A bundle of nerves and a bunch of trees

I'm totally with folks who often refer to themselves as being 'a bundle of nerves'.

Currently, I am just that. One painful heat boil rubbing against cloth is all that it takes for my nerves to bundle up and shriek!

No matter, I can soon put it all past me. Even as I 'Jai Gurudev'd' my way to the medicine cabinet in search of some ointment, the boil broke and that soothed the skin quite a bit. I thanked all the Gods lined up in my Puja room for the relief rendered.

Gratitude is a balm that works quite well among human beings with wounds, abrasions, cuts, burns, boils and a fermenting attitude as well. I tend to show gratitude by putting my hands up in the air and looking skyward in search of a God who's probably wearing Prada. Or some equivalent brand available out there.

This gratitude continued as I drove to the office the day after that boil'ing Apocalypse. I glanced at the trees laden with purple blossoms and marveled at the beauty around, which kind of offset the thick smoke-filled air.

The branches were sinewy and brimming with flowers in varying hues- purple, mauve, yellow. The colors may have been different, but all the branches had but one characteristic.

Like outstretched hands, the branches pointed Upwards, swaying gently to the occasional breeze. Despite facing the menacing axe poised to cut and kill, these gentle branches only looked Upward in constant Gratitude.

And here I was fretting over a boil.

Connecting...

Just when I was skillfully pushing aside the few odd pangs of guilt for not making any blog entries, I got a mail from a new-found online friend who said that I had actually inspired her to start her own blog. Well, that's the thing that keeps you going. A word here and there.

So here I am again...:-)

The International Women's conference went off real well, although I dare say that I was truly behind the scenes with no chance of attending a session. I mean, I was looking after Hema Malini ji, whom I admired for years. Trust Gurudev to put you where you always dreamed to be. In front of one of the most beautiful women the world has seen.

Hema ji is forthright, straightforward and no-nonsense type. I quickly learned that she can intimidate people with her direct approach. But go past the tough exterior and you find that she is a very sensitive person. I guess one has to be sensitive to be able to portray Divine persona such as 'Radha' or 'Lakshmi'.

In spite of her busy schedule we did chat up a bit. We giggled over the cute goody bag that the organizers had placed on her bed. Hemaji will look past any other cuisine to get to the plain South Indian fare of idlis and dosas. She loves to use her own herbal tea dips. All in all, she does take care of her diet and health.

While looking after Hemaji and her dance troupe, (who had joined her to perform a beautiful dance ballet at the ashram), I also was able to meet Usha Uthup, a singer par excellence, whom I idolized for her wonderful renditions- eastern or western.

Here are a few pics that you might enjoy:

Hemaji at dinner. Guruji came in later and spoke to her (and us!)

That's me with Ushaji

Hemaji (as Radha) with 'Krishna' and the dance troupe.

International Women's conference at ashram

Ok, ok, I haven't been writing for quite some time. But folks, I have been busy. I mean REALLY busy. Office matters, work on the personal front and on TOP of all this, I was helping out a bit with the forthcoming International Women's conference. Yep, the biennial ALL GIRLS' MEET that's to take place at the serene, soothing, green ashram.

Come Feb 6, women from all walks of life will be arriving at the ashram to participate in the conference.

This year's Conference is entitled "The Light of Leadership: Integrating Global Perspectives".

The conference sessions will seek to:

- Highlight the importance of women leadership in ensuring sustainable
development
- Create a network of women committed to bringing a positive change in society
- Explore ways to unlock the innate leadership potential within every individual

Dates : 6th - 8th Feb, 2009
Venue :The Art of Living International Centre, Bangalore, India

Information is also available on our website

Here's a word on the registration goody bag. As conference registrants, women will get to interact with women from all over the world, from different walks of life. They will also avail an Art of Living course, which teaches simple stress-relieving and spiritually uplifting techniques. They will also get to interface with experts in Ayurveda, and will receive some wonderful rejuvenating holistic tips and treatments. More than anything, they will be in the company of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar.

One can very well appreciate a conference like this and its relevance in today's issues of women's rights. World over, women's basic problems are both similar and diverse- sometimes unique to geographies and to workplaces. How better to appreciate this than attend a conference which brings so many women under a common umbrella of love, compassion and the steely resolve to take action?

If there women readers out there who are interested in knowing more about the conference you can mail me at: Kandula.manjula@gmail.com

Back on track

It's good to be back after a soothing break from the normal routine. It rejuvenates and revitalizes the spirit. Some quality time with family, friends, relatives and pets sure feels good. Not to forget the sweet boxes that were doing their rounds during the New Year.

Despite our busy schedule of visiting homes of relatives in Hyderabad, my husband and I did manage to take time off to read the Holy scriptures- and books that wrote about them. It was such a fantastic feeling I got when I started to read a commentary on Adi Sankara's Vivekachudamani. I browsed through the 'Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna', and it was so beautiful to read about His life.

Came New Year's Eve, and I started yearning to see a glimpse of Gurudev. Nope. I only had His picture and had to take comfort in the gentle face that stared back at me.

On Jan 1st, 2009, in between phone calls of new years greetings, setting the breakfast table, doing my Kriya, I was desparate. So I prayed hard to Guruji so that I could at least see his face SOMEWHERE. I missed him a lot.

It was mid-morning, when I decided to flip the TV channels. One, two three...hmmm, nothing on screen, I reckoned. I almost shut off the idiot box when I saw Gurudev's beaming presence. He was addressing the youth of Andhra Pradesh- speaking about meditation, prayer, peace and the like. I smiled to myself- this was Gurudev at work!

I hardly switched the TV on all of the week, and I happened to switch it on, at a time, at the very channel, where He was speaking!! I listened intently to his every word. He started to speak about science- a topic that always interested me since I had done a PhD in Biochemistry. "Of what use is a study in science if it cannot be put to use?" he asked in rhetoric. "...Yes, Kriya has a lot of good effects as per the studies in Biochemistry". I giggled. Yep, it almost seemed as if Gurudev was speaking to ME, comforting me that he was always there. We only had to be receptive to cosmic signals.

I am so grateful. I could have studied any number of books, imbibed some knowledge, scratched my head over the syntax, pondered over the semantic meaning, wondered over God's presence. But just a mere glance of my Guru had answered the fundamental tenet of all our Belief.

Faith.

Faith can move mountains, and this time it brought my Guru to me when I wanted Him.

Happy Holidays

I'm going out of town for the holidays. I will be back to ring in 2009. So I'll rest my fingers for a bit and set aside the keyboard.

But before that, here's wishing you a wonderful holiday. May the Xmas spirit light up the skies and bring peace to you and to the world.


I'll leave you to ponder over Guruji's words on the spirit of Christmas, taken from Guruvaani:

"You are the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree is pointing upwards and its branches grow on all sides. It is orderly. At the time of year when no tree bears anything, it has many gifts to offer. And it is green throughout the year. A Christmas tree bears the gifts and the lights not for itself. All the gifts you are carrying in your life are for others. Anyone who comes to you, you offer them your gifts.
...Your life is a gift. And you have come to unwrap the gift. In the process of unwrapping, you also save the wrappers. Your whole environment, situations, circumstances and body are the wrapping papers. When we unwrap, we destroy the wrapping paper. We are in such a hurry at times that we even destroy the gifts. With patience and endurance, open your gifts and save the wrapping papers."

Happy Holidays.