Aisa kyun?

That’s right.

Hindu religious text “Garuda Purana” originally written by Vedavyas likely in 900 CE, talks in detail about what happens after we die

Finally it was new year

1st of January, 2020

At my home it’s supposed to be new dresses and temples and blessings.

We look forward to living with redeemed energy and love.

 

We did this time too, but very differently.

My grandfather’s blessings brought all our family members from different corners of the world together, something he always wished for.

Seeing us that way would have made his soul reach heaven peacefully.

 

This time on NYE, around 20 of us were sitting in a room in chilling cold,

listening to a religious scripture called “Garuda Purana“.

We had invited a learned person to read it out to all of us as we had little knowledge of it.

 

Note: People say Garuda purana should not be kept or read at home. It is only read on specific occasions. So if you are wondering to pick it up, kindly consult your elders.

 

Garuda is a bird who has a mix of Eagle and Human features and is the vehicle of Lord Vishnu. Sometimes believed to be the messenger between God and humans.

Garuda purana is based on the conversation between Lord Vishnu and Garuda.

 

Since it’s very vast, Guruji only read out the 16 chapters that were concerned with us at that point of time.

It went on for 4 days, part by part, and with every next page he turned, he told us about topics I never knew were mentioned in any Hindu religious text.

 

It was crazy but it made sense too.

It talks about what happens after we die.

 

It answers questions like-

Where do we go after we die?

Why do we go there?

How does hell look like?

How can we avoid hell?

Who comes to fetch our soul from our body after we die? And what do they look like?

Why are we born?

Why do we suffer?

Why can anyone never escape from their Karma?

 

Those who are happy, why are they happy?

What deeds lead to which form of life if one is reborn?

Why does a newborn baby cry when it comes out from its mother’s womb?

What procedures should be followed by the family members of the person who has died so that his soul can attain peace?

 

It tells us how powerful is God’s name. (Very)

This and so much more.

 

I don’t know if what’s written is real and if we can trust it. But it exists. It is written by Vedavyas. It may have been a part of the ‘whisper game’ while on its way to us, but that’s surely a long time and some change is acceptable.

 

In summary – God tells Garuda that if a man does good deeds, avoids doing bad deeds, helps people who are in need and takes God’s name then He will take care of the rest.

Also Karma is inescapable.

 

Have a good day! 🙂

This is what I sat and wrote about by the River…

I get ready
I choose my finest dress
I step into pencils
And click out of my address

To another,
hosting a party in through the big, red gate
I do like red,
But will have to excuse this date.

I cross the big gate and walk towards the river
Rubbing the blue robe on the street all through the way
I can’t walk fast so shall I rather try to run?
So that I break them heels to make an excuse to throw them away?

I reach halfway, still clicking on the ground
It’s getting dark, I see fewer people around
It’s good because that is what I would like for tonight
Just me, a pen-a paper, watching the flowing river in the moonlight.

I finally reach the banks, it must be cold
Cause’ the only folks I see, they shiver
My skin doesn’t move, not an inch
As I stand there straight, looking right into the river

I climb downstairs, now I am closer
Just a few steps and my hands will be wet
It’s the Ganges and we worship it first with its water in our hands
Before our feet inside it we set.

Now it’s silent, I can’t hear a soul
Only the water, flowing
Touching my soul.

I sit,
I want to stay there
Till the color of my robe matches the color of the sky
Till when there are plenty of sparkles
shining out of my eyes.

I want to sit by the river
And think of the times
When I was there barefoot
And my clothes didn’t shine
When dad would push me in
Making a big, thunderous sound!
But instead of sailing,
My ship would drown!

I want to sit by the river
And think of how
He would catch hold of me
And pull me out somehow

“Ready for another push?”
He wouldn’t ask, I wouldn’t allow.
Next moment, I would be in the water again,
Struggling to swim somehow!

I want to lie by the river
And think about you
About the similar peace
That I would get with you…

I want to touch the river
As if it was you
I will swim through it tonight thinking it was you
I want to hold it and kiss it thinking it was you
But damn!
It would slip out of hands as if it was really you!

I want to walk by the river
Thinking of my friends
My priceless possessions,
My everlasting trends
My babies, my parents
My strength, my ears
With whom I have shared all my laughter,
My fears.

I will not waste a second thinking about the people who left
They don’t matter anymore, not because they left
But the ones who managed to stay even after they left
Are the people I will sit and smile about by the river…

I will think about the relations that lived
Will not whine about the ones whom life dismissed
But those which fell off weak even after I built them for years
Are the ones I will sit and cry about by the river…

I will wipe off my tears,
When it’s the break of dawn I see,
Now I will let go of the gold
And let go of the heels

I will hide them
And pretend as if I lost them in the dark!
Now I am barefoot again and suddenly my eyes have a spark!

I am waiting,
Maybe dad would come and push me back into the river?
Wondering if now he would ask for permission since we are older?
Hoping this time, I will sail through the river
Explore a direction I had been to never.
Hoping I will find my way back home, like ever
To the people we call as family, or rather call them forever?

I will not forget to think about the people I love
Whom I couldn’t have with me, forever?
Whom I dream about every day,
For whom I could get locked up in a cellar

Whom I wish get everything they ever want in their life
Love, success, compassion in their life
Whom I could give up my dreams for,
Let alone my life
These are the people I will sit and Pray for by the river
These are all the people I will sit and write about by the River…

Alone on the top

I climb the stairs one by one
Losing my people as I come
Closer to the top
Don’t know what have I become
Is it alright?

At night I look out of my window to see
A peaceful street ever-so-lonely
Much less than my life I bet
Tricked by dreams and debts.

The streetlight suddenly shimmers and I look again outside
A few people just passed by, out of my sight
It’s about to rain and before the night starts getting wet
I quickly grab my phone and switch on the internet.

I position the camera to capture the sky
But since too tired and sick of posting stuff online
So I just capture it and print it and write this story on it’s behind

That when I leave it and someone gets it,
They have my words on their mind.
On their lips, in their hearts|
A little moment I’ll define.
This moment of theirs particularly to me I’ll confine.

I’ll tell them it’s okay to be alone
Well at least for sometime
And that life is huge and people affluent
Surely some good company you’ll find!

Don’t just adjust for anything just cause everything else seems undefined
Define it,
Give it words
Style It
Call the birds
Tell them to tell the world
At the break of dawn
About it.

That’s about it. I guess I am done for tonight.

The magic

So yet another story? 🙂

Changes are constant. That we have all seen and heard and contributed to.

My friend and colleague who used to sit right next to me moved to a different project and had to shift her cubicle two floors below. While leaving for home yesterday I saw her collecting her stuff and her machines were being transferred.

“So from tomorrow new cubicle?”

“Yeaa”, she smiled.

We said our goodbyes and “see you again”s and I left for home.

A few months ago:

Another colleague had gifted us both an idol of Lord Ganesha each. Happy to receive one of the most beautiful gifts ever, I took Him home and kept it along with my other treasured stuff.

But my friend didn’t take Him home and kept it on the right end of her table. Just beside the metal slab that separates my desk from hers.

I remember when I was small my parents wouldn’t take me so often to the movies and being a movie-lover, I would wait for all the good ones to be telecast-ed on the T.V. Once they had put this cute movie called, “Oh my Friend Ganesha” and since Ganesha being my friend, so every day I would come to office, walk to my desk and wish Him a “good morning” first thing before taking my seat.

Few months later it became a habit, a good habit which brought me smile every day.

Today:

While I was entering my office,

“Okay so she would have been gone by now and so her stuff, and now whom am I gonna greet and wish the first thing in the morning”.

I reached near to her cubicle after which was mine. As expected, her desk was empty, the chairs besides were also empty, no one had yet come.

“I miss you Ganesh ji”, I quietly say in my mind.

I come a little forward to keep my bag on my chair and guess what!

He was right there.

On my desk.

She kept Him on my table while leaving.

(I would have written she left Him on my table, but I guess no one gets to leave him, all we get is to keep him.)

So yes, I am happy!

She might come tomorrow and take it with her but for today, I say let’s just cherish the magic. 🙂

Picture credit: https://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/the-magic/

Give Love, get love. Simple! :)

It’s 6 in the evening.

I come home after work, change and sit in the living room to have snacks. For company I tune in some random channel on the T.V.

Guess which movie is being telecasted?

“The Notebook”

 

My over-protective inner self: “Nikita change it. It ain’t good for ya..”

So I try to change the channel but nothing else seems to be coming and the movie had just started so that was the happy part going on, for the moment.

My inviting-vulnerabilities inner self: “What will I lose? Let me just watch it till I finish the snacks. Things are different now, maybe it wouldn’t affect me so much!”

I had first seen this movie before 4 years and with the over sensitive being that I am, I was disturbed for days, especially after knowing that a part of that stuff was real.

(Notebook is a romantic novel based on a True Story written by Nicholas Sparks in 1996, inspired by his wife’s grandparents who had been married for more than 60 sixty years when he met them.) (Source: Google)

In no time 60 minutes pass by and my roommate comes home. I am so glad that she doesn’t sit and talk with me and straight away heads towards the room. I need my space so that I can do whatever I want without being stared at.

But what is it that I want to do at the moment?

 

I cry as Martha Shaw comes in. As everyday, willingly of course, she is invited and yet rejected, loved and yet made to feel small.

When Noah takes Allie on the boat, which he built himself, and later takes her to the house, which again, he built himself.

As they sit in THE Room drinking beer and the way he looks at her.

As Allie sits there naked and paints.

When her mom drives her to this construction site and tells her that she truly loves her father but how once she was madly in love with that guy who is still working at that site and how her life could have been different if she had tried a little harder.

When Allie reads his letters sitting in the car. As they fight only to come back together. All the freakin’ time. Every time.

How they grow old together, how they die TOGETHER. Even being so old when they can hardly stand still without support, how they still kissed with that holy intense love.

I mean that’s too much to handle with closed lips so I open my mouth and cry.
And just then my roommate comes out of the room!

My conscious inner-self: “Embarrassing!! Nikita stop crying now.”

My brain and heart and other organs: “Well it’s too late now for that!”

So I keep crying no matter what and my eyes swell and mean while my roommate tries her best to divert my mind.

She cracks jokes, makes me laugh for a second only to lose me again to the movie in the next.
In a few minutes the movie gets over.
I get up, go to wash my face.

My solicitous inner self: “Nikita she tried so hard to make you laugh when you were tearing up on that movie. That was really sweet of her.”

Recently a bee had stung me on my finger and the whole area had swelled up like a potato! It was really painful and I had thought of sleeping hungry or else ordering from outside that day.

But situation’s changed now, so with that swollen hand I go to cook.

Me: “Had dinner?”

My roommate: “No.. too tired to cook!”

Me: “Okay, you wanna have Uthapam?”

My roommate: “Yea even I was wondering maybe we could order something from outside.”

Me: “Don’t even worry! I’ll prepare it. Would you like to have?”
“ukw, Better have it, it’ll be nice I promise!”

And we sleep with full stomachs.

“Give love, get love”. Simple! 🙂 🙂

 
Picture credit : Google

You

I may be very successful in my life and get everything I want… but my life will only be complete if I am successful in giving you everything that you want.

Spreading love

Bangalore, February, 2018

Just like the wind, clouds and our planets, Winter keeps moving too.

It came to Bangalore in the early days of December. It has stayed here for quite a while now and is finally moving away.

These days the Sun doesn’t forget to knock my window early in the morning and I am happy that its touch feels better than my alarm. I sleep alone and cover my face with the blanket anyways!

I remember a few years back I was a different person. I couldn’t live alone and needed my parents for everything. I felt suffocated if I covered my face while sleeping. I wouldn’t sleep without a night lamp. But now I prefer pitch darkness. I changed.

 

My home changed too, quite a few times actually.

Year 2000, my family and I move to a new house, mom and dad turn it into a beautiful home, balcony, garden, flowers, butterflies, colors. Much love.

Year 2013, I move a thousand miles away from home, to Chennai, to my grandparent’s place to study further.

Year 2013, my grandma becomes my mother and her house my home.

My grandpa cooks for me, packs me lunch boxes, grandma takes care of me when I am sick (which happened very rarely, thanks to her again), gets me Wifi, buys me new clothes on festivals, even though she never buys for herself, takes me to temples, teaches me Sanskrit shlokas, good values. Much love.

Year 2017, my parents move to a new home.

I move to Bangalore to work and stay at a hotel over night.

I stay at another hotel for the next 15 days.

I stay as a paying guest for the next 15 days (hated it).

August, I move to a flat. Find friends who turn it into a beautiful place to live in. We cook, wash, clean, no T.V so we talk for hours, help and get helped. Much love.

 

Nothing is constant and my people moved.

I moved.

Year 2018, February 15,

I shift to another flat. The TV makes me feel at home, if not the people. It’s just been 2 days and I barely know them. First night in the house and I dream about being posted to France. No doubt I wake up excited.

“This place might be good for my dreams at least”, I wonder.

 

Why I wrote this blog was not to mention my timeline but to record these little gestures of love I received, so that I don’t forget them, ever.
February 14^th I am cleaning out my closet and housemaid comes. She knocks everyday by 7:30 in the morning.

It had been exactly 2 months since we had hired her and one month since my old flat mates moved out and new ones came, only physically replacing them.

I handed her salary in her hands.

“Aunty, I am leaving today evening, I am moving to another place…”

 

She fell out of words.

So did I.

I used to sleep on a thin mattress on the floor and every morning I would fold it up, collect the stuff lying here and there on the floor and make the room ready for her to clean. So she liked to clean my room. She would clean my vessels at times even though i didn’t pay her for that. She reciprocated the gesture I guess.

“What Madam, u also leaving.. even other two Madams left.. am I supposed to leave too?”

“No you stay, I have told the new girls to pay you timely.”

“I am gonna charge extra from them.. their friends make the washroom really dirty.. it takes more effort!”

 

I smile. I know whatever she said was true and she was a nice lady.

She speaks Kannada but manages with broken Hindi with me.

“No no… how much we are paying for you is fine Aunty.. .”

She smiles and tries to convince me but stops in middle and resumes her work.

 

A few minutes later, she calls out for me telling me that she was going…

And I feel empty.

After my friends left there was only this lady and now she won’t be there too. I wont be there too.. what about my home. Will it miss all of us after we leave? These windows and the balcony and the shower, would they feel empty too?

Idk.

“Madam..what Madam..you also going now..”, she repeats with a heavy heart.

“I am in the same society.. just another flat..”

Her face lights up.

“yea..the condition of this place is not good..better you are going.. if u need a maid there call me.. hope we will see each other!”

 

She has tears in her eyes and smile on her lips.

I tell her bye and get ready for office. She leaves for the day.

It’s hard to forget her face. So Much love.

 

Next,

I call my mom and tell her that I have finally moved to the new place and she is stressed out.

“I don’t like you moving here and there all by yourself! There is no one there how do you manage? I couldn’t have done that if I was in your place.”

I am sure she could have. Just like I did. Like everybody else does. Situations always come along with the strength to tackle them.

 

I wish I could tell her about all the love I received on the way, at all the places I took a halt at.

When during vacations I am going back to meet my family, the conversation goes on like this,

My Mom: “Where are you right now?”

Me: I am at home, still packing.

Mom: “When will u reach home?”

Me: I’ll start from home at 1.. I’ll reach home by 6 in the evening! See you soon!

Bye for now! 🙂

 

I am a girl. And that has made all the difference.

I have longed to see the light of the night

To see the stars, not from my terrace but from a friend’s

Have longed to own a bike of my own and go out alone

But they say they care, and so they cage me!

Well, I am sorry but that does enrage me!

 

If they see me out with other guys at an odd hour,

They suddenly possess their J.Ds and start judging from afar.

Please, people, get a life of your own

Stop judging and let me have a life of my own!

I am done listening to what to do and where not to go.

I am done being judged on what I wore…

 

Saturday night has always been a beautiful dream,

which cannot come true for me.

Unless I marry of course,

To another cage.

Better let me die happy if that’s the case

Or let me live in peace and stop the chase

 

Please bring down the cameras that I feel around me

Please shut those eyes, that I feel around me

Eyes, waiting to judge me for having my Saturday night

Eyes waiting to suck all the peace out of my life

 

I have long forgotten how to dance in front of a crowd, am I shy or made to feel ashamed?

I could do it when I was a child

But now I am not a kid anymore, I am a girl.

And that has made all the difference.