Guruji's Birthday!!!!!

13thMay a very auspicious day, poojya Sri Sri Guruji's birthday,and such a great coincidence that Guruji was born on Shankara Jayanthi Day(the birthday of Adi Shankara),in a place named Papanasam(meaning removal of sins)and christened on the 11th day which also happened to be the birthday of Sri Ramanuja,the renowned preacher of Bhakti or devotion.Such a wonderful and interesting combination of knowledge and devotion,in the consciousness of the new born.Isn't that indeed beautiful?????

The Abudhabi chapter of the Art Of Living organised a wonderful satsangh and celebration of Guruji's birthday on 13th May 2008.Being a member of the global family(AOL)I was witness to the celebration and I must say it was simply a blast.

The satsang was lead by Siddarth Mohan who had come all the way from Chennai for the occasion.His rendition of "Kaun Kehta Hain.........,Satchidanada,Jhoola Jhoole Nandala,Radhe Radhe Bol...were all simply awesome.The hall was reverberating with claps and dance and I guess you need to be there to truly experience the euphoria.Was ecstatic,really great.

I am indeed thankful to my teacher here at Abudhabi for giving this opportunity.

Sharing a few notes about Guruji which I read.,

Sri Sri is as compassionate as Jesus, as playful as Lord Krishna and as erudite as Adi Shankara. He has this uncanny ability of helping people unburden their stress-filled minds. His invaluable sayings act as balms for wounded souls. Here's a sample: " Life is a ball in your hands to play with. Don't hold on to the ball."

Guruji is a unique combination of wit and wisdom, seriousness and playfulness, who would provoke you to "celebrate while you are alone, celebrate when you are with people, celebrate the silence and celebrate the noise. Celebrate life and celebrate death." It is not surprising then that, the Art of Living is all about accepting life in its totality and its motto is to "only connect.

According to Sri Sri even though the world is a mixture of happiness and sorrow, it shouldn't deter any one from seeking enjoyment in whatever one does. He elucidates, "It is written in the Upanishads, the Atman, soul, is Satchidanandamaya (complete bliss). Spirituality is not boring. It is the Rasa (flavor) of life."
This blissful state can only be attained when one follows the religion of humanity, or in Guruji's term—Manav Dharma, by spreading love in each human soul. Beloved Guruji has even unfolded the path to this state, simply follow it: "How far to Heaven? Just open your eyes and look. You are in Heaven."

Just so, did go on a ride to heaven with the superb satsangh,needless to metion the sumptous prasad served.I believe anything served as prasad tastes that much more delicious because it has the blessings of the Guru.

Hope I am granted the grace of attending more such satsanghs in future and also a day when I will be blessed to have his darshan and receive his blessings.

Jai Guru Dev!!!!

Aditi Devo Bhava!!!!

Oh !! this is one of those experiences which anyone would for sure want to forget but for no rhyme or reason keeps coming back every now and then.Last year I visited USA and spent some enjoyable months with my DD.I also visited UK and spent some great time with my nephew and family.Also the fond memories and experiences of my maiden trip to UK during 1978-79 were there with me all through my stay at UK.

We went to Edinburgh and it happened to be the Edinburgh festival week, so lots of activity around,crowded &colourful and it all looked so very beautiful.We walked down the streets looking at all the fan fare everywhere inspite of the drizzles.It was decided that we will dine at one of the Indian vegetarian restaurants & so our table had been booked for 9 pm.After enjoying some good, lively &entertaining music on the streets and also quite a bit of window shopping we thought it was right to be at the restaurant on time,so headed there.We reached a few minutes early(my experience starts here),but were asked to wait out because it wasn't still 9pm(our table I told you earlier was booked for 9 pm).We thought it a bit rude that people will not let you in because you are before time,anyways we did not give too much thought to that and so waited till we were ushered in at 9.15pm (I thought so atleast!)Keeping to time seemed to work only one way!!!.We wanted to use the rest rooms so went in there.I am yet to see a rest room similar to that one(many Indian rest rooms are sure better off).Anyways,will not harp on the small and to be neglected issues.We were sitting and waiting for someone to attend for at least 15 minutes,and after what seemed ages a waitress did show up and wanted to take order for the number of glasses of water we needed.This was sure a funny beginning I thought(new to me people taking order for water),clueless about what was in store.Another 10 minutes later the same waitress turned up again to take our order.She was not very fluent in Englishand probably new to this place and so had to ask another person to take our order.A stiff and unfriendly lady stood there in front of us(I am not sure if she is the owner too).She was in a saree (and reminded me of the Indian government hospital nurses who were overworked, and so looked jaded and worn out) and was ready to take down our orders.We ordered a meal (thali)for all the five of us except one amongst us who wanted to have a snack.Here is where it all started.She started off in a very curt tone,' sir you must order a main dish for each one of you,I cannot take order for a side dish alone' (even if it be from one person).May be if she had conveyed their hotel rules in a more human manner we would understand and appreciate,but that was not to be.Her tone started getting aggressive and rude and finally reached a stage where one of our guests politely walked out asking us to enjoy our dinner.(I confirmed my opinion about the waitress ...overworked nurse!!!)I was right I guess,she was such a rude female.....someone like that in the hospitality sector is a bad choice for sure.Usually you expect to see smiling and cheerful faces when you want to enjoy a good dinner after a nice day.She was so off putting I must say.
Kids brought up in a decent and good surrounding are for sure upset and anxious when people raise their voices and sure enough, our kid expressed her displeasure by shedding silent tears and clinging on to mama for dear life.After a lot of contemplation we decided to walk out of the place which was so unfriendly and rude to people.We cancelled our order and what followed was simply unimaginable.We have the owner (or I don't know who)yelling at the top of his voice and shooing us out and also telling us of his two decades of experience in this business and what not . He had the audacity to come right behind us up to the street and continue his rants and bang the door on us."Oh God forgive them for they know not what they say"!!!
I must say it is embarrassing when you have people looking up at you wondering what is wrong,specially when you are not at fault.Anyways we didn't react to his rantings, we just walked out and found a beautiful Gujrati restaurant across the street and had a lovely dinnerYou can see the delicious spread (Raj bhog thali).There is a saying in Hindi which says "dane dane pe likha hai khane wale ka naam"!! It was destined that we eat here and not there.

What I wish to point out here is that,basic qualities of courtesy,a smiling and pleasing face and making guests feel at home and enjoy their meal there, are very important for people in the hospitality sector.I do hope there are not any more restaurants in this small world of ours like this one which has no respect for its clients.It probably reeked of racism which is again appalling because it only goes to say that you are against your own fellow brothers.

Somehow I was reminded of this today morning and so here goes!!!!

Just another incident in life but for sure I must mention that I did for sure enjoy my stay at Edinburgh and Aberdeen.A memorable trip for sure.

Why I enjoy The T20 matches!!!

Have had a really nice time watching the T20 matches last 10 days or more.
They have been real fun to watch.

Why I think they are fun:

1)The match is over in 3 hours unlike the traditional cricket matches which take a minimum 8 hours (the one day cricket).

2)Makes the game interesting and fun viewing because of the number of sixes and fours.

3)Involves a lot of power shots which is good entertainment.

4)Players are all charged up because of the limited number of overs and hence are brilliant in the field.We get to see some unbelievable catches ,quite often.

5)I think this version of cricket is here to stay for all the good reasons though it has changed the basics of the game for sure.

Dhoni's super Kings have been real champions until now.Dhoni I must say has been a great captain.He has won all the 4 matches he has so far played.Yesterday's match was simply stunning.The way he converted a losing match to his benefit and won the match was simply outstanding.Dhoni's knock of 65 off 30 balls yesterday helped his team set a challenging target of 178 for 5 in 20 overs for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.See this for more on the match.
Though Rahul Dravid's Royal Challengers were off to a good start their middle order fell like a pack of cards and turned the match in favour of Super Kings.

I think Dhoni's Super Kings are going to be the champions after all, from their display until now.The Knight Riders(Ganguly'steam) are good too,but only after the Super Kings followed by Rajasthan Royals(Shane Warne's team).Let us wait and watch.

Harbhajan's Latest!!!

This is a shift from the usual topics I blog on.I am indeed shocked at the news I heard on NDTV.Bhajji slaps Sreesanth!!!Harbhajan 's Mumbai Indians lost their third match in a row yesterday night and that seems to be the cause for this outrageous behaviour from cricket's bad boy .This is unbelievable.I believe this kind of behaviour is absolutely unpardonable I think.Just imagine slapping somebody and making them cry because you are in a bad mood!!!Truly nastyI must say.If a player does not have sportsman spirit he is unfit to be playing a sport,and Harbhajan happens to be the captain of the team too.What an example for his team he must be???
What is more surprising is that he thinks he can get away by apologising and saying Sreesanth is like his brother.I would simply rubbish what Harbhajan has to say after slapping.We all understand players are charged up on the field,so sometimes words exchanged etc etc,but getting physical......isn't that crossing limits????Go here to read more about what Bhajji& Sreesanth have to say about the incident.
Some consolation of course, to read that BCCI will be taking action.I wish he is banned from the game.Only if some serious action is taken will it be a lesson for the short tempered players.If he is let off with an apology I'm sure there is possibility of such mishaps re occurring.
Unlike the pastI am sure this time around Harbhajan Singh is not going to get the support of his colleagues.So it seems that it is not only Australians who can get under our Harbhajan's skin......
what a shame I would think..........

An Appointment With Buddhinath!!!!

Recently I read a forward "Lunch With GOD".It was about a little boy who wanted to meet God.Realising that the trip to meet God would be a long one he packed his bag with goodies and left.He meets an old woman in the park sitting and staring at some pigeons.He sat next to her opened his bag of goodies and shared it with the old lady.They sat there all afternoon smiling and eating and drinking without saying a word.Since it was getting dark the boy decided it was time to get back home.Before leaving he Gives the lady a hug and smiles,The old lady gave him the biggest smile ever.Back home his mother asks him what made him so happy and the little boy replied "I had lunch with GOD",and you know mom 'SHE has the most beautiful Smile I've ever seen'.The old woman too tells her son she had 'twinkies in the park 'with GOD and said 'HE is much younger than I imagined'.


This story points out to us that we don't know what GOD will look like, that people come into our lives for a reason,a season or a life time.It is important to treat everyone equally and with Love.

This story also reminded me of a very memorable dream I had last year.

'I am lying down and reading a book on a lazy afternoon,when the door bell goes.I rush to open the door and I have a surprise visitor at my door.Dressed in a beautiful suit,and looking as sweet and charming as ever who do you think I find at my door "none other than our 'Lord Of Wisdom' Ganesha standing there".He tells me :"you had an appointment with me and you did not turn up,so now I have come to take you for the meeting.(he is talking to me in english)I tell him I will be there in a minute and rush to the car waiting for me.There I am sitting next to Lord Ganesha in the drivers seat.'Thud, I find myself on the floor of my room and realise that it was all a dream.Initially I was really thrilled with the dream (Ganesha in my dream and that too driving me),but with time the dream set me thinking and actually got me a bit worried and anxious.I started to rack my head as to what it is that I had forgotten to do (I am regular to the temples and as far as possible try to go and get darshan, blessings & prasadam on all important occasions like birthdays etc).Unable to get over my anxiety I went to the Rastapeth Ganesh temple which I regularly go to and after having darshan and doing namaskaram etc.I met our family panditji there and told him about my dream and asked him the significance.He assured me all's well and not to worry.You can listen to some great music on Ganapati Bappa by clicking on this link.I returned home wondering and reassuring myself that maybe HE is showing me a new road in life which I should follow.May be that is what is guiding me to spend my time usefully listening to kathas(by great people whom I revere) and reading Sai Sat Charita regularly.

Lord Of Wisdom
Lord Ganesha, the Lord of wisdom is the repository of all knowledge. His illimitable erudition makes even Goddess Saraswati and Sage Narada bow their heads in awe.

My humble prayers to Lord Ganesha!!

"Gajananam Bootha Ganathi sevitam

Kapitha jambu palasara bakshitham,

Umasutham,sokavinashakaranam,

namami vigneswara pada pankajam"......