As a child I was greatly disturbed by the story of Rip Van Winkle that I read in the Radiant Reader Book II. The idea that one can fall asleep for a hundred years and wake up to find that every thing around him has changed did not appeal to me at all and made me most uncomfortable. Yet today I am humored to realize that I have under gone a Rip Van Winkle –like experience of sorts!
Just a week back, Jai, my gardener, told me with a lot of pride that he had planted some marigolds in the pots. I stared at him for two seconds and asked him, “Marigolds? Why now? They are going to wither!” He almost asked me if I was out my mind and insisted that they would bloom very soon. I kept quiet.
I was intently buying vegetables for the home one morning and silently marveled at the fresh green enticing vegetables, wondering how they were available at this time of the year…I was rather pleased. Little did I realize that they were of course winter veggies!
The other day I attended a ladies soirée after a gap of six months. I was naturally happy to be there and would like to believe that every body was glad to see me. But as I walked in, I noticed that almost everybody was wearing silks. I wondered why everybody was in winter wear!! So was I, mind you, and I even carried a shawl…but I was all confused!
I kept wondering why I was all confused about the season. Of course I knew that the deadly Delhi winter was settling in, but it all seemed to be a mumbo-jumbo in my mind. I was rather disturbed and the confused worm wriggled incessantly in my brain. Then, finally I figured it out. It was during the waning winter that I had been detected with cancer. I had fought it all through summer when I was so completely knocked out. The season had just not registered in my mind. I had only been struggling to live through every isolated day.
I now realize that I have a lost a season! It has just evaporated! From last winter, I sub consciously move to summer, though my conscious mind knows that the cold winter is galloping in. Each morning when I shiver as I remove my blanket, I need to remind myself that summer is over. Today it is a cold winter morning, and every thing is as it should be.
Of course I am not Rip Van Winkle, but it is amazing how the mind can make you one! :-))
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
DIAL THE TOLL FREE NUMBER
I strutted around saree clad and with a bandana on my head as if I was the 21st century trend setter, if you please!!! I managed to do all that I usually used to do for Durga Pujo and was thrilled about it.
Durga Pujo is a five day festival beginning on sasthi (6th day) to dashami (10th day) of the Navratras. The most auspicious time is the “Sondhi Pujo” which is the union between asthami (8th day) and navami (9th day). The duration of this puja is short and extremely special. The story goes that this is the time that the Goddess killed Ashur, the devil who was tormenting the Gods. One also believes that this is the auspicious time that Ma Durga blessed Ram before he went to fight the battle at Lanka. It is a powerful moment of victory; in fact it is an invocation of shakti (power).
During this puja, the Goddess is worshipped with 108 lotuses and 108 little lamps. The pujari chants a very special vedic mantra as he performs the ritual. The chant, the lamps, the lotuses, and the solemnity of the devotees make the very air emanate incredible energy and the moment is surreal and sublime.
I looked up at the Goddess, the Mother, at this sublime moment with my hands folded in respect. Her face (I felt) was radiant and alive. I stared at Her without a single prayer in my heart!!! I dialed the toll free number and connected with Her. It struck me that at this moment last year, I had prayed that She takes care of my family and loved ones, blesses them and makes them happy. Little did I know what was to happen to me…such things only happened to others, never ever to me!!!
At that moment of sondhi puja, as I stood before Mother, I did not have anything to ask for. She had given me life to enjoy another Durga Puja festival even without asking for it! She protects me from all harm, what is the puny- me going to ask for? I felt small, foolish and vulnerable. I always used to have a list of things that I needed to pray for. For the first time I was acutely conscious of the fact that I was so disastrously ignorant that I did not even know what I “needed” to pray for.
It is a direct hot line connection from point A to point B between Almighty and me and no matter how much I tried or my loved ones tried, there is no way that point C can get linked. The realization is overwhelming. As I dialed the toll free number and connected with the Supreme Power, there was little else I could do but surrender in utter awe. Surprisingly, as I surrendered, I felt the warmth of security and love. It reassured me.
Durga Pujo is a five day festival beginning on sasthi (6th day) to dashami (10th day) of the Navratras. The most auspicious time is the “Sondhi Pujo” which is the union between asthami (8th day) and navami (9th day). The duration of this puja is short and extremely special. The story goes that this is the time that the Goddess killed Ashur, the devil who was tormenting the Gods. One also believes that this is the auspicious time that Ma Durga blessed Ram before he went to fight the battle at Lanka. It is a powerful moment of victory; in fact it is an invocation of shakti (power).
During this puja, the Goddess is worshipped with 108 lotuses and 108 little lamps. The pujari chants a very special vedic mantra as he performs the ritual. The chant, the lamps, the lotuses, and the solemnity of the devotees make the very air emanate incredible energy and the moment is surreal and sublime.
I looked up at the Goddess, the Mother, at this sublime moment with my hands folded in respect. Her face (I felt) was radiant and alive. I stared at Her without a single prayer in my heart!!! I dialed the toll free number and connected with Her. It struck me that at this moment last year, I had prayed that She takes care of my family and loved ones, blesses them and makes them happy. Little did I know what was to happen to me…such things only happened to others, never ever to me!!!
At that moment of sondhi puja, as I stood before Mother, I did not have anything to ask for. She had given me life to enjoy another Durga Puja festival even without asking for it! She protects me from all harm, what is the puny- me going to ask for? I felt small, foolish and vulnerable. I always used to have a list of things that I needed to pray for. For the first time I was acutely conscious of the fact that I was so disastrously ignorant that I did not even know what I “needed” to pray for.
It is a direct hot line connection from point A to point B between Almighty and me and no matter how much I tried or my loved ones tried, there is no way that point C can get linked. The realization is overwhelming. As I dialed the toll free number and connected with the Supreme Power, there was little else I could do but surrender in utter awe. Surprisingly, as I surrendered, I felt the warmth of security and love. It reassured me.
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