Saalam-e-Ishq

In this day and age of relationships, with ‘No Strings’ attached, Marriages breaking by the minute, Extra marital affairs, Couples going weak and backing out when faced with situations that test the true strength of their relationships...I think concept of a film like Salaam-e-Ishq was such a refreshing and re assuring experience for a die hard romantic like me !

Though I liked the film in parts but it did give my dying belief, a renewed hope that ‘True Love’ still does exist. My favorite love story though that played by John and Vidya Balan ( Tehzeeb). I loved the way it portrayed that True Love is the one that stands the Test of Times.

Be it happy times, sadness,fun, tragedy, tough times. It’s so easy to be in love in happy times but the relationships that not only survive but also stand strong against the stormy winds are the one’s that last a life time. I totally got teary eyed on the scene where Vidya Balan expresses her helplessness for not being able to remember any moments from the life spent together with her husband and how she hated and feared the thought that she may not ever get her memory back…My heart melted when John replies “ Hum phir se naayi yaadein banayenge…” .

I mean do such men still exist? Do such relationships still exist? Do couples still trust and stand by each other no matter what? Do couples still believe strongly that their love for each other can overcome any hurdle that comes their way? Do couples believe in the power of their love for each other? Do couples smile and sacrifice their dreams to fulfill the dream of their partners? Do couples still follow their hearts? Do people still believe and hold on to their dreams of finding true love? Are such Love stories still real?

While I don’t have answers to a lot of such questions arising in my head but this film has re kindled hope for me on finding ‘True Love’ someday soon that will not only be beautiful but last a lifetime and stand strong against Test of Times …

Saalam- e- Ishq !!!

YOUniverse !!

Read this article in The TOI's Life Section called " You have the Power". While the article was about consumers and customization to the core in today's life. There were these two lines that I really loved ...it kind of did ring a bell for me. It said ...

This is the year where YOU rule ...
Welcome to the YOUniverse here everything is about you

I just loved the concept of 'YOUniverse'

To me it implied being in harmony with the universe to experience the magic .

Last few years, I have been aware of the concept of "Universe provides for what ever you ask for, be it something positive or negative, however being cued to the Universe and sending the right intentions without any resistance can miraculously manifest any thing just anything you desire ..."

It's only last few months that I have started believing in the concept. And I see miracles happen in my day to day life ...only in situations where I have complete surrender and no resistance.

'YOUniverse' I am sure will act as a constant reminder ...

Surrender, Trust and Unconditional Acceptance ...

On the 13th Jan 2007, that is last weekend I began with Leadership Training Program (LTP) with my teacher,Prasad. I think it is the best stand I have taken for ‘MYSELF’ ever.

As part of the 10th month program I had to make a choice of a 2nd sharing partner for the program period. Out of the 37 participants there were 4-5 people I knew quite well and have worked with them and rest 5-7 people I have known from the Reiki intensive in Goa …now it was a choice I needed to make that would surely bind me for the next 10months to begin with..I has lots of thoughts in my mind immediately …Who should it be?

From the above mentioned people there were some I thought I should chose from using some vague logic that is and 1-2 who expectantly looked at me as if they were keen to have me as their sharing partner. I found myself so confused … just then a thought came to me …”What is that U really want ?”,

Not that it helped much. However I spontaneously decided to close my eyes and ask the universe …And I just did that …closed my eyes and asked “Who is the one that I should choose from all these people I know ?’.

What I heard there after was very surprising. I heard a name of a person from the group whom I had just met a day before and didn’t share more than a few words…Inspite of being a stranger at that moment it just felt RIGHT! I decided to go with the flow and see what lies ahead for us …I gathered the courage to ask him if he would accept me as his sharing partner and the I got the most prompt, non hesitant ‘YES’. It was just an awesome feeling to receive that Unconditional Acceptance.

While I am thankful to my partner for that ‘Unconditional acceptance’ I felt in total ‘SURRENDER’ and ‘TRUST’. Only time will tell why I chose him as my partner but for some reason I don’t find myself fighting any fears in Surrender and trust.

I have been thinking about it ever since and every time a situation or a thought or fear has arisen in my mind there after about making the right decision or finding the right partner for myself this incident is ringing in my head …and the strong words ‘Surrender’, ‘Trust’ and ‘Unconditional Acceptance’ is acting as my guard against all fears..

Lets see where this takes me and what doors it shall OPEN for me that perhaphs I have blocked for myself in the last many years.

A Pinch Of Salt ...

The master instructed the unhappy young man to put a
handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink
it.

"How does it taste?" the master asked.
"Bitter," spit the apprentice.
The master chuckled and then asked the young man to
take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake.
The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, and once
the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the
water, the old man said, "Now drink from
the lake."
As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the
master asked,"How does it taste?"
"Fresh," remarked the apprentice.
"Do you taste the salt?" asked the master.

"No," said the young man.

At this, the master sat beside this serious young man
who so reminded him of himself and took his hands, offering,
"The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less.
The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same.
But the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the
container we put the pain in. *So when you are in
pain, the only thing one could do is to enlarge the
sense of things ..... Stop being a glass. Become a
lake."


<em>It's amazing how I land up opening a mail from a friend after long just when I needed it ...actually I should stop being surprised as I have realized in the last few months that "Ask and It is given ..." Whatever it may be a desire, a help or anything ...Universe is totally cued on to you .. you just need to cue your self to the universe to experience the magic ...Coming back to this post .. just last nite i was talking to a friend and I landed up saying something i perhaps knew all along but just did realise that i did ...Which is That it's not the situations or pain that is BIG or painfull ...but the stories that we attach to it in our head and the importance that we give to it that makes it larger than life and difficult to handel I like the thought of Stop being the GLASS . Become a Lake " I am sure i will put it to practice and see how it helps me...

Acknowledge Your Blessings

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels.

My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, "This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received." I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world. Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.

The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them."

I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgement Section," my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed "How is it that? There's no work going on here?" I asked.

"So sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments.

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings?" I asked.

"Simple," the angel answered. "Just say, "Thank you, Lord."

As I read this passage I received from a friend I immediately thought of Prasad, my teacher and I thanked the lord for bringing him into my life. Today thanks to him I have learnt and begun to acknowledge every little blessing that life keeps showering on me. Life has begun look worth living once again

Thank You Lord !!

A Scary Nite...

Well I have been meaning to pen down this post but some how didn’t have the courage to do so. Last Friday late night I had the most unexpected incident …

Until yesterday the whole thing had just not synced into me though I talked about it to a lot of friends there after and got great learning’s.

I was driving back from office late at night and usually I am always accompanied by a colleague at that hour but that night I was all alone …As I was nearing my home and driving at a decent speed of 30 -40 km /hr there was just one car ahead of me and safe distance driving (So I thought …little did I know!) ….When suddenly the car ahead without any signaling stopped in the middle of the road, leaving me little or no time to stop myself …BANG !! That’s what happened and I just crashed into the car with a great impact …my seat beat saved me and pulled me back .. that the moment leaving me with feeling of pulling me back and making me totally numb …I did get out of my car and so did the other guy …I was so numb that I just didn’t know how to react to the situation…I had a mobile in my hand I kept looking at it . It was as though I knew that I had to use it for …HELP ! But I just kept looking at it not knowing whom to call or what to ask for …I think I was so numb and frightened that I just didn’t know what my reaction should be . The guy in the car ahead apologized. The reason he gave, to stop the car was just silly, he too knew I guess that it wasn’t right …There was a dead cat on the road and he didn’t have the judgment to cross over it’s body without squashing it so just stopped the car …

At times we just don’t seem to realize what is important …misjudging over a dead cat or risking the life of the people alive. In my shocked state I just yelled at the guy a bit and just sat in the car, called my sister and tried to reach another friend and rushed back home …my heart was pacing at the speed higher than what I have driven on my car last 2.5 yrs.

I reached home and my sister and me talked about it to calm me down . Couldn’t tell mom as she would panic. I tried to sleep but just found my self so scared at the possibility of what could have happened. I just cuddled up like a baby who had seen a bad dream with tears rolling down my eyes. Yes I did feel gratitude for being saved and very apologetic and upset for my baby (Read my Car here).

Next morning I was better and spoke to my close friends to figure how I should go about the damages as that was yet another experience of it’s kind. Went to the Service center got an estimate, tried to understand all those insurance terms and car technicalities …called my uncle in Delhi for help and assurance on what was being done was right and learnt how to go about the official procedure .. Latter a few friends told me the alternative procedures and what should I have done in the spur of the moment. I kept feeling really sad and shitty that whole day seeing the damage…

That’s when my dearest friend Mayank who has just got back to the country after 2 yrs called and said “ Your Car is very lucky for you …It took all the brunt and saved your life” . Suddenly what he said made me feel grateful to the universe and my car.
Its strange, I have thought about that incident many times and realized that I had got the signs that something was going to happen that nite loud and clear … My eyes kept seeing “Caution” “ Keep Safe distance “ etc …I knew that the repeated signs did mean a warning .. but I had some other situation in my mind and I wondered what that warning would mean …

Anyways, as they say all’s well that ends well …So here I am grateful to the universe to keep me safe and teaching me the lessons I had to learn.

Relationships - An introspection !

I have been thinking on this subject last 3 years …lots of questions, lots of learning’s, lots of failures and lots of gains …Its been a long tiring journey …It is still on and may be may take me a lifetime or more before I reach the destination …Abhijit mentioned to me that the Journey is more important than the destination …

However I had a few realization recently which I thought I must put down .. so that when I do look back in time I know where I have progressed.

I have been feeling last 3 yrs that every new relationship that came into my life was tough to manage, it was too demanding or just wanting a lot out of me without wanting to give in return …It was unlike a lot of relationships / friendships that I had in the past …With most of these relationships I just didn’t seem to have patience …I felt very dominated, confused, unsure and thus withdrew…I never like withdrawing and I like to be with people I like... but at times when I just don’t know how to tackle a situation or how to take things forward I land up stepping back …with time I do find the next steps I need to take and they are always in the right direction …just this stepping back and withdrawal makes me very sad and dejected…

One such recent incident made me think alot ...I just realized that may be it’s how I have been looking at these new relationships that needed a new perspective from my end …I can’t change people but changing my perspective towards them could make my situation better or make me deal with the situation better. I thought to myself and wondered how and why all my friendships or any kind of relationships in the past / current that I have lasted for 15 years and more(infact there have been quite a few ) lasted that well .. then why last few years I seem to feel like a failure …

I came across a couple of reasons

The relationships weren’t built in a day / week/ month

I didn’t have any expectations from them at that point …or may be I did but dealt with them over a period of time

I never feared loosing anything or them …they were important but them not being around didn’t make feel uncomfortable

I didn’t always like their ways but looked for their positives.. I guess they did the same

Yes I did have disagreements and over time we confronted each other and worked around it …not all confrontations were positive but the realtionhips worked...

I guess there was all the time in the world…or we just gave it alot of time

There was a lot of patience, care freeness, no strong opinions or no expectations

We stood by each other in difficult times and celebrated every small victory

Laughed together, shared a lot, cried , enjoyed every moment

All these reasons just bring me to a conclusion ...

Basically, relationship are like a small seed that you plant …you give it water, good sunlight, right manure, nurture it, protect it from the storm and thunder, take out the weeds that grow around and try to hamper its growth, pamper it, give it enough love and look forward for it bloom into a sapling and finally a beautiful tree that has strong roots to face the test of times, give u shelter and bear beautiful flowers and fruits …yes at times the seeds you plant don’t grow and die very fast ….but that has not stopped a planter from clearing out the dead seeds, plough the land again plant new seeds with a new hope and faith …

May be I understand why I thought I was being a failure …and even if I was what stopped me from starting again …to clear out the dead seeds, plough the land again plant new seeds with a new hope and faith …

Beautiful words from an Angel !

An oyster opens his mouth to swallow one drop.Now there’s a pearl.
A vagrant wanders empty ruins.Suddenly he’s wealthy.
But don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth,
without complicated explanation,so everyone will understand the passage,
we have opened you

....Lines of the great sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi:

These beautiful lines came to me from Sundaram as a mail this morning ( AKKA Stefan, my German friend and Angel who I met at Reiki Intensive in Goa ). Sundram has a soul stirring voice and sings Indian chants of all Gods and Godesses...His voice is part of my life .. and his chants ring in my ears through the day ...The beauty with which he sings the chants almost makes me want to believe that every God he calls out would be by his side that very instant ... may be to just hear his beautiful voice ...

The the above lines seem to come as a message when I was looking for certain answers to a situation I was unsure of...They have given me HOPE and FAITH ...

It conveys to me that I need to TRUST the universe and my own judgments, TAKE my own little STEPS that the heart guides.. falter may be ...but LEARN from it and Keep On Keeping on ....