The Path That Spoke!

Last Year, I set myself a small target, to go on a walk. 

I walked through roughly 200 Kms of one of the worlds' most picturesque coastal landscapes, thanks to the opportunity of a lifetime given to me by the Divine Force and the support of my loved ones.

The Path I walked acted both as Guide and Mentor, speaking to me and giving me valuable Lessons All the way.

Be Thankful , Be Humble, Be Happy 

There Are No Destinations

The Journey Is The Destination

Have a Plan, Stick to It

Else Have a Plan B and Stick to It

Choose The Path Carefully
What Seems, May Not Be True

Keep On The Path , Stay The Course

If Its Easy Check If Correct

Shortcuts = High Price

Ups & Downs, Twists & Turns

-All Part Of The Journey

Push Yourself, How Else Will You Know Your Limits

Stop, Breathe , Feel Alive

Small Steps At A Time

Beyond The Fog There is Sunshine

Don't Stay in the Fog, Keep Moving

Let Fear Show You The Danger

Don't Let Fear Become The Danger

Right Shoes = Long Journey

Have Your Feet Firmly On The Ground

You Can Go A Long Way Only In Your Own Shoes

Tie Up Loose Ends While You Can

( You Might Trip On Them Later)

Set Big Targets, Set Achievable Targets

Success is A Great Motivator

Nothing is Achieved Alone
Be A Team
The Journey Is More Fun Together

MA: More Thank a Two Letter Word

MA one's Mother. (informal noun: ma; plural noun: mas , "I want my ma") 

Origin English MAMA ---> MA (early 19^th Century)

It’s been 2 years since I have touched a Scrabble Board and the main reason being that I cannot get myself to make more than a two letter word MA in my mind when I see the board or think of playing Scrabble.

My bond with my Mother over a game of scrabble was much more than just the game; it was about all the adjectives of all the Self Less Love, Care and Friendship that my Mother offered me since I was born and over the years. How I miss Scrabble MA!

If my MA was around and I made MA as a small 2 letter word on the board, my MA would be sure with her closed eyes that I have done this only for all the possible Triple Letter , Triple Word Scores  wanting to be first on the Points Table and no less, that’s how well my MA knew me. 

What would follow would be more of what she always did , give the ones she loved  her warmth and a bubble to be happy and smile. Whats a Points Table in comparison to happiness for your Son.

There are few things that don't remind me of you MA and Scrabble is just another wonderful way you have ensured that you make me smile whenever I make a word. 

I am sure you are also Smiling and Leading the Points Table wherever you are. 

Love you MA!

Super Woman!

A Tribute to My Mother and All The Women Behind The Soldier.

Jai Hind Saab 4 JCO 80 other Rank Hazir Hain Shriman!

Sorry Saab .....

Ek Fauji Wife/ Ma /Party Planner /Counselor/ Friend/ Accountant / Investment Banker / Real Estate Agent /Daughter/Daughter in Law/ Packer and Mover in Short Ek All In One Hazir Hain Shriman!!

The woman behind a warrior  the most unrecognised and unappreciated part of the fighting forces family (unless receiving a posthumous medal on behalf of her brave husband)

A Special Ops operative albeit without the Uniform or Medals.

She is trained in

Supply (Food on the table all the time at any time, for few or a whole regiment)

Logistics (Moving houses, Cities, Short travel, Long travel)

Survival Skills (Making a home out off nothing at all)

Medical Skills (Bruises,Stitches, Appendices, Fractures all routine)

Signals Expert (Short sweet letters, One minute Hello Roger and Over conversations)

Jungle Warfare (Keeping Children busy in unheard of scenarios)

Behind all the Battles and the Medals, behind all the Pomp and Pagentry....with complete focus and resolve be at sea level or high altitudes in barren lands or dense jungles a Faujis wife is a support and combat arm like no other. 

Any tribute one pays to these silent warriors and home makers is little.

I am proud to have had a Fauji mother..one who faced all odds with a smile.

Laughter The Only Medicine!

In memory of my Mum, my oldest girlfriend. Miss you dearly!

If God wanted to appoint a brand ambassador for laughter in this world, it would have been my mother, no doubt.

From the time I remember my mother would laugh and try to make others laugh with her irrespective of the situation.

There are few who knew her and do not remember her laughter.

I do not know when she attained this nirvana and how she would be able to hide the darkest of moments behind this laughter.


The roar of her laughter was no less than that of a powerful engine driving all around her.

What a wonderful way you have left for me to keep remembering you Ma, am sure wherever you are there's lots of  Laughter and a lot of warmth of your love.

The Unsolvable Mathematical Equation of our Nation

(Warning : Satire on the One Rank One Pension Demand.)

I am no mathematical genius and algebra with all its, x's, y's α's & β's was a nightmare even in my 9th standard.

So imagine the plight of our Bureaucrats who by all right consider their entrance exam as the last milestone before getting into the corridors of power and of course our Political class most of whom thought they would never need to know the A of Algebra and hence got into politics, when they have to come across such a complex formula of proving

OR ≠ OP as opposed to OR = OP.

The formula is very close to my heart , but come on even a child in the kinder garden can find an anomaly in this without referring to Google or some App on a smart device.

How can OR be equal to OP????

O=O and R=R so by logic only OR = OR and where the hell did this "P come from???? 

Has our million+ strong Armed Forces who shoulder such great responsibilities of guarding the nation in PEACE & WAR not even got their basics in English or Maths correct?

There are a few interesting theories being floated,  

Theory 1 : Maybe a close friendly neighbour whose existence depends on the alphabet "P" has brainwashed and conspired to make "P" an all important alphabet for our country as well.

Theory 2 : Maybe it is just the Armed Forces way of using alphabets, any one close to the Forces knows that they skip alphabets as a habit. I mean its is a rule for them to write, A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,J and conveniently skip I, so maybe they skipped R and wrote P instead.

Theory 3: The Armed Forces are used to using code, P is actually code for R and because they need the formula to be secret they have written it in its current form.


Theory 4: Just correct the formula by making OR = O {(P-Q)=R}

With all the bright minds at work the list of theories is getting longer, a suggestion to ask the Armed Forces the answer to the formula directly has been denied as it is considered as grave treason and would involve meddling in affairs of national security.

The policy makers assure the Armed Forces of a solution soon, they are considering investing in a supercomputer to be made locally for an undisclosed amount of money , they cant disclose the sum as it maybe many times the sum needed for OROP itself, they however are sure that it will take care of all further such anomalies in algebraic equations thrown at them.

I just hope the policy makers have ordered enough cooling fans as well, no not for their new supercomputer, but for the thousands of Veterans' whose voices are being ignored and needless to say the temperature is rising very fast.!!

Jai Hind!

भारत माता तेरी कसम, तेरे रक्षक रहेंगे हम

कोई दुश्मन कभी अगर भूले से भी देखले इधर

दीवारें हम बनेंगे माँ ,तलवारें हम बनेंगे माँ

छू ले तुझको किसमें है दम !

वन्दे मातरम , वन्दे मातरम !! 

(Song at the IMA)

ShoorVeer!

Shoorveer! (: बहादुर, साहसी). brave { adj. }.

This title was bestowed upon me by a wise old man. It felt nice to have been knighted gave me a sense of belonging in an alien land.

Over the years I formed a silent bond with the wise old man as he showed me how it was to age with grace, keeping his mind busy and body active till the moment he could.

Sharing his experiences, memories and thoughts without being imposing or judgmental. His witty one liners would provide encouragement and motivation when needed and kept our spirits high.

Cheers to your wonderful life and legacy, you will be celebrated and missed by this Shoorveer forever....and the atmosphere of your wonderful painting says it all.

The Grand Shave!

Last night my wife noticed her grandfather sport an uneven shave. One would imagine that @ the age of 99 and a few months away from his centenary, this would not matter!

However my better half's recent and not so recent exposure to military life has honed her inspection skills (also the fact that my dad shaves every day at 4:30 am be sun,rain,storm, I get away as I have her thinking of me as of one of the special forces kind and sporting a stubble every now and then)

Why not a clean shave? Whats the matter? A General inspecting his men would have missed out on noticing but not my better half.

But sharp that he is @ 99 , he softly explained that Philips had let him down. They apparently have not yet perfected the electric shaver with heads that can outlive him, (yes Philips you have 99 old users ,kindly inform your R&D team at the earliest)

In the back of his mind, he was probably calculating the amount of money he has spent shaving till date or thinking why he does not have at least a board position or a say in R&D in any of shaving industry majors with his experience of the perfect shave? Then there is the whole after shave market!!

Anyway the General was quick to react and special forces are not special without skills, Amazon it was , a quick confirmation by the end user to a model and on its way is a new Philips Electric Shaver  (How i wish an army was actually able to react and acquire inventory so quick with end user approval).

And it is with admiration that I got out of bed this morning, having hope that even @ 99 one can look forward to the day and in the case of the Good Old Chap , a GRAND SHAVE!

God Speed Amazon, this is one delivery I hope you don't delay.

"Tender" Me Slow!

"TENDER" : 
Adjective : Easily chewed or cut
Noun: A formal offer, as a written offer to contract goods or services at a specified cost or rate; a bid.

"Tender" is a word i am being reintroduced to time and again in my line of business as days go by. 

I do not understand how a word meaning easily chewed or cut can be used in the commercial sphere as a legal term to find the best vendor  for purchase of supplies or services.

I presume the person who coined the term belonged from a culinary background ...he or she probably thought that the best way to get the desired result to any activity was just to cook the vendor on a slow fire..till he was TENDER enough to be served, just like a nice tender chicken.
.
The whole process of Tender Notices, EMD's, Technical Specifications, Financial Bids....etc, resemble a bouquet of spices a chef would use to prepare a marinade.

The Negotiations,Formalities,Re-negotiations, The movement of the file form here to there... the endless wait ..imitate the chef grilling his dish on a slow fire waiting for just the right tenderness in it before being served.

The only thing common in both, the Cooking and the "Tender" process, is the end, the vendor eventually is left  resembling a pile of bones.... just the way a Chef would expect one of his tenderly cooked chicken dishes at the end of a meal.

Mother!

Just read this thought provoking post on facebook and thought it would be good to make it part of my blog:

In a mother's womb were two babies. One asked the other: "Do you believe in life after delivery?"

The other replies, "why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.

"Nonsense," says the other. "There is no life after delivery.

What would that life be?"

"I don't know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths."

The other says "This is absurd! Walking is impossible. And eat with our mouths? Ridiculous. The umbilical cord supplies nutrition. Life after delivery is to be excluded. The umbilical cord is too short."

"I think there is something and maybe it's different than it is here." the other replies,

"No one has ever come back from there. Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery it is nothing but darkness and anxiety and it takes us nowhere."

"Well, I don't know," says the other, "but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us." "Mother??" You believe in mother? Where is she now? "

"She is all around us. It is in her that we live. Without her there would not be this world."

"I don't see her, so it's only logical that she doesn't exist."

To which the other replied, "sometimes when you're in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her." 

I believe there is a reality after delivery and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality....

Chatri Mata Ki Jai!!

Chatri Mata Ki Jai!! (Hail To The Goddess Of The Parachute) , a cry no stranger to the bravest of the Indian Army, The Paras, while they take a leap of faith from heights into the totally unknown leaving the deafining noise of the jump bay casued by the roaring of the aircraft and the wind.

They leap into the unknown with relative ease time and again in day and at night,  keeping their faith in both thier training and the almighty parachute Goddess.

 

In my life, I too have also taken a few leaps. Some solo, some in tandem , some  with actual parachutes and some with invisible ones, always keeping the faith in the parachute Goddess.

 

Life has given me excellent tandem buddies, in my family and friends and the Goddess has been kind to keep opening my parachute ensuring a soft landing always, be it from the heights of the sky or for descions I take while on ground.

 

So, Charti Mata Ki Jai! & Keeping the Faith!

 

I Have A Dream!!

Wonderful lyrics mirroring some of my feelings !! Thanks ABBA for a wonderful Song:-

 

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream
*Song Released 1979 : Album /  Take a Chance On Me 

Vajra Prahar!

Vajra (Devanagari: वज्र): is a Sanskrit word meaning both thunderbolt and diamond. As a material device, the vajra is a ritual object, a short metal weapon that originates from India and has the symbolic nature of a diamond (it can cut any substance but not be cut itself) and that of the thunderbolt (irresistible force).

Prahar (Devanagari:प्रहार): Strike / Blow / Final Attack.

As one can imagine if an organisation which individually or jointly needs to execute a plan with the swiftness of Vajra and a defeating Prahar to their competition they must be the best in all possible departments, with  planning, training and absolute resolve in team and leadership.

 

There is however one organisation which must go the further mile and be ready for the extraordinary in all aspects , this is the military.

 

For all their planning , training and agility they must also be prepared for the unknown. A quote by General Ludwig Beck, Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II    "Remember, this is a military operation. Nothing ever goes according to plan.",made famous by the movie Valkyrie (2008), is a reality check of the uncertainties faced in any military operation.
 

For me the military deserves a special commendation for being able to overcome these uncertainties and acheive the impossible at times.

This also makes me believe however chaotic a military plan may appear to be , there's always is a plan!! and am sure they "love it when a plan comes together!!" - (Quote by Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith, fictional character in the 1980s action/adventure television series The A-Team)

The Military M.I Room!!

Have been off the blog radar for exactly 11 months now, far long from what I would have liked. The reason for being incommunicado on the blog has been more conscious. I would have liked to shoot off a few now and then but thought best that I reflect before I write. These last 11 months have been filled with highs and lows , good times and more recently some untimely events , scars of which will heal slowly only with time.

The events off late  however have been reminding me of the phase of my life in which I was an Army Brat, carefree and more important never worried about being ill, be it broken bones, wounds, the flu or illness with names we couldn't pronounce.

 



Indian Naval Hospital Ship Ashvini : My Birth Place

 I guess for me the comfort of the M.I room being so close to home, where ever that was, along with the invisible but protective layer of belonging to the Fauji Family did the magic.

In addition ,I was born in a Military Hospital, all my teenage broken bones were mended there, I got my chin stitched in the middle of the night there after bleeding for a couple of hours and sleeping sound until my parents arrived and discovered the new extreme sport of  powder skating that I had invented.

We could walk in any time, and if we were accompanied by my dad we would first get some gleaming salutes which at times would make me forget why we were there in the first place. My mother who needed constant medical care, would just walk in and walk out of the M.I room, no money , no insurance, just a name, rank and number.

Of course all of this was thanks to the Armed Forces Medical Services who silently with care and at times brutally (I remember a Colonel Surgeon pressing my broken toe as though I was an enemy and was going to sing some classified information to him due to the pain, this at the age of 11) had the onus of getting us in shape. 

There were lows as well , the unending lines, the packed wards, the food (God forbid you got admitted), the medical category committees the Officers dreaded as it could ruin their career and at times vital machines were out of service. But all in all never was there doubt of recovery , cause in the end somehow you knew that they would put you back on track.

Whether an Officer, an Other Rank or just family they just wanted you to be out in SHAPE1, by hook or by crook!!

The Alchemist Effect

I do not recall how or when I first read Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist".

However, in true tribute to the motto of the book, "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.", it did land into my hand many years ago and I did read it. Just like I find myself typing out this blog.

A few years ago, the universe did conspire again and I had the opportunity to see Santigo on stage thanks to the wonderful adaptation by Ashvin Gidwani.

These brief encounters with Santiago and the Alchemist remind me how lucky i am to be able to follow my heart and find what I seek. And even though many a times I drift aimlessly without direction , I must learn to read the omens of my environment as the wise Alchemist taught Santiago once and I should always remember that the universe never stops conspiring. 

Lest I Forget!

"Lest We Forget a phrase  from  "Recessional", a poem  by Rudyard Kipling, which was later passed into common usage after WW I  across the British Commonwealth,especially becoming linked with Rememberence Day observations.

The phrase became a plea not to forget past sacrifices made and is often found as the only wording on many war memorials and epitaphs.

Over the last week, during India's Independence Day Celebrations, we saw a great amount of media coverage on our brave men and women in uniform, bringing out their stories of great scarifies and bravery.

I am glad that the media does cover these stories albeit only as seasonal as the winter in Mumbai. I wish that we as individuals would remember this phrase and the feeling behind it more often even in our personal units.

On one hand I remember the brave men and women in uniform who guard my sense of safety and on the other, as the phases of my life change, easy it becomes for me to forget the so many others, out of uniform, without whose sacrifices my today would not be possible.....so, "Lest I Forget".

Two Choices

Am sure that almost all of us receive a lot of worldly wisdom in our email  inbox everyday.

I, usually having gone through them ,either instantly hit delete or the ones that are spared of my keyboard guillotine get neatly  filed and labeled under some folder, only to be forgotten among the terabytes of data I tend to collect.

However, the filing routine of my better half is a bit more complex, her email inbox is a sea of information from all corners of the world.

This habit of hers, to keep emails all in one place (part thanks to Larry & Sergey @ Google and part to our planning foresight of subcribing to almost umlimited space for our personal email account), has kept me baffled to say the least. More so, as she is able to sift through them and get the one she wants in an instant.

However one fine day,  me being me, I suggested that she needed to clean up her inbox and if she was having trouble clearing up, I could offer her the services of my experienced keyboard guillotine along with my algorithm for filing and labeling.

As we got to work mail by mail , we happened to open one and read it aloud. It was an email relating to positive attitude titled "TWO CHOICES" ( am sure most of my readers would have got this in thier inbox as well).

The email narrated the story of a man named Jerry and his optimism/postitive attitude which enabled him to make the better of the two choices he had in any situation day after day. Right from the moment when he woke up, and could choose either to be in a good mood or in a bad mood, to the more critical situations he came across.

Having read the email and being done with the task on hand, we got to our routines as usual.

Though simple, the email left its mark in my grey matter and even though at times I still end up reacting to situations in life instead of making a choice like Jerry, I've learned that life will give me another chance to make a choice....soon enough after i have reacted.

Operation:Dinner Out!

Operation Dinner Out is a GO!! This classic line used by Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) to activate a rouge Plan B to rescue Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) from a prison in China in the movie Spy Game (2001) has been used by my friends and me many times for its utter 'suavity'. 

The term, however, has taken up a completely realistic meaning in my immediate surrounding over the last few years where my veteran mother literally has to execute any outing more like a commando style operation due to circumstances thrust upon her and which are beyond her control.

She faces the challenges of the operation with guts and courage along with my dad, a great "buddy" to have by her side.

Keeping in mind the ground realities of such military operations, the pair are rarely able to rely on support from any other units and have only each other to cover all angles of the operation.

And as if it were not enough to have survived through the many battles in life, most of which remain unimaginable to a rookie like me, the already distinguished veterans continue to face challenge after challenge keeping their heads held up high and understanding that life unlike an army, is not offering them a retirement age. 

For me as a rookie, I can only salute them, while I try to prepare myself along with my own buddy to face such missions in the future..with both fright and prayer.

A Day @ The Book Store

21st June 2011

It had been a while since I had read a book, apart from the volumes of virtual reading on the net and the Garfield Strip paperbacks which had me in splits for a couple of weeks while I kept going back to them again and again.

Wanting to get down to some reading and having narrowed down to make my next read on management or business, I glanced down the rows of books lining the section.  


My eyes immediately went on one of my all time favorites "The Goal" by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, I thought of who had borrowed it from me last as I could not place it in my current set of possessions. 


I picked it up for a glance and immediately thought that I might as well get myself a new copy of it anyway and probably also coax my better half in life and business to read it.

Having done that, my eyes went on a book sitting right next to it, "LOOSE" ...The Future of Business is Letting Go: How to Break the Rules of Business.

A glance through the book and I was convinced that it was the one I was going to restart my reading habit with.

Am almost through with the book and content with my choice, am looking forward to my next visit to the bookstore for some more reads.

Wildernest! A Silent Holiday with Dad.

February 2011

The Adventure Never Stops..Dad at the edge of the infinity pool

Wildernest is a tranquil eco-resort which we knew for a while now but was explored by me and a couple of close friends only a few months ago over New Year.

The rustic resort nestled in the Swapnagandha valley, amidst thick expanse of forest tracts at 800 meters above sea level, overlooking the  Vazra falls and the entire panoramic view of Goa.


The resort naturally and spontaneously became an ideal choice for an impromptu getaway for my dad and me again this  February.

Cloud 9...The Sun Set Bar

My dad, an avid lover of nature, was sure to appreciate the wild beauty of this resort. As for me, it is always great to be able to take such frequent breaks and explore things off the beaten track.

The chilled fresh water of the infinity pool made for a challenging but refreshing plunge.

Not too much was said in words during our stay there, we just absorbed and soaked in the serenity and tranquility that was around us.

Not much was needed to be said. The silence spoke….and still speaks.

Gurus In Our Lives.

Nuggests of wisdom come to us from the most unexpected of sources writes Jasjit Mansingh 



"Mansingh Aunty is a dear family friend and her writings have been inspiring from time to time. She was aslo kind enough to let me use a PC with wordstar on it more than 2 decades ago... my first clicks on a keyboard..."


In the 11th Canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam, three chapters are devoted to the gurus in our lives. In all, 24 are listed and from each there is learning, if we are open to it. Let the world be your teacher. From the earth, learn patience and forbearance. The earth does not retaliate nor get angry — and we constantly abuse her. The mountains and trees serve others. 


Learn that working for the welfare of the larger community is a path far superior to garnering benefits purely for self-interest; or worse, for hoarding such benefits. Be generous. Share your good fortune. Be like the wind, move freely, but do not get attached to any specific nor be tainted by any association. Be free. Just flow.


Python Wisdom
My personal favourite is the ajgar, the python, low on the ladder of evolution. It tackles the vicissitudes of life with a kind of evolved detachment: it accepts what comes its way and is content. 

Contentment, incidentally, is accepted as an important virtue in the scriptures in the search for happiness. The python has the staying power to remain hungry without giving in to a frenzy of activity to satisfy its appetite. 

I see the ajgar as a wise conservationist who demands little from the earth and conserves maximum energy because, ultimately, the Universe does provide. 

It may not be what you desire and expect but rather what you deserve dictated by your own actions and governed by its own inscrutable laws. This is an important lesson for the I-want-more and I-want-it-now generation driven by many kinds of appetites. 

Gateways To Hell
The three gateways to Hell (read: a state of unhappiness) are Anger, Lust and Greed, the last being the ruling deity of our times. Looking back over the last ten years of my life I become aware of the many pitfalls I have avoided even without the advantage of studying the scriptures. An innate wisdom exists. 

Let me quote an extract from my enquiry into life and death, which was published then. I pick the bit where Ilya, my granddaughter, taught me about anger. She was three years old, and her mother, my daughter, Oona, was 33 when they both died in 1996. 

“How much Ilya taught me. ‘Ham ko vilyu na bolna.’ It puzzled me for a long time. Was Vilyu a character we had met in a story and she didn’t want to hear about him again? No. There was no Vilyu in any of the Winnie the Pooh stories we read, certainly none in the Jungle Book. 

I broke it up into syllable: vil yu. Of course! She meant ‘Will you’, the imperative I tended to use when I was impatient. “Will you hurry up, please!” Or, “Will you open your mouth!” when she was taking forever to finish her food. “Don’t say ‘Will you…’ to me” is what she meant.” Impatience, the second cousin of Anger! It ranks on par with Greed, both fuelled by insatiable desire, stoked by frustration. 

My mother, who could not see any ‘reason’ why the young ones had to go, also read anger in me in the years when she had to come to terms with the fact that she could no longer live alone, independently, any more. I quote again: “She realised that as an early octogenarian but didn’t quite accept it. I tended to be impatient with her too. I have become much more patient now. I am, in fact, learning a measure of equanimity.” 

Love Others Too
The Universe does, indeed, provide. The household seemed depleted but there was another mother-and-daughter in place — my maid from Jharkhand and Raveena, her young daughter, Ilya’s in-house sibling. I quote again from what I wrote ten years ago: “And Raveena, too, is teaching me. If I am peremptory, she will put on her most winning smile, and say, ‘Ham ko pyar se bolo na.’ I have then to repeat it appropriately, lovingly, and I get immediate compliance.” Why should love be limited only to kin?

In the Guru Granth Sahib it is said there is no ‘anhoni’: that whatever happens, however dreadful and unfortunate it may seem, is meant to happen — at the time and in the circumstance of its happening in accordance with the larger scheme of the cosmic plan. 

Ten years down, I have ceased questioning and my understanding grows. I have learned to live in the present and every moment is perfect. 


(The Speaking Tree July 25 2010) www.speakingtree.in/public/view-article/Gurus-In-Our-Lives