A Birthday Surprise!!

Yesterday morning I wrote about being young at heart and vow,what should I say,yesterday evening there was an unexpected and pleasant surprise from DH.First surprise, he came home an hour early and second and the very exciting one was what he had in his hand for me.He had a boquet and a soft and cuddly soft toy,isn't that wonderful????

Feel truly happy and easily 25 years younger and truly enjoyed that gift,more so because DH is not generally in the habit of throwing surprises.Another more interesting observation here would be that this is probabaly the first soft toy ever for me.Vow ......every reason to feel young right????????????

Well,well,it did not end there,also got treated to malai sandwich and chole bhature from the new chaat joint in Mussafah,'Message'..........any guesses any one???

Had a great day yesterday, thanks to all my well wishers.Love you all and God Bless.

Jai Gurudev.

Young At Heart!!!!

Well, well, today is the day I made an entry into this world and it has been 55 years since.Vow, can't believe it actually.Infact I feel ancient and antique if I think about it.At the same time I must also admit that still have fresh memories of my school, college,etc and it feels as though it all just happened.
Amazing,actually when I think of all the wonderful experiences in life so far.
I remember my days at Chidambaram so vividly and a very dear and wonderful friend there Shelly.We used to be together all the time.At school in CDM I remember my english teacher Mr.Lakshmikanthan who used to call me a potato,road roller and can't remember whatelse.That was the time I also learnt to write and speak Tamil,until then I actually couldn't even speak tamil fluently. Had a whole lot of fun,for sure.I remember my mother's attempt at wanting to teach me carnatic music in which I had no interest then(though I do regret that now),I used to be regularly irregular to my class. I remember going and watching a movie in a theatre for the first time in CDM only,and actually after that it was a regular,did not miss out on any of the tamil movies released.
One incident which is ever fresh in my memory is the day when we were waiting for tickets to a movie and my athimber (athai's husband)came running to convey the message that my dear brother had passed the IAS exam.(They were such wonderful people my athai and athimber,difficult to come across such genuine people).It was indeed an experience when total strangers waiting in the queue joined us in our moment of happiness and expressed their good wishes and there were some who actually said they had seen such a scene only in a movie and could not believe that it was real.That was a very touching moment for sure when I think back today.People were sure much more simpler then I imagine.
Enjoyed my secondary school life thoroughly,my favourite period in school apart from english being Physical training and the breaks.I remember we just used to wait for break time and rush to the play area in school and the swing was our favourite.There were times when there were three of us swinging in one swinging at one go,great fun it used to be.....I loved playing kho kho, kabbadi, net ball, baseball,hanging upside down on the jungle gym, high jump long jump....I used to love it all at school, and back home it was langdi, hide and seek gilli danda and cricket sometimes.Super days,did everything other than studying I suppose....
Studying at St Mira's college Pune was another wonderful experience.Had a bunch of good friends and those were the days when I went to a hotel for the first time and had masala dosa.Used to love the chole bread that St Mira's college canteen served,haven't had anything like that after.Had the privilege of listening to Dada JP Vaswani's talk every day at prayer(I realise the importance only now though).....Also this was the time I first went to Ramakrishna math,Sarada math, Hari Krishna mandir quite regularly maybe.I remember many sunday mornings when we used to go to Harikrishna Mandir for dadaji's lecture(Dilip Kuma Roy)and also the satsangh that followed.I remember one evening when Indra ma asked me to sing a bajhan and my voice just wouldn't co operate and just choked.Entry to spirituality was here I guess.The one year PG at Ness Wadia,which was good too though I have no specific memories of those days.
After that it was entering into another totally different world of wedlock.Suddenly started managing a house,taking responsibility, vow cannot still imagine, but I guess that is how it is with everyone.Well life has gone a full circle I trust, and as it is with most people filled with plenty of immemorable joyous moments,joy rides, and not omit the roller coaster rides to probabaly create a balance and may be remind that life is filled with both ups and downs and its shares of joys and sorrows.
The last few years have been truly joyous and extremely enriching and lots of fun has been had and lots has been learnt.Have learnt that there is much more to life than holding on to unwanted garbage. Learnt the importance of living in the present.
Have learnt that happiness is a choice and a way of life and is certainly not associated with an incident or happening.Spending happy days and feel 20 at heart....
Sincere thanks and am totally grateful to one and all with whom I have been associated until this day.

A good journey until today and for sure better from now on, the best is yet to come................

Courtsey my DD blog managed to dig out some old pictures which she had posted,me carrying her on her 1st birthday......yenjaay..........


Jai Guru dev.

Give God Time

Most of the times we get disappointed and feel that though we have been praying so earnestly and with so much faith our prayers are not answered.We want to know why God does not answer our prayers.I got this really nice forward which throws light on this.
If you have a problem today, a great need in your life, maybe your problem is that you had done all the talking, but hadn't done any listening to God! "Stop talking and listen for a while! Listen to God's Word! Be still and let Him speak to you. When you get quiet and wait on Him, there will come a prompting from Him in a still small voice." Someone has also called it "A Divine Oughtness," that is, an impression that you ought to do a certain thing. Some people think that effective praying means to keep on seeking and keep on knocking, to keep on talking and talking and asking God with a multitude of words, and an insistence in talking it out with Him! This kind of prayer doesn’t show your trust faith that He’ll answer, on the contrary, it shows your unbelief lack of faith that He has heard you the answer is on its way.When you pray you don’t need to keep on asking, with so much talking and insistence on expressing yourself in words, but you need to keep on believing and keep on expecting and waiting! Waiting for God to answer! Oh, the answer's there, God will answer! You know, prayer in its highest meaning is not pleading with God or demanding things, but it is communion with God, throwing your whole being open heavenward, God-ward, and waiting for the divine response.
A little word by Martha Snell-Nicholson:
Sometimes I do not even pray in words.
I take my heart in my two hands,
And hold it up before the Lord.
I'm so glad He understands.
Sometimes I do not even pray in words.
My spirit bows before His feet,
And with His hand upon my head,
We just hold communion, silent, sweet.
Sometimes I do not pray in words,
For I am tired and long for rest.
And my heart finds all it needs,
Just resting on the Savior.
If you have prayed and had no answer yet, no answer's come and it seems as if when you pray, the Heavens are brass and He's been deaf to your pleading cries, remember this:No earnest sincere prayer to the heavenly Father has ever gone unanswered or been unnoticed. But it is also true that God has His time for all things in working out His purposes! God has strange ways of disciplining his intercessors and prayer warriors, and that takes time.
GIVE GOD TIME.

Jai Gurudev.

Always Say A Prayer!!!

Got this very interesting and actually innovative forward and thought I should put it down here.There is always two ways for everything and I think this is so beautifully brought out here.Ever wonder about the abbreviation A.S.A.P.? Generally we think of it in terms of even more hurry and stress in our lives. Maybe if we think of this abbreviation in a different manner, we will begin to find a new way to deal with those rough days along the way.
There's work to do, deadlines to meet
You've got no time to spare,
But as you hurry and scurry-
ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER
In the midst of family chaos,
'Quality time' is rare.
Do your best; let God do the rest
ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER
It may seem like your worries
Are more than you can bear.
Slow down and take a breather
ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER
God knows how stressful life is
He wants to ease our cares,
And He'll respond to all your needs
A.S.A.P. - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER.

Jai gurudev!!!

A Beautiful Anecdote

I was listening to a wonderful discourse on Srimad Baghavatham.It has sort of become a habit these days to listen to at least an hour of Srimad Baghavatham.What caught my attention was this lovely story that he narrated.The story goes thus:Ramana Maharishi had a childhood friend named Mani.Mani was affectionately called naughty Mani by one and all who knew him.Once mani and his mother are on their way to Tirupati.On their way when they reach Tiruvannamalai his mother tells 'Mani, I hear your friend Vekatraman (RamanaMaharishi)is now a Maharishi and lives here.Let us go and meet him'.Mani laughs and tells his mother I know him from childhood,now it seems he has become a saint, not listening to his mother,even now if I go and see him I can pull him by the ear and bring him back to his ,mother.So saying they go to Tirupati,have darshan of Lord Balaji there and are on their way back to Madurai.His mother again asks him to visit maharishi but he refuses, so his mother goes ahead and tells him to wait down hill.Mani waits for awhile, but after sometime he too decides to go to the Virupakshya caves and meet Maharishi.When he reaches there he is so shocked to see Maharishi,he no longer could relate to his childhood friend Venkatraman there.Mani fell at his feet and was sobbing like a child and he refused to go back home.He was convinced by the people to go home and leave his mother and get back.Naughty Mani was thus enlightened by the grace of Maharishi.After his return he stayed with maharishi all his life.
Isn't that beautiful?????????
Jai Guru Dev!!