A little bit tired, but refreshed after the trip to
Pondicherry and Ooty.The best part of the trip was that we drove all the way to these places. I have always noticed that we enjoy the journey more when we take our vehicle coz then we can take some small liberties like stopping at all beautiful, untouched places, drinking chai at all the smallest dhabas that we come across and so on. We also get to experience the real feel of the place or the state in which we travel.

Pondicherry - most of the people associate it immediately with french architecture. But actually speaking, one half of the town is adorned with french buildings and the other half is just like any other town in Tamilnadu. Beaches, french windows and doors, french restaurants and lot of foreigner tourists- these are some things that u can expect to find in Pondicherry. It is a beautiful experience to walk down the lanes that have french buildings.

Ooty- hill station and once upon a time a favourite haunt for the newly wed couple:-))( Now, Munnar has replaced Ooty for the favourite honeymoon spot). The weather at Ooty was beautiful. There was a light drizzle throughout and one came across all sorts of mist, fog and so on. Tea gardens, green-clad towering mountains, sweaters and shawls, hair pin bends and heaters in your rooms- some things that u can find in Ooty. On the whole it is a place with lots and lots of greenery around. Any nature freak will fall in love with the place. (except that you will find that u and ur sweater are inseparable in that place:-)))

When we were on the way back home and when I thought that the vacation was over, we had the best experience of the holiday. Near Bandipur, there was this wild elephant grazing at the road side. We just stopped the car next to it. Initially I was petrified thinking about the "wild" part of it but then the next moment I was awed by its majestic presence. I managed to take a snap of this royal creature. Indeed, it was a memorable experience.

The experiences one gains during travelling are very enriching. U get to see and learn so much. For me , each trip brings out various facets of life. It breaks down all the barriers, frees one's mind and makes u realize that life is so beautiful, so worth living.:-))

Bomb blasts everywhere! What do the so called terrorists achieve by these blasts? How do these blasts help them to attain their goal? What are they trying to prove to the world? Are they trying to terrorize people? Or do they get any sadistic pleasure by taking others' lives? Whatever it is, the saddest part is that the innocent ones are the victims. But I am sure how much ever they may try to spread terror or to achieve their illegal goals, they will never succeed. They will never be able to shake our faith in peace, in a peaceful and beautiful world and in life.

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

I have no time at all. I have no time to pick on others' mistakes. I have no time to accuse others. I have no time to fight. I have no time to gossip. I have no time to mock or ridicule others. I have no time at all 'coz I have so much of cleansing to do. There are so many negativities in me. I need to discard them. I have so much to improve. I need to work hard on them. I have so many dreams and aspirations. I need to work to fulfill them. There are so many things to be done in this short span of life. Lemme not waste it by doing all those trivial things.

I have been doing this for some time now. I have started doing things that I used to fear the most. I force myself to do them. Yep, I am trying to conquer my fear. And, man, I feel so good when I do them.. The feeling is awesome.:-)) I feel like an achiever.:-)

How much ever the technology may advance, my faith in pen and paper will always be strong. Nothing can beat pen and paper when it comes to:
1) love letters ( preserving them in your voluminous books and then taking a look at them whenever u have fits of nostalgia)
2) hate mail ( most of the times, these letters probably never reach the person to whom u had addressed)
3) resignation letters ( U always think that u have the luxury of throwing these letters on your boss's table and say,"That's it. I had enough of u."-filmi style)
4) diaries ( A place where u can rave and rant about anything and everything- I think it is a place where ur writing bourgeons)

So no matter what, I shall stick to my pen and paper even if I hear distant shouts of me being old fashioned.:-)))))

The other day we had gone to a friend's house. He is this American Desi who is here with his family on a vacation. During the chit-chat, he started telling us about the social work he and his wife were doing at US. He said that they would occasionally go in groups and serve food to the downtown people. He said that their condition was really bad and they were in need of help.

As I sat listening to this, I must say I was dumbfounded. As he described the conditions of the downtown people, I felt that they were in much, much better condition than the people here who stay in slums. The slum people here, most of the times, are not able to satisfy their basic needs. They are in such a pathetic condition. I found it extremely funny that these American Desis are so blind to the happennings over here and extra-sensitive to whatever they see in US. They could have done atleast a bit of service in the land where they were born. They could have atleast offered their services to people who needed the most. Is it that they are trying to prove that they are loyal US citizens? Or is that they feel that people out here do not need any help from them?

I have lot of NRI friends. I am not at all against them. It is their lives and they can live however , wherever they want. But I sympathize with people who really donno what they want from their lives and who donno what to do with their lives. And maybe they live under a false impression all through. And finally , a day will come and realisation will dawn on them. I hope it wont be too late by then.......

:-) Okies, that was some harsh criticism. Some things provoke me to go for it. And honestly, I dont like to be criticial about anyone 'coz I know all of them have their own lives and they lead them in their own ways. But then observations are always made and what better place than this blog to register those observations!

Our temples

There are so many temples here. Every street, you can find atleast two temples. Most of them have been constructed recently; some of them came up coz some people wanted money; some came up coz some people did not know what to do with their money!! Frankly speaking, even though these temples are very well adorned, I never experience any devotion there.

I love secluded, ancient temples. These are the temples where I really feel the presence of God. I sit in front of God's idol and close my eyes. That is a moment when I am in absolute peace. Nothing disturbs me at that moment. There is total silence around me and within me then. Therefore I love going to such temples often.

Some of the ancient temples that I have seen are in a very bad shape. They do not have the glitter of the modern temples and hence do not attract much of attention. People who work there are also not well paid. But still I have seen so many dedicated people who work there loyally without expecting anything in return. Maybe they too feel the presence of God there.

I feel that we should pay more attention towards such temples becaue they represent history, heritage and culture. Instead of constructing more and more temples, we should take care of what we have and protect them. May the future generations be privileged to enjoy the beauty and peace of these historical places.

Gurudev

I am soooooo happy today. And the reason for me being sooo happy today is that I stumbled upon something that I have been searching like crazy. I have been a member of a spiritual mailing list but I rarely look into those mails. But today for a change, I thought I will have a look at some of the mails. And as I was going through, I saw this thing. I could not believe my luck and I was almost jumping with joy. Yep, I found the recordings of Swami Vivekananda's speeches at Chicago. That was something I never thought I would find.

Right from my childhood, I have been influenced by Gurudev ( that is how I call Swami Vivekananda). His determination, courage, selfless service- they have always inspired me. I have read all his writings and speeches and man, aren't they amazing? In such a short span ( 1863-1902), he achieved so much. He was so passionate about his motherland. He was so anxious to strengthen this land. I have wondered many a times if another Vivekananda will ever come into being.

I was astounded when I heard the recordings of his speeches. His english is impeccable and his voice is such that it wakes you up from your slumber. So effortlessly he has rendered the speeches! One cannot help noticing the courage and the confidence that comes across his speeches. How I really wish that our politicians, who are so busy with the power game, could take a leaf out of Gurudev's life!!!!!!!!!(Ok, I know I am hopelessly optimistic:-))

Champions do one thing better than everyone else. FAIL!! When a champion has a bad race they not only use this failure for feedback ("What did I do wrong ... How can I improve") But just as important, they let it go quickly. In other words, they don't dwell on the past. When you hang onto your bad races and mistakes in a meet, the one thing you can count on happening is that you'll get more of them!

That is sooooo true! I always feel that I should let go of my mistake and go ahead. But everytime I make one, I start blaming myself and tend to brood over it. Instead, probably I must stop for a while, check out where I have erred and then continue without repeating it. Well, I am learning it....slowly.......

Last few days have been really very hectic. We shifted to another house and believe me, this shifting saps all your energy. But it has also been fun moving to this house. We are cleaning up all the stuff, throwing things that were never used for years and trying to accomodate the stuff we have. Disposing things is the toughest job 'coz every time we wanna throw that some thing away, we feel that it may be of use in future. So we end up keeping most of the things.:-) Anyways shifting has been a refreshing change for us.

I wish we could do the same with our mind- refresh it now and then, clean it up, throw away the unwanted things and rearrange our thoughts in a new way.

And as an after thought, many people whom I know are ready to set off on various ventures- be it a new job, pregnancy or new relationships. So wishing them all the good luck and hoping that they find whatever they have been looking for.:-)