Bhojpatra tree in Uttarkashi

While trekking in Himalayas from Gangotri to Bhojwasa, I saw some bhojpatra trees.

It's scientific name is Betula utilis and it's white bark was used in ancient times to write scriptures and texts in Sanskrit. Even these days, sacred mantras are written on it's bark for doing some special prayers.

Due to deforestation, most commonly found tree in hills is now rarely found!

Pineapple Smoothie

Today I tried a new recipe 'pineapple smoothie'. I added spinach to it to give unique colour to it. The light green colour was amazing and it tasted wonderful. The recipe is as follows :-
Ingredients
Pineapple - 4 -5 round pieces
Spinach - 6-7 leaves
Milk - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 tea spoon
White pepper - 1/4 tea spoon
Salt to taste

Method
1. Chop pineapple in small pieces. Add chopped spinach to it.
2. Pour milk in it and blend them with the help of blender or in mixer.
3. Add sugar, salt and white pepper to it.
4. Pour in glasses and serve.

Try this healthy drink.

Early morning chant

"Tomorrow morning after opening my eyes I will join my palms, fold them in the form of cups and looking at my palms I will chant the mantra
कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मिः करमध्ये सरस्वति ।
करमूले तु गोविन्दः प्रभाते करदर्शनम् ॥Karaagre Vasate Lakshmih Karmadhye Saraswati |
Karmule Tu Govindah Prabhaate Kardarshanam ||" My roommate said.
"Nice." I said.
"I means that at the top of palm dwells Goddess Lakshmi, in the middle of the palm dwells Goddess Saraswati and at the base of the palm dwells Lord Govinda (another name for Lord Krishan) Therefore in early morning one should look at one's palm and contemplate on them.
"It is one of the best mantra to be chanted early morning before starting the day."
"Tomorrow morning first thing I will do is to chant this mantra."

NEXT MORNING
"SH*T!" She uttered. The alarm didn't ring on the set time and she got late for the class.

Powerful touch

"Are you ok?" Mataji, director of Sivananda Kutir, Netala asked me after putting the ash on my forehead at the time of initiation of Sadhana Intensive course.
"No." I said. I was shivering even after wearing jacket and shawl.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Severe dehydration, constipation and now I am shivering like an malaria patient."
"Do you have fever?"
"No."
To confirm my statement she gently touched my neck with the back of her hand. I have read many incidents in which when the master touches his disciple the disciple starts crying without any reason. I was quite sure that now tears will start flowing thorough my eyes.
"After this ceremony you come and meet me, I will give you medicine for that. Tomorrow morning you will feel better."
"I am taking homeopathy medicines. I only need an extra blanket."
She nodded.
I hurried towards my seat where the rest of my batchmates were sitting and waiting for their turn. I sat crossed legs and covered myself completely with shawl. Soon my eyes became moist and tears started coming out of my eyes without any specific reason. I wiped my tears before anybody could notice them.

Special chants on Diwali

A person updated her status on Facebook as
Today is Diwali, I will be chanting Goddess Lakshmi chants what I have learnt in TTC, Uttarkashi.
Ms. 'F' replied
I am doing chanting, opening and closing prayers and satsang chants regularly. I will be doing the special chants today.
Ms. 'S' replied
Generally I am doing mental japa.

Reading all these comments I thought, "I am only writing posts regularly on my blog."

Happy Chanting! :) Happy Diwali! :)

Hanuman Chowk, Uttarkashi

"We are near petrol pump. Where are you?" A friend asked me on phone.
"I am coming towards the market after visiting Kaleshwar Temple. On which petrol pump I have to come?" I asked.
"In Uttarkashi, there is only one petrol pump."
"I do not know where it is. In main market, I only know about Hanuman Chowk."
"Fine. We are going towards Hanuman Chowk. We have to pick the cake from a bakery which is situated near it. You come there and give a call to me."
"Fine."

I started moving towards Hanuman Chowk. I walked straight on not so good road then take a left turn and saw this beautiful scenery.

I clicked some photos. I wanted to stay there for some more time but I have to rush to meet my friends who were waiting for me. In hurry, I missed a turn and moved in a wrong direction. There were not so many people passing through that road. I doubted whether I am on a right path. To confirm I asked a man coming from opposite direction. He guided me. I couldn't understand the way.
He said," I am also going on the same side. You can follow me."
I turned and began to follow him.

We went some steps ahead on the road, took a narrow downward lane which I couldn't saw and crossed this bridge above the Bhagirathi river.

At that time, many people were crossing the river which was flowing harshly. We walked in the streets; sometimes taking left turn, sometimes taking right turn and sometimes walking on straight roads and sometimes on curved roads.
"Where are you? We are waiting for you. Come fast." I received the sms from my friend.

I paced and almost ran sometimes. As I saw the image of Lord Hanuman, I started running in full speed towards it. I forgot to say thanks to that man who showed me the correct path to Hanuman Chowk. How I could be so thankless!

This post is dedicated to him. :)

Movie Review : Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

Generally controversies arises for those movies which are not that good. This trick is also used to make 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' popular. The first half of the movie is entertaining and the second half is bit boring. The first half is full of jokes and Bollywood dialogues from old movies which one enjoys watching. Second half is full of useless emotional dialogues and not so interesting romantic drama. Moreover, whole movie seems like a never ending Saavn advertisement - singing and dancing on old Bollywood songs which doesn't fit in the situation.

The story is complicated. Saba's husband (Shah Rukh Khan) loves Saba (Aishwarya Rai), Saba loves Ayan (Ranbir Kapoor), Ayan loves Alizeh (Anushka Sharma), Alizeh loves Ali (Fawad Khan) and Ali loves someone else.....In short, it is a twisted romantic story.

Anushka Sharma looks beautiful on screen and her performance is too good. In acting, she is far better than Aishwarya Rai and Ranvir Kapoor. I will not be wrong in saying that 'Anushka Sharma is the soul of the movie'. Though Aishwarya Rai looks glamorous but her role is very short in the movie. The film is engaging, songs are melodious and locations are exotic.

One time watch only!

Kaleshwar Temple, Uttarkashi

As I crossed the river Bhagirathi in Uttarkashi to go to the village Joshiyara I saw this beautiful view.

I walked further on road and then on the narrow lanes with awesome views.

I reached Kaleshwar Temple which was dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The temple was small but there were hundreds of devotees offering prayers to Lord Shiva and his family.

Was it a cosmic experience?

As the conversation on the phone heated up I got up from the bench in the park and moved close to the river Bhagirati to convey my view point properly as well as to talk a bit loud without being overheard by any. There was exchange of hot dialogues from both the sides. After it was finished, I stood there thinking that may be by mere glancing at the cool water of Bhagirati river will cool down my emotions. I spread my arms to hold the rods of the fencing and stood there for some time. As I focused on the flowing water of river Bhagirati, I felt that the river become stationary and I started moving! I was moving with a fast speed. I was enjoying the rapid movement. I was elated that it was a sort of wow movement of my life that Bhagirati river becomes stationary and I began flowing in air. Was that a cosmic experience?

I googled this experience to confirm. Somebody explained on net that it is because of relative motion. The eyes follow the moving water and keep a track. But the brain interprets it as the same signals as stationary river and flowing me in the opposite direction. Brain interprets both the signals as same. People who become sick in moving cars or buses generally experience this because of mixed signals their brains struggled with. I feel damn sick in moving vehicle! Alas! That was just an optical illusion.

Useless Formality

"Om Namah Shivaya!" I heard the voice from the other side as I picked up the phone.
"Om Namah Shivaya!" I said.
"I am H.... Are you free to talk to me for two minutes?"
"No, I am not free. I will call you after 15 minutes."
"At that time, I will not be able to take the call as my phone will be out of the coverage area. I just want to talk for 2 minutes. TWO MINUTES ONLY!"
"hmmm..." I thought there might be some emergency.
He started talking about the topic on which he wanted to talk about.
I said,"If you want to talk to me about this topic it will be better if we can talk later on as I am doing important financial transactions. Moreover, this topic will not be covered in two minutes as this is a long story."
"Please talk about this now."
I thought, "What is the need of such a useless formality if he want to talk to me when he is free, want to talk about the topic that has no concern with him and there is no emergency involved. Instead of that he should have said I am free at this time, I will talk about this topic right now and it is of no concern to me where you are free or not."

Low cost toys

I saw the two kids walking on the road. They were coming towards me.

On coming a bit closer I noticed that they both were holding low cost scooter toys in their hands. The younger one was holding a small scooter and the elder one a large one. Both were enjoying walking along with them.

On seeing me, clicking their photos, they stopped for a while to give a nice pose! :)

The blind saint of Gangotri

I heard the story of the blind saint of Gangotri from Swami Hariomananda who taught us Bhagwat Gita and from a local man whom I met in shared taxi. I mixed the two and the mixture is something like this......
Once there was a saint who used to live in one of the caves in Gangotri. One night in winters, he lit the charcoal fire to keep his cave warm and closed the door of cave to retain the warmth. Next morning, he came to know that because of the excessive smoke inside the cave he lost his eye sight. Many of his followers asked him to go to doctor for his eye check-up. One of his follower was a rich industrialist of India, he brought the helicopter for him in Gangotri seeking special permission from government for that helicopter to enter in that area and spending quite large sum of money on it. He asked the blind saint, "Swamiji, Let's fly to Delhi so that your eyes can be treated in the reputed hospital." Surprisingly, the saint refused to come along him. He said, "Whatever God has given me is acceptable to me. It is God's wish and I accept it happily."

The guy who dispelled my tensions by sharing his own!

From the past ten months, I had too many problems in my business that were causing tensions to me. I was trying my best to sort out the things but the problems were increasing in size as well as in number.

Today, when I was in Mr. ‘V’s office, waiting for the paper work to be done, a person entered the office, he introduced himself as 'H'. With his way of talking, I guessed that he was a rich businessman of the town. Mr. 'V' and Mr. 'H' must be knowing each other well as they both shared their experiences, discussed their problems and the possible solutions of them. I was listening to them, as I have no other work to do. In conversation, Mr. ‘H’ explained about his some of the business problems. And what a coincidence! Mr. ‘H’ explained almost about all those problems that I was experiencing in my business from past ten months. After knowing that he was going through the same phase in business as I was, not all but most of my tensions evaporated. :)

“Whether one has the business of 1 crore or 100 crores the problems are the same! ;)” I thought.

Market of Uttarkashi

In Uttarkashi market, one can easily find each and every article of daily use and even unique articles used in worshipping of dieties. But surprisingly this tourist place doesn't have any shops with wooden handicrafts, embroidered articles, knitted woollens, crocheted things or any other antique or decorative items. It was just like a normal town market with grocery, sweets, bakery, utensils, clothes, shoes, vegetables and fruits shops. I couldn't find anything in the market to buy gifts for friends and relatives. But two things grabbed my attention. One was the orange coloured churners which I found very attractive and second was lemon and chillies totka (a ritual to keep evil eyes away from business) in plastic though before that I have always seen this totka in fresh lemon and chillies.

Utter surprise

“Yesterday, you know Chandrika, what happened?” Mr. ‘N’ said who was lively, energetic, cheerful, bubbly, witty and vivacious.

I looked up from the book that I was reading and softly asked, “What?”

“I told the Director, "I am registered for the next course of advance meditation." She was so surprised to hear this that she could not react to it for a few seconds. Her mouth was open in utter surprise.”

“hmm....”

He laughingly said, “It was so funny to see the expressions on her face.”

“I am also registered for the advance meditation course.”

“Ya. But you are quiet, calm, peace loving and too serious, perfect for that course.”

“If I tell you that I am like you (lively, energetic, cheerful, bubbly, witty and vivacious) you will be equally surprised as her!” I thought.

Shirshasana (Headstand pose)

"Daily you do shirshasana thrice a day even then you fall every time you try?" I said to Ms. 'M' who from the past 28 days was practicing shirshasana but couldn't master it.
"One day I will!" She said and winked.

"Sure. Just don't jump but try to balance with strength and control. I myself started here doing shirshasana from zero level. Although I could do shirshasana quite well before but here the way of doing shirshasana was totally different and I felt as if I started learning it all over again. Now, I can do even variations in shirshasana."

I

My spiritual name

After the initiation ceremony of mantra a spiritual name was given to the students by Swamiji to those only who were interested in taking part in that ceremony.
"What is your spiritual name?" Ms. 'F' asked me, unknowingly that I didn't participate in that ceremony.
I explained her, "My full name is Chandrika Shubham. Chandrika means 'moonlight' and Shubham means 'sacred' so I am 'sacred moonlight'."
"Wow! So it is your spiritual name."
"Ya. My maternal grandfather, Kaushal Saini named me 'Shubham' when I was born. Later in life, he blessed me with a spark of spirituality by placing his hand on my head just a couple of days before he left his body. His blessings totally changed my life. Only after that my interest in scriptures, spirituality and meditation grew many folds. It was still a mystery for me why he chose me and not any other family member or friend as I was not intelligent, didn't have interest in spirituality, didn't have saintly qualities as compared to other family members."

Love games – To make pairs with opposite sex

The teacher told the class, “No chit-chatting after the sansang class at night. Switch off the lights at 10pm.”

I returned to my room after the class. To relax, I opened the book and started reading while lying on my bed. I shared the room with other girls, all of them were damn talkative! Most of the time, their talks were absurd, illogical, irrelevant, contained inferior quality of romance, sometimes poorly erotic and occasionally sexual. I felt not only bored but also sometimes irritated with their poor quality talks. Moreover, frequent repetitions of such irrational talks made me sick.

Girl ‘A’ started the conversation and said to Girl ‘B’, “Today, In the fruit shop, you want to buy apples but Mr. ‘Z’ has taken all the apples. He was waiting at the billing counter for his turn and knowing that you want to buy apples. He offered one to you so lovingly. And you silly girl refused it.”

Girl ‘B’ “Was that an apple or his heart?”

Girl ‘A’ continued after a brief pause, “It was his heart in the shape of apple which he was giving it to you with so much love.”

Girl ‘B’ said while scribing something on her notebook, “No, he just asked normally.”

Girl ‘A’ said, “But he didn’t ask any other girl in the shop, some of the girls wanted apples and he was holding all the apples but asked only you and not anybody else. Because you are special for him! He has feelings for you!”

“No!” Girl ‘B’ made a face.

“Did he offer any other girl in the shop to take apples? No! Therefore, it is clear that he was giving it you only, my dear.”

I put the book down, as I was not able to concentrate and started applying oil on my  knees which were paining.

“If he was giving signals to me, then what?”

“You are from the same country and he is also from the same county. He runs the yoga school. You want to run a yoga school. You both have the same goal in life. Look he is offering you to work together, live together and have kids with flexible bodies like you both have.”

It seemed that she had not heard about the Mendelian inheritance that throws light on how recessive gene can appear in next generation.

Girl ‘C’ entered the room. Girl ‘A’ to Girl ‘C’ “Where were you, my darling?”

Girl ‘C’ told, “I was telling Mr. ‘Y’ that today he chanted beautifully.”

“It took you so long so say that.”

Girl ‘B’ said, “In the evening, you were not feeling well. You were having cold. And it has been raining heavily. You should have taken rest.”

Girl ‘A’ said, “After the chanting class she must be feeling well as Mr. ‘Y’ chanted for her.”

They all laughed.

Girl, ‘B’ asked “By the way, who is Mr. ‘Y’?”

Girl ‘C’ told, “The smartest Indian guy!”

Girl ‘B’ looked around like a fool and said, “Who? Today three Indian guys chanted. About whom you are talking?”

Girl ‘C’ eloborated his physical appearance.

When Girl ‘B’ couldn’t recall Girl ‘C’ showed her a photo of that guy in her mobile which she clicked with him when they last time went out together.

Girl ‘B’ reacted, “He is smart???”

Girl ‘C’ explained, “Ya, not that smart but the smartest in all Indian guys. A figure among ciphers!”

Girl ‘A’ said, “She wants to settle in India as she loves Indian culture and rituals. So she is tuning with that guy.”

Girl ‘B’ asked, “But you have a boy friend in your own country.”

Girl ‘C’ replied, “Ya, I am in serious relationship with him but just to pass the time and to have fun this guy. What’s bad in it?”

I thought, “Now I have to live with them for only 9 days more!”

The three of them loved to play love games – ‘to make pairs with opposite sex’. In general, the girls love to play such games in their teens but they were playing such stupid games in their late twenties or early thirties. They had not matured with age or might be I had matured more with age. 

This incidence is of not of just one day, they loved to play such nonsense games everyday with ‘this guy’ or ‘that guy’.

Mahamrityumjaya Mantra

"In ashram, they celebrated my birthday so nicely whenever I remembered it, a wave of happiness passed through my spine. You all wished me 'Happy B'day' in different languages. Everyone chanted Mahamrityumjaya Mantra for me for my good health, long life and prosperity. It was a great experience!" Ms. 'W' said.
"On that day, the sweets you distributed among all batch-mates were really very delicious." I told her. "Sorry, I couldn't write about the meditation course which I did later on and you asked me to write about that on my blog. In past couple of days, my laptop crashed a few times."
"Oh!"
"Oops! It crashed again." I said on phone with my eyes fixed on laptop screen on which all of a sudden blue, pink lines started appearing and thereafter everything disappeared.
"You should chant Mahamrityumjaya Mantra for your laptop." She suggested.
We together chanted ..
Om tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pustivardhanam
urvarukamiva bandhananmrtyormuksiya mamrtat

The wisecracking guy

"You are just like Mr. Bean, the finest British comedian. Your quick jokes, comical comments and rubber face like Mr. Bean make all of us laugh. Have you ever worked in a theatre or on stage?" Ms. 'F', a young woman asked Mr. 'G' who was the wisecracking guy. 
"No." He uttered and waved his both hands crossing each other indicating a big 'NO'.
"Your experimental and off beat style witticism won the hearts of many! You are lively, energetic and cheerful with impressive comic expressions and an expert in creating amusing situations. You deserves a notable comedy award!" Ms. 'F' praised him.
He smiled and put his right hand on his heart and bowed down.
Ms. 'S', a middle aged woman said to Mr. 'G', "To me, you are like the donkey in Shrek movies. A happy-go-lucky donkey!"
Mr. 'G' replied, "This is the best compliment I have ever received."

I was hearing this whole conversation. Ms. 'S' was right as this compliment suits him the best because he pokes fun at everyday life, observing the unobservable which in general we missed to observe. He pokes fun at others and himself. His tone and style were light hearted. His punch lines were always hard to predict. He kept on cracking wonderful jokes without hurting anybody's feelings which was the toughest job because we all were from different countries and had different cultures. But it was really admiring about Mr. 'G' who instead of feeling offended on being called a 'donkey', he accepted the donkey compliment happily and in a light way. My imaginative mind moved a bit further thinking that donkey's spouse was a dragon! ;)

Festive time

While passing by the road, I saw this statue of Meghnad.
I stopped for a while to look at it and to click it's photo. One woman came from the other side of the road and asked me, "Do you want to buy this?"
"No." I said.
"We made Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhakaran figures in all sizes. Buy at least one."

"I was just attracted by the vibrant colours. That's all."
"They are of very good quality. Madam, buy one only ONE!"

Afraid of monkeys

Before entering the asana hall to attend the asana class, I saw a notice in front of it. It read as...

Please close the door otherwise flies will do the asanas with you.

In the end of asana class, the hath yoga teacher said, "Dear students, Please keep the door closed whenever you go out or come in the hall. "

One of the students complained, "Ya, the flies and mosquitoes came in."

The naughtiest student of the class said, "Who is afraid of flies? I am afraid of monkeys, they might not come in and bite me."

While I was laughing on the joke, I saw a big monkey passing from the corridor next to the hall.

Hills are heaven

A local man said, "Hills are heaven!"

I looked around and agreed with him. We were waiting for a taxi or a bus to go to Uttarkashi town and just to pass the time he started the conversation.

"Can heaven be better than this? Naah! It can't be!"
"Very true."
"Hills are heaven except three things i.e. medication, transportation and education." 

Book Review : Open-Eyed Meditations by Shubha Vilas

There is one more gem in my collection of books autographed by authors. Open-Eyed Meditations autographed by Shubha Vilas is the top quality jewel. I love to collect books autographed by different authors and I have a huge collection of such books.

Most of the people complained that when they close their eyes for meditation they only see darkness. If they want to see lights in meditation, this book is a boon for them. If one can do meditation with open eyes nicely then the person will surely be successful in doing meditation with closed eyes. Sage Patanjali also emphasised the importance of practicing yamas (observances) and niyamas (restraints) before practicing dhayana (meditation). This book provides insights and observations to think deeper to meditate with open eyes to change life for better. It is a beautiful compilation of stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata that provide easy and practicable solutions, inspired from these stories for present day problems. The ancient wisdom provides useful and practical lessons on how to cope with everyday challenges and to enhance the quality of modern day life.

The author dedicated the book beautifully as :-

To the thousands of teachers I have come across in the journey of life that have guided me to meditate on the beauty of life.

The quotes from the book which I like are as follows:-

1.      Yoga of non-intervention implies accepting people as they are and giving them space. This in turn allows us to remain at peace with the way we are.

2.      Complexities outside slowly percolate into complexities inside. Simplicity is about living the present moment with gratitude and satisfaction.

3.      While analysis upgrades us, overanalysis downgrades-unless we can discover what we can learn from it. Thus, analysis of our own faults and overanalysis of others’ faults is a pitfall we should watch out for.

4.      Discover your likes and motivation will discover you.

5.      Discernment is about seeing people as they are and not how you want them to be.

6.      Appreciation of others’ good qualities is not just lip talk, but also a meditation.

7.      Like a snake voluntarily sheds its old skin, similarly appreciation helps one shed layers of negativities to replace it with a new glowing complexion of positivity.

8.      Right attitude means to be grateful for our talent, knowing they are gifts of God, and accepting our shortcomings as a chance to depend on others to access their love.

9.      Charisma is not about what you have but like a bee, what you do with what you have.

10.  You are simply a reflection in the mirror of your environment.

11.  When Yudhishthira went around the kingdom to find at least one person who was worse than him, he too returned back with news of his failure. Every person he inspected happened to have at least one good quality that he himself didn’t possess.

12.  Get offline, grow. Get online, give.

13.  Addiction to change is simply an outcome of not focusing on what you have and seeking an escape into the world of what you don’t have.

14.  Instead of constantly changing things, change your prospective of seeing things.

15.  A person who wants to hurt others is primarily hurting himself.

16.  Forgiveness is the sign of being concerned about the future and hatred is the sign of being stuck to the past.

17.  Good friendship is like an air pillow. If you take care of it by blowing air into it (taking care of its needs) and not pricking it with a pin (asserting your needs), it will, in turn, ensure your comfort and satisfaction thus serving you and taking care of your needs.

18.  The test of marriage is tolerance. The test of parenting is values. The test of leadership is inspiration. And the test of friendship is time.

19.  Friendship can be a touchstone that can transform and beautify every aspect of your life when handled delicately. But when handled egocentrically, it can easily become like a heavy stone of hate tied to your neck that can drown you in a salty ocean of frustrated expectations.

Shubha Vilas is an author, a motivational speaker, lifestyle coach and a story teller. He is the author of best-selling book series ‘Ramayana- The Game of Life’ It’s three parts are published namely ‘Rise of the Sun Prince’, ‘Shattered Dreams’ and ‘Stolen Hope'. His leadership seminars about the crucial needs of top-level management are popular in corporate houses. The author blogs at https://roadtodivinity.wordpress.com/.

I highly recommend this book for your collection, for reading and for meditating on the beautiful thoughts from it because the author uses the handle of stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, gently open the window of reader’s minds and transfer the wisdom in readers’ hearts.

Edible red berries in Uttarkashi

Many years back one of my colleagues from army background told me that the army students were given various trainings to survive in the hardest conditions. If during war or in any other situation by chance they were left alone in a forest without food and water, in such a difficult situation what they would eat to survive. And the situation worsened if they were in a forest where the vegetation was unknown to them and they couldn’t differentiate between the edible and non edible fruits and berries. Then, in such a condition they were told to eat green colour berries as the chances of their being poisonous were very less as compared to yellow colored berries. And the red colored berries should be avoided as the chances of their being poisonous were very high as compared to yellow berries.

On seeing a tree full of red berries which was growing close to ashram in Uttarkashi, I recalled this incidence. The red berries were very attractive and tempting. I was looking at the tree admiring the beautiful berries.

Suddenly a tree pie came from nowhere, sat on the top branch and started eating berries. It appeared that the bird loved the taste of those berries.

As it flew away, I gathered my courage to eat unknown berries whose chances of being non edible were very high but my mind said bird was relishing them so at least they were non-poisonous.

I plucked some and ate. I loved the taste which was slightly sour to slightly sweet. Thank God, I didn’t die after that! ;)

Later on from a local villager I came to know that they were used to prepare chutney in which til (sesame) was added. The chutney tasted delicious.

Age Factor

"How old are you?" One of my batch-mates asked me.
"What?" I was surprised if I heard her correctly.
"I am 42 years old. What is your age?" she asked again.
I passed a long smile to say her to leave this stupid question but she was adamant to know.
She repeated, "My age is 42 years. You must be younger to me. What is your age?"
I inquired, "How does it make a difference if you know my age and if you don't know my age?"
She elaborated, "A is ...years old, B is ... years old, C is ... years old and ....."
She knew age of all batch-mates and had prepared a mental chart of it. She conclude ,"Most of the students is this course are either in their late twenties or early thirties except me, Mr. 'Z' who's age is... and Ms. 'Y' who is ... years old. You know, Chandrika they say if your back is flexible then you are young!"
"Ya. True."
"That's why I am keeping my back flexible."
"That's nice!" I said with a smile. "According to this theory. you are the youngest among us."
She was happy like a child and asked one more question popping up in her mind. "What is Mataji's age (Director's age)?"
"WHAT! I do not know."
"Can you guess her age?"
"I have no idea. In general, people who do meditation look younger than their age."
"Then she must be 40 years old."
When I didn't know what to say for a stupid question then I just smiled.
"Or 50 years old."
I broadened my smile.
"Or 60 years old."
I tried to broadened my smile further but couldn't because there is a limit of my facial muscles to expand in contrary to stupidity which can expand limitlessly.

Aroma of puris

As soon as we heard the ringing of bell from the temple while doing the last leg of yoga class, we started feeling hungry as it meant now the class would end and we all would rush to dinning hall for dinner after that. By that time the aroma of sattvik food being cooked in the kitchen below the asana hall also started entering our nostrils.

One day, the teacher was explaining Samanu pranayama which was every important for progressing in meditation but it was very confusing and difficult to understand as it had to be done with specific number of different mantras while focusing on different chakras, energy centers.
One of my batch-mates whispered, "Can you smell the puris? It seems that they have prepared puris for us. I love puris."
"I can't understand Samanu pranayama." I said.
Later on I pondered, back home I could prepare, smell and eat much more delicious puris than here. I had come so far to learn the right technique of doing pranayamas, some new powerful pranayamas like Samanu, bandhas and different mudras which would help me in progressing further on my spiritual journey.

A photo worth lakhs!

"Chandrika, click my photo!" A millionaire guy asked me. At that time he was holding a broom in his one hand and a wet mop in another. "You can sell that photo for worth lakhs as I have never done cleaning before and everybody will be surprised to see me like this, holding broom and mop. For the first time I am going it here, in ashram as Karam Yoga."

An Important Announcement

“OM! OM!! OM!!! An Important Announcement is to be made! Please pay your attention to my words. There is shortage of glasses, those glasses in which we drink tea! Today, there were not sufficient glasses for each one of us for having tea. Some of the glasses are missing. Whoever taken the glasses in their rooms for drinking tea and had not returned them, please return them. Please search your cupboards and sill of windows properly, wash them thoroughly and put them back in basket for the storage of utensils.” When she was making this announcement a long smile appeared on my face because she had 22 glasses in her cupboard which she intentionally or unintentionally didn’t return which created this problem. 

That crazy Selfie Girl!

Whenever I saw this foreigner girl, she was always busy having selfies with the batch-mates, teachers or director. She even enjoyed having selfies with the priest, cook and cook’s assistants. She hadn’t left anybody in the Ashram with whom she hadn’t clicked the selfies with. She was a crazy ‘Selfie girl’!

One day, we were studying a serious topic in the class about the Vedanta philosophy when she noticed a big monkey passing by the corridor at a distance. She was happy like a child. She was excited. It seemed that if she wanted to have a selfie even with that monkey!

Three days before the examination day, she prepared a mock paper which she solved with some of her friends. I was surprised rather shocked to see her uttering all the Sanskrit terms correctly along with their meanings whereas in the class she was not able to understand some of the words in English. To help her, one of her friends translated the difficult words in her mother tongue for better understanding. In the busy schedule of one class after another, surprisingly she found time to click selfies as well as to mug up complex words and theories whereas I couldn’t find time for both.

Conquered my adjustment problems

On my first day in hostel sort of thing, I met a dark n fatty woman who smelt more like a cigarette, a smell that I hate the most! Her face expressions and gestures clearly showed that she was depressed. Most of the questions she asked me were irritating, confusing and weird which most of the time gave me a feeling that she was trying to read my psychology. One more thing that I hate! You won’t believe me but she stunk even after bathing thrice a day. Her presence in my room gave me a feeling that I was living with a ‘Buffalo’.

‘Buffalo’ played a musical instrument once in a while but that sounded horrible. She never flushed after using toilet and if by chance she used it then for sure the flush handle will be jammed. She never closed the door of toilet before and after using it. Whenever I entered the room I found her either sleeping, eating or applying cream or some fruit pack on her face. After eating fruits, she put the fruit peels on the window sill. I found it difficult rather very hard to adjust with her. I was irritated with her dirty actions and my mind was busy thinking about her and her unclean manners. I was fed up with thinking about her.

One day while meditating I prayed to God, “O, God! I came here with so much difficulty You know that very well. I am here to practice yoga and to meditate to think about You and not her. Please help me so that I can adjust with the ‘Buffalo’. I believe whenever I have a problem God comes in the form of written words in a book or internet to guide me. On the very same day, I read a story about Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnudevanada.

Excerpt from ‘Teachings on Yoga Life’by Swami Vishnudevananda are as follows which I read:-

One evening during silent meditation, there was a loud crash. Everyone looked up and was horrified to see a distressed disciple swinging an axe at Master’s head. Swami Vishnuji, sitting close to the Master, jumped up and pulled the assailant away from Sivananda in a great fury. Master told him later, “Vishnu Swami, you must learn to control your emotions.”

The assailant was taken to jail. But the next day, Sivananda took him fruit and flowers, garlanding his would-be assassin. He had him set free and set a disciple to accompany him home.

This incident was a great learning experience for Vishnu Swamiji. He saw that, to a Realized Master, God comes in many forms. To Sivananda, a person who would take his life was as much as God as a man who would come to garland him. He had great love for both. 

Next day, I found the peels and pips on the window sill of our room as usual but my attitude towards them was changed. I told myself it was done by God. I cleaned them. I felt better after that, could focus easily on my goal and meditated beautifully.

Rainbow greeted ‘Hi’ n ‘Bye’

On my first day in Netala, Uttarkashi the rainbow appeared on the eastern sky in afternoon. The sun was bright; sky was bit cloudy so the arc formed was quite big with distinct colours. It seemed as if the rainbow was smiling and saying ‘Hi’ and welcoming me to the new world which was calm and serene. It was a pleasant surprise that nature had to offer me.

On my last day in Netala, Uttarkashi the rainbow appeared around the moon. It was a cloudy night and the moon rays get scattered around in a circle. It created a dim rainbow in which the red colour was more prominent. It seemed that it whispered ‘Adieu’ to me. A mesmerising view indeed it was! 

In Hindi, we call it ‘chanda ka hala’. In English I don’t know the exact word for the rainbow around the moon. Does anyone know what it is called?

A quick friend

I always wonder when I will get back home after my educational vacations in Uttarkashi, what I will write about. So many experiences to share, so many persons about whom I wanted to write and so many places I had visited whose attractiveness I wish to blog about. It was my first experience to be away from my home and family. On the first day, I was excited and not at all nervous rather too curious to observe the nature and new people around me. But I will share these experiences later on as I want to begin with my last day in Uttarkashi which touched my heart the most.

Quite surprisingly, I made a new friend in just few hours on that day, contrary to my nature that I am too reserved and too shy to open up with new people that it mostly took me years or a minimum of a month to be friend with someone. What I liked about this person was his sense of humour, his quick replies and his melodious and pious voice which I wanted to hear again and again. In a satsang, he chanted, ‘Om Namah Shivaye, Shivaye Namah Om’ so beautifully and devotionally that my eyes became moist as I was absorbed in the chants and felt the presence of Lord Shiva in those magical words. I had never heard anybody singing so devotionally ever before! And I had never made a friend so quickly!

Book Review : Kundalini – An Untold Story by Om Swami

I have read lots of books on Kundalini and Kundalini Awakening. I always wonder why the books emphasise so much on the unnecessary complications about the figures, alphabets, deities, shapes and number of petals of different chakras when the experience and real truth is completely different. In ‘Kundalini – An Untold Story’, Om Swami wrote about such similar views. After reading him, I felt at least one person shares the similar views with me. ;)

As projected earlier, Kundalini is an uncoiled snake at the base of spine and on awakening one experience a sensation as if a serpent is moving upward towards the head. But Om Swami rejected this age old theory and emphasised that Kundalini is not just an uncoiled serpent at the base of spine but layer by layer cleaning of negative thoughts to experience the true self. He explained Kundalini from a totally different perspective.

First few pages of the book can be read here http://www.omswami.com/2016/04/kundalini-an-untold-story.html in which he said that chakra bracelet, pendants, incense, mats, rugs, clothes, wall hangings, chakra music, chakra programming and other attractive paraphernalia have absolutely no connection with the real sadhana of chakras and the only way to awaken the Kundalini is by meditating over a prolonged period, that’s all. Our true self is veiled with ten layers i.e. desire, anger, greed, attachment, ego, passion, jealousy, hatred, fear and self-concern. These layers are shed as one elevates spiritually slowly and gradually. With each level of awakening, one discovers bit more about the new self and one shed bit more of the old self.

On Kundalini awakening one finds oneself immensely powerful, talented, full of peace and happiness. One sheds ones negative emotions like anger, jealousy, ego and fear. One reaches state of bliss from where there is no return.  One gains the power - to heal people, to do miracles, to see through them. One's heart is filled with boundless compassion. One experiences how the whole universe is within oneself. 

Some of the interesting quotes from this book that I want to share are as follows:

1. Like Hanuman, our talents are lying latent within us, our potential is waiting to be realized. We are born of a boon and we have forgotten about it, and as a result of that we have taken ordinary way of life as our destiny.

2. If you walk the path and not give up, you will give results exactly as expected.

3. Mind becomes eternal when it becomes still. No change is possible without movement. Truth is still, and that's why it's eternal.

4. If you can remain indifferent to other's opinion by thinking they are merely joining letters from the alphabet and offering you a garland, majority of your reaction will disappear.

5. Kundalini is love coiled at the bottom of your desires and dreams, waiting to pierce through the wheels of emotions and attachments to attain a union with your own infinite existence.

This book is one more gem from Om Swami’s jhola. 

'Happy Rakhi' Chocolate

This year I was planning to buy a unique present from my brothers. I searched the markets, malls and online sites but nothing different I found. While chatting with an old pal on Facebook, I came across Choco Affairzz site and found the wonderful collection of home made chocolates.

'Happy Rakhi' chocolate was very attractive. It contains four more small chocolates. I called the number given on the site and asked the owner to replace the small golden chocolates with rakhis, roli, chawal and flavoured supari.

I also bought two 'I Love Bro' chocolates from them. My little brother birthday was approaching near so I decided to give him the cassette with poems recorded in his voice by me about 15 years back.

On seeing such tempting chocolates I couldn't resist myself and bought some for my taste buds.

WHO AM I?

"Is your name A..... Y.......?" I asked a woman who was standing beside me from the past couple of minutes in a government office.
"Yes." She said with a bit of surprise in her voice.
"You are from H..... city." I asked as it was clear she didn't recognized me.
"Yup. But how do you know?"
"I was your batchmate in Home Science college."
"Who? I....mean.....In which group you were?"
"My name is Chandrika Shubham." I told the names of my group members so that she could recognize me.
"Ya....Somewhat I can recall now. You have changed so much."
"Like what?"
"You looked like a doll in the college days and now..........."

Her mind was busy noticing changes in my physical appearance where as my mind was busy finding the answer of question 'WHO AM I?'- a ever-changing body or never-changing soul or ever-changing as well as never-changing GOD!

Whatever happens, happens for good!

I ordered a book from amazon.in. The cost of book was Rs. 275 and Rs. 30/- were transportation charges totalling to Rs. 305/-. I paid Rs. 300/- from the gift voucher and remaining by using net banking. I book the order on 23^rd May, 2016.  The delivery was to be made on 28^th May, 2016 to 2^nd June, 2016. On 2^nd June, the post man came to deliver a VPP. I was shocked to see my address correctly written over it and I have not ordered anything through VPP and was not expecting any packet through VPP.

He asked me to give Rs. 321/-.

On seeing the sender’s name which was written not so neatly on the packet, I told him , “I have made the payment to Planet V company through amazon.in. Let me call the sender’s mobile number.”

I called the number but nobody picked it up. Just to confirm, I switched on my laptop, checked my email about the payment details and found that I was correct. The payment was already made to amazon.in. In the mean time a person from Planet V called back. I told him, “I have made the payment then why should I pay again.”

“You have paid the money? Let me check.” I heard the voice over the phone. “You pay Rs. 321/- and we will refund what you paid earlier.”

“How will you refund the money when it was paid to amazon.in. And moreover, the packet doesn’t have any bill or sticker or envelop of amazon.in.”

I told the postman, “I do not want this and please return the book.”

I complained the matter to amazon.in. After a week I get the refund of my book from amazon.in and from that money I bought Kundalini – An Untold Story and The Wellness Sense, two gems from Om Swami’s jhola. Well said, whatever happens, happens for good! :)