Banyan Tree Realisations on this Independence Day!

As I sat under this Banyan Tree this morning meditating and trying to "feel the freedom" on this Independence Day, as one of my friends wished this morning - my thoughts went deeper into the meaning of freedom and its importance in one's life.

It is important to know who or what we should be free from and why? If we do earn that freedom consciously, then the next responsibility is what are we doing with that freedom. We need to take charge of it and make sure we are better off. Otherwise, the whole exercise is wasted. Are you with me?

This is applicable at all levels. If we talk about country earning its freedom from foreign rule, it was a conscious fight with specific reasons why we wanted Swaraj or our own rule and why we needed to get the foreigners away from our land and these are the reasons that got many people together to do their bit and even give up their very lives for the purpose. We achieved this hard earned freedom or independence in India 72 years ago and we are celebrating that achievement and remembering with gratitude all those lives sacrificed so that we can be enjoying our freedom every moment for all these 72 years! But this is not going to be enough. We need to review how we have dealt with what we have been gifted with. Have we gone on the path for which or freedom fighters fought for freedom and are we managing our own land the way they wished, hoped and dreamt of? 

I am not saying we have done a bad job at all. We have made a lot of progress but still is this our best? Of course not. We need to review where have we fared well and celebrate, where do we need to focus and do better and zoom in with a concrete plan to achieve success in that in the near future. 

For example, we can be a lot better if we even just realised what an amazing nation we were and the fact that we are the spiritual capital of the entire Universe!! Inspite of greedy people from within and outside trying to rob us of our spiritual treasures, they have not been able to. It is fortunately something that cannot be robbed. We are gifted with this wealth from the creator himself. We are the centre of the spiritual world! But this comes with some responsibility on us as well. While the wealth is still around, what those robbers have managed to steal is our intelligence and brain wash us quite successfully with their nonsense about our own tradition, culture and spiritual wealth so that we stop valuing that and act like beggars even if we are the wealthiest of all. Our brains are still not free from the contamination that has been infested into us. We have lost our understanding and pride in who we really are. Time to wake up folks. 

I really believe that, for example, our traditional Gurukul System of education, that led to us being the education capital of the world, can help us get back to being the best. Please don't judge my statement based on any opinion you may have on the Gurukul system. If you differ in your opinion, I respect that. But let us debate. Write to me and let us share our views and come to understand it in the greater interest of our own community. 

Somehow, many of us, especially the so called educated class, have become almost allergic to terms that remind us of our great tradition as if it is something like taking us backward. Behold, it is the reverse. Even science is yet to "discover" a fraction of what has been recorded in some of our vedic scriptures with precision many thousands of years ago. What is our problem in acknowledging that? I think the problem is that we don't want to make any effort to know about anything before making a judgement. We have been brain washed to believe in some things to be seeming 'so called modern' and trendy in this society and fit into the system. But we are not realising that the more we 'fit into this system' our system is getting rotten and dying!! 

That is why many times we find ourselves being the most hypocritical society. We have a traditional value system embedded in us and then we have superficially adopted something that we don't even understand and make big statements like ' "There is no God", "There is no use of Religion" or "There is no need for a Guru" without even getting into the subject. Sometimes, when I hear someone say these and the likes, in my curiosity as to how they can be so confident of this conclusion in their lives, end up asking " How do you know?" and they just don't have any statement to offer which shows that they have invested any time or energy in even researching the subject. It just seemed more convenient and comfortable for them to lead their lives and hence they say so!! And worst of all, this comes from our top most leaders, educationists etc. Come on Indians, we can be better, seriously :-) 

If we can wake up to our spiritual wealth and become realised citizens, we will be world leaders in every other aspect. We don't need to own anything else, we can be the advisors to the world who can bring world peace and economic development. After all, there was a sound reasoning why even the mightiest of the Kings had their spiritual master as their advisor. 

We were under foreign rule where we were not allowed to follow our traditional values, our spiritual values, we were looked down upon, we were made to believe we were slaves. But now, we have SWARAJ - our own administration - then where is the problem now? Why are we still continuing with the very same education system, administrative system, economic system and social system that we fought against? Why are we still producing slaves for the same rulers? Have we really become free or have we just managed to fool ourselves into believing that and still serve our rulers sitting outside of our land but still ruling us? I will leave you with these thoughts this morning to ponder upon as responsible citizens.

Before I conclude, a bit about what I think we really need to free ourselves from so that we are capable individuals who can perform at our peak. We need to free ourselves from FEAR, INSECURITY, ANGER, NEGATIVITY and then replace these with GRATITUDE, LOVE, COMPASSION AND POSITIVITY. Once we have all of the right ingredients, we can be the best version of ourselves, we can be the best team, best community and best country. These were my humble realisations under the Banyan Tree this morning. What say you?

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Curd Rice - My Sunday Morning Adventure :D

Yes, I mean the same curd rice that you are thinking - the south indian yummy dish which is as important for a south Indian to end his dinner with as a desert or sweet is for a Punjabi, Bengali or a Gujarati.

Now, this is what happened. Yesterday, I was in a mood to celebrate the fact that I lived through a natural calamity, had a wonderful session, sold few of my books especially to some decision makers from the education sector and the fact that I got some token of appreciation in cash too 😉 Of course, I was tired of travel, all the anxiety, washing all the clothes I brought back too because of which I was not in a mood to cook 😊

 So, I decided to go to a near by restaurant which I am quite a fan of called Desi Paratha and pack something for dinner - some pakodas and some curd rice. Pakodas for celebration and curd rice to digest those pakodas 😀

Look at the wonderful ambience they have, besides their amazing varieties of parathas, this is what drives me to this place again and again.
 

So, I went to this place, ordered for my dinner and came back with   my parcel soon. Put on the TV and as I watched my favourite program started munching on the hot delicious pakodas with super hot green chutney.

I was actually full by then but thought of tasting the curd rice a bit and keeping the rest for next day. I digged into it and took one spoon full and put it in my mouth and it was the most disgusting version of curd rice I had ever tasted! It was smelling of cigarette I thought at first. I could not understand how can curd rice become so horrible! There were some beautiful cashews decorated on top so I was sure they wanted to make it nice and rich. For a minute I thought, I was too full and that is why I am finding excuses to say that the food is not nice. I wanted to be sure. So, I took one more spoon and tasted it. And yuk, it was simply not edible.

This time around I understood the problem though. They had used some strange smelly oil that was already used for not just frying something but also had burnt it and then used whole lot of that in which they put a whole lot of mustard seeds (much more than would be suggested) and had added that to the curd rice and now as I looked closer, I could see oil floating on the sides!! I decided to share my feedback with my favourite restaurant knowing that their chefs were probably from North India and hence did not know the blunder they were doing with this simple local delicacy 😔

I stored what was left in the refrigerator so that the chef can smell and taste what I was mentioning and understand for himself. This morning as decided I went to the restaurant and gave my feedback. Fortunately, there were no customers in the vicinity and I could talk to them without damaging their business. What astonished me very pleasantly was the way these young employees including the cashier, server and later the chef himself took the feedback, were so apologetic and were very happy to learn from me about how to make it properly and what fruits they can use to make it better. They accepted the fact that they are from North and they do use the oil that is a bit smelly but North Indians are used to it and they may have re-used the oil used for frying. I was so pleased with their attitude that I wished them all the very best and started walking out.

They immediately offered to give me anything else I wanted instead. I refused, saying that was not my intention and informed them that as they know I am a regular customer of their restaurant and will come back but this time I just wanted to help them with my feedback. They were not happy and satisfied. They were not sure if I really meant it I guess. They insisted for their sake I accept at least one paratha. I could see the love with which they were offering and I understood  it would mean a lot to them if I accepted. So, since I was full, I asked them to pack one of the parathas of their choice. They insisted I make a choice and I did and they happily went back into the kitchen and in a few minutes with a big smile and a little fear gave me my parcel once again apologising from the bottom of their hearts.

I appreciated them for their wonderful attitude and requested them for a picture. They posed but as you can see, they did not know how I am going to use them.

I sensed that and quickly once again convinced them that I was really happy with them and asked them for a selfie. This time as you can see they were more relaxed and posed away.

As I walked away with a big smile and my parcel and waved a thumbs up in their direction, their spirits were all up. I felt good about them and somewhere about myself too 😜😇

Wishing you all a fantastic Sunday friends! Be Conscious, Be Good, Be Happy, Be Grateful 🙏

Travel Light BUT Never Without MarieGold Lite :-)

While we start the journey of living consciously, we have strange but important realisations. For example, I recently was invited to conduct a session at a college in Kerala. I am usually a light traveller and pondered many times over if I need to carry anything to eat, should I carry or buy a bottle of water en-route or do I need soap, towel etc. since my tickets were booked in the AC compartment of train and a hotel was booked for me to check-in as soon as I get there.

However, some past experience and a gut feeling told me to anyways keep the essentials. I even ended up buying a packet of MarieGold Lite biscuit at the station, in case dinner was not served in the train just in case there is an emergency in my energy levels considering I am a diabetic.At this point I had absolutely no clue of the situation I was going to experience.

I realised the train was on time till Coimbatore but soon after started crawling and stopping every now and then till I reached my destination Palakkad. The train was delayed by over an hour. Anyways, I did not mind much because I was busy screening through the wonderful greenery and backwaters on the way in this God's own country!

However, my host who had come to receive me mentioned as we walked out of the railway station that the whole place was flooded the previous day and the forecast is not so great even for the next 48 hours. As I walked out, I could see what he meant....there was water everywhere, people had taken out stuff out of their shops and trying to dry them, roads had almost disappeared in some places!! I was aghast...still the worst had to hit me.

I realised soon that the railway track on which my train crawled was almost swept away and probably they were laying back the tracks and making sure it was safe to take the train over,  while the train stopped every few minutes!!

Soon we got to our hotel and there I understood how my host had to plead to get me a booking since the hotels had stopped entertaining guests. Power was off, they were on generators, they did not have access to basic amenities to provide their guests and too many people were heading to their hotels including the locals whose homes were washed off in the flood and needed a place to stay!! WOW! I was grateful, they had accepted the request and provided me the place. Here is how the place looked a few hours before I checked in it seems!

However, as soon as I got to my room, I realised they were not supplying towel, soap, shampoo or anything that they may usually do for obvious reasons. Rooms were kept neat and clean but no accessories. So, every single thing I had carried thinking I might be taking extra stuff, totally came handy and I got to use them all. My life training of not necessarily wanting hot water to bathe, also came in handy! 

While people were dealing with the situation and also preparing themselves for the next 48 hours, they still went on with their lives and do what they needed to do. Seriously, kudos to that human spirit! So, while our entire program was cut short by a few hours since all the participants who had come from out of town (which was the case with 99%), had to leave at the earliest to reach their place safe and sound, still till the time the event was on, not one participant was distracted with what was happening to them, their families, loved ones and their own place!! I was amazed at their level of commitment to learning and being in the moment. I salute their spirit once again!! I learnt so much!!

Post my session, I got back to my hotel and as I prayed that the track will be on "track" and the trains would continue their service so that I can leave back for Bangalore by the evening train as scheduled, I was once again not sure of what to expect and so thought of ordering something to drink and eat before I left. However, when I called for the room service boy is when I realised that the hotel also does not have the access to get me anything! However, the boy with a smile and what seemed like french or german (since that is how much I understand Malayalam), said he will try to go out and get me something! Please know that it was still pouring when he said that!! I could not believe it. I was grateful, I needed something hot. Because there was no power, I had ended up taking a cold shower in the evening and needed to somehow feel a bit warm. So, I handed him some money and requested to get me something hot to drink and any kind of snack available (vegetarian) to eat. 

He took the money and went off. I was wondering what is making him even do this for me? I felt so grateful. He could have just denied the service. Anyhow, in a short while, he came running back holding a glass of coffee....saying he went in one direction trying to find coffee/tea and unforunately there was nothing available to eat that he could buy. So, instead of getting the drink to get cold, he ran back with the hot coffee for me....it was one of the most touching sites for me.....he was half wet but so concerned about getting me my hot drink!! I accepted with gratitude what he got and had no heart to get him to run in another direction trying to find something for me to eat. So, I settled down with that hot cup of coffee and remembered my MarieGold Lite that came to my rescue! I have probably never enjoyed every sip and every bite of coffee and biscuit as much as I did then. 

This is when I realised, travel light but never without a MarieGold Lite and some basic accessories. Once you are out travelling, you may face situations that you can hardly imagine when you leave home. Also for those youngsters who don't carry any cash, these are the times when you cannot rely on digital payment methods or be able to access ATM and hence some cash is always good to carry. Thank God I did and somewhere deep down I was prepared to deal with whatever comes. 

Thankfully though I did not have to face any further adventure. My hosts took care of everything wonderfully and my train started back on time and I reached back safe and sound with some fond memories of the human spirit and nature from God's own country! Love you Kerala and dear Keralites!! Keep it up :-)