Faith & Patience

Religion is a complex feeling (if you can call it that). Especially in India, a lot of importance is given to caste, the god you believe in, the rituals you follow and stuff. Religion, worship and God form a very important part of the upbringing for us Indians. And there are so many Gods and Goddesses in our Hindu mythology. Even though we adore and worship each one with equal reverence, there is bound to be a favorite. The one to whom you pray to when in trouble and thank when happy. The one you make promises with in order to get what you want. As I kid I always adored Krishna. The mischievous, flirtatious and handsome cowboy. In fact I also went through the Meera bai phase wherein I wanted to marry no one but Krishna. Every Janamastmi I used to dress up like Radha in lehanga choli, kumkum bindi’s, flowers in hair, bangles and anklets in order to woo Krishna into marrying me.

Picture Courtesy - www.99share.in

As I matured into the smart young lady I am today (:D), I felt a heart-felt inclination and connection towards Shirdi Sai Baba. Though everyone in my family is a firm devotee and I too held reverence for baba in heart but it was only when I was around 16, I had a spiritual awakening which drew me like a magnet towards baba. I prayed regularly, read books and savored his name. Now for any baba lover, Shirdi is like the ultimate destination. I first went to Shirdi in the year 1994 when I was 5 years old. I do have some hazy memories from the trip like living in the Sansthan, the common washrooms, having dosa for the first time. But the one thing that I vividly remember till date is that we visited some place there (probably khandoba temple) where there was a big statue of baba in red kafni. The 5 year old me was not so keen on respectfully bowing to the statue so when no one was looking, I gave a big hug to the statue.

I always had this wish to see that statue again and redo the hug. But studies, college and myriad of other things made it difficult for my parents to plan another trip to Shirdi. Even after spending almost around 4 years in Mumbai, it was only recently in July’2014 that I again got a chance to visit. We had the good fortune of getting darshan on gurupoornima but I had no luck of seeing that red dress statue. I thought it was in the nearby khandoba temple but sadly it wasn’t. I happened to discuss this with the cool hall girl S (previously mentioned here) who is also Sai baba devotee. She made me happy by saying that there is a big murti in the prasadalaya and that just might be the thing I was looking for. Restless and excited I requested forced cool hall girl S for a trip to shirdi. So off we went with our last minute planning, last seats on bus, turning all hither and thither all the way to shirdi. After a nice darshan and aarti, we went off to prasadalaya to hug the red statue. It was mid-afternoon and sunny, under normal circumstances I would have played the Barbie doll complaining about the heat and demanding an auto ride (overtly high prices be dammed). But I kept walking, the thought of hugging and reuniting with my 20 year old friend kept giving me surges of energy.

My hopes were dashed when we entered the premises because there was no red statue but instead a huge one which was by no means huggable because it started right where by 5 feet 4 inch frame ended. Disheartened we went back to our bus stop in the high priced auto. All the way back I got to thinking that having covered almost the entire town of shirdi how can it be that red murti is so difficult to find. It really made me doubt that maybe I just dreamed the entire thing up. However deep in my heart I still do believe that it is there somewhere waiting to be hugged with love and devotion. Till then I am keeping Sharada (faith) & Saburi (patience)! BTW the murti looks somewhat like the picture below.

Picture Courtesy - www.shirdisaibabaexperiences.org

While we are on the topic of Shirdi, I do have a bone to pick about a few things I noticed in my last two visits. I agree that the huge throngs of pilgrims has brought a lot of boon in terms of business for the people of shirdi. But to misuse that in the name of religion is extremely wrong. Just outside the temple all the Prasad shops are looking for ways to make a fool out of us. They give you big thali's with coconuts although they are fully aware that coconuts are not allowed inside the temple. They will adamantly push saraswati yantra, flowers, shawls and clothes into your hands. And most often than not they do succeed in persuading the poor confused visitors. Everyone wants to do their best to please god so the Prasad business is the thriving one. Even when you are back from temple to collect your shoes they won’t stop. They will showcase incense sticks, sandalwood powder, oils, keychains and various other stuffs – all with beautiful pictures of Sai baba which makes it all the more difficult to say no. Its fine to sell all these things but let the buyer decide what he wants, the pushing-the-stuff-in-our-face is what I have an issue with. Then there was a group of eunuchs holding a piece of cloth with baba’s picture on it and collecting money. I have never read or heard any story about eunuchs and baba. They have apparently found an easy way to earn money which again is very wrong. Then there are beggars dressed like baba, obviously to attract more money from visitors. But the thing that literally made my blood boil was the rickshawala’s. They are soo ill-mannered, rude and topping the charts for extorting unnecessary money.

The peculiar thing is that once you have Sai Baba’s darshan, you forget all these things and attain that peaceful-awesome-happy feeling. I had wanted to write this angry post back in July and I was formulating it in my mind whilst in the queue for darshan. But as soon as I saw Sai baba decked in beautiful floral print I forgot all complains and grumbles of mine. And instead enjoyed the yummy salt smeared fresh guavas and blood red pearly pomegranates.

Om Sai Ram

Love
Sepo

Happy Birthday ~ Rendezvous

So here we are, celebrating a 4 year anniversary with blogger. Never thought that what started as college fad would come so far. Many things have changed since then, my location, my appearance, the abysmal writing style. But thankfully the blog somehow sustained. There were some long gaps taken but even when on hiatus my mind was always involved in formulating posts for the blog. So the connection was never really lost. 

In a state of nostalgia I planned to read my old posts. So I started with the first ever post I had written, it was actually an expert from the book I had started to write back then. I had a hard time controlling my laugh while going through the post. It was a very teenage-y kinda write-up. The SMS slang, the overdose of “!” marks and the very naive story. It seemed like a reflection of my life and desires back then. Reading it made me realize how far I have come both in my life and writing skills. It is really amazing how life changes. We make plans for future but sometimes life takes such a turn that those plans remain of no use. I would have never in my wildest dreams imagined that I could stay away from home, cook or take care of my expenses. And back then I would have never believed that I would meet so many new people some amongst who would hold a special place in my heart.

I had always dreamt of having a very versatile blog covering all genes. Nothing too girly and nothing too boring. As far as the content is concerned, I guess I have covered general happenings, my personal stories and observations, sometimes current affairs, photo-posts, the cooking posts. Sometime last year there was this phase of cooking I was going through, Oh-My-God I took pictures and pictures of every dish I cooked (including salads and Maggie) at various stages and posted them on the blog. The picture quality was terrible and the food dreadful. I cringe when I look at those pictures (which I do regularly). I have this thing of goggle-ing my blog on images whenever I am getting bored. All my blog images are displayed without any blockage from office proxy and I love to boast to my colleagues the fact that Google knows me ;)

Coming back to the type of posts. I have always had this huge desire to do a fashion blogger kinda post on Rendezvous. But sadly I have neither the locations nor a sweetheart who would play the cameraman!  Although I did try to do one post long back with the dismal location i.e my PG and Roomate#2 aka Ms G as the Camerawoman read more about her here. The post however became so controversial that it had to be removed for reasons not fit to be disclosed. I did indulge in something remotely similar to an outfit post but it was a featured thing on someone else's blog (Tanvii)

So fashion blogging is number#1 on my blogging wish list. Second would be finding creating a perfect designer title. I am so bored with the current one and the one with my images as background. I am in search of something classy yet chic (and also Piccassa photo editor dump). Thirdly I want to network more which means I am open to writing guest posts (Yeah) and also coming up with a plan of inviting people to write on my blog. Lastly I really want to understand the adsense on blogspot, I mean its been 4 years and I have not earned even a single penny, how the hell does it really work (does it reaaaaaallly work?). Anyhow so this is the business plan for financial year 2014-2015.

Ending this post without a proper thank you would be extremely impolite. A major chunk of the credit for the completion of 4 glorious years of blogging goes to my readers (known and anonymous). You guys are the reason I am still writing. A special thanks to some loyal readers who have bravely withstood to read my initial mind-boggling posts and left sweet comments as encouragement. Some are no longer active on the blogging arena but still I remember them with a smile on my face. Please keep visiting and showering love as you always have.

Lots of Love:

Sepo 

P.S Does anyone have a HTML code which can disable right-click and Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.?

INSPIRATION:

There is only one nation, the
nation of mankind;

There is only one religion,
the religion of love;

There is only one language,
the language of heart;

There is only one God, and
he is omnipresent.

CELEBRATING WOMENHOOD

On this women’s day I have decided to dedicate a post to all the women out there. It’s really a great idea to keep this one day aside to celebrate the essence of womanhood. There are “n” number of things happening on this day. Turn on the television and you will see some or the other awards function. Each commemorating the “great women achievers”. That’s good, that’s very good. But what those women who live under the siege of domestic violence and polygamy. What about those innocent girl children who are killed even before they are born or killed brutally when they are born. Has India really done a great job of securing women....?





Women empowerment, gender equality are great concepts. Good to hear. But are they realistic....? Recent HUU HAA over the passage of women’s bill says it all...!!

I don’t mean to go on blaring out all the negatives, so quickly switching to all the positivity’s. A day all dedicated to the spirit of us, feels great. A girl in her life has many roles to play... she is a daughter, a sister, a friend, a wife, a mother, a daughter-in-law etc. Multitasking is a second nature of her’s. Living her life, always thinking about other’s best before her own, unlimited source of strength. Being mature and childish as the same time is her forte.

Kudos to all the girls, bearing all the downsides of being a girl... mixing them with the advantages (there are many, will dedicate a post to them in near future) and living life to the fullest. So, go out and celebrate this women’s day with those who cannot afford to have as much fun as you do.
HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY,

A MONKEY AND A MEMORY....

Can a title be weirder than this....? You must be wondering, what sort of a memory is related to a monkey..? But, I have one. Sweet and special. Now this memory is not one of those which I recall when sitting alone, thinking, and smiling. Nope. It’s one of those which is etched up in your mind, somewhere far behind, an area which is not easily, readily accessible. The presence/remembrance of which is entirely situational or circumstantial. My idea of writing this post is not to confuse you but to share with you such an incident which was somewhere in my mind but needed a trigger to get resurfaced.

Now, without much ado I would straightway jump to the fact......

I was reading a book in which there was a mention of monkeys. Now whenever I read a book, each line of the story forms a picture in my mind. While reading, I simultaneously keep getting this pictorial view of the person, location described, scene, a room....... so, when the monkey thing appeared in the book. I got this picture of a monkey. Not just any monkey, but a special one with whom I had a face-to face meet some 15 years ago.




*FLASHBACK*

The story henceforth continues in my mind.
Once upon a time, in a place where I lived in my childhood, there was this monkey, who had lost his mental balance and was on a rampage (literally). (And, no I haven’t been bitten by the INDIA NEWS or IBN-7 news bug). This is a true story. This monkey, who had been given a name ROMEO, had created a panic amongst the people. He used to bite children, small innocent children and there had been a number of cases. Everyone was wary, little children- including me, were naturally petrified.

One fine day, I was playing on the terrace, dancing in my mum’s dupatta and her shoes. When I spotted the dreadful monkey some two, three houses away. I still remember and can swear on it that he saw me too (getting Goosebumps, even now). I immediately ran towards my door and could sense him following me. And I wasn’t wrong, the moment I reached inside the safety ofof  home, he was there right after me waiting outside the door. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes....... time passed slowly and he stayed glued there. When I couldn’t take it anymore sitting jailed inside, I picked up the doormat and stuck it on the mesh door, in order to shoo him away. Far from getting shooed away, he got wild and angry. Big time. He started jumping, getting at the door handle (which was bolted....). and I merely some 5,6 years of age was scared like hell. I don’t remember much after this apart from the fact that the monkey left at some point of time and I keep crying, refusing to move, eat, go out...

I stayed like that till late in the evening, when finally papa came back. He was told the whole ordeal, with me crying in the background. My dad took me in his arms and carried me outside, ignoring my protests, shouts and cries. I had this notion stuck in my mind that the monkey was hiding somewhere, within the premises of my house, waiting to attack me. My dad carried me up the terrace and explained an important lesson to me.... I remember the exact worlds





“God has created the world for both animals and humans. Both have an equal write to live. If someone hurts you, you will protect yourself, won’t you..? Similarly animals too have to protect themselves. That’s why, bee stings, snake bites, to protect .If you leave them in peace, they will do you no harm. You were a threat to the monkey, what he did was so protect himself”.
Slowly the fear reduced in me and I enjoyed the breezy dark night with my dad. And yeah, came back down on my own feet.


Inspite of the number of years that have passed since then, this chapter of my life is so clearly etched up in my memory and will always be. And I will never forget, what my dad taught me that day. Since then ,and even now, I am never too scared of any animal. Errr ummm... apart from cockroaches... well ... that I really can’t help, they are soo ewww...!!

CLOSE THE DOOR, AND SORT IT OUT!

I am a strong believer of the fact that personal matters should be solved personally, on an individual level without involving the whole world in it. People who open their problems ka “pitara” in front of everyone not only end up making a fool of themselves but also make people around them freaking uncomfortable.

I was travelling in a local bus, few days ago and sitting right in front of me was a girl and a guy. I was dead tired and kept looking out of the window until I heard this sniffing, sobbing sounds. The girl sitting in front of me was wiping her eyes. Ohh some drama here, I though. Now the couple had this undivided attention from me. And the detective inside me was busy figuring out the slightest bit of hint. Now it’s not like I kept looking at them but yea whole of my concentration (and one ear) was entirely focused on to their conversation. The guy periodically kept looking and whispering something in her ear. Ufff. A bit louder buddy I wanted to tell him. He wanted some privacy I guess, but the girl was livid. Me and the whole bus could hear her voice “I have had enough”. “You don’t need to bother any more”. Then some more crying and more wiping. It was getting quite boring by this time and I shifted my attention back to the scenery outside. Then came the final DHAMAKA.

The guy got out of the bus and went, the girl followed. I thought the problem might not have been serious enough after all. But my misconception was short lived. The girl had something in her hand (maybe a gift or something from the guy) which she threw directly in the direction of the guy from the bus and came back to her place in front of me with a dangerous look on her face. Suddenly everyone was quiet and mesmerised. All eyes were on her.

What I learned from this incident is that  while Public Display of Affection is still tolerable. But public display of dishum dishum is so not happening. It is just so embarrassing and filmy. Whenever I have fight scene I ll make sure I never make a public display of it. 

SENsational SINGLE MUM

I have like always been an ardent admirer of the ever dynamic Sushmita Sen. Recently my respect for her multiplied when she became the proud mother of little Alisah. There are only few such people who utilise fully the power available to them and help others. Sush is definitely one such person.

 She first became a mum when she was some 20 years of age, high on the ladder of success. That time many people criticised her of taking a reckless decision. But today I m sure they eat their hats when they see the beautiful Renee....!!

There is this Hindu adoption law (of which I was unaware until now) which states that if u already have adopted a child u cannot adopt another child of the same sex. It so happed that this particular law was changed recently and Miss Sen. made a jump at the opportunity and after many legal hassles brought home an angel 

Now this adoption thingy is no child’s play (especially for singles) the legal formalities can blow the air out of any superwomen. It is really tough to get the adoption agencies to process your case on same footing as that of couples. One has to reiterate one’s sexual orientation (gay or straight...!), financial status and the fact that whether or not you can provide a good and wholesome environment like couples.

So you need to be passionate and fervent about the cause. U have to have the fervour in you a la Sushmita...!! So hats off to her and I think I too will someday adopt a baby.... some 10 – 15 years later that is.... :P

p.s the law I have mentioned was read by me in some newspaper so I m not sure about the exact words. I have written what I remembered of it...!!

Have You Figured It Out Yet....!!!

How are we supposed to live...?!
Live each moment like it was your last...!! Go out have a blast (it rhymes..!!). Do what you feel like, eat, party, travel, shop, dance, make a career...etc etc..!! After all you get only one life time to do all this ...right...? Yeah...most of you will agree with this...!!

But..... Think again....!!!

Is that all...!! Are we here only for this purpose or is there some deeper meaning surrounding our existence. Now I don’t want to sound like some religious teacher or a spiritual preacher but I kinda have this going in my mind since past few days (call it the exam approaching syndrome)....!

On a serious note there must be some purpose, some motive which we have to fulfil, for which we have been given this precious human life. I am not suggesting going to some baba/guru for this gyan about “motive”. And I also know that we are the gen-next comprising of “work harder party harder kinda” people , who care “two hoots” about “why we are here”.... !!But life is also not a  rat race errrr mice race (courtesy 5 point someone) mindlessly running in the same direction just as everybody else.

I read this article where a journalist describes his experience visiting the kumbh mela on the banks of Ganga. Initially he explains he was sceptical about going into the river because of the dirt etc. Nevertheless he decides to give it a try. The priest tells him the procedure. Go into the river, take a handful of water, throw it over your head, think about your ancestors and yeah take a dip...simple enough..! So the guy goes ahead with the task on this very cold January morning remembering the last time he was here with his dad to immerse the ashes of his mother. He takes the water in his hands throws it above his head thinking about his mother. He remembers her smiling face and it spreads warmth inside him. He thought about his old father at home.. One day he would come here to immerse his ashes. Then one day he would die too and his son would come to immerse his ashes and son would too die one day and the cycle would continue.... he suddenly realised that his job, the deadlines meant nothing, they had absolutely no meaning, when he would be gone no one would care...!!

Within a few minutes he understood what he had failed to understand in a number of years.

After reading this article I realised that life is not about getting that “sexy pair of shoes” , “the drop dead gorgeous dress” and that “to die for jeans”. When I die all the things are staying here “the degree, the job, the cellfone, money, lappy”. Hell even the sexy pair of shoes...!! SAD ( I know....!!) but true.....!!
That’s how life is ...... it kicks you the moment u thing u have figured it out...!!life's what you make it, so lets make it right..!
and as they say : “life is a climb............but the view is great”..!!
So let’s keep climbing keeping our eyes open for that special motive we are here for...!!

p.s this post is written in a sleepy state so kindly don’t mind my words of wisdom :P

a lost connection

U helped me wen i was helpless and in deep trouble...din understand the world around me ws stil a child left out in the dark... i turned to u instinctively and u took me under ur lovin shadow..u gav me wt i asked for and made those around me happy...!!! the years 2005 n 2006 the tyme our bound grew..!! i gav u the place in my heart vich was found by none, which ws given to none , of vich i knew nothing until the tyme u cam to my rescue...!! though i m expected to respect u vich i do , whole of me does...bt u always were my frnd ...!! my frnd hu knew all abt me wid whom i talkd abt everything , the one i hd conversations with, who in his own special way guided me ...the bond ws of love , respect, trust and mostly mostly of FAITH n PATIENCE...
I remember and cherish the tyme wen i used to sit in frount of u nd sing lik a fool...!! and ofcourse the special tyme of prayer...wen i din let the fire die out..!! i was indeed a fool or js blindly trusted u..!!
Bt i din realise wen or how the thngs became jumbled , i got distracted by entering into a new world where everything suddenly was centred around me, i was the centre of attraction suddenly it ws all abt me. I nvr left u, nvr can bt somehow distances grew and used to reduce only during special tymes in 6 months...!! i hv no idea as to why i m riting all dis or whether dis is makin any sense bt ya u kno i m our child nd i kno u will always protect me , guide me and love me unconditionally as u always hav evn wen i ws in a trance...!!
OM SAI RAM