Cedar Waxwing

My daily walks are always filled with surprises. I wondered what is in store for me today ..

As I walk on my regular path, a whole flock of birds swish past me and settle on a bare leafless tree. I stopped on my tracks, tiptoed close to the tree and peered up to get a closer look at them. What wonderful little birds! All of the same kind, sitting proud with their eyes looking far ahead. Tiny birds with the colors of brown and gray, a beautiful brown crest on its little head and a yellow tipped tail. It looked as if each bird was gently held and its tail dipped ever so slightly into bright yellow paint. The air was filled with the thin whistles of the birds.

All of a sudden, the birds fly up from the tree together, go around to settle again on top of another tree. What a display of exquisite aeronautics...like a trained troop of synchronized dancers. Are they a variant of the red cardinal? They had a similar crest. I had to go home and find out!

It turns out the birds were a flock of Cedar Waxwings! To know that I have lived in Canada for 10 years and to have never seen one before.

(Picture courtesy: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/cedar_waxwing/id)

The anticipation of Spring

A mid-day walk on a quiet sunny March day along the road lining the lake and I hear a big rumpus up ahead. A few steps down the road and I get a full view of the lake swarming with geese with a spotting of a few mallard ducks here are there. The ice on the lake is barely melting, and all the Canadian geese are back!.

Oh! what a cacophony! The geese are in a frenzy of activity. Honking and grunting. A few standing tall, thrusting their chest forward and swiftly fluttering their powerful wings. A few others are vigorously preening and some others are somersaulting in the lake trying to clean their backs. Each one of them shaking off the last remnants of the winter blues.

I stood still watching them for how long I know not... I was reminded of the Kumbh Mela in India when scores of Indians flock to the Ganges.

They were getting ready for the spring and another wonderful season of life!  Mating, laying eggs, raising the goslings. I looked around and couldn't help but smile. The sunny sky, a gentle breeze so slightly warm. The air was pregnant with the anticipation of Spring and so was I

Kayena Vacha - An offering to the divine

Kayena vacha manasendriyairva
Buddhyatmana va prakrite swabhavath
Karoomi yadyad sakalam parasmai
Narayanayeti samarpayami


Whatever I do for others with my physical being, through words, thought, senses, intellect, heart, soul and innate tendencies, I offer everything to the divine. 

Stay close to mother nature

A man's heart away from nature becomes hard - is an old Lakota saying

The more we are surrounded by inanimate things, the more deadened we become. Our senses die a slow death and so do we. Buildings, cars, concrete, plastics, computers and devices. Our days are lifeless, spent tied to desks prodding on computers and our evenings are worse, spent flopped in front of the TV. We become insensitive to everything .. smells, tastes, sounds, feelings and our surroundings.

To be alive is to feel deeply and intensely. To be awake with every sense. This is only possible in the lap of mother nature always throbbing and pulsing with life. Simply dig the earth gently and you will see the soft soil teeming with life.


..when you strain your ears to hear a far away bird song..
..when you see the multitude of hues in the evening sky..
..when you feel the cool softness of the grass under your bare feet..
..when you stop to smell a wild sage leaf..
..when you watch the fluttering leaves on a tree...like a million sparkling diamonds of a magnificent chandelier.  You are alive!!

To be alive is to be surrounded with life in all its forms.

Why fix the house when the home is crumbing?

We are all guilty of doing this. We want to perfect our house. The interiors, the deck, the kitchen, the garden, the furnishings. The list is endless. The amount of time, money and effort we spend on this means we have less time to ourselves, less time with our loved ones, less patience, less family time.

The few precious hours of leisure required for rest and rejuvenation is now devoted to perfecting the house, a mere physical structure. All this leads to a stress filled home, putting a big strain on our personal relationships and happiness. Slowly and steadily, the "home" starts to break down.

Why then do we embark on the futile exercise of perfecting the house when the home is crumbing? If only we can use our time to build the "home". To fix our relationships, to fill our homes with joy and laughter, to relax and enjoy a quiet weekend.

Nature is the real Teacher

All life lessons are learnt while observing nature

Look around when Spring comes, the rays of the sun warms the soil and a million buds shoot out eagerly all of their own accord. You will then believe in the tremendous life giving power of nature.

Have you ever observed how a deep gash heals? I observed a deep cut on my finger for a week and watched the miracle of healing everyday. The cells slowly growing into the wound and completely covering it up with not as much as a mark left at the end. You will learn to just be and and let nature do its work of healing.

Look at how a single blade of grass grows in the wilderness. It lives in harmony with all other plants, and creatures around it. Only taking what it needs to live fully, to grow and when time comes to slowly wither away. You will learn that the only purpose of life is to live. To really live in harmony with everything else. 

At the end of autumn, when all the leaves have fallen from trees. The nests of little birds come in full view. The tiny homes that the birds loving built to lay eggs and raise their young ones. You will learn that a home needs to be small, cozy and warm. Just big enough to raise your family. Anything bigger will lack warmth and fall short of its purpose.

Have you watched animals with their young ones? A bison calf and its mother are inseparable for a whole year after its birth. A mother black bear will never leave its cubs out of her sight for 2 years. This teaches us to keep our children close and never leave them far away to be raised by others. 

What is Poetry

Poetry is an attempt to capture an intimate feeling in words. It is a cup that holds an overflowing emotion. Poetry draws us out of the drudgery of everyday living and urges us to see differently, think differently and feel differently. It lets us sink into a different world and let the feeling envelop our entire being.

Today is a work day. An end February friday. I am in no mood to work. I am tempted to indulge and and Tagore's poem aptly captures my feeling today. Come with me, lets savor these gems! 


A Moments Indulgence - Rabindranath Tagore
I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works
that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.

Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.

Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and
the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.

Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing
dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.

Matsuo Basho's Haiku
Oh, these spring days!
A nameless little mountain,
wrapped in morning haze!

a peasant’s child
husking rice, pauses
to look at the moon

Rumi's Poem
There is a candle in your heart,
ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul,
ready to be filled.
You feel it, don't you?
You feel the separation from the Beloved.
Invite Him to fill you up, embrace the fire.
Remind those who tell you otherwise that
Love comes to you of its own accord,
and the yearning for it
cannot be learned in any school.