Agnipath- by Harivansh Rai Bachchan...The poem to live by ...my little one...

वृक्ष हों भले खड़े
हों घने, हों बड़े
एक पत्र छाँह भी
मांग मत! मांग मत! मांग मत!
अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ!

तू न थकेगा कभी
तू न थमेगा कभी
तू न मुड़ेगा कभी
कर शपथ! कर शपथ! कर शपथ!
अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ!

यह महान दृश्य है
चल रहा मनुष्य है
अश्रु-स्वेद-रक्त से
लथ-पथ! लथ-पथ! लथ-पथ!
अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ! अग्निपथ!

Gods Don't Retire......

My Dear Betu,

I come back with another story hoping that someday you will know the essence of all my letters…. :)

So, today I will tell you the story of a man ….. a man we admire and adore …a man you will not know with so much fervour like we do, simply because you would have crossed this historical moment unbeknownst to the impact it has had on lives of my generation, unbeknownst to his greatness and the reason why he became a legend at a tender age of 40!!

But by the time you are matured enough to read this letter of mine, you will also understand why he is special …so here is the story of a man called the GOD of cricket …..

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

He gave his farewell speech today November 16, 2013 at around 12.30 approximately, and it was precisely around this time when lives of many Indians like me changed ….cricket will never be same again ..…and the house which watched matches and waited for this hero to come and bat will never feel this sense of reverence, sense of awe, sense of a feeling “wish I had a son like him”, sense of “wish my daughter imbues his values”…..a sense of love, peace, respect and confusion of how is it possible for a human being to be treated like a GOD and live that respect ….to have adulation since 16 and yet not lose his head …how…how…how ???

Cricket will be vacant

Cricket will be devoid of sense of awe

Cricket will never be same again

So what makes this man so special? His run records, his centuries, his half-centuries, his batting style… what…?? Do you know when he is out on a 0 he is still a hero J ….in a vast country like ours, in a diverse setup like ours you don’t hear a murmur about him (of course there will always be voices who will question Sita and Shiva….)….

He is like a house built by Howard Roarke …. average people did not buy his house, but those people who bought it would not barter it for anything in this world!! That house is Sachin Tendulkar… if you know him and know the crux of where all this reverence comes from …you will worship the Shivansh in him going beyond 0 and 100…

This man …. Had a very very tough task of playing the role of GOD in the lives of us Indians (we are emotional fools J) …and he did it with so much of grace…so much of patience…humility

He is a representation of what good parenting can do, what humility can do, what good values can do for you …

When you read this letter do know one innermost desire that I have…. Read up on him, learn about him …and if possible beta…if possible do try to take the path he took….of purity, dedication and focus…then your 0s will also receive a standing ovation …..for there are good cricketers…but to get a guard of honor from the rival team…you have to be what Sachin is J

Once you get to know him you will know why words kept failing me when I started writing up on him… the reverence that humility and honesty desires cannot be capsuled in words….you have to feel it…..and I hope someday when you are reading this  you will understand my innermost desire….especially when you become a mother J

Love you Beta…

Stay Blessed, Humble and Happy J

                                                            

Gods Don't Retire :)

 

 

 

 

 

Satyam Shivam Sundaram !

My dear love…

I am around 2 mths late in posting for your birthday. Sorry!

So you have turned seven …the roller-coaster ride that we have had as a daughter-mother duo is now taking a clear shape

Sometimes your little head must be wondering why maa always tells you stories (you get bored) of Raja Vikrmaditya, the king of immense power who chose humility and truth over pride and aggression , she is also going to bore you with stories on Raja Harishchandra who stood for truth despite all the odds he faced in life!

You are now well versed with Bapu and his saying “an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind” – you love that poster in your room right?! J

I have noticed that your little brain inspires you to lie (sometimes) or present inaccurate data infront of maa simply because you don’t want to incur her wrath J . You also try to show that you are grown up enough to know what is right and wrong for you …. I am amused and more worried…this is the time… this period of development will separate my being a good mother vs a failed mother.

If I am able to instil the truth, integrity and sense of self respect in you ..i will die a peaceful death, knowing no matter where you are and with whom you are …you are a happy person for like I always tell you …your talents, your truthfulness, your books are your best friends …no human can replace them …the love that we always search for in opposite genders or outside us is actually always residing within us …love yourself…respect yourself …for you can give only what you possess!

you will understand it when you grow up J you are too small now J

Ok , so here is a story by maa….hope one day you read it and know the depth of it …hope you will know that what I ever wanted was to see you in peace and happiness…

We have been watching Devon ke Dev Mahadev and for a little soul like you, it comprises of lot of characters and story lines J but when you grow up you will realise they are CONCEPTS which had to be told in terms of characters and story lines to allow them to permeate a normal human mind who is too busy thinking about saving and future and has no energy left end of the day to get into quantum spirituality

So you saw the character Jalandhar and also a character called Andhak. I will talk about them in some detail here –

They both are SHIVANSH , meaning they were born out of energy of Adishakti /Prakriti and Purusha (in the form of Shiva- the ultimate,  and , Parvati- his split female part)  

The focal point of those characters –

They both were born Shivansh but Jalandhar chose to represent OVER-AMBITION and Andhak, LUST.

So how can a negative energy of over-ambition and lust be born out of that which is TRUTH (Satyam Shivam Sundaram!)

Put simply it can be understood like this – every energy in itself contains both the positive and negatives of that energy (Genetic science, physics and your mausi ma can explain that to you later)

They both are provided with a matrix of choice, to choose their path, each path leading to a particular end… the truth gives you options …again and again to play with your choices and change the end product of your journey

Jalandhar (read over-ambition) despite his sheen and glow of immense love for his wife, sense of doership for his people and a brilliant spark of truthfulness (truth defined as per his level) had to achieve salvation and go back to his source. Andhak, on the other hand, born out of pure darkness chose to let pass all the data given to him through a dark tunnel of his mind and soul and arrive at the residual value of the data or skewed form of the same e.g. when his Guru Shukracharya (read him as INTELLECT) tells him he is a SHIVANSH ,  Andhak choses the data “so I have the power of Mahadev (GOD of all GODS)” …..instead of the truth that “he was the son of SHIVA and PRAKRITI and hence it was immoral for him to desire PRAKRITI as his lover” !

So, when you receive a set of data ..do give it a chance to appear infront of you in the most objective manner – you see we give a character to it based on our level, it is as IT IS!

Do you remember the story point where Jalandhar complains about how his father SHIVA (read truth) chose to ignore him despite the fact that he was in pain! This is what Shiva told him “How could I ignore you when I was never separate from you, I was always there..with you …in form of your wife,  guru and mother but you chose to ignore me”

Someday you will feel the pressure of my moral science lectures, someday you will fight with me for a normal life of being ok with things not approved by me… someday when I will seem separated from you …remember Jalandhar and remember what SHIVA said to him.... you were never abandoned, for one cannot abandon oneself right? You are born out of me…so you are me and I am you … like SHIVA says …YOU and ME happens when we make a choice of seeing duality…if you remember that you are but a part of me you will know that what I do for you is for me J I do not have different standards for YOU and ME…

One day you will be a mother and one day you will know the experience of ONENESS…that little girl with her own head, mind, soul and learning and yet carrying you inside her …always….it will fill you with immense joy and you will want to give her the bestest in the world…

we all have SHIVA, Jalandhar and Andhak in us...

In my world , the bestest that I want to gift to you is the bestest ever –

SHIVA

THE TRUTH

SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM

With loads of blessings and prayers

Maa!

 

 

My fountainhead...

My Great GrandMom was married at the tender age of 9 and was widowed at the age of 13 (that is how old families in India used to work) ....My Grand Mom was born to her ..a single child......family lore says she was never angry (my Grandpa was!) ....and she had a heart (which was damaged and hence had to be replaced with a false one) of Gold....i loved her and admired her soooooooooooooo much...,.

never in my life i have had puris the way she used to make them....the pooris and aloo ki sabji somehow were very heavenly...probably because the main ingredient she used in cooking was love :)...

i love her...and hope wherever she is ....she is wrapped in the warmth and love of God....

missing you...
 

my liberation....

Oh Beloved,
take me.
Liberate my soul.
Fill me with your love and
release me from the two worlds.

Rumi

and he ate only one meal for 14 years...our Fountainhed!

Once there lived a man, made up of earth and soul. I hear stories about him from my elder siblings and my father

He was my grandfather aptly named VED ANAND (VED is the science of knowledge which is deemed as the last stop in hunting of secret wisdoms and ANAND means BLISS)

When he realised he was not able to fend for my father’s studies he ate only ONCE- in- a day for 14 LONG years!!!

We were so poor that we did not have staple food to eat– he would grow potatoes and feed his family

He had fallen from being a Jeth Raiyat (a high position of that era) to being a man who had no money to educate his kids, a fall which should not befall on enemies even

But he persisted

I hear stories like how he never told my father to study (the longest time that my father has studied is 45 minutes), of course he was born brilliant! With borrowed books and library he cleared his states examination and became a state level administrative officer who was revered and loved by his colleagues. His fellowship money (my father was a scholarship winner) of 18 Rupees was used to run the household and his education fee. He could not sit for Central Level exam (IAS) because he did not have money for the forms…

My Grandfather would be outside my father’s examination hall with Sweets (rasgulla) after each exam, he told him “I want to feed you so much of your beloved stuff that after a point of time you will not have the NEED to have them”

When my elder sister, who was the first and only child to be born in our family then, because of her childhood insisted upon having some staple food and not boiled potatoes always he would wipe  tears off his eyes and look straight. HE WOULD NOT BORROW, even not for his beloved (my sister)

So was HE!! not to be bent...no compromise on VALUES!

Later on, my father went on to become a successful officer, a man who refused a job with INDIAN AIRFORCE because that would mean going away from the family and that was not acceptable to him! Like my grandfather, my father is a self – made man too! He refuses to compromise on his values (especially with finance)

Lots of things have changed now, my Grandfather’s passion for education flowed from him to my father who later on put us in choicest of schools to make sure we grew up to be a refined being

We have not seen financial issues and I cannot imagine which man with this earthy body would GIVE UP on food

I am a parent – am I capable of such missionary zeal for my child…I doubt…

My father insists he would never be able to better his father when it comes to being a good father …

I miss him so much today…wish I was matured enough to know what kind of SPIRITUAL TREASURE I had when he was around…the only thing I remember about him is …he would always put the first morsel in our mouth before beginning his meal… he is alive amidst us all in us and in the family- lore

I miss him…..so much…that my heart aches and my eyes weep…