Thursday, October 13, 2016

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’.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

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

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

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! ;)




Monday, October 10, 2016

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!"

Sunday, October 9, 2016

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.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

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." 

Friday, October 7, 2016

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.