The Helpful Kolkatans....

Kolkatans have always known to be helpful, I hadn't known how much till today. The inevitable believers of the "bandh culture", the ruling Marxists had called a transport strike today, and I had my violin classes... of course I could have been absent, but I really didn't wanna miss the class... my destination wasn't really far but it was far enough to be covered by foot... as the roads appeared deserted with no shops open, no public transport in sight, a typical bandh day for Kolkata, I was actually contemplating calling up my sir to inform him that I after all wouldn't be able to come and would he please schedule another class perhaps next week... Well, as I was deep in thinking , a rickshaw pulled to a stop beside me and a lady on the richshaw asked me whether I would like to share her ride, it was a blessing... because I hadn't even noticed a rickshaw this morning... she was truely a nice lady and I reached my deatination in time for the class...
While coming back, again my luck favoured and I managed to hitchhike a Hiyundi Accent and a young man at wheels!!!! :) ... I had always heard Kolkatans are helpful, today i got to see how much... :)

Agatha Christe's The Rose and the Yew Tree

Just finished reading of the Rose an the Yew Tree...it's by Mary Westmacott..ie Dame Agatha Christe...that was her pseudonym...
It's a profound story of human psyche and it just rattles you.. .every character is so well etched that u just feel unnerved... really...mind u there's no murders and no crime, it's a plain psychological story...and it's a romance nonetheless... but in her unique style... please people, who like reading quirky stories about human desires, love, envy, the sheer evil and the little good of the human nature... just go ahead read it... it's worth it...

ahhhhhh...to be free again....

No this is not about Divorce, or changing jobs, or getting the eyed promotion...this is plainly my feeling about what happens when a person is over and done with the UPSC preliminary Examination...a sense of relief creeps over u....it's like u have suddenly waken up from deep deep slumber and realized the world is so very fascinating...yes CSE does all these to u an' more....ahhhh to be free again... :)

Beginnings

The Distance between inertia and "beginning" is so vast, that upon contemplation, it appears too large to cross.

When we do begin, we make discoveries,
We discover Strengths,
and hopes, dreams not yet lived...
beloved hiding places and
Parts of ourselves....
It's so much easier NOT to begin... what if we begun a dream... and it didn't work???...or we were no good at it, or it didn't satisfy us the way we always imagined...???
We can begin Over and over and over, as many times as we want or need to. We can begin to change our beliefs and the ways we categorize ourselves... "oh I've never been a good ....................."
BEGIN AGAIN
I m GOING to BEGIN to be:
A person who tries many new things...
A person who is Sometimes irritated...
A person who explores new tastes...
A person who travels lightly...
A person who IS...
and i'll continue to add new beginnings to this list...

Columns of the World...

I came across these really beautiful lines by the Mexican poet Betsabee Romero at a visit to this year's Kolkata Book Fair... I m reproducing it here, go on read them..u'll really like it...

Books as a bastion of memory and growth,
sustenance of dreams and utopias torn down by reality
in every news item
in every life
in every silence
given the injustice and oblivion.

Symbolic foundation of invention and creation,
of voyages and real or imaginary paths.

Literature, story, word
the structure and coordinate
that articulate and join irrevocable resistances and struggles.

Books, indubitable and indispensable
fragments of our cultural architecture.

Our literature,
column, roof and floor of our reflections
relative and witness of what's ours
that which defines us
and builds us, deep down.

Reading is the most roving habit
the baggage that holds the most time
history and lives accumulated in words
a translator that speaks in perfumes, tastes, phrases, geographies,
a continent held up by words
written and read in family circles.

technology falls, bursts, fails;
modernity has betrayed us countless times,
literature makes up the pillars
the columns of colors and words that seem to faint away
sometimes
but that, thanks to the great works,
like our pyramids
and their meanings
lift us up.

The Six Mistakes Of Man

1. The delusion that personal gain is made by crushing others.
2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed.
3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because 'he' cannot accomplish it.
4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.
5. Neglecting development and refinement of mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and study.
6.Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

( Cicero)

An auapicious start to 2009...

I visited the ISKCON , Mayapur on the 2nd of this month, it was an incredible experience. Though not a staunch believer in any of the many sects professed by the Hindu religion, my visit to ISKCON was indeed one which filled me with pride and a sense of glory for what Bhagavatism has achieved in the international arena of religions.
ISKCON was started by Srila Prabhupada, a follower of Bhagavatism and professing the "Bhakti Marga"... It became an international movement in the 1970's with the establishment of it's first 'mandir' in Chigcago. ISKCON emphasises on 'Bhakti'... singing in the praise of the lord Krishna... as a way to enlightenment and the subsequent salvation.It doesn't believe in the cult of sacrifice or hard hitting ritualism.
My best experience was the early morning prayer "Arty" done at 4:30 am.. in the prayer hall where everyone gathers. What amazed me most was the number of followers from different nationalities, regions, cultures, languages all chanting to gather "Hare Rama Hare Krishna", one ardent devotee whom I had the fortune to meet was a Chinese national, she doesn't know English, Hindi or even Bengali but can speak chaste Sanskrit!!! and the joy she felt while singing along was worth beholding. Then there is this ritual of taking out a procession of the idols of Krishna and Radha every Saturday evening, decked up elephants, two beautifully decorated chariots and scores of devotees take the deities around the ISKCON compound, the entire path is strewn with flower petals and and there is constant chanting of hymns and beating of drums together with the blowing of conch and the fragrance of incense sticks... the atmosphere becomes enchanted and magical and I can tell you that even the most staunchest agonist will become a believer.
The "Mahaprasadam" is another thing of amazement. Probably due to the international presence, a devotee can get anything as the Prasadam, from cakes to pastries to cookies to the very Indian 'mithaies', 'payasam', tasty 'jibegajhas' and what not... of course everything is strictly vegan..they do not believe in partaking of flesh of any kind... This visit of mine will be etched in my memory as long as it can be.. I m definitely looking forward to my next visit to Mayapur soon and hope I'll get another chance to visit soon enough. Hare Krishna...