Everything under the sun!

Clarity or rather the lack of it!

2010-06-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

It was almost a month ago when I got a call from my aunt when she informed about the "assassination attempt" on Guruji. I was of course flabbergasted and started to theorize on which militant outfit must have the motive to commit such a heinous crime. I then relied on the media to actually give me the facts(we all make mistakes!).
To summarize the whole incident, there was a gunshot that was fired when Guruji was walking towards the car, the bullet grazed the thigh of a devotee who was standing nearby and nobody could locate the miscreant. Guruji was ushered into the car and he proceeded very unperturbed to give his discourse on Ashtavakra where he mentioned the event with no more seriousness than "an ant bit me" kind of casualness.
Now,if there is a gunshot heard or felt anywhere near a high profile personality, would somebody think that it was being fired at a stray and continue with their life? They would probably have created such an uproar that their fans or supporting organizations would have created further violence and tension than help in resolving matters. On the other hand, the AOL organization just made a formal complaint with the cops and asked them to investigate. On investigation it was found that a neighboring farmer had shot at stray dogs (I mean how irresponsible!did someone even check his license? or take him into questioning on shooting recklessly?! I do not know the answers to those questions)

The all pervading home minister of course had the ready answer that Guruji was not the target! That may have been the case, but had they carried an investigation before the statement?! NO! What kind of a Judiciary is that which passes sentences without research or investigation?! Anyways, politicians and their MOs are a whole different topic by itself and this is not that!

Now coming back to the media, they twisted up the incident in so many ways in such short period that a contortionist would have been left spell bound! I guess its too rhetorical to even ask this question but what happened to the good old honest journalism. Have people forgotten the power of a pen?! This one particular page 3 journalist went on to call guruji names and how attention was sought! And then goes on to say that its her blog and hence has the choice to say or write whatever she wants to (well if its so personal, then restrict access and just read it yourself!). You know, that people read and take your opinion and unfortunately not everybody can think for themselves so you are bound to influence them! Anyways, I also got to see the interview this person had conducted with Guruji and Bhanu didi a few months ago and every word she uttered was filled with cynicism. It seemed like she had already decided that she would put this one adorable person on a mortal's platform. Anyways, Guruji responded with his usual charm and eloquence and nothing she said or asked could alter his response or extract the sensation or scandal that she seemed to want from him! This same person even attended a satsang with guruji in a mumbai socialite's house and couldn't stop singing the praise on the bliss she had experienced! It was just sad to see such a celebrated journalist being hypocritical and writing up gibberish on a person who is so dear to millions of people.

Hows that for clarification?! :)

miracle!

2009-05-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

If you know me really well then you would definitely know that I could never string more than a line that made sense for poems but today as blessing guruji inspired me during kriya to come up with this lovely godawesome poem which am proudly posting on this blog..here it goes.

p.s. for the first time ever I am claiming rights to this poem and if you need to copy any of it please take permission from me or guruji!thank you!

Ode to Guruji:

You came into my life like an ocean breeze,
that took my burdens away and put me at ease.

You are the rain drops from above,
that has drenched my soul with unconditional love.

You filled my heart with fire of action,
to love and spread joy and compassion.

You are the boulder that has given me strength,
to scale the skies and achieve any length.

You are the space that I long to be in,
for you are my nature and my skin.

Oh Guruji! This is a tiny ode to all that you have shown,
and for all the joy you have brought me that I would have otherwise never known!

TZ

truth and feelings!

2009-03-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

No this is not a philosophical post (hmm..come to think of it, it may be one!)..A conversation with my super hero (read sis-"TJ") kicked some spunk into my mind and drove away all the blues!ya she is sooper that way! So here is what happened-
I Called home feeling all down with post birthday blues..pondering about how my life had stagnated and nothing new or exciting seemed to be on the horizon for me at that point, so TJ picks up the phone and we start to chat in general when I tell her about how I was feeling.
Me: I am so pathetic, so stagnated..blah blah blah
TJ: Don't worry honey I go through the same feelings all the time, you will be fine. You are going to graduate, get a new job,get married start a new phase in life!so, it is just the beginning for you.
Me: awww..thank u chinna, but tell me why do "you" feel low? you are doing great in your career, in your guru seva, taking care of our family, look smashing! You have so many things that are going on your life too!so why do you have to feel "stagnant"???
TJ: it is not about what is, it is about what you feel!!!

Wow!that surely shut me up;I guess all of us are achievers in our own ways, have contributed at least a little to the world and have the potential to top anything that we want and believe in, if only we could see and feel this truth all the time we wouldn't feel depressed or blue, but hey since we can't or don't, God sent in super heroes like TJ to our rescue!:-)
love u sweetiepie!mmuahh

feeling blue..

2009-01-25T15:35:00.000-08:00

I am doing my sadhana..of course had given up on it for 2 months which I cant repent enough for!And boy what a difference..I now understand the importance of regular sadhana..Guess I should look at it as a lesson learned..WILL NEVER EVER AGAIN DO THIS MISTAKE!NEVER! should thank guruji for not giving up on me I guess..Am sucha lazy procrastinating ass!Wonder what i was in my previous birth???!!A tree maybe..who didn't move..but guess the tree is more useful to mankind than I am right now!Talk about feeling low huh??I dont know what it is that makes me depressed..Because "K" found someone he could replace me with or because I haven't found someone to replace him with..I actually don't want anyone to take his place..I just want somebody who I can share my life, my values, my love with..sigh! wen I will meet that person I do not know..but for sure it wil be somebody who guruji chooses!yup!that is for sure..somebody who is easy to get along and who values the same things in life as I do..I LOVE GURUJI! he is the most most awesome person ever and I truly madly deeply wish I get to at least spread the joy and knowledge that he has blessed me with by his presence in my life. I am so blessed to have a family that value similar things in life and we all must have earned some pretty good karma to have guruji in our life this birth!Job,marriage, loans, money, health..huh..when one thinks of everything it is so overwhelming..but the lesson to be learnt is to take one thing at a time and work and give 100% from your side to each and everything that u undertake..Right now I wish there was a "someone special" to share my feelings with..but I guess I need to rely on myself more and seek internal solace and support rather than searching for it outside of me!I only pray that I be blessed with courage, patience, diligence and perseverance by guruji to stay steady on the path taken!JGD!

God's name??

2009-01-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

I spent a blissful 20 day break with my uncle's family and my lil cousin 'S'(all of six) is as bright as they ever come! She kept me entertained through my stay and there is this one particular incident that I like to jot down which was uproariously hilarious. 'S' finds it difficult to remember the innumerous names of her innumerous relatives in India and just to keep her memory refreshed my aunt indulges in Q &A sessions about the names of different relatives now and then. So this is what happened during one such session!
Scene:The family is at the dining table gobbling down the yummy delicacies made by my aunt'V'.
V to S: Do you remember my brother's name?
S:Hmmm...Rama?
V:No!
S: Krishna?!!
V:No!
S: Ramayana??!!
at this juncture all of us are in splits!
S: What is it??I know it has to be a god's name..everybody in India is named after a god!!!
thats a six year old's perception for you!lol!

I thought I was ready!

2008-12-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Well..I registered on a matrimonial site after much goading from my family.After my breakup with M(for moron!) I thought I was so ready and had gotten over him..but apparently I am stuck in the same revolving door and I keep coming back to the same point!warning signs flashing b'coz M is married now!ya got married to a total stranger few days ago..gave into his parents demands in the end and trampled all over my heart like a bulldozer!The worst part is I know he still loves me(duh!)he told me the day he was leaving the country forever(duh again!).
This situation reminds me of the lyric of the song"save the best for last" by Vanessa Williams where she says " how could you give your love to someone else and share your dreams with me"how can he?? I have no answer! Guess its my own fault for having built all these dreams in my head imagining me and him being together!ya my fault for loving and giving my 100%!The very idea of spending my life with somebody else bothers me to the point of cringing and I wonder how long it will be before I accept the situation at hand and move on!well my inner thoughts are screaming in answer"the sooner the better"!sigh..

The best thing on earthSudarshan Kriya!

2008-09-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Here are facts that everyone ought to know about Sudarshan Kriya and why it is absolutely the best thing that has happened to mankind! These facts I have got from

http://gurukripa.wordpress.com/interesting-facts-about-the-art-of-living-course/
and have reproduce it verbatim: so welcome to knowledge!

“Breathing is the first act of life. Within breathing is the secret of life,”

Interesting facts about the Art of Living course:
• AOL is part of the training for NASA astronauts.
• It is part of the training for Miss India contestants.
. Teachers in a school in Basel, Switzerland get paid vacation to do AOL course.
• Sudarshan Kriya has been acknowledged by All India Institute of Medical Sciences based on its medical research

Medical findings about the Sudarshan Kriya:
A world conference on science, consciousness and spirituality held in New Delhi noted the key findings of research conducted on the Sudarshan Kriya . Below is a simplified synopsis:

1. Less depression, more elation
Dr Richard Brown from the USA has postulated that Kriya contributes to a state of alert calmness through its effect on the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is crucial in social bonding, empathy and love; it is the centre of our gut instincts and is crucial to our ability to perceive, observe and make complex decisions. Impaired vagal activity is found in people with depression, anxiety, panic disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, violent adults, post traumatic stress disorder, early Alzheimer’s and obesity.

2. Sleep like a baby

`Stephen Porges suggested that the different rhythms of breath in Kriya stimulates different fibers of the vagus nerve. This makes SKY unique and likely to have a much wider range of effects. Interestingly, brain wave rhythms during and after Kriya are similar to those of babies.

3. Think Positive
Dr Fahri Saatcioglu from Oslo did a 6-week study on the effect of Kriya on the relaxation response and feeling of wellness on 109 subjects. 56 of them went through the Art of Living course and performed Kriya daily for 6 weeks. The other 53 relaxed in an armchair for 15 minutes daily for the same period. 6 weeks later, a significant increase in the experience of wellness in the Kriya group was noted as compared to the ‘armchair’ group. There was a sharp decrease in anxiety, depression and stress and a marked increase in optimistic thinking in the Kriya group.

4. Live longer
Dr Neeta Singh from New Delhi studied the effects of Kriya on the genes that affect stress related pathways of the human body. She found an increase in vital antioxidant enzymes that are responsible for a longer life span and better protection against cancer.

5. Healthy heart, skin and blood pressure
Dr Stephen Larsen from the USA studied neurophysiological responses before, during and after Kriya. The tests run were EEG (recorded at 19 cortical sites), EKG, heart rate variability, galvanic skin response, hand skin temperature, pulse plethysmography and blood pressure. He found that Kriya practices produced significant changes in ALL physiological measures. It appears that over a period of time, the practitioner’s health becomes more robust, flexible and able to deal with the challenges of stress. This explains why regular practice of Kriya is very important.

6. Decreased work-related stress
Dr Vedamurthachar from Bangalore studied the effect of the AOL Course on occupational stress and anxiety among 60 software engineers. At the end of a month, the 30 engineers who took the AOL course showed a sharp reduction in anxiety and improvement in stress coping skills as compared with the 30 controls.

7. SKY and vegetarian meals for good health
E G Lyulyakina from Russia studied the oral micro flora of SKY practitioners. She found that the number of microorganisms in lacto vegetarians were 2-3 times less than that in ‘non strict’ vegetarians. She concluded that practice of Kriya and a vegetarian diet reduces the microbial content of the mouth.

8. Fight Cholesterol
Dr Chiplonkar from Pune studied the lifestyle, behavioral and health aspects of 105 adults before and after undergoing the part I Art of Living Course. She found that majority of micronutrients showed a positive correlation with sattvic foods. After the practice of Kriya for 2 months, she found a significant reduction in anxiety, sharp increase in antioxidant capacity, reduction in triglycerides and a marginal reduction in oxidative stress.

9. Beneficial for cancer patients
Arielle Warner in USA studied the psycho spiritual benefits of Kriya were studied in women diagnosed with breast cancer. The subjects were evaluated 2 weeks before the Art of Living Course, 8 days after the Course and after 5 weeks of regular practice. A significant improvement in quality of life, spiritual well being, positive states of mind and perceived stress was observed after the AOL course and was maintained 5 weeks later.

10. SKY rules over other similar yoga tools
Dr Janis Carter from Australia compared the effects of different modalities like Iyengar and Desikachar yoga, Qi Gong, Sudarshan Kriya Yoga and a multicomponent yoga intervention (MCYI) in treating Australian Vietnam war veterans with long standing Post traumatic Stress disorder. She found that the interventions that used many tools of yoga viz. Sudarshan Kriya and MCYI showed the greatest efficacy.

11. Psychoanalytical healing
Dr Patricia Gerberg from USA discussed the effects of doing the Art of Living Kriya program in a patient undergoing psychoanalysis since a long time. She found Kriya useful in healing negative past impressions and the `dissociation’ that rendered the patient unable to connect with others and with his own feelings

More on the research papers : http://www.aolresearch.org/pubresearch.html

101 reasons to go veggie!!

2008-09-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

This following post is inspired and ripped off from my teachers bawa and dinesh's blog who in turn got it from the site: http://www.flex.com/~jai/articles/101.html

So Here are 101 more reasons to go green…

PEOPLE

Every year in the UK we feed our livestock enough food to feed 250,000,000 people while in the world 30,000,000 people die of starvation
20 vegetarians can live off the land required by one meat eater
Every 3 seconds a child dies of starvation somewhere in the world
If Americans reduced their meat consumption by 10% it would free 12,000,000 tons of grain - enough to feed 60,000,000 people (the population of Great Britain)
If all Americans became vegetarian, it would free enough grain to feed 600,000,000 people (the population of India)
Intensification in animal farming has displaced 1,000,000’s of people from their traditional lands - eg. indigenous people in south & central america, native americans in north america & crofters in Great Britain - this is continuing today
People displaced from their lands into cities succumb to dietary deficiency, diseases, parasites & opportunistic diseases
In third world countries 1 in 10 babies die before their first birthday
The UK imports ?46,000,000 worth of grain from third world countries to feed our livestock
Due to overgrazing 850,000,000 people live on land threatened by desertification & over 230,000,000 already live on land so severely desertified that they are unable to sustain their existence & face imminent starvation
1,000,000,000 people in the west gorging on meat & dairy leave 1,000,000,000 to waste away & 3,500,000,000 teeter on the brink

LAND
If they continue to clear American forests to raise cattle at the present rate, in 50 years there will be none left
1 acre yields 165 lbs of beef or 20,000 lbs of potatoes
8/10 of cultivated land in the UK is used to grow food for animals (14,732,000 hectares)
It takes 16lbs of high protein soya to produce 1 lb of beef
Since 1945 in the UK we have lost 95% of flower meadows, 50% of ancient woodlands, 40% of heathlands, 50% of wet lands & 224,000 km of hedgerows all due to animal farming
Pressure on land due to meat farming leads to soil erosion 6billion tons/year in the USA
If everyone went vegetarian upto 90% of land used for animal farming could be taken out of production & used to replant woodlands, leisure activities etc.
25% of Central america’s forests have been destroyed for cattle grazing since 1960
Between 1966-1983 38% of the Amazon rain forest was destroyed for cattle grazing
90% of cattle ranches established on cleared forest land go bankrupt in less than 8 years as the land becomes barren due to nutrient loss & overgrazing
Overgrazing by cattle is destroying the land & increasing desertification, nearly 430 million acres in the USA alone has suffered a 25-50% reduction in yield since first grazed
An inch of topsoil takes 200-1000 years to develop - yet in the USA they have lost around 1/3 of their prime topsoil in 200 years (around 7 inches) due to animal farming
Land will be lost due to rises in sea level due to global warming due to animal farming

AIR
The destruction of the rainforest by cattle farmers is destroying the lungs of the planet & reducing the worlds capacity to replenish our oxygen supply
The 1,300,000,000 cattle in the world emit 60,000,000 tons of methane per year (methane is a greenhouse gas & leads to global warming)
Burning of forests, grasslands & agricultural waste associated with animal farming releases 50-100,000,000 tons of methane per year
Combining these figures, 25% of methane emissions are due to animal farming (not including the billions of sheep, pigs & poultry so the real figure is much higher)
Fertilizer used to grow crops to feed to animals releases nitrous oxide - thought to account for 6% of the greenhouse effect
Fertilizer, weedkiller & pesticides sprayed on crops enter the atmosphere creating a noxious carcinogenic cocktail
CFCs are released into the air from refrigeration units used to store decomposing flesh (meat), milk & butter - CFCs are destroy the ozone layer
Ammonia from animal urine also pollutes the atmosphere
CO2 is released by burning oil & petrol in lorries, ships, abattoirs, dairies, factories etc. associated with meat & dairy production
Emissions from large chemical plants which produce fertilizer, weedkiller & other agricultural chemicals are also poisoning our air

WATER
25 gallons of water to produce 1lb of wheat & 2500 gallons to produce 1lb of meat
UK farm animals produce 200,000,000 tonnes of slurry (liquid excrement) every year, the majority of which ends up in our rivers
Bloody waste water from abattoirs ends up in our rivers
In the USA every second humans produce 12,000 lbs of effluent while farmed animals produce 250,000 lbs
Nitrates & pesticides used on crops grown to feed livestock end up in our rivers
Meat & dairy farming uses 70 litres of water per day per animal in the UK or 159,250,000,000 litres per year in total
The water used to produce 10 lbs of steak is equivalent to the average consumption of water for an entire household for an entire year
Depletion of groundwater reserves to grow crops for animals & to supply abattoirs will lead to greater water shortages
Aquafers (stores of underground water) in the San Joaquin valley in the USA are being drained at the rate of 500,000,000,000 gallons/year to produce meat
18% of all agricultural land in the world is irrigated & as global warming increases (partly due to animal farming) it will cost $200,000,000 to keep these systems going
The water used to produce a 1000 lb beef steer is enough to float a Destroyer battleship
The liquid waste from the various parts of the meat & dairy industry flow into the rivers & from there into the seas polluting them & encouraging huge algal blooms to grow

EFFICIENCY
To produce 1calorie of energy from meat takes 60 calories of petrol, whereas growing grains & legumes to directly feed people produces 20 calories for each calorie of fuel used ( thats 1200 times more efficient)
Meat & dairy farming uses billions of gallons of oil to run tractors, fuel ships & lorries (to move animal feed & animals), pump billions of gallons of water to irrigate fields & run slaughterhouses, power refrigeration units to prevent the corpses from decomposing & to power sewage plants to clean up some of the pollution produced
Cattle convert only 6% of their energy intake (mainly grains & soya) into flesh, the remaining 94% is wasted as heat, movement (which is why they keep many animals in very close confinement), hair, bones, faeces etc
1lb of beef takes 1 gallon of petrol to produce
A family of four eating beef for a year uses enough petrol to run a car for 6 months (obviously depending on how far you drive!)
If the full ecological cost of meat was passed onto the consumer - the price would be quadrupled (at least)
The EC spends ?100,000,000’s to subsidise animal production resulting in lakes of unwanted milk & mountains of unwanted meat & butter. This money could be better spent encouraging organic fruit, vegetable & grain production
In the USA in 1979 145,000,000 tons of crops were fed to cattle resulting in only 21million tons of animal bodies - the cost of the wasted crops was $20,000,000,000
Between 1950 & 1985 grain production in Europe & the USA increased massively but 2/3 was fed to animals
70% of all grain is fed to animals
Eating vast quantities of animal flesh, eggs, milk & butter is a luxury that most of the planet can not afford

ANIMALS
Fishing with drift (and other modern) nets weakens & destroys ecosystems by indiscriminately killing billions of sea creatures & disrupting the sea bed
Fishermen’s nets kill 10 times as many other animals as the fish they are hoping to catch
Fish caught in nets die an agonising slow death of suffocation
Each year 15,000,000,000 land animals are slaughtered for food & an unknown but much larger number of sea creatures (including 1000’s of dolphins caught accidentally)
Chickens are crammed into battery cages with upto 3 other birds, they are unable to even spread their wings & many can not even stand up
Unwanted male chicks (because they can’t lay eggs) are gassed or pulped while their sisters go to the battery sheds
Chicks are debeaked without anaesthetic to prevent them injuring each other in the unnaturally confined conditions they are kept in - this is equivalent to having your fingernails pulled out without anaesthetic
Modern farming methods using growth hormones & artificial lighting mean that many chickens out grow their bones, resulting in fractured & broken legs
Sows are kept tethered in stalls 1.3 x 1 metre on concrete or slatted floors - they can not even turn around
Poultry raised for meat are kept in windowless broiler sheds, with around 20-30,000 in each shed, they live in an area of 10-20 cm square - fighting due to overcrowding is common & like battery hens they commonly suffer from supperating bed sores
Broilersheds are artificially lit 23 hours a day to produce rapid growth
Animals travel between farms & to slaughter in overcrowded transporters with no food or water - resulting in stress, injuries & deaths - legal requirements are widely ignored
95% of poultry suffer injuries before being killed & 30% suffer broken bones
Problems with stunning practices mean that many animals have their throats slit while still conscious (around 6% of cattle or 200,000 per year) & are then dipped in tanks of scalding water (to loosen feathers, bristles etc.) again while fully conscious
4000 animals die spurting their blood out every minute in a British slaughterhouse
Calf leather comes from animals killed at just 2 weeks old
Cows were fed on the ground up remains of other cows & sheep - the result is thought to be BSE (mad cow disease) in the USA cattle are fed partly on recycled plastic pellets
Cows only give milk for 10 months after they have a calf - so they are routinely artificially inseminated (ie. mechanically raped) to keep them pregnant & milking - their calves are taken away (usually at 12 hours old) for meat or export to veal crates
Cows would naturally live upto 20 years but are slaughtered after 5-7 years when their milk production begins to fall
In the UK animals are killed by first being stunned with electricity or a captive bolt gun (ie. a bolt is fired into their heads) before having their throats slit & being plunged into boiling water - all this happens on a production line with the animals being hung upside down from a moving conveyor belt - this is factory farming
“Animals are those unfortunate slaves & victims of the most brutal part of mankind” - John Stewart Mill (philosopher)
Veal calves are confined in stalls in the dark, unable to move & are fed on pigs blood , chocolate & dried milk (we are drinking the rich fresh milk of their mothers)
Cows naturally produce 5 litres of milk per day for their calves - under the intensified systems of modern farming they produce 25-40 litres per day - resulting in swollen & inflamed udders - at this rate they are soon worn out
Large areas of land are under monoculture to grow crops to feed to animals - these areas are wildlife deserts supporting fewer & fewer species.

HEALTH
Vegetarians have a 20% lower rate of mortality from all causes (ie. they live longer & don’t get sick as often)
Meat is full of traces of antibiotics, hormones, toxins produced by stress & pesticide residues that become concentrated from all the crops they have eaten
Fish contain heavy metals & other pollutants -many of which originated on farms
The world health organisation recommends a diet low in saturated fat, sugar, salt & with plenty of fibre - exactly what you get on a vegan/vegetarian diet
Farmed animals contain upto 50% saturated fat in their bodies
Vegetarians have 24% reduced risk of getting heart disease & Vegans a 57% reduction (heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK accounting for 50% of deaths)
Obesity is rare in vegetarians, obesity is related to many diseases
Vegans & vegetarians have lower blood pressure & cholesterol levels - high levels are associated with heart disease, strokes & kidney failure
Vegetarians have a 50% reduced risk of dying of diabetes
Vegetarians have a 40% reduced level of cancer than the general population thought to be because they have a higher intake of vitamins A,C & E
Vegetarians have a reduced risk of developing gall & kidney stones
80% of food poisoning is due to infected meat (faeces, bacteria etc.) after all meat is decomposing flesh - most of the rest is due to salmonella in eggs
Osteoporosis due to calcium loss from bones is mainly due to the sulphur content in meat & casein protein in milk that cause calcium to be lost in the urine - the countries with the highest meat & dairy consumption are those with the highest levels of brittle bones
50% of people do not have the enzyme to digest milk properly & milk allergy is related to asthma & eczema
Meat eaters have double the rate of Alzheimers disease as Vegans & Vegetarians - some people also think that Parkinsons disease is also linked to meat eating
Egg yolk is a dense concentration of saturated fat & the white is high in albumin protein associated with leaching calcium into your urine. Butter is 80% saturated fat, cream is 40% saturated fat & cheese is 25-40% saturated fat
Meat eaters are two and a half times more likely to get bowel cancer than Vegetarians
The cling film used to wrap meat in supermarkets & butchers contains chemicals linked to falling sperm counts in men
Chinese people (living mainly on a vegetarian diet) consume 20% more calories than Americans but Americans are 20% fatter
Of 2,100,000 deaths in the USA in 1987, 1,500,000 were related to diet (ie. meat & dairy)

AND I COULD GO ON !

If you’ve read this far, I hope that you are beginning to see that the Meat & Dairy industry is a major contributor to misery on this planet. It is destroying the health of people in rich countries, starving those in poor countries, it is torturing & killing billions of animals every year and in the meantime it is one of the major factors in the destruction of the environment - so what does the meat & dairy industry have to say in it’s defence?

Well their only real point is usually “Meat is tasty” - fair enough a lot of people enjoy the taste of meat - but there are plenty of delicious alternatives (just consider the huge range of vegetarian dishes in Indian cooking - one of the oldest & most sophisticated cuisines in the world) and if you really crave meat & dairy, nowadays there are plenty of healthy non animal alternatives - just look in the supermarket & health food shop. So I hope you will agree it’s pretty pathetic to consider all the evidence & then say “well I know you’re right about the environment & health & the animals - but I just love my meat”

Books by John Robbins would be great to read for more on this subject…

Jai Gurudeva!

"The mystery of cashew-burfi"!!

2008-08-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well I made it back to the USA after three months of bliss at home..and I thought I should get lil somethings for the people at my work place and also thought that I would share some Indian dessert with them, knowing that none of them had ever tried anything "Indian" before(this is SGF the village am talking about!!lol..) So I got them "Cashew-burfi/Kaju Katli".
So I go around the office distributing the sweet and each of them taste it like I have filled it with chillies!lol!(Any Indian food=spicy!) and then some pretend!(ya pretend!) to like it and some others exclaim that it tastes weird in their mouths, whats it got they question me..I say cashew, milk and sugar..they go on to say no its something else..curry maybe??!!I was like WTF no!lol!crazy Americans!

Dirty old man!!

2008-08-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

this funny instance(atleast some of us found it hilarious!) occurred recently here at sgf and I wanted to put it down in my blog so i dont forget it! ya its that simple..Well, to give a brief preclude, a couple of my friends stay in the on-campus apartment and this particular dorm has this old man as a maintenance guy..now he is known to flirt with all the pretty ladies and once came down to one of my friend's place with a smirk on his face asking if she had left behind her undie in the washer-dryer?! and she's from this small town in India and isn't accustomed to such questions!!lol! so u can imagine the look on her face and I shall let your imagination take over as to what happened there after {coz imagination gives everybody a kick and I want everyone to experience that! :) } so you can guess the image the old man had created for himself in the other Indian girls heads.. and this is where the current story kicks in! The old man started chatting up 3 of my other friends in the dorm and told a couple of them that they were decent (In USA that means you are OK..nothing to do with decency!) and told the other one that she was 'onery'!
( I still dont know what the spelling is for this word! and I would be highly appreciative if anyone corrects me) Now this girl got highly offended and called him names and yelled at him and refused to talk to him for three months! why? because she thought it was some synonym for "Horny"!! Lol! Lol! None of us had heard of this word before and google or dictionary.com did not help either! So we turned to an american friend and asked what "onery" meant! turns out that it intones naughtiness and mischievousness!!lol!so it was us and not the old man who was dirty after all!! ;-)

'kismat konnection'!

2008-08-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

well..this hasn't got anything to do with shahid or vidya!so if u r looking for the movie's review u r on the wrong web site, however I would still ask you to read on for this 'konnection' may thread u too into the garland of pearls! God created beauty and to unfurl that beauty he seems to have sent guruji as his messenger, I say this 'coz I couldn't imagine how else millions of lives could transform just by a look of this noble man. I am no evil cruella..but I myself have observed such subtle changes in me that I am convinced that Guruji is omnipresent and takes care of every soul that depends on him. Take for example this journey that I made back to the states after 3 blissful months with my family..it started out with my bags being over weight and me having to part with 7 kilos of all the good stuff that I had bought and re-sorting some clothes into the backpack ..[carrying which,I felt one not with the universe but with the donkey brethren!!] I then thought that everything happens for a reason and just surrendered to guruji all the unpleasant thoughts I was feeling at that time..No I did not feel elated the very next moment but I did find the strength to ward off the unpleasantness and could accept the situation without cribbing or grumbling (that's a huge huge change!..believe me I could win a whining competition before guruji entered my life!) I then landed in JFK and had a connecting flight from New jersey at 2:10 PM..having a 7 hour wait I thought I would call on apartment owners in the town I study to rent a place for the semester..but none had any vacant apartment to rent and home sickness started to ensnare me in its claws at this very inopportune moment. I felt myself slipping into a mode of self pity and immediately started praying to Guruji and again surrendered my problems to him( ya.. poor guruji..he has to take so much!) and within an hour's time I got a call from a friend saying she had a cousin who was desperately looking for a roommate and would I accept sharing the apartment with her!!(moreover the apartment is very close to the previous apartment that I used to rent and is very very close to the college!) 'Awe' and 'gratitude' couldn't even begin to describe what I felt at that moment.. Moving on to the rest of the journey..

I reached JFK on time and immigration and customs check went by smoothly..and then started the nightmare! The weather was all cloudy and rainy in New jersey, from where I had a flight to catch to St.Louis at 2:10PM and it was from St.Louis that I had to board a flight to Springfield at 6:15PM. As we had landed on time I enquired at the New jersey airport if I would be allowed to fly out on an earlier flight, but, as the previous flight was at11:15 and I had reached NJ airport only by 10:30 she wouldn't let me do that, so I thought I would just wait my turn. I was already feeling the strain of not having slept for over 20 hours and then I got to know that the stupid weather had caused too many cancellations the previous day(which was a Sunday and u can imagine the huge crowd that got stranded!) so they were putting all those passengers on a priority list ..that was OK had my flight not been delayed..but My flight kept getting delayed and in the end it was scheduled for 6:30 PM! I went and spoke to the representative only to find out that the last flight to mera gaon was the flight which I was supposed to board at 6:15 and there wouldn't be any other flight till Tuesday 6:15 PM(I had landed on Monday 7:00 AM!) and moreover there were no flights available to St.Louis from NJ on Tuesday which meant I was stranded either in NJ for 2 whole days or stranded in STL for a day! I just freaked out and asked him to put me on a standby for an earlier flight to STL..U wont believe how crowded the airport was with all the stranded passengers! some had missed 6-7 flights and were in the airport since 2 days! So I had kinda lost hope that I would make it before Wednesday to Springfield and was making alternative plans to stay with Sin..but she was busy and hadn't answered my calls and as she stays with her cousin I was not sure If it would be OK for me to stay on with them. I then started to pray to Guruji..(Ya i did that..can see the smirk on your face!:p) and it was nothing less than a miracle that they put me on the 4:30 flight to STL though so many of my co-passengers got stranded as the flight got canceled!!!

I then made it to STL only to have missed the last flight to SGF. I requested the rep to route me through another port and she said it would add an additional 5 hours to my itinerary, I was so relieved that I didn't have to wait a whole day in STL that I immediately grabbed the offer and flew to Dallas from where I was to fly into SGF in just over three hours . This flight was at 9:45 and we landed at Dallas at 9:30 and I had to go to another terminal!!! so I was sure i would miss my flight this time too! I just prayed on and ran(had my chums..couldn't run too fast! double whammy!) and guess what?? the flight had just started to board at 9:45! so with prayer and gratitude to guruji I Just boarded and made it to SGF by 11:30! Hig and ash, had come to the airport to receive me. Boy!was I glad to see them! My bags hadn't made it with me to SGF and was told that they would be delivered to me the next day! but if not for Art of Living courses I would have probably cribbed and cried from exhaustion!
Just before you go into any 'critique'ing mode I would suggest you do the Art of Living course..give it a fair trial and then talk or criticize it (I am sure you yourself would be writing a similar post!) Jai Guru deva :-)

p.s. oh on the flight from Dallas to SGF, when I thought I could finally rest for a while, there was this old man who was so very interested to know about Indians and Hinduism that he spoke and queried me for all of those three hours!!Ya that was the icing!:-)

"What goes around comes around!!"

2008-07-30T02:07:00.000-07:00

The previous week I very skeptically agreed to attend the 'Vedic Mathematics' course that was being offered at the ashram, along with my mother. I say skeptic because 'Math' had always been the cause of..err..not all but most of my academic miseries!!On the other hand Mom's a teacher and loooves math and one can only imagine the consternation both of us underwent standing on opposite shores of this ocean called"Mathematics"! Not a day went by during my school years when I would not be reprimanded, smacked or punished in innovative ways (dictators could train too under my mom!!lol!..kidding!)..
Fast forward to the present year, where I was forced to face my phobia and it was with very high levels of reluctance and anxiety that I challenged myself to attend the 2-day course! (Nightmares of Numbers and mom chasing me hounded me alternatively through the nights!..seriously!)..On the first day, rather in the first hour of the course..The teacher started out with an introduction to pascal's triangle and as always I found myself dumbfounded and gaping with my mouth open, if I was not so tense I definitely would have laughed at my comical expression! and gradually the teacher eased us into the basics of the awesome course and a miracle occurred then and there! for the first time ever..I was the first to solve the problems posed and for all you smart asses ya! they were correct too! :-) and you know what as guruji often points out that "what goes around comes around" it was now my turn to teach my mother who for some inexplicable reason for most (but I prefer to call it the "divine intervention!" ;-)) couldn't keep pace with me (YAHOO!!) but well as the good human being that I am (modest too..) I decided not to punish or smack my mom..but just helped her out!! So all you parents out there beware! for not all children are as saintly as I am and treat..err teach ur children the same way you would want them to teach you in the future! ;-)
Jai guru deva!

Journey has begun..

2008-07-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Blissful, rapturous, ecstatic..are only few of the synonyms that can describe the state of my mind now a days! and this miracle has happenend through my association with H.H.Sri Sri Ravishankar Guruji..Well it all started a couple of years ago when on my sister's insistence I did the Act I/Basic course and at the end of the course, I was happy...and thats it period! I never followed the pearls of advice given and continued to exist but not live!! It took a heartbreak, dilemma and depression for me to tread back into this beautiful paradise(thats definitely an irony!)..Did my YES!+ to realize what I had given up and did my YES!++(advance) to trade all my worries and botherations in exchange of happiness and bliss!

The advance course was taken by the super duper Dinesh Bhaiya and Bawa..and man! no words can describe this duo( actually, super smart, super cool,super witty, super intelligent, super kind, to die for smile and of course, last but not the least, long shiny lustrous hair..are few of the words that could be used to introduce these super stars!):-) To understand what am talking about visit bawa and dinu bhaiya blog..at http://bawandinesh.blogspot.com/

Each and every teacher I have come across have been fabulous and its definitely guruji's grace that exudes through these gems who have made it their selfless mission to spread the knowledge and joy on this planet..I really wish and pray that I get to join this awesome band wagon of teachers as soon as possible! Jai Guru deva!

rambling..

2008-02-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

Well apparently nothing can beat laziness! and I have learnt this over and over again! and if ever there was a ceremony to "award laziness"..I would definitely be nominated! Hundreds of things pending that need to be taken care of..but here I am procrastinating it to neverland! The other day I got to know that my dad was diagnosed with High BP and diabetes..well dad always was confident about being the healthy one "as opposed" to mom and therefore was taken by surprise!(ya right!smoking,drinking,no exercise..not a surprise to the rest of us!)..the good thing out of it..it din't affect his heart..and he has given up on his vices..so thats good..but the question is do we have to wait to give up the vice till its almost destroyed us??take me for instance..I am "blessed" with "sugar and salt genes" and still continue to abuse my body..theres always been a resolution to lose weight, to eat healthy and to exercise ..but none of it has ever seen the light of the day! So heres to a better me..who will try to take care of herself and also help in spreading awareness that "Prevention is definitely better than cure"!

Feel good factors..

2007-10-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

I call it the "bridge2smile"list for am sure everybody in the world has cached treaures of memories and fantasies..err..dreams that would surely turn the frown into a smile..if only there was a device that would remind people (in sadness/depression/anger/jealousy)of all the good things in their life and of things they should be thankful for, it would solve most of today's crimes and leave us in a blissful heaven of sorts..So taking the initiative (well..charity begins with self!)..i am putting together a list that definitely brings a smile on my face..

1) Guruji!( H.H.Sri Sri Ravishankar)

2) Being with my family(most of the times!lol!)

3) Playing with children(preferably below the age of 2!..ya am still at that level!)

4)Seeing a baby smile

5) Tom and Jerry!

6)Aamir khan in all those romantic roles!(sigh..)

7) Music!

8) dreaming about how I will be the next best thing to have happened to mankind!

9)when people listen to my avice and opinion..

10)When I succeed at something that I haven't worked for!(he he..)

11)Talking to friends of course!

12) Listening to mythological stories! (when good wins over evil..the same feeling at the end of a typical bollywood/Indian movie..looove it!)

13)Reading books (Strictly novels..and definitely not M&B..thats what makes me frown list!)

14)Food!!!(SLURP..Yumm!!)

15)Gazing into what mother earth has to offer..(ya..nature only!)

16)cracking Pjs!

this list will probably be updated and extended from time to time..and in case anyone wants to share their views on this"bridge2smile"list..well they can just ....

feel very welcomed!..cough cough..I told u I love to crack pjs dint i??

The Chase..

2007-06-13T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! The object of my attention had been cornered at last in Bangalore, India! phew..boy! this cat & mouse game was going to end soon ( or so I thought!) the chase had taken both of us almost all around India as well as some parts of the world and now (rather in Dec) all that was going to end in good fashion!

Well am neither a cop nor am I talking about a criminal on the run..the person who I mention of is my ........

Sister ..Tj!! ha ha..the thing is it feels like I have been chasing her in & out of places all the time and we never get to spend as much "quality time" as I would like to.

Here's how its been..
Our parents decided to send us to bangalore after the 5th grade so we could get the best of exposure in education n culture, since there is a 3 yr age difference between the both of us, she went earlier and the chase has been forever since then! so, when I went to bangalore, Tj was already in high school and just after 2 years she left back to where our parents stayed to do her Pre-uni colleging and then when she came to bangalore for her engineering I was all set to leave bangalore to pursue my professional degree in Dharwad. At this time Tj went to Manipal to complete her MBA degree and landed a great job during campus recruitment, for which she had to leave for training in Bombay. I was almost done with my colleging by this time and was happy to go back to bangalore to be with my family ( my parents had decided to move to Bangalore by then!)..but alas it was not meant to be..'coz Tj then got an offer to move to US of A for a year's time! ( which then extended to 2 1/2 years!) So in the meanwhile , I dreamt of pursuing my masters in the US content with the knowledge that my sister was going to be there! but..it was not meant to be! ya! I got here and she decided to move back to Bangalore within 2 months! So now its been a year since I got here and thought would spend my christmas vacation in bangalore..welll..Tj has made plans to go to the country down under for her christmas n new year vactions! so whaddya think?? the chase continues...

SKWEETH!!??!!

2007-06-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

I moved into a new apartment this month and its taking me time to get adjusted to the new place, new walls!( kidding!) and last but the most important of all new roomies ( a Chinese..lets call her N and an Indian who will be S)..no there is no war waging between us, in fact, the other day N and I were watching "Friends" and also bonding (ahem!ahem!)..and I offered her popcorn to eat, which she gladly accepted and in turn offered me the snack which she had got from home ( Now, knowing the chinks food preferences, I was a little vary about tasting it) so this is how the conversation went:
Me: want some popcorn?
N: ya sure.. do u want to try this ? ( holds a transparent zip loc cover..which holds some sort of dish which looks similar to cheese strings!)
Me: ( skeptical) what is it?
N: Skweeth
Me: ( all confused!!) huh?
N: Skweeth..u know ( the packet is almost in my face now!)
Me: ( trying to be brave!)( maybe sweetened wheat!!!???!!) oh ok..will try ..
I take a bite of the stringy thing..umm..( realization dawns!dumb me!)
its SQUID!!!
me: ( trying not to puke!) Oh! its squid!
N: yeass..yeass..dried and salted skweeth!U like it???
Me: Well.. :0

purrrfect reasonings!

2007-06-08T13:24:00.001-07:00

Am a BIGGGGG..fan of Bill Waterson's sense of humour

(Knock! Knock! Calvin and Hobbes!) and here are a couple of quotes from the comic strip that

make a lot of sense to me.

;-)

"God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die."

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

People!

2007-06-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

I know this topic has been tread upon for eternity, but I still would like to have a go at it..( hellloo..its my blogspot!).Coming back to "people" which as a term refers collectively to all humans , who in turn according to scientific definition are bipedal primates belonging to mammalian species, Homo sapiens (which in Latin=wise man/knowing man! r u kidding???) in the family Hominidae ( the great apes..Ya! this I can believe!). Furthermore, humans are said to be social by nature, participating in highly complex social structures made possible by a highly developed brain which allows for reasoning & introspection!voila! The reason I am ranting is because I had the misfortune of meeting a certain someone who looked like a member of the species but acted in every way disproving it! For instance, the person isn't social, definitely NOT civil,no evidence of posession of brains( forget it being highly developed!), can't reason for a ****'s worth and introspective???..( gimme a break!). So all in all this person seems to be existing just as an overgrown(just girth wise!!!) primate! Which makes me wonder.. What exactly is our (humans!!) purpose here on earth...to just exist/ to live with a difference??!!
well ..the afore mentioned human is sure living differently (as an animal!!) ;-)

everything under the sun!!

2007-05-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

I have finally decided to pen down my thoughts for the benefit of humankind..ahem ahem..alright! for myself and possibly( hoping fervently) as a mode of entertainment 4 my family n friends! I am told that am good with words, so here's me just trying a hand at blogging to reflect on issues and matters that may mean a lot to me or may not even concern me ( well didn't u see the title??..everything under the sun!)
So here's me welcoming myself into this addictive ( I think!) phenomenon of blogging!