On Saturday the 3rd of November, 2007 I was invited by Dr R K Anand for an MRA meeting. This time the speaker was to be Swami Rammohanji and the topic was 'Peace, within and without'
I am sharing a few points with you.
Situations are not under your control...Change your thought process...

I believe that insurance companies make money because most things that we worry about do not happen...

We get upset because of our desires...We want that people should love us, treat us with respect etc...when that does not happen...we lose our cool...

One should, as the Geeta teaches: 'Do our best and leave the rest'

Make an unconditional acceptance of life...

I say: Hari-Ichhaa

Ego and attachments also rob us of our peace of mind...

The Spiritual way to achieve 'Peace that passeth all understanding' is:
To know that: My nature is Peace...

Accept all that comes as 'Prasaad'...

I just love my friends!
...and in today's world real friendships are really rare...and women friends!!!That's another story!
I have a singing group where we are 15 members! and since the last 30 years or so, we are still going strong...I have a group called the 21 group...We are 21 members, no president no committee...new decisions are put to the vote...and no problem...again going strong since the last 30 years!

I believe that most women find it difficult to give an honest compliment to another woman.
Well one of my friends is Varuna Harchandrai...She is always ready to help! Simple things, which most of us never seem to have the time (or pretend not to have the time) to do!

So we gave her a surprise birthday party to thank her.
...and in the process we celebrated aur growing older/younger in heart together...so 'I sang my favourite things for seniors'(originally sung by Julie Andrews)..Sing along with me in the same tune...

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings
Bundles of magazines tied up in strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions
Bathrobes and heatpads and hot meals they bring

These are a few of my favourite things

Back pains, confused brains and no fear of sinning
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinning
And we wont mention our short shrunken frames
When we remember our favourite things

When the joints ache
When the bones creak
When the knees go bad
Then I shall remember the great life I've had
And then I dont feel so bad :)

Madhurya, Radhakrishna Prabhu and myself




A few days ago I visited the Mid Day Meal Project in Mumbai.

This program is a project of the Government of India, and is being implemented by ISKCON Food Relief Foundation in Mumbai.

It is a remarkable state of the art kitchen and there are four of them! Tardeo, Mira Road, Palghar and Nigdi.
As of today 1,00,000 underprivileged students from 700 schools benefit from this project EVERYDAY
There is no discrimination on grounds of religion, caste, creed or sex.

What particularly impressed me was that a wholesome clean meal is provided to a child, for whom this may be the only meal of the day!
Also the mother has to send the child to school so that he may get his daily nourishment. In the process his mind and brain is also nurtured.

With a generous contribution from a corporate bodies and philanthropic individuals, for the cause of the underprivileged children in India, they hope to maximize the capacity of this program by setting up more kitchens to cater to more schools and increase the number of beneficiaries many folds.


Kudos to Madhurya Project Promoter,(madhurya@middaymeal.com )and Radha Krishna Prabhoo

The Mystical No. 9 of Navratri

'Nav' means nine and Ratri means night. These nine nights occur on equinoxes when the sun is vertically overhead at the equator. The Cosmic Mother is worshipped during these 9 days.

The number nine is closely associated with the process of Creation in the cosmic time cycle. It is considered 'puran' or complete. Any number multiplied by nine gives a figure that adds up to nine.

Ratri means night. The Rigveda states that creation came about when everything was covered in the darkness of night. Navratra signifies the concept of 'Back to Godhead'. The entire cosmic cycle cosists of three phases: Creation, Preservation and Dissolution. If one was to split each part into triads, then 3 times 3 would be 9.

She is the 'Garbha' (Womb) from where the Universe manifests. The word 'Garba' (The dance performed during Navratri) stems from 'Garbha' and symbolises the 'Dance of Creation'

There are 9 cosmic wombs or Nava-yonis.

According to the Tantric concept:

56 rays proceed from the Sahasrar Chakra (Highest Chakra, on top of the head) to Muladhaar Chakra. (Lowest Chakra at the base of the spine) This constitutes the earth element. 62 rays in the Svadistaan Chakra (Near the sexual organs) to form the fire element. 52 rays in the Manipur Chakra (At the Solar Plexus) form the water element. 54 rays in the Anhata Chakra (Near the heart Chakra) establishes the air element. 72 rays in the Visudhi Chakra (Near the throat) pertains to the ether element. 64 in the Ajna Chakra (Center of forehead) designs the mind. These add up to 360 potencies. In a circle form, it would indicate eternity. The 360 digit adds up to nine.

The universe is composed of 36 'tatvas' and there are 360 'tithis' in a lunar year. Both numbers add up to 9.

The No 9 is the Highest number. After the number 9, comes the 0. In order to truly worship the Lord either become complete (with all the great qualities) like the number 9, or empty (devoid of ego, or in a state of total surrender) like the 0.

Celebrated Eid with eminent Quawaals, Munawwar Masoom and Wadali Bros.
It was a concert hosted by the Times of India at Bandra Fort, Bandstand, Bandra.
It was heartening to see various communities enjoying a very spitirually uplifting experience!
I also attended an Interfaith lecture hosted by MRA where I spoke on Women and Peace...In the photograph you will see Uzma Nahid, Director of Iqra delivering her part of the lecture on the same topic.
Both hers and my lecture was very well received!

Understanding Hinduism


The moral viewpoint of the vegetarians’ belief is based on the theories of Ahimsa and Karma. Ahimsa believes In non-aggression and non-violence on any living creature and the law of karma proclaims that we are the builders of our own destiny and that from good deeds joy shall come and from evil deeds, suffering.

Since meat-eating would necessitate the slaughter of animals which is a violation of the ahimsa theory, vegetarians do not indulge in non-vegetarian food as they do not want to increase their karmic debts by partaking of flesh.


The yogis claim that a vegetarian diet is conducive to meditation.

Today, new biological discoveries tend to show that flesh eating is not essential for good health and some biologists are even of the opinion that flesh eaters are more susceptible to illness than vegetarians.

The ancient Hindus were however not fanatic about whether to eat meat or abstain from it but looked more Into the practical aspect.

Understanding Hinduism 3
Most Hindus know about the Karma Theory...Would you like to know more?
Click:
http://dalsabzi.com/Articles/karma%20in%20the%20Practical%20world%20Mid-day.htm

Understanding Hinduism 2
Hinduism doesn't say that only Hindus go to Heaven.
Hinduism believes that all paths lead to that ultimate one.

I have written earlier:
I feel that, sadly Hindus do not know much about their religion...even though happily all know about the Karma Theory...So I thought maybe write a few lines for the busy ones to get acquainted with the Hindu Way of Life.

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the philosopher who became vice president of the Republic of India, in his book, The Hindu View of Life, writes:
Hinduism requires everyman to think steadily on life's mysteries until he reaches the highest revelation. While the lesser forms (including idols and images) are tolerated in the interest of those who cannot suddenly transcend them there is all through an insistence on the larger idea and purer worship...Every man has a right to choose that form of belief and worship which most appeals to him...Hinduism is not a sect but a fellowship of all who accept the law of right and earnestly seek for the truth.

Hindus are not aggressors. They are not vengeful. There is no record of their having invaded alien lands. They do not claim to have exclusive rights to define divinity. But when they are mocked at, whether by atheists or by people of other faiths, they are not going to sit back as in centuries past and keep their anger to themselves...
Mr M.V.Kamath wrote in the Free Press Journal, Thursday, October 4th, 2007

I feel that, sadly Hindus do not know much about their religion...even though happily all know about the Karma Theory...most importantly every Hindu is taught to respect every religion and Master that has walked on the planet...no matter which religion they 'belong' to...

I was the only Hindu girl in a class of over 40 spanish students way back in the 1950s.
My fellow students would ask me how come Hindus worship monkey gods, cows and elephants...I had no answer way back then...but eventually I delved into our Scriptures and came up with a great understanding of our great 'Sanatan Dharma'

Respect all religions but get acquainted with your own!

Do read:
Hindu Customs and Beliefs
Dadi Nani ki Kahaani
It is up for free perusal under 'Books'on my website:
www.dalsabzi.com

Mr Ramchandra and his mentally challenged 'children'





Our friend who took us to visit them, Mrs Indira Thakkar and Mrs Lakhani













Yesterday spent a wonderful fulfilling day.
First visited Netrajyot Eye Hospital.
Mr and Mrs Rana were 'hurt' when a 'son' living in the village said that he could not afford to treat his father as he was turning blind...besides the son said he would be dying anyway soon.
Mr Rana started helping in his small way. Today his daughter Mrs Lakhani along with her husband continues to do the good work.
If you would like to help, they are situated in Panvel, Their Tel No is 27458282

Then we visited the Sanstha which looks after mentally challenged girls upto the age of 18...It is hard to keep it going...
IF you would like to help:
Kalyani Mahila va Balak Seva Sanstha New Panvel- raigad (Navi Mumbai)
Tel 27466618, 20706539, 9323452019

Women's Movement for Peace and Prosperity believes that Women need to be empowered to have a voice. For that the woman needs to be educated, healthy, spiritual....so that her naturally comapssionate voice is heard.
We conducted a health camp for Cancer check up of mothers and teachers at the VBM School.
In the photograph above from left:
Rituparna Basu and Oncologist Dr Suresh Adavani
In the smaller photograph :
Myself, Deputy Mayor Vidia Thakur and Ms Basanti Roy

Aerial View of RamSetu
When I wrote:
Symbolisms in the Ramayana (It is up on my website, www.dalsabzi.com under 'Books'for free perusal). Sri Ram Kinkar Maharaj and Sri Morari Bapu, after having blessed the book, emphatically urged me to mention that though I may be allowed to write on the Symbolisms of the great epic, that does not undermine the fact that Sri Ram is a historical figure...
Follows excerpt from a commentator on social, educational and religious issues.
(I received this note from Sanatan Dharma by email)

...Logic and science have their say but not in matters of faith. In a nation where religion percolates to all levels of culture, secularism and modernity, themes like Ram, Mohammed, Mary and Moses are all interwoven within the existence of the people. A denial can drive people into a frenzy.

As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar rightly puts it, one cannot dismiss Sri Ram as a mythological character just because a lot of miracles were reported in his life and there are no scientific evidences to prove them. There were unproven miracles in the lives of the religious figures of every faith. Just because we can't prove the parting of the Red Sea, we can't say that Moses was a fictitious figure. Just because there were miracles in the lives of Jesus, Moses and Mohammed, you cannot call them mythical figures.

Historical evidence of most of the eminent religious figures would be difficult to find. Nevertheless, the authenticity of Ram's reality cannot be doubted, as most legends and myths have their roots in real incidents and actual happenings of religious figures. So far as Ram is concerned, there are numerous places in India and Sri Lanka closely linked to his life including Ayodhya, Janakpuri, Dhanushkodi and Rameswaram.

The whole debate about whether or not Lord Ram existed or not is redundant. Even if he did not exist, this is not going to diminish his importance because he actually exists in the hearts of not only Hindus but also Muslims. According to Islam, 120,000 messengers were sent to the earth...
...Questioning a largely tolerant and pluralistic people to provide proof that their god actually exists is driving them to aggression...
...The author is a commentator on social, educational and religious issues and the great-nephew of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

A while ago I was asked by a non-hindu friend how come most Hindus do not know much their religion...even though, sadly I had to agree that to a certain extent it is true...I proudly told her that every Hindu knows about the Karma theory...that as we sow so we reap...that God karmas that have to be endured are not there in our life to punish but they are lessons to be learned...(Do read Many Lives Many Masters by Brian Weiss)...but most importantly every Hindu is taught to respect every religion and Master that has walked on the planet...no matter which religion they 'belong' to...though actually I believe that Masters belong to Humanity...
Do read:
Dadi Nani ki Kahaani
It is up for free perusal under 'Books'
on www.dalsabzi.com

Today I met my friend Vimla Patil who celebrated Ganesh puja at home and she told me about Haritalika, which comes a day before Ganesh Chaturthi.
Haritalika means the arrival of Gauri, the mother of Ganesh in her harv goddess form. This means that Harit Gauri brings a wonderful harvest and plentiful food for everyone through out the year. Because india has always been an agricultural SOCIETY harvest are festive days. Harit Gauri dressed in green symbolizes the harvesting season, after the monsoon which ends with Dassera...and on dassera day we hang new rice (unhusked rice) outside our door as part of the toran (The garland that we hang on our main door) Harit Gauri is offered all the green vegetables of the season and even the prasad offered is made of leafy/green vegetables. Harit Gauri is also symbolized by a turmeric (haldi) plant which is a combination of two most auspicious colours in Indian Culture-Green and yellow.
For more information on Ganesh Chaturthi, Click or copy/paste to broswer:
http://dalsabzi.com/Language_Festivals/ganesh_chaturti.htm

Anger is a brief madness...a slow poison...but sometimes it costs our life...I mean it literally...What I mean is that we can lose a good friend,a relationship,our health, our intellect...

From an excerpt by Shri Ashutosh Maharaj
A matchstick has a head made from powdered chemical. Just strike it against the side of the box and the stick bursts into flame...Ar'nt we at times, behaving in a similar fashion? Let a small thing go against our wishes and see what happens?

Take an anger management course...but in the meantime...
Handle situations maturely
Introspect
Delay a response/reaction
have a Knowledge of self

Aristotle says:
It is very easy for anybody to get angry.
But getting angry at the right time, in right degree, at the right person, for the right reason and in the right manner is neither easy nor is it in everyone's scope or frame of capabilities.

I have often wondered why we yearn to travel, to explore, to learn...I have heard before (I received Divyaa's note) that 'God is in our genes' and so I suppose is the quest for Him...just like river flows to the sea...a lamp moves upward towards the sun...Humanity yearns for love!
Shakun
Follows an excerpt of a note that Divyaa sent me. It is from a sunday midday paper.

Is God in our genes? Is evolution inherent in our DNA?
... We all yearn to explore our many facets, and we all aspire to know more and seeking is a natural state of being- whether about the outside world or self! And this is what evolution is- this exploration and expansion of self- indeed the desire to be all that I am and actualize my highest potentials. This fulfillment is the very crux of ‘Why creation is?’ And in its purest understanding it is indeed God Self’s Will to Be! And thus is God in our very genes; and evolution the very life force running through our bodies, throbbing in our hearts, and keeping alive and revitalized-our minds...

Man loves because he is Love. He seeks Joy, for he is Joy. He thirsts for God for he is composed of God -Sathya Sai Baba

I am a trustee of the Times Federation for Cleaning Vrindavan.
Would you like to help in any way?
Do write to seema.ansari@timesgroup.com
May the Giver of all Gifts keep you under His tender care!

Read about Krishna and Janmashtami
Click:
http://www.dalsabzi.com/Language_Festivals/janmashtami.htm

Today is Janmashtami! The birthday of Lord Krishna!
Nietzche said: "I would believe in a God who could dance"
During his time God was generally portrayed as a frozen perfection, remote, static, and wholly unsociable...Nietzche would have been pleasantly surprised had he heard of Krishna, who danced expertly on the hood of the venomous serpent Kaliya...Krishna delights, not in the magnificence of godhood but in the sweetness of uninhibited love...He gives a glimpse of His awe inspiring greatness through His Vishwa roop darshan, which is one of the greatest mystical visions in world literature...Arjuna saw within the Universal form-within Krishna-everything and everyone in existence...The disarming hospitality that Krishna extended to Sudama and the subsequent generous benedictions that He bestowed upon His poor guru-kul friend are also eloquent testimony to Krishna's personal warmth and sweetness...(Before the great war of Mahabharata) Krishna went as a Shantiduta (peace messanger) to dissuade Duryodhana from war with sweet words...

Chaitanya Charan Das
What else to speak about my Krishna? He sang the Immortal philosophy: Bhagvad Geeta!
But today I sing!
Roop saanvala, man ka gora
Krishna Kanhaiya naam hai
Ek baalak ka janam hua hai
Radha ka jo Shyam hai
Meera ka Ghanshyam hai!

Tum hi bal mukunda ho
aur tum hi hamaare Gopaala
Tum hi Govardhan Giridhaari
Tum hi pyaare Nandlala
jag se hume kya lena dena
Jag se hume kya kaam hai
Ek baalak ka janam hua hai
Radha ka jo Shyam hai
Meera ka Ghanshyam hai

Meera was a Rajasthani princess...and according to me, she was an emancipated woman...Read about her, Click:
http://www.dalsabzi.com/Books/kids_kahaani/other_stories/meera.htm


She loved her Krishna and even though the times that she lived in did not allow a woman to mingle...she did so freely with Saints and Sages who would speak to her about her beloved.
I am writing about this because I have read that she also went through the 'dark night of the soul' when she had 'left the world' and her Krishna she had not quite reached Krishna...
The song 'Yogi mat jaa paunv padoo main torey' according to me speaks of that sentiment...

A reader wrote:
I have grown up to become close to God in my heart, but over the year i have felt quite distant, i do feel so guilty inside, i drift off whilst praying and start thinking about random thoughts. Why does this happen? I do want to become stronger into my faith,have strong connections with God.


My reply and humble opinion:

Fluctuations in faith do happen...don't worry...
Maybe concentrate on love (to mankind in any form) and it will lead you to God.
Even Mother Theresa went through what Spiritualists claim is the 'dark night of the soul!...
I have read that it is NOT the abandonment of God...It is ego's last fight before leaving you...making you be in a limbo...where the world has stopped having its magical effect on you and you have not really achieved enlightenment...



I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
Edward Everett Hale

I was reading today that Francis Bacon was 'William Shakespeare'in his previous incarnation
Will I Am = It is the Will of the I AM
Shake Speare= To shake the Speare of Wisdom
Interesting is'nt it?

Saw the movie: 'Gandhi my father' I must say that it touched my heart...Gandhi was a human being and a father...and as such according to his son he may have failed him...but looking at Gandhi as a politician one feels that he may have known in his heart of hearts that his son would not do justice to the scholarship (he did fail various times in his attempt to matriculate) and so offered it to someone else...Would a modern day politician do this? Yet I empathise with the son...Great movie...great insights...(my humble opinion)

Am reading "The memory keeper's daughter" by Kim Edwards...
Jodi Picoult writes:
Kim Edwards has created a tale of regret and redemption...of characters haunted by their past...simple beautiful book...
I agree

The boys in the process of the Sacred Thread Ceremony. Good to see traditions being explained and performed in far off shores!
Anju and her husband Ramesh Daswani.
It was wonderful cathing up! And their hospitality left nothing more to be desired!

It was wonderful catching up with my cousin brother, who today I am proud to say also spreads the good Spiritual word! We used to have many a philosophical discussion as we grew up and we continue to have them today.
Every time I travel to Laspalmas to meet him and the family. This time it was heart warming to have him take the trip to visit me in Tenerife!
We went to a Spanish restaurant called Pinchitos. The menu is interesting.
Note the Indian cuisine...pakoras, samosas (spelt sambosas) chatani...It is not a surname, it is chutney :)

While in Vienna,on a tour of the Opera House, the guide told us, in the old days going to the Opera was more of a Social event!People had the lights on while the concert was on...the pastime was to see who was there and with who...and what they had donned on...
Obviously the Vienna people are very tall...because the tourists could not reach up to the 'face' of the mannequin...so must placed the wig on their head and clicked a photo...So did I!

Some time back I read the book: daughter of Ganges' by Asha Miro.
She is an adopted daughter of a Spanish couple living in Barcelona.
She went looking for her roots in India and found them!
Today she has a restaurant in Barcelona called Bembi.
Above is 'Me in the restaurant' in Barcelona

BCN Montjuich

Am in Barcelona with my 2 spanish friends (Esher and Nancy) from 50 years ago in Tenerife.
It is almost miraculous how we get along...ofcourse though I manage to speak grammatical spanish I have to be reminded how to say certain words...and we laugh and joke and recout our lives, happy and little sad...with only gettting love in response.
Yesterday saw the wonerful fountains of Monjuich It was heavenly with Beethoven music in the backgound...What more to say? Getting emotional...
More later...

In the above picture with my much loved late sisters' family
Leaving Tenerife tomorrow morning after a delightful and nostalgic trip . have been re reading the book Ónly Love is real´by Brian Weiss.

And it is really true! That only Love is real...The rest is Maya...


have met close family members,old friends who I used to play with as a child...have shared joys and sorrows, a relative flew in from different parts of Spain to meet up. Is,nt that what life is all about?

God! Why do we fight? and keep grudges? It is all a learning experience!

We must flow, and go around boulders and move towards the source of existence...

Going to Barcelona for 3 days...meeting up with 2 spanish girl friends with whom I studied in school in Tenerife...Then back home to meet more loved ones..

Much love always

Mc'Donalds and with dear Anju on the Janeu Ceremony



Am in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. The place where I grew up. I studied here until the age of 13...The place is still beautiful. Attended family Janeu Ceremony. It is good to see Hindus striving to keep their identity and remain in touch with their culture, Met friends...who remember me. Saw the spot where my maika shop used to be. Today it is a Macdonalds. It feels good to come back and reminisce about old memories and make new ones...

Went to Salzburg. In the above picture you see the garden in which 'Sound of Music was shot. Salzburg is famous for the fact that Mozart was born and died there!
The way to Salzburg was literally out of this world. It was heavenly. I have traveled extensively but I have never seen the reflection in a lake so crystal clear! It was like a mirror.This is the way Vrindavan should look!
saw the steps which were filmed in the Sound of Music as well as the garden.
The abbey was far from the place so it would require another day of excursion.The gazebo was also 12k out of town.
The house of Baron van Trappe is occupied by people and is rather humble compared to the one they show in the film...it was actually filmed in 3 more palaces...have to go now...shall tell you many more interesting things. Keep visiting...

Photograph alongside shows the birthplace of Mozart!
ok so I am going today for the Sound of Music tour to Salzburg. You know I am still living on Bombay time. It suits me. Here we are 3 hrs behind, so I am going to bed very very early like at 6pm and getting up at 3am Vienna time. Most tours pick me up at 6 am from the hotel. So it is fine!
Life is made up of happy moments that one can pick on when one is feeling blue...So lets stock up on them!

Today explored the city on my own...saw the opera house...do look it up on the internet...walked around the beautiful lanes...the houses are so well kept and beautiful...it is like taking a walk through time...did I tell you that I also saw the yellow palace....there is a room there with Indian miniature paintings...and yes the Opera was frequented more to gossip and see who is there with whom...in the olden days they could eat while opera was on...and the lights were on through the recital.

Am in Vienna!
Beautiful city
In the photograph you will see the famous Opera House in the background!
Tomorrow going to Salzburg to see the Sound of Music sights!
Computer in lobby of hotel so here I am and here you are!

Sigmund Freud worked in Vienna? You think that I should visit? Maybe not...going there to listen to the 'Sound of Music' and see the museums and that should put right whatever may be wrong with my mind!
The hills are alive with the sound of music...When I visited Gangotri the pujari said that I should sing because my voice will vibrate in those mountains forever...Wow!
Keep visiting my blog and maybe you will be with me in spirit as I enjoy the joys of traveling...why is it such fun to see new places? because maybe it fills one with wonder seeing the beautiful planet and what man has achieved...and now he is destroying it...sad is'nt it?

People are hesitating to get married now-a-days and also to have children.
I understand their arguments with my intellect...but not with my heart...anyway...for me I believe that this is the best time in my life...Have done my best bringing up my children. I know that my 'Social activities is what I was meant to do...My children are good human beings and we feel blessed! In the above photograph celebrated my husband's birthday again, this time with my married daughter and her family while she was visiting us and my younger daughter. If you look at my earlier blogs we celebrated my husband's birthday while my son and his family were visiting.
Nazar mat lagaana...Send blessings my way...I will receive them!

(Excerpts from) Jagannath (Lord of the Universe)
Rath Yatra (Chariots of the Gods)
By Damodara Pandita Dasa


Jagat means universe
Naath means Lord
Rath means chariot
Yatra means journey

(During the Rath yatra,)Why is the Lord of the Universe pulled around by ropes, balanced on 12-foot wheels, in a primitive fashion?

Because Lord Jagannath is bound by the ropes of His devotees’ affection. He goes wherever they take Him.

Why does Lord Jagannath have such big round eyes?
Because He is staring wide-eyed at all of us showering everyone with His Love.

One day Krishna’s brother Balarama, and sister Subhadra rushed off with Krishna to Vrindaavan.
When they reached Vrindavan, Balarama and Subhadra are wonderstruck at the deep intense love of the Brijvasis for Krishna…and the latter weeps inconsolably when He sees Radhika lying lifeless and burning with the fire of separation. The siblings’ hands and legs retract into their bodies…Their eyes widen with awe!

Attended a session where the speaker, Rajiv Malhotra claimed that:
some Eminent American academicians are saying that:
Bhagvad Geeta is a dishonest book...
Mantras are moans (sexual)..
Swami Ramakrishna molested Swami Vivekananda...

I felt very disturbed hearing the above...and so much more...
But why hurt feelings when the knowledge is so obviously distorted?
What is the ulterior motive?

The sad situation is that once we (Indians) were knowledge producers, today we have become consumers...eg Yoga...

We, can become modern but retain the best of the Indian way of Life...

We need to feel pride in the fact that we are Hindu Indians and for that we need to understand our culture and experience the richness of our heritage.

My contribution to the cause:
The books that I have written namely Hindu Customs and Beliefs, Symbolisms in the Ramayana, In touch with Masters, Dadi Nani ki kahaani...amongst others are up on my website: Dalsabzi for the Aatman www.dalsabzi.com
Link to books:
http://www.dalsabzi.com/Books/books.htm
They are free for perusal...you may also print them and distribute the knowledge...
Also click on link:
www.invadingthesacred.com

Happiness: a stroke of luck?
Excerpt from 'Eat Pray Love'
Elizabeth Gilbert


…People universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will, maybe descend on you like fine weather if you are fortunate enough. But that is not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it.
You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don’t, you will leak away your innate contentment. It’s easy enough to pray when you are in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.

A reader wrote to me, to say 'I wish all these spiritual gyaanis would target the mothers and sons In India to help make them grow up...

I personally feel sorry for the Indian men. If they side their wife they are labelled 'joru ka gulaam'...if they side with their mothers, they are called mama's boys... men are a confused lot between the eastern and western beliefs...A man has to keep a balance if he wants a peaceful household...

It is sad, but, because it is relatively easy to get married one cannot assume that one knows how to be a good spouse...learning to nurture a marriage is an art which requires learning...read on:

ThankGod, I have a husband who did not supress my stories/songs
Go, tell the story, sing a songMarguerite Theophil

…Our grandmothers were our link with the world of story, but these days with the decline in inter-generational living, we lose out on that as well…Many cultures believe that if you have a story to tell-and don’t tell it-strange things will happen. Stories have unique and startling ways of making sure they get told.

A Kannada story narrated by A.K. Ramanujan:

There once lived a woman who knew a story and a song. The story and the song got suffocated inside so they got out so they got out and turned into a coat and a pair of shoes. Seeing this made the husband furious…When the husband’s suspicions were cleared, he woke up his sleeping wife and asked her about her story and her song.
“What story? What song? She asked. She had sadly forgotten both of them.

Among the Cree of Manitoba, there is a similar belief that stories when they are not told, live in their own villages where they go about their own lives.. Every now and then however a story will leave its village and seek a person to inhabit. Some person will abruptly be possessed by the story, and soon will find herself telling the tale, singing it back into active circulation.
Go, tell the story; sing the song
To read my stories, Click:
http://www.dalsabzi.com/Books/kids_kahaani/kahaani_intro.htm

Am in the process of reading an interesting book: 'Eat Pray Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert...
As you read my blog...for those who do, you might be thinking 'What a doing woman, she is' and I know that a lot of people say that I 'have accomplished a lot in my life' Truly? I dont know...I have just flowed along and things came along and doors opened and I walked through...do do I do it all? I dont think so...I read today 'Life's in the Being...not in the doing...Must think about it...or maybe not...Just be!