Pain will not last... And life must go on. It has taken nearly a year for me to come to the point where pain is no longer always controlling my life. There are days when pain and agony take over, and I feel out of control. But there are many more days when, finally, the control is back where it belongs- my head. 

These 10 months have taught me that people care just as much as they do not. 

That pain engages us with ourselves. It tells us to slow down, even stop so we can focus once more on ourselves rather than outside ourselves.

That it is possible to beat it, overcome it- and even live with it. If it does not kill you, it does make you stronger. 

That life is about moving. Moving to live well. And moving on to live better. Staying still is not possible. Being still is. Even the breath mandates movement. 

That most people confuse motion with movement. Motion creates movement, but motion alone is not enough. 

That sometimes- we must simply give in, and breathe or even shed a tear if that is what we want to do. Or need to. 

That giving up is never an option. 

That Something will work- even if there is nothing that has till now- there is always something else. Not a Plan B, but another Plan A. An alternative that has not been tried, and needs to be tested. Like acupuncture! 

That we often confuse moments with life. And then we feel alone, lonely and unloved. Life catches up- the sun come out again and the clouds drift away. 

And that all that matters in the end is how we lived it- not survived but lived.  

Aum!

This is the primordial sound that is often referred to as the first vibrations- the first form of energy that reverberated through the Universe. Reading a text on Quantum Physics and a scientific justification to a Purpose Driven Universe I was surprised that noted Physicist Bernard Haisch quotes a textual reference to Indian texts written 25 centuries ago!

He calls it the Perennial Philosophy and says that it has three essential tenets:

1. The physical universe of matter is not the sole reality. Other non-physical realities exist and may not be perceivable directly by the physical senses. (It is interesting that this is compatible with String and M theories that propose existence of other dimensions which have radically different sets of laws that govern and define them.)
2. Our human nature has both a material side subject to physical laws, birth and death as well as a non-material immortal spirit or soul, which is actually the more essential side because this is made of the same stuff as the ultimate source which is generally regarded as God.
3. All humans possess a capacity to intuitively perceive the true multifaceed nature of ourselves and this greater reality.

This Haisch says, has been written in the ancient Indian texts and its elements are to be found in the mystical streams of all religions.

In school we used to sing a Vedic prayer- in Sanskrit. Its rough translation in English:
That is perfect.
This is perfect.
From the perfect, arises perfect.
Perfect alone remains.

That Perfect is Aum. The anahad naad. The energy without boundary. I have heard it in the humming of machines and in the solitude of my own breath. I have experienced it in the car and in the mountains. It is a feeling and a sensation that transcends awareness into consciousness. It begins with being very aware. It grows into being fully conscious. And Relaxed.

Aum is considered the easy and the perfect beginning to all mantras in Hunduism. If you make a mistake in the chanting, it alters the energy of the mantra. But if you begin with a correct Aum, the mantra energy cannot be violated.

Aum is the essence and the force that is ours to realise.

Aum.

Shanti.

Peace.

Punya Bhoomi Bharat

We are very fortunate to be born in India. Bharat has been and continues to be referred to as Punya Bhoomi- the land of good deeds.

We have the high mountains guarding our head. The Himalayas make it very difficult to penetrate our Northern borders. And these high peaks are also the purported abode of the Gods. The high terrain and the strength of the Divine is always a protective shield that makes it near impossible to walk through at leisure and walk out without effort. This strong geographical barrier has been one reason why we have never even thought of imposing our religion, Hinduism on anyone outside the confines of our 'Northern Wall' and have always been able to absorb most of what came from outside into our world of gold and sagacity.

And... the Himalayas are still growing. These mountains are young and continue to increase the complexity and the difficulty of invading our country from the north.

Then, we are surrounded on all three sides by the flowing waters of the oceans and the seas that merge imperceptibly into each other. We are singular in having an ocean named after a country. The Indian Ocean mergesinto the Atlantic on one side and into the Antarctic Ocean on the other and carries the air we breathe into the vast wilderness of the globe- crossing all boundaries and accessing all borders.

Our 'feet' in the southern and related borders are forever awash in the waters of the seas and oceans touching and playing with us.

Purity in mind- with the heights of the Himalayas and the clear crisp air of the mountains, and the cleansing of the waters splashing at our feet have added a glow to our collective intellect and soul power.

The terrain is varied and harsh as well as full of a power that can nurture a spiritual experience in the mundane. In fact there is no mundane in Bharat. Each part of her landscape has a beauty and a strength that few others on the globe can feel or fathom.

We do not know when our religion began... and who founded it. We know that we accept everyone and every faith or even a lack of faith in accordance with immutable and simple laws of nature. We know whether we encounter water, or snow, or steam, they are basically the same. We know whether we choose to call our Almighty Allah or Christ, we will all be addressing the same entity.

We do not bury our dead- we consign them to flames. And the ashes are all that remain to mingle with our land. All that remains? Ashes are the essence of our earthly remains- all that we did in this world that was good. And it merges back with the earth that bore our burden while we walked the land as humans. Whatever we did that cannot be carried over is burnt and lost into the atmosphere, too. Thus, all our ancestral Karma is still in our land and feeds any soul that can be open enough to receive the energy of the souls that still roam the world.

The power of life unfettered and  unbridled mingles with the earth and roams the world making us unique under the firmament.

We have a vast body of literature largely written inpoetic metaphor that has long since lost its meaning for the present geerations but which lends itself to a tremendous amount of in depth study and has layer upon layer that reveals our depth even in the eras that are from a far bygone time.

It is time for Bharat to rise again.
It is time for India to cleanse herself of all the corruption and stand tall again.
It is time for all of us to once again celebrate our nationhood in all its glory and its power.

Let us then pledge that the earth will find peace again, that the skies will be bright and clear again, that the intellect will be pure again, that the body will be shashwat again... That we will live upto the name of our country.

Delhi- 2010

19082010446
Originally uploaded by naturewalker

This is the road in front of my home. Water-logging and flooding have become a way of life.

The Gods are crying. And they are crying so much that the rivers, and seas are overflowing. Not only the rivers and the seas are overflowing, so are the streams and the drains.

We cried a few days ago that the water-table is going down, that the water is scarce and the situation is drought- like.

And in the next moment, Gods answered our lament... They gave us water- so much that everything is going under.

The Gandak, and the and the Yamuna, too have begun to flow near danger mark. Many have lost their lives and many are now homeless with the waters rising alarmingly.

Nature is furious. She is shaking herself lose. The earthquakes and the deluges are only the early reminders- warnings of sort- to help us decide. We can follow the path that our ancestors followed- respect Life and the source of Life, or choose the path we are on now... and move closer to perishing.

Illness, and natural calamity are a visiting- Are we going to succumb? Or will we survive?

india is FULL of people! And they are all going...

india is FULL of people! And they are all going...
Originally uploaded by naturewalker

Each morning an average Indian wakes up and goes about the morning routines quite unconsciously... And within about an hour to an hour and a half, he or she is on the way to work.

He must do that to put food on the table.

But it goes a lot further than that and a lot deeper.

The more he is able to do, the more he is able to get and the more he gets, the more he wants. He is hooked. It is like living the Mahabharata each day! It is a miracle that Abhimanyu returns home each evening!
It is easier and faster to walk in Mumbai than take a car/ scooter to work. In Delhi, the traffic moves much faster. So do people's tempers.
It is a wonder that with so much weight to bear, the roads are not caving in!
Crowds.
Noise.
Impatience.
Insolence.
And mindless movement.

We are apparently going to a predefined destination. But we are all so busy just going there that even having reached, we miss the point!!!

Delhi has 5.5million registered vehicles! And consider a mind boggling 11.2 million for NCR ( National Capital Region).
By current estimates Delhi loses nearly 42 crore man hours in simply commuting from home to work and back! What a mindless waste!

Consider then the fact that everybody is simply running, and unable to catch his own tail, only rushing to keep his rendezvous with Death!

Emission?Delhi's drivers get a PUC only if the checks are on!
Diesel is so much cheaper than petrol, if you have to be on the road, might as well save some!Pollution is a theoretical concept!
Rules? What rules? Zebra crossings are for Zebras. And we are not a zoo! Nor a jungle!! ( Hey! Wait!!, We are a jungle!)
Overtake from where ever you get a crevice to wedge your nose in! Right left is best left out of reckoning!
And most important... we are blind and driving! How else would you explain the need to honk so much! CAn we not see that the person in front of us and the one in front of him and the one in front of her and so on... CANNOT simply move because we are blaring!? And having become blind a few years ago, we are now headed towards becoming deaf! We will fail to respond to the blaring horns all around us!
There are ways to beat the crowd, ways to rise above the chaos, ways to clean up our city, ways to make Delhi better... Is any one listening?

Create greens... grass in road dividers with periodic borings that can harvest water and direct it directly into the water table.This will nopt only prevent waterlogging but also recharge the drying city.

Protect the trees. These are what give some of the DElhi roads a distinctive character. They not only clean up the air polluted by the constant movement of vehicles running on fossil fuel but also create a sound barrier, and modulate the weather apart from protecting the top soil.

Create a sacrosanct lane dedicated to buses and emergency services. Let the ambulance have a right of way!Let each driver know that it is NOT OK to block an emergency public vehicle.

Follow rules.

Round abouts are about creating zones of overlap that run smoothly- we do not need to rush in or out! We can practice a little courtesy on the road.

We are a very young country. we already have made a deep impact on the world.

That impact is not by running a bumper to bumper line of cars struggling to wriggle on the roads but rather that impact is largly due to its blend of technology and tradition that delivers what it promises!

We can run our schools to produce responsible citizens, not simply rote learners who can rattle facts and figures for the history and the chemistry paper and not know the difference!

We can do a lot. One thing at a time. One person at a time.

The time is now.

The question to ask is Am I the person?

Mathemagician...

Meet Anand Kumar...

30 something ( Born 1 Jan, 1973)

Mathematics Lover.

Educationist- Innovator.

Teaches FREE... and provides food, lodging and reading resources also free to students he personally picks and feels that they need his help.

What drives this young man? It is not just his love of the subject of Mathematics but also a life changing moment in a politician's office that made him what he is today.

Sometimes it can be a bigger blessing NOT to be granted your heart's desire! He was derisively told by a political aide that he should concentrate on his studies rather than run after politicians to fund his studies.

He had already started the Ramanujan School of MAthematics when still in college as a Mathematics Club. Even then, it was a free programme for Mathematics lovers. His natural flair and passion meant an ongoing contribution to various national and international publications. The crowning glory came with the offer to Cambridge University. That needed money. And Anand did not have enough, and had to give up that dream.

He suffered enough hardship and enough poverty to feel the need to shake it to its very roots and do something no one else had done before. He founded the new Ramanujan School of mathematics with the help of Abhyanand, an IPS officer who was himself a scholar- in Physics. In the backyard of the country, among the people who had dreams but no means to fulfill them, he decided to change things.

For the last three years, consecutively, Super 30 has managed a 100% IIT admission rate- for free!

This man teaches thrice a week, more than 2 hours each session, and the listeners are about 5000 students who latch on to every word he speaks into the microphone clipped to his T-Shirt. And outside the shed that houses the school, are lined uncountable bicycles!

As is usual in Bihar, success can mean threat... and he, too has received enough threatening calls. So now he also has body guards...

Anand has come a long way from selling Anand papad made by his mother on his bicycle to being judged the Phenomenon of the year! In less than a decade, he has created a legend and helped so many more students who could not afford anything on their own.

Where does he get the money to do what he does? He teaches. That generates the hard funds needed. His mother cooks for the students. These students have only one objective- they have to study. 14-16 hours a day! They do. At the end of the year, the reward more than makes up for the penance they go through- quite like olden days! Shiva always answers!

Now, this young entrepreneur does not need funds from the government or even from philanthropists to sustain his venture. He can go anywhere in the world- US or UK are no longer distant dreams.

His advice to youth?

Start your own venture with whatever you have. Do not borrow. Do what you love. And the world will change around you!

If a few more Anands could do this- start with whatever they have, and do what they love doing- India will also change. And She will change in the areas as yet untouched by modernity, technology and the rest of the world will watch. Awestruck.

When I saw Swades a few years ago, I cried. I wanted to do something that could make a difference.

Today I read and communicate with Anand- and I rejoice. It is not just in stories and movies. Things have begun happening to people around me.

ANAND BHARAT VIJAYETE TARAM!

आनंद भारत विजयेते तरम!

The great Indian car!

the great Indian car!
Originally uploaded by naturewalker

The Great Indian Car- Amby, as it is affectionately called, has been plying on Indian roads since 1948. then, it used to be the Morris. It got its present shape ( more or less) around 1958. Since then, it has been practically the same car with only technological updates.

It weighs more than 1500 kilos and looks every bit each ounce that it has on its frame. Nothing lean about our very old and very shweet Amby! So tough and strong is the car that it is the favoured vehicle by the bosses of the Indian government and the Indian Army.

It was the first car to be manufactured in India and one that has been on for more than half a century.

It is the quintessentially Indian car. Large, spacious, plush and comfortable... That is the car that was more a drawing room to lounge in than a car to travel by.

The car is big enough for Dada and dadi, chacha and chachi, taaya and taayi, and the several cousins who are equally an integral part of the great Indian experience. And it has a boot big enough for all the family's luggage, too!

There is always someone or the other to good naturedly remark about the size and look of an Indian- No! not really fat...only plump!! Ambassador is the same... Not really fat... just plump!!

It is a car with no sharp edges. It has a nice round shape. And it is huge! You could sink into a seat and be lost to the world outside. Comfort and paradise are not another world when you ride an Amby.

I have often looked at the FACE of a car and imagined what it appears to say. The penultimate model of the Honda City seemed to be a sophisticated lady with just a hint of a smile. A pleasant face. The present model however, appears to be baring its teeth! Our Amby? It is a nice fat lady. She is so welcoming and so accommodating that it literally beckons and entices you to board the car! And the ride it seems to promise is fulfilled in a satisfying, enchanting encounter!

There have been several words used to describe the car- reliable, sturdy, tough, all terrain, all purpose, roomy, and lucky. Yes! I still remember those days when we used to wish upon an Amby! We used to wish upon a solid black Amby. And it had to be followed by a mail wagon- totally red. And it always worked! The black Ambassador was somewhat of a rarity. So it was considered a stroke of luck to see one. And to have it followed be a mail wagon was considered doubly lucky.

The Amby is one of the two cars we used to see on the Indian roads a few decades ago- along with the Fiat. The Fiat disappeared in its antique form long time ago with the entry of the Maruti.

But... Amby lives on...