Titbits from Mom..

Mom said something brilliant the other day which I thought I should share with u guys...

It was a wednesday morning and I decided not to go to work so I could sit at home and work on the 27 Oct course (send ppl pls!). I was quite light on work and my senior was out of town so it wouldn't really affect anything or anyone if I had stayed home. Then suddenly while having breakfast I remembered that I had called for a team meeting in office at 5:30 pm and that bunking it would not be appropriate. So I told mom I would go to work post lunch. The morning went by quite swiftly and after having a sumptious lunch, I started lazing around on the sofa. Then mom came into the drawing room and said "Aren't you going to office?" I looked at her very lazily and said, "No, I think I'll just chill at home." She looked straight at me and said, "Pooja, where's your integrity?" I was taken aback. Suddenly all the sleep was gone from my eyes and I sat up straight. I looked right back at her and said, "What do you mean, where's my integrity??!!" I was clearly offended. Where did integrity come into the picture here?? She repeated, "Yea, where's your integrity?" Her statement really puzzled me. I honestly couldn't understand the connection between not going to work and my integrity!! So I asked her, "What do you mean by integrity?" I knew it was a tough question to answer! If most people were asked to define the work 'integrity', they would say "it means being just and honest". That was my perception of the word too! But the answer mom gave me hit me straight in the heart. She said, "It means being honest to yourself even when no one is looking!" Inside my head went "WOW!!!" it was as if the universe had just revealed one of its greatest secrets to me. Suddenly, all the years that I had spent in ignorance of this knowledge came flashing to me and I felt a pinch inside me. I looked at her helplessly and said, "I didn't know this... what are you doing telling me this now?? You're supposed to tell me this when I'm 10 years old!!!" She said, "I thought you knew!" :)

Well...better late than never!

Wish you all a very Happy Diwali and may we all spend the New Year living in integrity!!

Enjoy your weekend :) Jai Gurudev!

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Another end to another celebration. Truly, every celebration completes!

This year’s Ganesh celebration was more of a breather which brought back some love in my life amidst difficult times. It made me want to be happy like a child again. I remember when I was much younger, I used to live in a joint family and we would have Ganpati home every year. Then we would laugh and sing and dance and celebrate for 10 days and after He was gone, we would really miss Him so much. So a couple of months later, we would do a replay of the festival where one of us (cousins) would become Lord Ganesha and the others would invite people over from the building for darshan. As curious visitors stood before the idol pretending to pray, a ‘modak’ would magically manifest itself in the idol’s hand and that would be the talk of the evening! Of course, on the few occasions that the ‘idol’ couldn’t sit still and needed to scratch, the darshan line would suddenly be stopped under the pretext of a really important secret puja that was being done. Elaborate 'prasad' and yummy 'panchamrut' was served after a rather amusing darshan was over! :)

So this year too we had two Lord Ganeshas…..

The second one chickened out when we took it for visarjan and chose to join the immersion team instead! :)

Being with Yashvi reminds me of how we were all so innocent and happy that nothing really mattered. And now that I am older and walking this path with His Holiness, it feels like I am on a journey back to innocence but one that comes along with strength and maturity. The journey seems really long and I don’t know what awaits me but I am holding on real tight and I know it will complete.

In the meanwhile, here’s to many more celebrations!!

Jai Gurudev!

p.s. This year mom lost her marbles!… she thought she’d give Ganu a sponge bath (yeah, I don’t know what she was thinking!) and then realized it was not such a smart thing to do when the paint on his left cheek started smudging!! Hahaha… moms!!! :)

DO SOMETHING NEW!!

I am sure you must have had a fabulous weekend!

Mine started on Friday night when I was JUST beginning to make a list of some interesting things to do the next day and it suddenly struck me that we (ALMT – the law firm I work with) were working on Saturday :( The thought of going to court in the summer heat made my face shrink and features crumple like a child who had just been told to do his homework! Then I decided to make this fun! A brilliant idea struck me … the 5th day of the YES!+ course where we’re asked to do something NEW… I decided I would do something new this Saturday!! And I did!! :) :)

I wore my pink sneakers to Court!!! :)

(photography in the High Court if prohibited so I had to capture the moments here!!)

For those who haven’t been to a court, let me tell you that it is the most boring place on earth!! Everybody is dressed in black and white with bands stuffed upto their chin and sweaty black robes to make things worse! Tensed clients, stressed out lawyers and uptight judges make up the framework of the Indian judiciary. Can you imagine what my pink sneakers must have done to these dull faces?? For sure, I got noticed a lot more (which I would like to imagine as a good thing), my colleagues were wonder-stuck at how I had had the courage to be so “happy” in my profession, some even thought I had injured my foot and was wearing such “obnoxious” footwear for medical reasons!

Well, the truth is that they did look quite obnoxious amidst a formal setting of black trousers, a white shirt and the lawyer’s gown. But I found myself unusually happy and strangely tickled by what I had done! I had a super Saturday that was filled with interesting comments, reactions and ideas :) :) I was reminded of the pure genius that the YES!+ Course is… and that it doesn’t take much to realize it – just your 100%!!

This experience has left me feeling grateful for the freedom that the Art of Living and Guruji have given me. I am quite a fashion conscious person and I would have never dreamt of doing something so crazy had it not been for the Art of Living! It also made me reflect on why Guruji made me a teacher. I think it is so that I become a better student of the knowledge that I am spreading. Truly a collection of WOW moments that will go a long way down memory lane!!

Thanks Bau for being the brain behind the idea and the wallet behind the shoes! :)

So EVERYBODY do something new today!! Then come back and share it!
Let’s exchange craziness!!! :) :)

Jai Gurudev! ;)

INDIA needs a nappy change!

It's election time again. Another decision, another Government, another set of blood sucking hypocrits?... And of course another bank holiday!! ;)
I have received atleast a dozen emails telling me to "wake up" to the filth that this Government has bred and brewed in the past five years. Initially I hesitated to open these emails. Who wants to wake up to reality every morning when reality is nothing but a corrupt, lying, deceitful Government. One that has even bought over our last but one sign of being a democracy - the media! Confronting the truth is always uncomfortable because it erases every excuse you can possibly think of to justify your inaction (like the confrontation process in the YES!+ course!).

Most of us are living in denial of the fact that the situation is actually worse than our mind (or even the media) projects it to be. Here are some frightening facts and figures that probably never reached us for obvious reasons.

• 3850 Indians have (officially) lost their lives to terror attacks.
• On the day of the mumbai train blasts the Indian Govt. gave Rs.150 crores towards earthquake relief to Pakistan (God knows what "earthquake relief" really means?) This is when families of most blast victims have NOT YET received any compensation.
• Over 52,000 crores have gone missing from the Govt. Ex-chequer! (that's enough money to buy out ALL the cars in the city of Mumbai) No wonder we're a poor country with rich politicians!
• The number of Indians living below the poverty line has increased by a horrifying 20% (that's 55 million more people not knowing where their next meal will come from, if at all it comes).
• The Govt. of India has granted CBSE status to Madrasas when world over these institutions are being forced to close down for obvious reasons - formalising terrorism.
• Thanks to the Congress led Government, out of 36000 temples in Andhra Pradesh, 28000 have closed down in the last five years. Do we want a Nagaland type of situation in the rest of India?
• While the Government controls most of the Hindu temples, the minority community has had full freedom to organize their religious bodies. The minority communities now have the first right over resources - a blatant violation of fundamental rights of the majority community under the garb of secularism.

These are just some of the facts that shook me and made me think - will this mess ever clean itself? The answer is NO. WE need to clean it up. EACH ONE OF US - by being the democracy that we so proudly claim to be. BY CASTING THE SECRET BALLOT. We may be out of choices, but politicians are often like dirty diapers. You need to change them when they get dirty!! :) And each one of us needs to be like the mother who decides to change the diaper when it gets dirty. And you will agree with me when I say that mothers NEVER give up!!! :) A time WILL come when the diaper realises it needs to get dirt proof ... and believe me IT WILL!!

Guruji has been talking so much about voting for a change. I admire Him for His sensitivity and concern for our well being. While many have questioned his "inteference" in the political scene, I see Him as a holy man whose holiness is truly all pervading! After all a truly spiritual person is one who takes total responsibility and selflessly works for the benefit on humanity. Let us all learn from Him and take responsibility to clean up the mess that we have allowed thus far. This is not the time to lose hope or be cynical for that would be a politician's paradise. It is time for a nappy change guys!!! Please, please go and VOTE. Vote out this Government. VOTE FOR CHANGE. And enjoy the rest of the weekend! (or rather, week :)

Jai Hind!

p.s. Check out the BJP's election manifesto on http://www.bjp.org/ - it is quite impressive!

'Sat'n'Sang'! (except for me who stood and sang :)

Remember that feeling you get when you hear your favourite love song playing on radio?

Yesterday, satsang was like listening to my favourite love song, one that was two hours long and yet never went stale! The Art of Living had organised an Evening of Music and Meditation with Vikram Hazra at the Tata Theatre, NCPA. The satsang was a fund raiser for our Dharavi School which by the way is doing exceedingly well and now needs to expand (hence the funds). So please oblige (your pockets) and gift these children (who were once too busy struggling to fill their stomachs to even dream of a future) an awesomely bright future : ) :) by sponsoring a few square feet for the school's new building (get in touch with Kedar Desai). We experienced (tidal) waves of energy and love as the entire theatre resounded with devotion - i must give it to the audience (they were fabulous!!!). Guruji's presence was so strong... like heaven let loose!! (especially after the horrifying terror attacks that had shaken S.Mumbai) We all felt sighs of relief!

Singing in satsang is like singing your favourite song on a Karaoke Night at Jazz by the Bay :) !! If you're any less passionate than that, you haven't got the point of satsang yet! "Kan kan se artan" is what satsang is all about...reaching out to the Divine through every cell in your body. I remember when Guruji was visiting Mumbai many years ago, we had a HUGE Mahasatsang with Him at the MMRDA Grounds. After the satsang Guruji met a few of us (volunteers & teachers) and someone asked Him, "Guruji, how many people do you think were there for satsang?" Guruji repeated "How many people...." at which point Bawa interrupted and said that someone had asked him the same question after satsang to which he replied, "There were just two - Guruji & me! If you saw any more, you weren't in satsang!!" A light bulb lit in all our heads... it was an "Aho" moment (if you've watched the Ashtavakra Gita, you'll know what I mean!) We thought, "Man! why does he tell us now??" After that day, satsang was never the same! An entirely new experience was revealed to me everytime I 'sat' n 'sang'! Nothing around me matters anymore during satsang, its just me & Guruji ... even with eyes open! :)

love & Jai Gurudev!

Pooja

Guruji's Message for the new year...

Please please log on to http://bawandinesh.name/ and read Guruji's message for the New Year! Do it now!!

It brought tears to my eyes.

love
Pooja

Have a SUPER 2009!!

It's really funny how we look forward to the new year thinking it will be different from the earlier one!! I for one, think this year is going to be very eventful. I see myself chasing astronomical targets, learing how to cook, playing the piano, pampering those that I love, and spending more time with my Master (it's funny how my job never features in this list!).

New year's eve was nice ... We brought in the new year in true Mumbaiya style singing "Morya Re" as we bid farewell to 2008 and embraced in anticipation the new 2009! Then we treated ourselves to some delicious choclolate cake (it was Jayu's birthday) followed by dessert (no, no, chocolate cake doesn't count as dessert... its a birthday formality that one MUST complete) !! It was a crazy night making its way to a crazy year...

Well, I haven't much to say of 2008 or 2009. I'd just like to wish you all a SUPER NEW YEAR where every moment is bursting with joy, love and abundance! The journey so far has been quite exciting (now that I look back) and I am sure I will continue to live it up KING SIZE! :) :)

Love & Jai Gurudev!

Pooja