wonder if van Gogh can come down with his easel and brush. He can leave his paints behind. The colors are here aplenty.


Even while I was admiring God's own Creation, I chanced upon seeing these two pups have a go at some plastic scrap.



Just so the planet that we inhabit doesn't 'go to dogs' (an apology to my canine friends), we plan to hold Green Code in Bangalore on April 20.

Green Code is a program to bring civic awareness to Bangaloreans. Being held in Lal Bagh, the program will include a walkathon to Lal Bagh, a plastic pickin' session at the park and a car rally.

Come join Green Code on April 20. It will be work, play and a lot of fun. After all, we'll do anything to save Mother Earth, right?

Connectivitree!

Decades ago, in the Himalayan region of North India, the Chipko Movement steadily gained momentum, Under this movement, women would hug trees in order to prevent them from being cut by the contractors working for the State government. Down South, in the land of Karnataka, the 'Appiko' movement started as a honest attempt to save trees from man's axe.

Browsing the net for anything green, I recently came across this blog.

Tree hugging seems to have got international recognition. But this blog is even more than just a 'sylvan hug'- it has many many relevant topics on environment- like raising awareness to people standing in long toilet lines in places where the water is scarce. Conferences on Green energy, pollution control.

From the future of farming to 'Pressed leaf Plates' . This honest-to-goodness blog does a lot to raise global awareness to Green issues. Way to go, bloggers, way to go.

But what's with this tree hugging thing anyway?

I actually tried it once in a forest, on a tall tree with a lush crop of leaves decorating its branches.

That's me, my friend Gurpreet and tree

At first it felt rough, cold, clammy. The 'barklets' pricked my skin. A few ants emerged from the slits in the bark to see what the fuss was all about. Some of them climbed onto my arms, probably mistaking them for an extension of the homely bark. I shrugged them off, never caring for where the ants landed. I clung onto the tree despite the discomfort. Moments passed by. No response from tree.

Soon the wind was blowing harder and the branches began to sway gently. One, then two, three, four leaves descended on me. Soon they were covering my head, arms, my body. I closed my eyes and my head rested a bit more firmly on the bark.

We had connected.

'Twas the whistling wind. And a few green leaves.

Rain drops and the River of Knowlege

All of last week the good earth absorbed a shower of raindrops, while my mind strangely hungered for spiritual Knowledge.

Call it a cosmic connection between Nature and the inner Mind, every single day, I got some knowledge, even while the raindrops beat incessantly against the window panes. From where I sat with my books, I could see the banana plants sway pleasantly in the roaring winds.

First, we had Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar's discourse on the Gita which I really related to, because it was so wonderfully down-to earth. I learned about importance Sankhya Yoga or the knowledge of the soul which Krishna explained to Arjuna, right at the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita.

Then I attended the first day of a 3-talk series by Swami Sukhabodhananda on the Bhagavad Gita. He is a great orator. And very inspiring.

Pic taken from the web.

My key take-home on Day One of the talk was there were several kinds of listening. One type of listening was like the water on a frying pan. The minute a drop lands on a hot frying pan, it evaporates. So people who have a lot of 'noise' in their minds, will not be able to absorb knowledge properly. Another kind of listening was like a dewdrop on a lotus. A calm resting point for the dewdrop, whose beauty is enhanced by the lotus flower. Such listeners grow and enrich their very being when a Guru imparts knowledge.

The third type of listening is akin to water drop landing in an oyster. With time the drop becomes a pearl. A late onset, albeit a wonderful ending. Such a pupil takes time to turn a Guru's knowledge into a gem by his or her own behavior.

Swamiji hoped that we were all like those lotus flowers. We did a lot of chanting. Even as the lightening blazed from the skies, our minds were silenced by dewdrops of this Supreme knowledge.

I grew hungry for more knowledge of the Gita and re-opened my textbook which was gifted by my counselor from ISKCON. I decided to read a chapter a day along with the interpretation. I plan to put up a small text every time I blog, in the sidebar, so keep watching that zone.

I also found a site online and bookmarked it.

Here's an excerpt from the site:

The Bhagavad- Gita is considered by eastern and western scholars alike to be among the greatest spiritual books the world has ever known. In a very clear and wonderful way the Supreme Lord Krishna describes the science of self-realization and the exact process by which a human being can establish their eternal relationship with God. In terms of pure, spiritual knowledge the Bhagavad- Gita is incomparable. Its intrinsic beauty is that its knowledge applies to all human beings and does not postulate any sectarian idealogy or secular view. It is appproachable from the sanctified realms of all religions and is glorified as the epitome of all spiritual teachings. This is because proficiency in the Bhagavad- Gita reveals the eternal principles which are fundamental and essential for spiritual life from all perspectives and allows one to perfectly understand the esoteric truths hidden within all religious scriptures. Many great thinkers from our times such as Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Schweizer as well as Madhvacarya, Sankara and Ramanuja from bygone ages have all contemplated and deliberarted upon its timeless message. The primary purpose of the Bhagavad- Gita is to illuminate for all of humanity the realization of the true nature of divinity; for the highest spiritual conception and the greatest material perfection is to attain love of God!"

The week has passed ever so quietly, like a sleep-walking child. But some pictures caught in the moment, will never fade away. The Supreme Lord will always seated on a Golden Chariot looking gently at the slowly awakening Arjuna. And in the backdrop, there will always be the rain-soaked banana leaves swaying gently to the rhythmic wind-song. In resonance to the Holy Rhythm.

Green Code postponed

Green Code, which was to take place on March 16, (Sunday), in Bangalore, has been postponed. It will now happen on April 20 which is celebrated as 'Earth Day'.

Watch this space for updates. Till then, eat green, watch green and dream green.

Plastic sense

Here are a few facts about Plastic:

• If we recycled every plastic bottle we used, we would keep 2 billion tons of plastic out of landfills.
• It takes 25 two-liter plastic soft drink bottles to make a sweater.
• It takes two plastic soft drink bottles to make enough polyester fiber for a baseball cap.
• It takes 35 two liter plastic soft drink bottles to make 1 sleeping bag.
• Americans go through 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.
• In India, cows tend to pick out plastic from open trash cans and chew on bits. This can go through the intestine and enter into the food chain.
• Plastic is NON BIODEGRADABLE!

Sourced from Flickr- Catherine's collection

Code Green, a program in Bangalore, plans to clean out Lal Bagh's plastic litter and set a civic discipline among city dwellers, towards the use and misuse of plastic. Come join us on a March from Vidhana Soudha to Lal Bagh, on March 16, 8.30 am.

LIFE.x - my other blog

I started another blog called LIFE.x

The link's also present as a permanent fixture on the right-hand side of this blog posts section- it appears under 'Links'

I did this for several reasons. Firstly, I felt that Mystic Masala blog pertains to topics which can be broadly classified under spirituality and environment. It gives me a constant 'high' whenever I post a blog in this space. It's a fantastic feeling, for sure.

LIFE.x is all about..LIFE! It ranges from movies to book reviews, cooking to storyboarding. I am particularly proud of 'Storyboard', coz' I like to dabble in creative writing. I occasionally write short stories, and thought that I'd like some feedback from my friends over these write-ups.

Wordpress has some very good features in its blog zone. Many templates to choose from, and some are even in 3 column format. I can also add some more 'zing' to the existing templates.

So go ahead and click on LIFE.x

Send me some feedback!

Operation Lal Bagh

Code Green is just a week away. Thousands of Bangaloreans will march from Vidhana Soudha to Lal Bagh on March 16 and start 'de-plasticizing' Lal Bagh. But the program has a much larger perspective, which is to spread civic sense among the public by setting an example.

As part of the preparation plans for Code Green, a group of volunteers from Art of Living decided to give up their weekend siesta and march along to Lal Bagh, where they had a dress rehearsal of sorts, to lead the public on D-day. The park is going to be divided into zones and volunteers will welcome the runners/walkers and lead them to their respective zones for the cleaning up process.

So that's how all of us sat under a greenwood tree to listen to our seniors walk us through the plans- then we took an actual walk to soak around the campus in some greenery around us.

Here are some pictures of Operation Lal Bagh. Our Sanjaynagar (sub)team, later had scrumptious Masala dosas at a small eatery in Malleshwaram. I bunched a few pics together for your graceful watching.

Empowering women through training

Empower women to bring that smile. (Pic credit: Wikipedia)

March 8th is International Women's Day. This year, with a new scheme, the women in the state of Karnataka will get something even more significant than flowers and chocolates.

E-Mahile is being launched to connect villages to the virtual vistas. Under this scheme, cyberkiosks will be set up in villages and will be solely run by rural women, by way of providing them a self-employment opportunity.

The Women Development Corporation (responsible for the scheme) has already launched a pilot project in 10 districts with almost 300 women already undergoing training.

Cyber Kiosks will serve to disseminate information on demand. Information will span weather data, agriculture produce marketing process, railway and bus ticketing, healthcare network and ambulance service information. Through this service, each woman employee is expected to earn around Rs 7000 per month.


Jai Bhavani Ma! (Pic from the web)

'Stree Sakti' or Woman Power is celebrated in India and Goddesses are placed on the top-most pedestal to be revered and honored. From being the kind and compassionate Mother to the powerful and graceful embodiment of Feminity, Durga , the spirit of Womanhood has been lauded in the Holy Hindu scriptures.


Pic taken from WordPress (Reference: Heather Mallick, columnist, Girls, Interrupted)

Yet, statistics reveals that the average girl child in India remains uneducated and impoverished. Over 150 million children working as bonded laborers. One out of every six girl child does not live to see her 15th birthday. Female infanticide is a terrible practice gaining prominence in rural areas.

Let's move over to war-torn Iraq.

Iraqi Women and children are constantly suffering from trauma and stress due to continuous shelling and bombing. In order to combat this, they are being administered steroids which have many side-effects. Apart from that change in their medical regime, their daily lives continue to be miserable and they often suffer from deep depression.

The Art of Living organization, under the leadership of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar, has sent over a team of dedicated teachers to Iraq. Now our sisters from Iraq are being given ayurvedic medicine, and are being taught Pranayaam and meditation. In four days' time, it is said that they begin to return to normalcy with a smile lighting up their faces.

A similar program has also been initiated in Kosovo and Gujarat to see similar results.

After all, the old adage " "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime." holds good for the fairer sex too.


Women’s Conference, 2005 "When you train a woman, you help the entire family, the village, and the nation."- Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar

Shiva, Neutral Space and Timelessness

Pic downloaded from the web
Today is Shivaratri. Hindus observe fasting and pray to Lord Shiva. Some devotees also stay awake all night and pray to Lord Shiva.

Our Art of Living ashram conducts 'Rudrabhisheka' and joyful Satsang amidst deep resonating echos of 'Om Namah Shivaya' chants.

I was browsing the web today when I came across a beautiful explanation of the concept of 'Neutral Space' from the 'Shiva Sutras'. This Youtube presentation is actually a discourse by Swami Paramahansa Nithyananda, a young and very knowledgeable Guru from India.

The Neutral Space is said to be a zone where you do not connect to anything (a 'no imagination' state). It is the 'unclutched state'. It is said to occur between every incoming breath and the outgoing breath.

We tend to fast-forward this Neutral Space even though we are constantly experiencing this between our incoming and outgoing breath. Every moment, we are in this 'unclutched' state. But because we are uncomfortable with this space, we tend to fast-forward it. Therefore we think that the actual time spent on incoming breath and outgoing breath is more than this 'neutral' gap. But this is apparently not so.

This neutral state is the most important state that leads you to enlightenment, or the 'Ultimate State'. Shiva preaches no morals, but presents the concept of the Ultimate State (Nirvikalpa), which leads to a moral life.

The Swamiji goes on to explain the definition of 'Time' and how it is different from the Western concept of Time. In this manner, it is said that Shiva brings you to the most fundamental knowledge, the Ultimate Truth. Which is your very nature.

Watch this video. It is from the LifeBliss Foundation.

Come, March into "Green Code"

How does it look from up there, pal? (Free stock photo from the web)

Yep. Even the squirrels seem to have gotten wind of it.

On March 16, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and Home Guards are organizing "Green Code".


Beautiful Lal Bagh (Credit: www.flickr.com)

On March 16, all those cheering for a greener and cleaner city will go marching along from Cubbon Park to Lal Bagh. The invitation is being broadcast from every nook and (web) corner, radio stations and chin wagging sessions.

The Art of Living volunteers have taken on the responsibility of leading the ten thousand odd participants who will turn up for the drive.

The green landscape of Lal Bagh has always been famous for its exotic trees with all their grand botanical names proudly displayed.

Pic credit: www.flickr.com
The popular flower shows at Lal Bagh attract thousands of nature lovers and the flowers are such a pretty sight to behold.

Green Code aims at educating people over keeping the the Garden city clean. The whole program is to bring civic sense to every Bangalorean so that the city becomes a better place to live in.

On March 16, some of us will clean up the terrain by way of setting an example.

Then there's hope that with such eco-friendly drives, people will become conscious of a cleaner and beautiful Bangalore and make it a way of life.

Do join us on March 16, 2008. Volunteers will be gathered at Lal Bagh morn' to evening to guide you in the activities.

For more details, pl contact Shashikanth (ICE TV) at: 98453 44244

Conference on HIV/AIDS

It is shocking to note that Asia contributes to over 20% of annual HIV infections. One simply cannot do enough to spread awareness to this problem which has assumed pandemic proportions.

A conference on HIV/AIDS is being held on June 1-2, 2008 at the International Art of Living ashram, Bangalore. The conference is being jointly organized by the Art of Living, UNAIDS and Asian Interfaith Network on HIV/AIDS (AINA).

While health professionals and research scientists are doing every bit to understand this syndrome and also contain it, HIV/AIDS continues to be deeply woven into the societal fabric.

It is not merely a matter of controlling the disease through medication or prevention, but actually educating the healthy 'others' towards behavior and lifestyle. Religious doctrines throughout the ages have emphasized on having love, compassion and understanding towards those afflicted by ill-health. What is clearly needed is a shift in people's mindset.

Conferences such as this are so very timely and apt. For more details about the conference, please contact:

The Central Projects Department,
The Art of Living International Centre, Bangalore
Phone No: 080 32940807
Email id: centralprojects@gmail.com

Fast track into Fusion Music

Even though Bangalore is teeming with the new generation of bubble gum kids who swear by their Capuccino and cigarettes, the growing metropolis hasn't yet banished music and fine arts altogether.

One still catches glimpses of the old world charm peeping out of the mosaic of flashy cars, high rise homes and pulsating hard rock, in hip-hop Bangalore. Concerts occasionally score over I-catching 'Pods, and one still sees women in shimmering silks walk into majestic Halls to lend an ear to live and soothing music.

On Friday, my friend and I had passes to a concert in the famed Chowdiah Memorial Hall. We were treated to scintillating 'fusion' music by the Khan brothers, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan. They are the illustrious sons of the noted Sarod Maestro, Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan. Years ago. Years ago, I had the unique honor of playing the background Taanpura for him, at a concert held in the Indian Institute of Science.

Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan with their father, Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan (File Photo from the web)

The young brothers turned out some soul-stirring music and did not fail to enthrall the audience. Their rendition of 'Reincarnation' set to Raag Behag (which included a Raagamalika) brought out the kaleidoscopic colors of emotions that can only relate to this mystical transition called reincarnation. Raag Bhagyasri was simply superb. Every piece managed to blend the different instruments with such finesse and the ending always came in a thundering crescendo, thrilling the audience. Man, woman and child thumped their feet to pulsating rhythmic beats while sounds of silence dutifully descended on every subtle note.

While the traditional Sarod was accompanied by the modern keyboard, lending fusion of the east and west, the young artists never lost the classical touch and there were glimpses of the conservative modules of alaap, jod and jhala. A remarkable blend, one can say. No noise, no off beat tones, just a naughty demo of pop culture tailored into Hindustani tradition.

The program was organized by HSBC Bank. Wish there were more such like-minded organizations which still root for rich Indian music and melody....

(Pic on top right hand corner is a Bangalorean mall taken from Google)