Yashoda In Every Mother

Ever so often I ponder on the amazing and subtle quality of raising a little boy.

Yashoda's deep affection for her son Lord Krishna is regarded as the epitome of motherly love. Hindu mythological is replete with stories of Lord Krishna's playful antics and how he tormented his adoring mother. I know now that these stories are not about the Gods at all. These stories are being replayed everyday, everywhere in the lives of every mother and her son.

 

With my son Mukund, Krishna Leela is played out for us day after day after day. The endless pranks from dawn to dusk. The utter naughtiness, eyes lit with wonder and a mischievous smile. The constant chatter, laughter and non-stop running around. Relentlessly harassing his sister, scheming ways to lure her out of her books and art work. These incessant pranks are exasperating and enchanting at the same time!

At night when all is quiet, Krishna always found himself wrapped securely in his mother’s arms as she sang to him and rocked him to sleep. So it is with my son. What bliss it is to see the innocent sleeping child recharging for another day.  I think ... just as Yashoda did ..O Mukund, It is Your immeasurable mercy that You are playing happily in my home. It is my extraordinary fate that my arms hold Your cloud-like beautiful body. 

Mukund and me

The Dead Languages of Machines

Years of my childhood was spent learning the languages of machines ..like Basic, Cobol, Fortran, C, C++, Java. Many of them are long dead and the rest will die too eventually. They got me a job that pays my bills but do nothing to soothe my heart.

How I wish those years were also spent learning the languages of our people. These languages are ever alive, changing yet constant. I could use them everyday until the last days of my life.

If I knew Urdu, I would drown in the rich world of shayaris. I would learn Bengali just to dive deep into Tagore's world. Thankfully I know Kannada well enough to enjoy Kuvempu. I understand Tamil barely enough to understand Thirukural. The little Malayalam I know lets me sing tender lullaby's to my kids.

Atleast I know a few languages to be able to taste the tip of the iceberg. If the tip is so sweet, can you fathom what the depths are like? I feel for my children who will never understand the dimensions and depths of feelings that our native languages evoke. Most of it will just be Lost in Translation!

Indians: Why all this singing and dancing?

Indians are known around the world for our Bollywood movies, dancing and singing. We are very emotional people and live life with our hearts wide open. For every stage in our lives, for every event in our lives our people have penned inspiring poems, songs and stories that stir us out of monotony and drudgery. From the vast and deep ocean of beautiful literature, poems and songs, I bring but a few grains of sand.

Panchhi nadiyan pawan ke jhoken : (A song for lovers separated by country borders)
Panchhi nadiyan pawan ke jhoken, koi sarhad naa inhe roke, sarhaden insaano ke liye hain, socho, tumne aur maine kya paaya insaan hok. Jo hum dono panchhi hote, tairte hum is neele gagan mein pankh pasaare, saari dharti apni hoti, apne hote saare nazaare. Khuli fizaaon mein udte, apne dilon mein hum saara pyaar samaake
Birds, rivers, gusts of wind, no border inhibits them. Borders are for people, think about it, what have you and I gained by being born as humans? If we were both birds, we would soar in this blue sky...spreading our wings. The entire earth would be ours. Ours would be all sights. In the open air we would fly...taking all the love in our hearts.

Kisi Ke Muskurahaton: ( A song on what Life is all about )

Kisi ki muskurahato pe ho nisar, Kisi ka dard mil sake toh le udhar, Kisi ke waste ho tere dil me pyar, Jeena issika nam hai. Mite o pyar ke liye woh zindagi, Jale bahar ke liye woh zindagi. Kisi ko ho naa ho hame toh aitbar,  Jeena isika nam hai.
To offer yourself so someone can smile, To share someone’s grief. To have love in your heart for someone. This is what life is all about! To perish for love ..that is Life! To crave for spring .. that is Life! This we believe, whether others do or not. This is what Life is all about!
 
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: (A poem to live every moment fully ) 
Dilon mein tum apni, Betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho Toh zinda ho tum, Nazar mein khwabon ki Bijliyan leke chal rahe ho Toh zinda ho tu. Hawa ke jhokon ke jaise, Aazad rehno sikho. Tum ek dariya ke jaise, Lehron mein behna sikho. Har ek lamhe se tum milo Khole apni bhaayein. Har ek pal ek naya samha Dekhen yeh nigahaein. Jo apni aankhon mein Hairaniyan leke chal rahe ho. Toh zinda ho tum Dilon mein tum apni Betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho. Toh zinda ho tum
If you carry restlessness in your heart then you are alive. If you carry dreams in your eyes then you are alive. Learn to live like the free waves of the wind. Learn to flow like the sea does as waves. Receive every moment in life with open arms. Every moment is a new beginning seen with your eyes. If you carry surprise in your eyes then you are alive. If you carry restlessness in your heart then you are alive

When these words are set to beautiful rhythm, how can we not sing or dance?? 

Our eyes drains us of energy ... really!

Every day, we are flooded with images from the media, friends and family. These images affect us in a way that we are completely oblivious of. It was only when I chanced on this blog post that I really understood how. Every image that we see triggers a train of thoughts. The more images we are exposed to, the more our mind churns on these images resulting in an endless stream of thoughts. The never ending thoughts drains us of energy leaving us tired without having done a thing.

Each image we see consumes a bit of us. We must protect ourselves from these images be it from informational media or social media. The onus is on us! This will protect our mind keeping it calm and leaving us with a tremendous source of energy.