My Obituary...how I would like to be remembered :)

A good man, who was useful to others.
A wise man, who gave wisdom and knowledge, and himself lived it every moment.
A devotee, whose devotion inspired others on the path.
A pious soul who wished everyone well.
An ideal man everyone would look upto.
A loving man, whose eyes exuded love and compassion.
A successful man - rich yet humble, powerful yet serving.
One who walked like a king and served like a perfect servant.
A man who knew no fear - a free soul, free from vasanas & vrittis, free from bondage, free from fear and inhibitions.
A man who fulfilled all his relations 100%, and yet, remained above all relations.

In short, a man who lived just liked his GURU.

Waves in the Ocean..

Just as ripples in water, we emerge from the Ocean of Life...

The waves remain on the surface for sometime, 

then go back into the Ocean,

only to re-emerge again, and again, and again...

The Ocean is quiet, calm, peaceful..

It lovingly watches the waves play,

Waiting for them to come home,

Where eternal Bliss awaits them....

Call from the Master...

The Master has His own way of calling you,

He won't look at you, 
but tempt you to come to Him again and again,

till your small mind is assured He is looking at you, over you, every moment..

He won't talk to you, 
still leave you speechless, 

making you think what you would say to Him the next time you meet,

He won't say He loves you, 
still fill you with so much love,
that your Heart, unable to contain this vast Ocean, would start flowing towards the source..

He won't say your name, 
but inspire you, so you can make a name of your own,

He won't come to you, 
but pull you towards Himself with a force so immense,
that you will have no choice but to come to Him, surrender to Him,

The Master, has His own way of calling you...

Bengali - Sweetest of the sweet language

Those who have stayed in Bengal, AND, also learnt Bengali in its pure form, would completely agree with me when I say that Bengali is the sweetest language. It is not a disrespect to other languages. All languages have their own charm - else how would have we relished the writings of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Mirza Ghalib, Munshi Premchand, William Sakespeare and so many others who have created magic with their own languages. But read Rabindranath Tagore, listen to Hemant Kumar or Manna Dey, watch Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen, and you would know why I consider Bengali as the sweetest language. I am lucky, that despite belonging to a hard-core North Indian family, I grew up in a small town in Bengal, where I had the priviledge to witness Bengal and Bengali in their unadulterated form. I used to hang around with Bengali friends, enjoy watching Bengali movies, relish the writing of Tagore, Nazrul Islam, Michael Madhusudan, and above all, loved talking in Bengali. I was as Bengali at heart as the Benaglis. What distinguishes Bengali from other languages, is that it contains the grace and poetic effulgence of Urdu, yet it also has the earthiness of classical Hindi. It is flowery, but one can still connect to it as his own.

There is a beautiful bhajan in Bengali which I was looking for a long time. Luckily, found it today. The lyrics are very simple,  but written with a  graceful rustic flavour (which is famous as Baul sangeet). The song encapsulates how Lord Krishna was called by different names by different devotees - Balaram called him Krishna, the cow-herds called him Rakhal, Yashoda maa called him Yadulal, Vashista called him Manohar and so on. This way, the Lord, who is One for all, got 108 different names, depending on how the devotee treated Him - a friend, a son, a Beloved, or a Guru. The mellifluous voice in this bhajan is of Sandhya Mukhhopadhaya, and the combination of the words and the singer weaves magic. I had tears in my eyes when I heard it.I am sure you would love it too. I am also posting the lyrics for you to read and understand better.

Hare krishna naam dilo priyo bolaram
Rakhal raja naam rakhe bhokto Shri dhaam,
Joshoda jononi bole jadu bacha dhor..
Aosto taro shotto naam pelo narayon..||

Deb jadugor naame dake Judhistir
Dorpohari naam rakhe Arjun shubir
Brojo banshi bole tume brojer jibon
Aosto taro shotto naam pelo narayon..||

Nonder nondololon raakhilo shri Nondo
Brinda duti Dilo naam Brinda bono Chondro
Doyanidhi naam raakhe Aotur shujoon
Aosto taro shotto naam pelo narayon..||

Moni monohor naame Boshishto je daake
Shongshaarero Shaar naam Bishamitro raakhe
Nonichora naam rakhe Gopobalagar
Aosto taro shotto naam pelo narayon...||

Immortal Ghalib

Aashiqi sabr-e-talab, aur tamanna betaab,
Dil ka kya rang karun khoon-e-jigar hone tak...

Awesomely amazing bhajan

There are some bhajans, which you hear and forget..then there are those you like to hum along, sing along, clap along. And then there are those divine melodies, those nuggets, which the moment you hear, all you want to do is close your eyes and slip into a state of pure ecstacy and unbounded Gratitude. One such rare melody is this beautiful, Grace-filled bhajan by Chitra Roy - "Om Jyotirmaya, Karunamaya, Antarjyoti Guru". If you haven't heard it yet, dont worry, hear it now. Make sure there is not much noise around. And in case there is noise inside you, the song will take care of it :) Its from the album Geethanjali. Thanks to Rishi Vidhyadhar ji (Sr Faculty from the Art of Living) who introduced me to this bhajan. I will try to put up an official link to the song here soon The lyrics are below:

Om Jyotirmaya, Karunamaya,
SatGurave Namah Om


Om Gyanmaya, Om Premamaya,
Antarjyoti Guru, Mamayatmasangaat Guru

Om Pranamaya, Paramanandmaya,
Shantimaya, Sukhamaya,
Satgurave Namah Om, 


Om Tejomaya, Kripamaya, 
Parabramhamaya, Sachidanandmaya
Antarjyoti Guru
Om Trigunateet Guru...

Mera saaya...

Everytime I hear this song, which has been divinely sung by Lata Mangeshkar, my eyes almost moist over..I just feel that this song has been written for Guruji and He sings this song every moment for us..I think this song completely captures how Guruji takes care of everyone who is even remotely associated to Him...if there was ever a song which would describe my Master's love and care for us, I think this would be the one...just close your eyes and enjoy it...

Bacche aur Football..

Chaude sadak ke paas zameen ke chhote se tukde pe football khelte hue ye bacche,
Bebaak, befikr, bekhauf, duniya se bekhabar, yaha se waha bhaagte hue,
Sadak kafi badi hai, dono or se gadiyaan saain saain nikal rahi hain, horn baja rahi hain, 
Magar inhe iska hosh kahan, dar kahan? 
Inhe to bas ye dar hai ki gend unke goal post ke us paar na chali jae,
Aur Gend kahin khelte khelte sadak pe chali gayi to, to jisne mari use lani hogi...
Khel ke niyam bahut saral hain, magar in bacchon ki ankhon me gehri dilchaspi hai..
Inke liye ye mehaz khel nahi, inke jeevan ka ek atoot hissa hai, jiske bina inka din pura nahi ho sakta..
kuch der ke liye ye khel hi inka jeevan hai, aur wo zameen ka tukda inki duniya,

Kuch gadiyan signal pe aakar rukti hain, aur usme baithe log khidki se in bacchon ko dekhte hain,
Ye log apki aur meri tarah hain, 'modern', 'educated', 'sophisticated',
Inke paas waqt nahi, ye subah uthkar daftar jane ki taiyyari me jut jate hain, 
Aur phir sham ko ghar pahuchne ki jaldi me rehte hain,
Traffic aur signals se inhe sakht nafrat hai..

Magar inhi 'modern', 'educated', 'sophisticated' logon me se kuch,
jab majbooran signal pe aake rukte hain, aur itni zindadili se football khelte hue bacchon ki janib dekhte hain,
unki ankhen inpe tiki ki tiki reh jati hai....
waqt, kuch der ke liye, ruk jata hai....

ye bebaakpan, ye befikri, ye bekhabri, ye masoomiyat, unhe ek gumshuda shaks ki yaad dila deti hai, 
wo shaks, jo bahut arse pehle, unke andar, kho gaya hai....

Signal khul jata hai, aur tamaam gadiyan aage badh jati hain,
Peeche reh jate hain ye bacche, aur kuch gumshuda logon ki yaadein...