Spouts,Faucets,Taps and Me

Hai..Hai…Hai..hai..
I was lost for few days in something else that
I couldn’t come here and torture you people.

And oh look!..You all seem so happy. But I am here already. Let us see what I can do about that eh?..


Ok..My quota for serious stuff is over with last two posts and it’s time to get back to normal.

I was walking down the aisle in a shopping mall the other day and I saw some small kids playing in the escalator which brought a smile on my stupid face and ‘tontodoiiinnn..’ pushed a rewind button to a day in chennai.

It was a week after the new escalators were introduced in Chennai Egmore station and we were walking down the corridor to reach our compartment. My eyes darted to a place which was overly crowded. It was the escalator. Why was there such crowd? As curious as I was, I peeped in.


A young woman of about twenty something, she must be just married from the looks of her was crying. Actually when I took a closer look I found that she was just whining and giggling at the same time. She was standing right next to the escalator and she was just too scared to get on the escalator.


People tried to cajole her, push her, and scold her. mmhhm..nothing worked out.


She was creating such racket. Her newlywed husband was standing on the top of the stairs and shouting at her to come up. Supposedly he climbed up before her to show who is boss. Anyways, this poor woman was still struggling. She would keep a foot in and run back..this was going on for a while and so the crowd.


One fellow who was passing by, commented on her “who asked these illiterate idiots to come here? They don’t know even to use a simple thing as escalator.” He spouted his mouth pathetically declaring his superiority over that woman, As if he descended from heaven to earth in an escalator. (
இதுங்களையெல்லாம் இங்க யார் வரச் சொன்னது?பட்டிகாடுங்க...இவெரென்னமோ பொறக்கும்போதே எஸ்கலேட்டர்ல பொறந்த மாதிரி.)

I don’t blame the woman. She is knew to something and she just shows her fear in open.

So what? Aren’t we scared of stuff which we face for the first time, I thought. I don’t know about you but I am more than confused about new stuff and have a fear on some.

And yes that is what I am going to tell you now. A thing I fear a lot,


Spouts.


When I mean spouts, I take the whole category…All sorts of spouts which pour out anything from water to coffee and ketchup to juice.


Let us start with a decent one.


Water taps.


The sole reason for a water tap is to release water when you use the lever. Yep got it..

But why is that they always keep it as complicated as possible? I simply don’t understand.

Oh!..Such variety in them, one looks down, one looks up, one needs to push it, one needs to pull it, one needs to tap it one needs to screw it and now almost everywhere it just needs you to show your hand in front.


There was this day when I didn’t know whether to push it or pull it (it looked almost
seamless and lever less) I tried so hard for sometime pushing and pulling first slowly then swiftly and at one point of time vigorously..(give it you damn it.. அடச்சீ வந்து தொலை..)
And poof.. The spout just came off from the pipe hook and luckily I had the reflex to push it back harder into the knob so it didn’t shower water all over me.

Oh! but broken is broken right?


I felt so stupid and just then someone came in. I quickly acted like I was adjusting my hair(
)while I was watching the other person to use it.
She merely tapped on its head and voila. a clear stream of water came out..(..இது இப்டியா? சொல்லவே இல்ல?)
Then there are these automatic water tap.

Oh..they are such nuisance I tell you. It is like your sinister aunt with twisted humor.

It never releases water when you hold your hand in front. It will release water right when you pull your hand back. I remember once myself dancing in front of it (வந்துரு,,வந்துரு..தானா வந்துரு..).

I was like showing
my hand this side and that, pushing in, pulling out..making postures of ‘bharata natiyam’ and when I found out that the tap was actually not working(the sensor light was blinking – probably winking at me) I went …..

Oh there is another incident involving Mc D.

It was my first visit to Mc D years back. we had just ordered our burgers. My uncle asked me to get ketchup.
I went to the small dispenser counter and to my horror I saw another long spout there.

Oh! crap..


This one was very sleek with long
neck and no head or no lever of any sort what so ever.
I was standing there for quite some time not knowing what to do and where to pull. Since the first incident preceded this one I was very cautious not to pull it, for I was standing in the middle of the crowd and this was not a water tap but ketchup dispenser tap or spout..or whatever that is..

My uncle called out for me from behind and I had no choice but to try. Unfortunately no one came by to do a demo for me. (I had developed a really cool habit of watching a demo before trying it). So I had to give a try.


There was this small knob like thing near it and I unscrewed and unscrewed until it came off in my hand. Oh lord..


I frantically fixed it while a small western boy came near me. I gestured at him very generously to go ahead, with a smile that was a kilometer long.


He just pressed the end of the long spout and ..agh..it worked..

He caught ketchup in the small disposable cup and gave me a look..

Do you even want to know how he looked at me?..Please save the embarrassment.


One other day I was in this international airport lounge with
buffet breakfast. Even that gave me the shivers.
They have automatic coffee dispensers there you see?

Just as usual I went to fetch some coffee for myself. And as usual there was no one there to help me.


The dispenser was too huge with some ten to twenty buttons including light, strong, black, mocha,
cappuccino and all that..
I am a coffee lover so the love for coffee overtook the fear for spouts this time and I tried it by myself.

I pressed the button for coffee with milk and held the cup beneath the inlaid spout.


It first poured coffee and then stopped and then started to pour milk and it didn’t stop.


The cup was dangerously full and I was frantic and searched for a stop button. there was none.


I was like stop..stop..stop..(As if it was going to say..'Oh..I am sorry' and then stop).

It didn’t stop and the coffee started to spill all over the immaculately clean white table cloth and then on the polished floor.

I yelled for help and one fair maiden (Waitress) came in for help. God bless her soul she didn’t stare at me but just smiled that all is well and went on cleaning.


And what about the water taps in American public places?


The spout looks up and the water spurts out like a fountain. You have to literally keep your mouth in front (or over the top??) to drink the water. I wondered what if they spit on it while drinking???


I have seen people cocking their heads like little sparrows to adjust to the flow of water.

Once I was very thirsty I went close enough to drink from it , but after seeing a man having his mouth closer to the spout like a gigantic crocodile waiting for its prey(அண்டாக்கா கசம்..திறந்திடு சீசே), I just dropped the idea of using it( I simply got a water bottle to catch water in)

And here is the most embarrassing incident of all.


That day they had opened up a new mall and we went to check it out.

After walking for so long I went to the ladies room. It was eerily void of people and the new toilets gleamed clean. I went inside one cubicle and just stood still. My curiosity got me better than my bladder movements that I watched a small glowing knob in the wall. It asked me to twist it.

Such stupid was I, I didn’t think twice or even once for that matter before turning it. I turned it to the maxand watched what magic is going to happen.(டாய்லட்ல என்ன மேஜிக்?)
And.. water splashed all over from the nearby detachable spout (supposedly kept for cleaning your……..கருமம்..கருமம்..) which I had not seen earlier, if I did see a spout nearby would I dare turn it?

Oh lord.. I was so embarrassed.

Lucky me, the toilet seat was closed and I had not leaned down too much so the kurti I was wearing was only half wet.

Then what??


I had to stand in front of this automatic drier for a quarter of an hour like a pan handler holding my kurti in front of it..

(அம்மா... தாயே...)
Huh, So much for my spout fears. Though I have learned to use them now better than before(??), I still have that fear when I see a new kind of spout.

Now tell me, does anyone else have something like this..?(I bet not..
)

The Kundalini Awakening???

CAUTION NOTE: THIS POST MIGHT CARRY CONTROVERSIAL THOUGHTS ON BELIEFS WHICH IS STRICTLY ONE PERSON’S OWN OPINION BASED ON HER EXPERIENCE. THIS IS NOT A CONTRIBUTION BUT A HUMBLE SUBMISSION /CONFESSION OF A WOMAN TO HER FELLOW BEINGS IN REQUEST OF OPINIONS.THANK YOU

Yes!.. I believe in God .


I believe in God and that doesn’t mean I wake up at 3 in morning clean up religiously and do all the poojas that are there in the book.



I don’t go to temple every Tuesday and Friday(OR ANY DAY FOR THAT MATTER) or worse have a temple in my own house and do abishekam every alternative day like my mom.

I don’t know even a single Sanskrit sloka or even tamil prayers apart from the few which were taught to me in school as prayer.


I do show a lot of interest in learning them (read as want to learn) merely as a part of my soul education and as a history of
hinduism instead of using them as mantras for prayers like my mom.


The first thing that comes to my mind as soon was wake up is not God and I don’t have to tell you that it is not the last either.

I don’t like going to temples. Yes, I really don’t like going to temples except for those which are rich in history and geography (if so). I am a history lover and that is what will interest me.


So where am I getting at?



I will tell you. For some one as good as an atheist except for an excuse of laziness how did I get a chance like that? Something, that really changed my point of view regarding life. Something, that made the present me who from that incident started to search feverishly for answers.



This happened to me few months back, about an year ago.



It was that time of the year when we take a festival for our family temple.




Ours is quite a great temple and is still worshipped by the whole lot of our family and kin which will work out about 300- 400 people. It will be a three day affair which will start with..well I don’t want to bore you with details. Let us go straight to the point.

From my childhood days the village, the temple and the goddess in there held a special place in my heart. It was always like visiting an old friend. Yes I regarded our goddess only as a friend and I felt awkward worshipping, for I knew not how to do it solemnly like others.



I just used to close
my eyes and ask in my mind “So kamakshi..how have you been?..I have been very naughty..”



It was a grand affair this year. A special festival after doing the ‘kumbabishek’(4th) which was when I had released my
first book ever- A thalapuranam (history) of our temple and the goddess.



This time around I had put myself in other humble jobs like painting big motifs and kolams in the newly laid stone corridor.

Let us fast forward to the day of the incident, which was the last day of the festival.


The last pooja was under progress and they had closed the veil for dressing up the idol (which is a
specialty in our temple, since our particular pujari will create new avatars of the goddess every time).


With a deep anticipation of what avatar it was going to be this time, everybody sat watching the closed screen singing devotional songs.



I was feeling weird the whole hour. There was singing and big ‘mrithangas’ (drums) being playing beside us and the long fluted ‘nathaswaram’ was being playing alongside. The famous ‘urumi maelam’ was also played.


I usually enjoy this kind of
music I even sing some numbers for the crowd, but today it was all wrong. I don’t know when exactly it started or what triggered it. But all of a sudden I felt like I was watching everything from somewhere outside me but still felt like I was totally inside me. I know it sounds weird but that’s the closest I can explain it about.
Slowly I was getting all closed in.

The music getting distant and distant and yet so vibrant that I could feel my body slowly thumbing.


My eardrums became numb, my fingers and body became numb but hot.



I felt so hot but not sweating. My heart beat..now that was the weirdest thing. I felt something like I never felt before.



It was getting faster and faster but very rhythmic like a pop music? I donno..



My vision was getting blurred and I shut my eyes tight.



I was thumbing inside me like I was taken on a huge elephant ride and it was dancing. i felt some strong force in all of me from all
direction outside to the inside of me.. to the core..up..from below.


It was like..let me try to explain it for you..imagining my body as a hollow machine… this vibrant energy or whatever it was filling in the hollow valves and pushing in and in and as it moved in, the outer
parts were cut off or closed out..


The thing was pushing me in and in and I would have feared that I might burst out of compression. The heart was palpitating harder and harder.



Then I felt like I had suddenly become light , very light and was floating above all or became an invertebrate I don’t know but I was slogging in all directions.



It was like I was pulled into something..some very strong current so fast ..so very fast that it made me giddy. I was not aware of my own self and yet was a little aware..I wanted to get out of that experience..that trance or whatever that was for I was clearly scared and shaken.



Suddenly the more dominant part of me which had taken a silent ride until now came for my rescue and it pulled me to reality..I remember it very clearly.



It was like making a big leap..like a quick but long journey..I slowly started to hear voices and the thumbing music again. It was deafening now. But my heart was thumbing louder and harder than that. I could feel my skin hot with a touch and my limbs especially my back or spine suddenly weakened and pained.



It was returning..whatever happened to me hadn’t left me totally. It was coming again..this time I felt it much more clearly..

It was like pulling you up and up..like it was sucking you up..That feeling made my head ache..


My body became more compliant to the feel that it started to slowly shake. The real me(whatever I mean by that I don’t know) pulled me again and this time I came out in a split second and was shocked to see people staring at me.



The music was still deafening.



I wanted to cry so badly for making a show or for some unknown reason, I don’t know.

I took off from the temple and ran into our family house nearby. My mom who had seen me from the beginning came running behind me (which I was not aware of).


I slumped into the couch and cried my guts out. My uncle (my mom’s brother) came and asked my mom about me.



She told that she didn’t know anything. Back in the temple she had tried to talk to me to which I was oblivious and had shut down totally from outside. people kept talking to me and calling me all of which had not reached my ears. Suddenly I had started to move rhythmically and My mom and the few sitting close by thought that I had gotten into a trance. ‘saamiyadal’ we call it in our side which simply means that god had entered into me.




During these kind of festivals generally many suddenly get into trance and will start dancing around with closed eyes and making hissing sounds (to push out the hot air or energy that was building up inside, I suppose) and laughing hysterically or crying and become the centre of attraction. I can write a whole blog on relating their behaviors.



They used to dance along and I used to make funny remarks at them. I even used to mock at them. Now, I felt quite embarrassed then on acting like one of them.



I was still crying when my uncle came near me and placed his hands over my head.

He quickly took his hands off and stared at me.. “My goodness girl
உச்சி துடிக்குதுமா உனக்கு” (ur top of the head is pulsing heavily).
Whatever he meant by that i didn't understand.
He quitely regarded me for some time and smiled..”You are lucky my dear girl.”

“what should I do?.. I feel like crying..” I was still crying that I could hardly see his face through my tears. My whole body was aching, especially my head. I couldn’t say anything to him, in fact I didn’t know how to explain it then. Even here I sat for sometime before writing it down and brought down memories that are not so clear. The experience itself was not very systematic. I just tried to relate it as possible as I could.


he said” Don’t cry my dear..Don’t cry..”


“What is this thing?” I asked him for which he said.


“Find it out. Find it out by yourself. You will get it soon.”


I don't know whether he said that to pacify me or he didn't know how to explain it to me.

But that opened up a new path for me.

Then on I had used so much of my free time (when I was not loitering around lazily

) into this matter. This experience I had not disclosed to anyone except my mom, uncle and husband and now you all.

I had then on went about learning stuff like these.


I did read many an experience like these, but most of them I just couldn’t take. I searched out for a scientific reason for this experience.


I read few web pages telling me that it was kind of migraine, head problem. Psyochotic … neurotic ..blah blah..blah problems. Some even hinted on HB imbalance.


And some advised about an incoming psychological disorder.

But nothing(symptoms) was close enough to what I had experienced except this one page which I stumbled upon quite accidentally.

One day while on my research (read as googling with incoherent keywords) I came across this page.


It talked about a person’s experience on kundalini awakening and guess what? it related very closely to my experience.

It could have been an accidental kundalini awakening, as per that guy.

I read more on kundalini now.


It is said that kundalini is the life energy. The energy of consciousness. The very energy of us if only we realize it and awaken it we will achieve the true abilities of being us.


It has tremendous advantages and it is nothing beyond science. In fact it is a beautiful science.


So I liked the notion of getting a good explanation on this. But it said that for an accidental kundalini awakening to happen something must have triggered you to lose your emotion called ego.


The split second you let go of your ego, you might get the glimpse of the awakening, Which might occur in situations like for example divorce or losing a very loved one and something like that(these in western terms).


But what about me?

Letting go of ego? Isn't that something saints do? Wasn't that supposed to be too hard to achieve. But emotional imbalance might trigger it sometimes.

I was far from that. I was sitting inside a temple and I was really quite a happy human being.A very happy human being at that.So,what could have caused my ego to vanish for a second.


I clearly am not a non ego person(for confirmation I just scrolled up and read – see how many ‘I’s I have used in the last few lines)


Whatever really happened is still a mystery. But what caught my attention was that there is a possibility of actually having a scientific explanation for all those trance like experiences..


So though not 100% sure(human mind will never be) on whether it certainly was a accidental partial kundalini awakening..I still regard this as a point in my life which had tried to reveal something to me and urged me to make myself proceed towards the higher possibilities.


Having said all that,now tell me..What made ME a good candidate to get an
'all free accidental partial kundalini awakening??'(if it really was that)
My karma?? whatever that was do tell me dear friends..

Kundalini awakening anybody???

My Mumbai Train Journey

Yesterday I was travelling with my kids and hubbie in the LRT..

It was quite and comfortably cool. The ambience and the faint sound of music spilling out of the ipod of the guy sitting next to me..all that took me to another world..



Wait..Wait.. please hang on..I am not taking you anyplace hogword..but somewhere very close.


Mumbai.


Few years back six to be exact, we were newlywed..Like all newlyweds My hubbie took me to many places one of which was Mumbai.


We went there for a three day trip and planned to stay at one of my relative’s house.



Well all that is irrelevant now. Let us come straight to the matter.


One morning we decided to check out the world famous Mumbai train journey (what a joke?இதான் சொந்த காசுல சூனியம் வக்கிறது)


Me, my hubbie and my relative(uncle) started off from his house and reached the nearest station. We had planned to go to the famous Ganesh temple in Mumbai.


The station was huge and dirty (saarae jaahan se achcha..) and we waited for our train. The train came..


I was very happy that day. You know? I am this unconventional idiot for many eyes. If I list out my likes and fantasies and weirdest wishes people might stare at me like(அவனா நீ?).Who is she?

Even our uncle was little worried (and felt a little weird may be)about my earnest desire to take a Mumbai train travel.

But even his denials didn’t put me off from fulfilling my desire. So we waited there in the station among the crowd. I looked at the fast approaching train thinking that it was going to give me a lifetime experience..but obviously unaware of what kind of lifetime experience it was going to be.



Anyways..the train came and it was crowded..


I mean really reeaaallly crowded.

My uncle said. “Ok get in.”


I was like “What?”


“Get in”


“How..there is hardly any space to keep my foot in there.”



“see this the ladies compartment. It will be relatively less crowded, get in there. Three stops from here. Ok..remember three stops..we will meet you there” he didn’t stop at that.

He shoved me hard into the thriving compartment and ran like a professional athlete to join my hubbie in the common compartment.



“Oh my god” I looked all around. Nah.. I was joking, there was hardly any space to turn around. Now, You must know one thing here. That was my first short train journey apart from the overnight ones where we spend the night reading novels in ac sleeper coach. It was different for me and didn’t know what to do next.

I was breathing heavily with my mouth open fro it was too crowded and suffocating.


I could smell all sorts of perfumes and body sprays and flowers and ponds talc and all of them mixed with fresh sweat. I saw women in all color and creed from all walks of life and in all age groups giggling and chatting and discussing hotly.

A woman beside me smiled at me. I smiled back.



I liked it..this was the real world.. I thought.
For some one who is used to traveling in ac car monotonously and think nothing about what’s happening outside the sun screened glass, sit like a seat belted puppet.. this was so real..and so closer to life.



I was grinning at everybody like an idiot thinking that I had befriended half of Mumbai. The train slowed down for its first stop. Now was the real deal.

I was still standing in the same place where my uncle had shoved me. I never bothered to move in.



You know where I was standing? Right at the entrance, catching hold of the pole that was right in the middle of the entrance among the few who were obviously going to get down.


The train stopped. People tried to move in and out all at the same time. I was like stranded in the middle of a stampede. And the best part was I was blocking their way- in and out.


One woman shouted from behind.


“Get the hell out.. What are you waiting for?”


“But this is not my stop”


“Then why the***** are you standing in the middle of the way you grinning idiot(oh she did note me grinning)”


“I am sorry” But she didn’t wait for my sorry. She gave a nice big slap on my back , shove me aside hardly and got down.

Yeah she opened up a new way to greet which was religiously followed by everyone who got in and out.
( அடின்னா அடி.உங்க வீட்டு அடி எங்க வீட்டு அடி இல்ல.. நாயடி பேயடி..எல்லாமே தர்ம அடி). It was like getting free back pain massage - only here the pain followed the massage and not the other way round.

The train was so full that I was not able to see an inch of opening to move anywhere in or out, every stop I would try to get down but was only able to defend myself from women pushing me this way and that way before finally slapping my back and that continued for all the three stops.



Three stops.. three times..imagine ..

What a lifetime experience I got…???



I walked out of the station hunch backed like the 'kooni' of Ramayana..but still with a smile in my face with which I greeted my hubbie who was .


I just didn’t care..I still enjoyed it.

After all… this too was a lifetime experience, now wasn’t it???
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My Zen Guru

This post was also inspired by my good son..(nothing is original?ஒரிஜினலா ஒண்ணுமே இருக்காதே?)

I was very tired after doing all the chores-
cooking, cleaning, washing and was totally worn out when I fell back on the couch. My kids are in their one month holiday period and I don’t need to elaborate on that.

I am quite hands full and on that particular morning I was really exhausted and
depressed.

As I sat down my son came near me and hugged from behind me.


“Mummy..mummy can I ask you something?”


“what?”


“you should answer correctly, if you don’t then you have to take me down to play”


“yeah..nice try kid. Now what was that you wanted to ask?”


“what is
the difference between this couch and that couch..?”

“what?”


“come on..tell me”


“what difference? I don't see any.They are alike”


“Nope”


“Oh come on..I don’t have time for this niranjan”


“Plesae mummy.”


“ok..mm. oh yeah..this is a two seated and that is three seated couch right?”I gave him a
winning smile, he pouted his mouth.“nope”.

Now I sharpened my eyes and looked all around..”ok..that one is a little dirty because of you jumping on it all the time(
yeah I never miss an opportunity)”

“No mummy..you are so dumb”


“what? Me?..ok..Mr. clever. You tell me what is the difference.?”


“simple..You are sittingon this couch and no one is sitting on that couch” he laughed and ran away..


"What the… " I felt like I was slapped hard. So blinded was I with my 'i know all' attitude that I missed to see such a simple thing.


Then it dawned on me.. How many instances and incidents would it take to make me realize what we are doing wrong? How positive and lateral are these kids? And why do we lose all that beautiful capabilities once we grow up?


I doubt whether my son will be the same when he himself is grown up.


We are wasting a lot of time in
learning stuff and understanding complicated things in the process of making our lives more ‘enlightened’ and we totally miss the point of being ourselves. When the answer is staring right at us we tend to take the ring road, bypass road and all other routes to get to it.

But kids?? They are so used to thinking the right way- the more simple way, sometimes I think he better keeps his mouth shut.


One embarrassing day in a
theme park my son was impressing a group of foreigners with his spiritual intellect (well I have taught him some stuff which is considered quite weird as per my mom’s view).

They were amazed at his knowledge(?)and one guy asked him “dear boy where are you from?”


My son promptly replied ”from my mom’s big fat tummy”.


There is this zen quality to the minds of a child which is slowly poisoned out to become one like ours(dumb -like my son says, dump- as I say) as years of education is pushed into it. What could we possibly do to recover it back?


I have found out a simple way. follow the guru.


Yep. It’s amazing at times how a kid can think stuff like these. These days when I am very depressed or confused I turn to my zen guru and ask his advice. He gives out advices like manirathnam’s characters in monosyllable..


But mostly it will be like the pranava mantra for me. He will hit the nail right on spot.


Tell me honestly what would be your answer if I ask you


“Why are you born in this world?”


I once asked this to myself and started to write down the possible answers as a bulleted list in a piece of paper.


·
I am born to do something big
· I am born to make people happy through my writing
· I am born to make people happy
· I am born to make a difference in this world..

My son came running to me and asked “what are you writing mummy.?”


“I am trying to answer a very difficult question my dear.”


“can I know it?”


“Well why not? Why do you think you are born in this world?” I asked him with an
expression of a yogic guru while on his important class.

My son answered in a split second


”to live..”


and then smiled at me asking ”and this was a difficult question to you? silly mummy..”


“………………”
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Avatar Ram - A hero or villain(a kid's point of view)

Ramayana - a great epic.

Such is its multi dimensional (meaningful) quality for each mind that reads it; it gives out a unique meaning and understanding. No wonder it is an epic. Well epic or not, this is how it was interpreted by a five year old.

I have a son. He is a..what shall I say..ah..Aristotle? (yeah..I know Aristotle is going to come in my dreams tonight with a whip in his hand. )

Anyways.. My son and his little mind works so wonderfully, that he will make me blink like an A class idiot more than once in a day.

This incident happened a few nights ago, when it was my turn for storytelling. Usually their father (my super husband) will read them stories from the books (so easy haan?).

He is so professional even in that, every day morning he used to ask my kids to use some of the words they learned the previous night.
Well I am a little unprofessional, I rely on our pancha thanthra stories, tenali rama and sometimes pull out stories from my own creativity. This particular night started off differently. As soon as we settled down on the bed my son told me.

Son: “Mom. Today you have tell me a story about someone I saw in the shop”

I: “What? Who was that?”

Son: “He is an avatar. And I think he is quiet rich.” Well you guessed me right. I couldn’t make head or tail out of it.

I: " you saw an avatar?"

Son: "Yes in a photo"

I: Slightly clarified and was still thrilled to know that my young boy had knowledge to identify god's avatars. So I asked him sweetly .
“What avatar my dear?”

Son: “The one with that..what weapon is that? Like a..(he tried to draw it with his little finger in the air above)


I: “Oh you mean bow and arrow? Oh…ok…you mean Rama?”


Son: “I don’t know” he shrugged.


I: “Did he have hanuman beside him? “(My son is a diehard fan of hanuman next only to ben 10 and Indiana jones)


Son:“yes …yes mummy..”


I: “Right ! then it definitely is rama. You want to know his story?” I was a little hesitant at first because I didn’t want to put one wrong word about such a beautiful epic and that to on the young minds then consoled myself that for a six year old, my knowledge of Ramayana was enough.


I: “Actually my loves, it is a very good story.A story with lots of action happening in palaces where there were lots of princesses and queens.” That was enough for my son and his little sister who loves everything in pink especially castles.

And I started to tell the story.


I started off with King dasarath and his beautiful country.


Son:”Stop..stop. So this Ayodhya is in Pandora?”


I:”What Pandora?”


Son: “What mummy. Avatars live only in pandora. It is their planet remember?. You told me that day” .I hit my head in the nearby wall


I: “My dear son. That avtar is different. You confused because of his blue color,i suppose. This avtar is..ah.Lord vishnu’s avatar. ”


Son:”who is Lord Vishnu?”


I: “He is..ah..I will tell you that story some other day. It is bigger than Ramayana. So just remember Rama was none other than Vishnu. Do you remember us going to thirumala?"


Son:” Yes..Yes..”


I: “ah..it’s him ok?” he was a bit convinced. Then the story went on as I told him about the curse dhasarath got, by mistakenly killing the young boy for a deer.


Son: “Why couldn’t he see the boy, when he was that close? Did he have eye power problem like you?” first I thought of telling him that his karma screened his eyes. Then just pushed that thought aside knowing very well what my son will say for karma.(“ what kurma? vegetable or chicken?")so..


I: “yes dear…seems like he didn’t take his vegetables like you when he was young”.We crossed the stage where kaikaeyi asked her wishes from dhasarath, where my son totally “yewed” on kaikeyi as well as dhasarathan.


It was time for Ram to go to the forest along with his wife.I was telling him that Ravana sent a magical golden deer to distract seetha.


Son: “Golden deer? Was that a robot deer then?”


I: (hmm nice imagination) “Yes dear. Ravana was very clever.He could have made a robot deer. His father in law was a scientist and astronomer like newton and Galileo. He taught Ravana so much that Ravana became very clever.So clever as ten brains put together. That is why people describe him as ten headed Ravana.”


Son:”Then if he had ten heads why didn’t his teacher Mayan have ten heads?”


I:(Dead locked..சிக்கிட்டியேடி சின்னக்கிளி)”Ravana was not only clever but also had the power given by Lord shiva so he was much powerful and prouder than mayan. It was his pride that took ten heads. That’s why even today if some one is so proud we call them head weight. His head is so heavy with proud. Do you understand?”

Son:”Sort of..”


I:(அப்பாடி...Just miss.. )

we reached the point where Ravana kidnapped Seetha. I was dreading all along what this little devil was going to ask me, he asked me just the same.


Son: “Why did Ravana kidnap seetha?”


I don’t know about others, but I for one like Ravana very much. So I took the alternative safer route by saying


I: “Seetha was actually Ravana’s daughter . He lost her when she was a baby.That’s why dear”(I don’t know whether it was the correct thing in valmiki Ramayana but it was better than telling him that Ravana took her to make her his wife). As the story gained momentum, My son was getting quite impressed with Ravana.



Heaving a sigh of relief I continued on.



Hanuman flew over to srilanka and found where seetha was kept. Seetha gave him back her jewel(this is where my daughter was very happy).


While Ram was making arrangements to cross over sethu by making a bridge Lakshman got poisoned and I explained shortly how my son’s favorite Hanuman brought the sanjeevi hills itself to Rameshwaram.


Son: “After taking the medicine, where did hanuman put the sanjeevi hills?”

I: (What a lateral thinking? எப்டியெல்லாம் யோசிக்குதுக பயபுள்ளைக?)” He went and replaced it in its original place dear. But people say that he did drop a small piece of it near kerala which is called now as "marunthu vazhum malai".


Then we were almost near climax.

Now, Ram and Ravana were fighting ferociously using missiles and nuclear weapons and what not. He was totally awed better than on an ‘indi’ movie.


Then dramatically I finished the great story with the happy line that


“At last Rama killed Ravana and then Rama and seetha lived happily ever after “


(I skipped lava kusha part).


My son was lying quietly on his bed looking up at the ceiling his brows creased (ohoh..aristotle in his work).


I was confused. Normally he is used to asking so many questions, that I was unable to understand his silence.



I:“What’s it dear? You didn’t like the story?”


Son:“No mummy. “


I:“Then what?”


Son: “I thought Rama was the hero. I didn’t think he was the villain”. I was totally shocked and choked at the gulp of water I just drank.


I: “what?”


Son: “Yeah.. Ravana was such a nice guy, right?.I mean he took care of his people, he was very pious on shiva. And he just wanted to have his own daughter back right? Like what daddy would do if paapaa(my daughter) was taken away. He was totally right. Then Why did Rama go and fight with him and kill him? I Thought at last they will both become friends and help people together. You said Only bad guys hurt good guys. So that makes Rama a bad guy right? Tell me amma Is Rama a hero or villain?”


I: “……………..”
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My Zen Guru

 This post was also inspired by my good son..(nothing is original?ஒரிஜினலா ஒண்ணுமே இருக்காதே?)

I was very tired after doing all the chores-
cooking, cleaning, washing and was totally worn out when I fell back on the couch. My kids are in their one month holiday period and I don’t need to elaborate on that.

I am quite hands full and on that particular morning I was really exhausted and depressed.


As I sat down my son came near me and hugged from behind me.


“Mummy..mummy can I ask you something?”


“what?”


“you should answer correctly, if you don’t then you have to take me down to play”


“yeah..nice try kid. Now what was that you wanted to ask?”



“what is the difference between this couch and that couch..?”



“what?”



“come on..tell me”



“what difference? I don't see any.They are alike”



“Nope”



“Oh come on..I don’t have time for this niranjan”



“Plesae mummy.”



“ok..mm. oh yeah..this is a two seated and that is three seated couch right?”I gave him a winning smile, he pouted his mouth.“nope”.



Now I sharpened my eyes and looked all around..”ok..that one is a little dirty because of you jumping on it all the time(
yeah I never miss an opportunity)”


“No mummy..you are so dumb”



“what? Me?..ok..Mr. clever. You tell me what is the difference.?”



“simple..You are sittingon this couch and no one is sitting on that couch” he laughed and ran away..



"What the… " I felt like I was slapped hard. So blinded was I with my 'i know all' attitude that I missed to see such a simple thing.



Then it dawned on me.. How many instances and incidents would it take to make me realize what we are doing wrong? How positive and lateral are these kids? And why do we lose all that beautiful capabilities once we grow up?



I doubt whether my son will be the same when he himself is grown up.



We are wasting a lot of time in learning stuff and understanding complicated things in the process of making our lives more ‘enlightened’ and we totally miss the point of being ourselves. When the answer is staring
right at us we tend to take the ring road, bypass road and all other routes to get to it.


But kids?? They are so used to thinking the right way- the more simple way, sometimes I think he better keeps his mouth shut.



One embarrassing day in a theme
park my son was impressing a group of foreigners with his spiritual intellect (well I have taught him some stuff which is considered quite weird as per my mom’s view).


They were amazed at his knowledge(?)and one guy asked him “dear boy where are you from?”



My son promptly replied ”from my mom’s
big fat tummy”.




There is this zen quality to the minds of a child which is slowly poisoned out to become one like ours(dumb -like my son says, dump- as I say) as years of education is pushed into it. What could we possibly do to recover it back?




I have found out a simple way. follow the guru.



Yep. It’s amazing at times how a kid can think stuff like these. These days when I am very depressed or confused I turn to my zen guru and ask his advice. He gives out advices like manirathnam’s characters in monosyllable..



But mostly it will be like the pranava mantra for me. He will hit the
nail right on spot.


Tell me honestly what would be your answer if I ask you



“Why are you born in this world?”



I once asked this to myself and started to write down the possible answers as a bulleted list in a piece of paper.



· I am born to do something big

· I am born to make people happy through my writing
· I am born to make people happy
· I am born to make a difference in this world..


My son came running to me and asked “what are you writing mummy.?”



“I am trying to answer a very difficult question my dear.”



“can I know it?”



“Well why not? Why do you think you are born in this world?” I asked him with an expression of a yogic guru while on his important
class.


My son answered in a split second




”to live..”



and then smiled at me asking ”and this was a difficult question to you? silly mummy..”



“………………”
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New Year Resolution – BE GO(O)D

The God Feeling


I constantly tell my son that he is god (that was not a spelling mistake it is GOD).


I tell him that he is a very good God and he is yet to know it.(I know I am creating a huge controversial thought here, but hey I already told you I am a weird idiot)

One day he came running to me and asked “Mom..my god is getting very angry..”

“Why dear?”

“I don’t know. But tell me ..Gods are not supposed to get angry..Why Am I getting angry? Does that mean I am not God?”

“Yes and No dear..It means that you and I and all others for that matter hadn’t just found the God in them”

“Where is God hiding in me Mom?”

“God is somewhere inside you. God is hiding inside you. God is locked deep inside. It is so deep that only darkness you see.”

“So how do we find him mummy. Do we need a torch?”

“Yes dear. We certainly need a torch. The torch is nothing but your belief. All you have to do is take the torch and go find the locks.”

“How many locks are there mother?”

“Oh.. There are infinite numbers of locks my dear. So many that you can lose years just by counting them.”

“Then how am I supposed to unlock all of them? Where is the key?”

“That is very simple my dear. Every good deed you do will unlock one door. So for each good deed you are going a step forward towards finding your god.

Once you have unlocked all the doors, the god will come out of his hide and you will become totally god.”

“m. So how many good deeds do I have to do to go near god?”

“It might take many many deeds..But I tell you what. You stop counting the good deeds like you count how many pages are there yet to read in your book. Instead involve yourself in the good deed you are doing so that in no time you will open the last door.”

“Ok…”he seemed to be convinced a little. Suddenly he asked me “Mom have ever seen your god, just once at least..not going close but just a look, a peep?”

I smiled at him instantly and said, ”Yes my dear. I did have the luck to have a glimpse of my God..”

“cool.. how was ...?”

“ding dong..”My son might be a great listener but he still was a kid. He ran out to welcome his friend who had come over to play.

In an instant he had changed from God mode to Ben10 mode and ran off as heat blast..

But I was sitting quietly, still the thought lingering in my mind. So here I am to put it in words for all my friends..The day I glimpsed my god..

My father is a philanthropist. He is loved by many for his generosity. He has two addictions.


1.Addiction for fame.
2. Addiction for giving.

I was always scared of addiction number 1. Though it is tempting and is supposed to be the worst addiction in the whole world, it has a very dangerous side effect - pride.

I am very cautious on that ground and so I try to put myself as much out of it as possible.(But I do have some weak points right?)

The next addiction is something I had always wondered about.


I wanted to know what really my father saw in giving. I first used to assume that the addiction of giving is closely related to addiction of fame. But then I realized it was not so.

SO what was it? I found a good opportunity one day and found it out myself.


It was a few years ago, a year before my marriage I suppose. My dad was making arrangements for going to an ashram for the pongal festival. I told him that I wanted to come with him. He was happy to take me along.

We reached this peaceful and dry looking village few kilometers off palani .We entered into the ‘vallalar ashram’.(My dad has a soft corner for vallalar ashrams since he himself was raised for few years in once such ashram).

So as we entered I understood that my dad had done some big arrangements there (as usual for him).


It was my birthday and I had wanted to spend it with the ashram children. That was great news for the ashram keeper who was an aging old man.


He had seen many who just give away but I was the first who had actually brought a cake to cut with the kids there.

They had arranged a stage with chairs and mike..(ah I just hate them).


I tried to hide myself behind the huge form of my dad. The keeper started off by thanking one and all and weirdly he addressed everyone as”தெய்வமே”(GOD). It was funny for me that he would call us God.

When I asked him why he was calling everyone as GOD he said, “you will know it soon dear God”


So everyone was getting ready to talk and talk in the mike. ‘yawn..’


I hate all that stupid speeches about we did this..we did that( my dad is a prominent member of this international social organization)...


But it was the keeper’s talk that pulled me to the world.



He made me realize how important our arrival was for them. I peeped out and only then felt thankful for sitting in the dais. I could see all the little faces beaming in happiness.


My heart was thumbing hard. I wanted to do something for them. I as me..The donation is going to be done by my dad who had announced that he was going to donate three sacks of rice, dal and notebooks for kids every year at this date(my birthday).



There was such applause. But I was yearning for more brightness in those little faces.

I could think of just one thing. I searched around and found a piece of old paper and borrowed a pen from someone near.


I started to scribble down seriously.

The speeches were all over and it was time to conclude the function. I slowly rose from my position and asked the keeper to permit me to speak something.


He was so happy.

He announced in the mike that “Now the special God is going speak to you”

There was pin drop silence in the hall. It was the first time for me to be in front of the mike in public meeting (apart from those school events and competitions).I was shivering but managed to read what I had scribbled down.


I had written a poem..A 10-12 line poem in tamil. I don’t remember it now and nor do I have the copy with me for the keeper took it as a remembrance.

I had written about my point of view, from where I could see the little faces beaming like the lilly buds but these were divine for they were shining a divine light.



I had gone on and on about my happiness on being there and my luck and I finally concluded that we were not the ones who is giving anything away to them there, but it was them who had given us a chance to look at God and to feel the closeness to god.


I thanked them for giving us the great gift of God’s love.


It was the moment that followed that really showed me God.


A standing ovation. All the kids stood up and clapped their hands so feverishly.


What is in it you ask, I know. Well there was nothing in that until I saw their faces.

They were crying..


They were smiling and crying all the same..There was so much of happiness in their innocent faces that made me want to cry...That was when I felt it..

A clean and very pure sensation of happiness. Something I have never ever felt in my entire life.


It was too blissful that I couldn’t control myself from crying. I too was smiling and crying..For I saw the god in them in their smiles and I felt heavenly..I was so happy..too happy to speak any more.
What happened after that was like a mirage to me.



They whisked me off from the place and took me to their dormitory where I cut the cake and fed them. They showed me all their stuff. They shared their stories.


They gave me some half eaten candies which they wanted to share with me so badly.

They showed their best dresses and notebooks with ‘very good’ signature from their teachers.

They showed me some certificates and this and that…

They showed me their little beautiful world.


That was a day I would never ever forget in my entire life.

You might think I am exaggerating here, but I just am telling What I feel honestly.

Symptoms of the God feeling

1: Feeling of bliss – the moment I saw the tears of joy in the little faces. I got that..Some feeling that cannot be just explained in human terms.
2: Overflowing happiness –The whole day I was grinning like an idiot, while my heart was like it was going to be ripped off just by being so happy.

3: No appetite – The whole day (at least until I was there) I was not hungry at all. I didn’t even drink water but yet felt so full of energy. Energy that was getting higher and higher.

4: The descent- all that feelings faded slowly as I left the place.

This was how I got a glimpse of God for which I am heavily indebted to those kids.
I know now many of you will say that the God feeling is all just BS and this is just the happiness of giving..

That is it..

The happiness of giving..

The happiness of helping.

That is what is God..

We all agree in one way or other that Love is God..
(கலியில்)
அன்பே சிவம்..
So I just enjoy it literally and I see no harm in giving the same to my son.
After my marriage I tried to do the same for my birthday and my hubbie’s and my kids’ but were duly disappointed by the keepers in chennai who just took the money and fruits and just didn’t let us meet the kids.

Since then I hadn’t got a chance to show my son the addiction of giving.

This New Year is a promise for me. I am going to take him to an ashram for his birthday.
And let him have a glimpse of his own god..a taste of divinity so that he will start doing more good deeds and help people in years to come.

This is my new year resolution..
To be GO(O)D..and to make my son see GO(O)D..

How about you????
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