The Trek

Summer this year saw my husband and I join a group of 166 people on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath and Badrinath. A part of this adventurous trip was a 14 km trek up to Kedarnath - the abode of Bholenath. Along with the excitement of visiting these spiritually charged and beautiful parts of the country was a severe apprehension of how I was going to make it up that trek. Being a very "healthy" human being and a master procrastinator in the physical movement department, not just I but all around me shared in this apprehension. To begin with I found out about alternative options of horses and dolis and helicopters etc but while on this search I felt a comforting inner voice say to me "You are coming to meet me and I will give you the strength to get here - so walk as far as you can with the faith that I am with you."

Perfection

9th August, Thursday at 2.22pm my niece was born, and the only word that came to my mind when I held that little bundle in my hands was how perfect she is. It did not matter to me that her skin was blotchy or her hair patchy, that she could barely open her eyes and had wrinkled skin in places and a toothless mouth - as I held her I marveled at the miracle that was before my eyes. As various relatives began dissecting her every feature and wondering what came from whom and how the maalish waali needed to be instructed to scrub her baby hair off and shape her nose, all I could do was stare in wonder and love at this tiny, fully formed human being that was not even visible to us till an hour ago and yet already knew how to breathe and cry and yawn and feed.

My favorite love affair - Loving ME!

Songs have been written about it, movies made and books have topped bestseller charts for capturing those moments of exhilaration. However, there is never a love story without its heart aches. No love story seems complete without hearing about the separation and longing, the trials and tribulations before the happy ending. Some of the most famous love stories in fact are of love unfulfilled, love that brought lovers to their end for want of any other way to stay together. Other famous love stories are about a few moments of intense passion in lifetimes of ordinary - ness and how we sigh over those moments. Is it possible to find love that is complete and forever - without the drama or the pain?

Transformation

There are times in life when we feel transformed - we come back from a workshop or finish reading a book, we have an enlightening conversation or watch an eye opening documentary or just are in a situation which opens our soul connection and changes our perspective. We come out feeling new, more alive, freer than before and we just know that we have changed. A lot of times we tell ourselves and our dear ones that we can’t recognize the person we were before. And then suddenly we begin talking in terms of the “old” me and the “new” me.

Teacher

A poem for a change, dedicated to the teacher  within and without!

Flying needs no Wings!

In the New Year when we are all hopeful that our lives will change in some way or another, below is a story that would help you understand and put into practice a technique to achieve that change!

What is written below is in the form of an exchange, which happened one day while I was meditating. Now, whether this exchange was the result of an active imagination, was with my subconscious mind or with a Divine Being etc,  is something I do not know and cannot prove. What I do know however is that this exchange led to a great learning for me and has had tremendous benefits in many aspects of my life. Here it is for your reading pleasures!