How encouraging to know that somebody thinks about us..oops me!

But where!!

I was shopping at an antique store which was selling statues of Buddha, and I suddenly happen to hear a voice from behind which said “Vanakkam”. To my dismay, when I turned back it was a Chinese guy. I wanted to show that I also knew some kind of Chinese and told him “Nee how ma” (How are you). After initial exchange of pleasantries, he was describing about the Statue that I was holding in my hand. I wanted to buy a statue of Avaloketeshwara and he started relating the similarities between the Indian goddess Durga and Avaloketeshwara. I was completely taken aback. He did not stop there, he said he is planning to visit the Madurai Meenakshi amman temple and started quoting from “Thirukural”. I was amazed and more than amazed, ashamed because, I knew very little about their culture.

The other day, I visited a Chinese temple and came to know that there isn’t much difference between the cultures. An incident that touched me the most is.. There was a Krishna temple nearby and I found a lot of Chinese standing their and praying in their traditional way. Having an Agarbatti in hand and offering prayers. I just realized that they give a lot of emphasis to the departed souls and they believe a lot in praying to their ancestors would give them wealth and prosperity.

Talking about the departed soul, I saw a Chinese funeral and it wasn’t any different from ours. The only difference I found was that, even when there was a body, I found the family members playing cards the whole night. The dead body is cremated only after 7-10 days depending upon the status of the family. The funniest part is that the Govt of Singapore for want of burial space, excavates the burial ground once in 20 years and stores the remains in a small box, attaches an RFID kind of a tag and then stores the box in a building. The relatives are given a key (like the one that we get in our bank lockers) and would have to fix an appointment and offer their prayers…. The Singapore government has brought in technology even for the dead.. I am sure they are capable of doing more…

Now talking about their marriages. The Chinese spend a lot of money on their weddings and they expect their guest to return the favor by gifting them with a proportion equivalent to the money spent. To put in Ramakrishnamoorthy Sir Language. The Driver behind this is the food that is served. If a ten course meal is served, the standard is that you pay 100$ and it goes on changing. I also came to know of some interesting stats. People belonging to the Malaysian fraternity marry early and also get divorced early. One in every ten marriages ends up in a divorce. It looks like there is very little stability in their marriage and however the support from family members is enormous. Even if a girl or boy is divorced, not only their parents their entire family supports them and arranges for a second/ third marriage. On the contrary the Chinese are more Money minded and would like to go behind any opportunity which would fetch them some money.

Economic growth or Environment protection
Professional success or Spiritual growth
Money or Happiness
Good or Bad
Right or Wrong
This or That

Where lies the option, given the fixity of the cause the effect manifests. The current moment is what it is; it cannot be wished away nor can it be wished otherwise. The courage lies in viewing what is as it is and not as what we want it to be. It’s a complete disgrace to human intelligence because we fail to face reality and rather than accepting it we go on fighting with it like a coward and say life doesn’t treat me fair.

I just get reminded of JK's works..There is no path that leads you to Truth.. and reality is found between the spaces of thoughts.. Only if we could revisit all our assumptions, perceptions, conditionings our belief system would collapse and the truth would be revealed.. coz truth has never gone out for a stroll it was just there, we are the only species which keep proclaiming that "Truth will finally prevail" and "Dharma will always win" as if there is a Demand supply problem. We have been so much caught up in the minds game that we go on condemning, justifying, and fighting what we perceive from our limited knowledge as right.. and we are proud of it.. Thanks to our schools, teachers, parents and society, we know very little of what truth is and make all kinds of noise, just to prove that we exist and we "know" something...

Time = Mental exertion in futility.

Oh Divine!
Why are there so many conflicts within me?
When will I be free from this duality?
When will I see things as they are?
When will I accept things as they are?
When will I move from a state of being unconscious to conscious?
When will I move from knowing to being?
When will I just be?

I am slowly getting adjusted to the environment and culture. I stay in a PG and it takes me 1 Hr to reach my office by the MRT. My house owners are really nice people, they take very good care of me. They are very frank, honest and genuine people. The house owner cooks food for me and Rahul (IT buff from Bombay) sometimes for dinner and she also bought me a dress for my B day, they also celebrated my B day and I felt really happy and at home. This makes me feel I am blessed and this feeling always gets me back to my senses and restores sanity whenever I go off track. All through my life I have come across some really good people from whom I have learnt a lot and who have left behind a lasting impression. I am indeed blessed and that makes me believe in the supreme power.

I get to read books when I travel. Osho, Reddy, and J krisnamurthy are my companions. Not a single day passes without reading Osho and I think I have fallen in love with his thoughts. Jagit Singh’s Maa and Krisna bajans, refresh my soul at the end of the day.

I am surprised by the way in which things are structured and organized. I am also taken a back by their road sense, civic sense and common senseJ. Some time I wonder where is the room for creativity and ones urge to be natural. However I admire their concept of society. 80% of the houses are built by the govt and every society is well equipped with Gyms, Swing pool, Schools, Sports centers, Old age centers, shopping complexes. What amuses me is that at the end of every road there are these vacant lands and the Chinese in the mornings practice Tai chi and the youngsters practice aerobics in the evening and children practice karate, skating and basketball. This keeps reminding me of the Multiplex creativity villageJ. The Chinese are the one who come out for all this, I haven’t seen a Malai or an Indian. The work culture is also pretty different, I feel they don’t give much importance to work and they don’t carry work outside office hours. When the clock strikes 6.00, you would find people packing their bags and rushing out like ants. At the end of the day , you can see them either shopping or at a food court hogging. There are two things they seem to do religiously eat and shop.

Last week I went to one of the Singapore banks to open a savings a/c. After completing all the formalities, I just asked the lady at the counter what the interest rate was. She just looked up, smiled and said 0.25%. I was completely taken aback. I went home and spoke to a couple of my friends and then realized that the economy would be at great danger if people start saving. That’s when I realized that I need to come out of my Indian mentality.

I admire the Singapore kids, from a very young age the parents teach them how to behave and they are exposed to so much technology unlike their Indian counterparts that they become independent from a very young age. It so happened that one day I was at the MRT and was swiping my card against the wrong counter. I suddenly heard a voice from somewhere “Uncle not this counter, you need to go there”. I looked around and found nobody and somebody from below pulled my pants and that’s when I realized it was toddler. I was completely embarrassed, thanked her and started walking fast. I don’t know if I am right by making this statement, but in a short time I some how get this feeling and I wonder what happens to their ability to be natural. Does Fruedian principles don’t work here? The society is becoming more mechanical and programmed, so much so that they walk in the same side of the road, stand in the same side in the train and the best past is that people start walking in escalators (going against the very purpose it is there) even there they have a rule, people who want the escalators to take them stand in the right side and the others walk past them from left. I guess their Tai chi and aerobics keep them sane .

All set and done I feel there is something more in Mother India, Singapore does not have Thiruvanna malai, Ramna ashram is not here, ASB is not here, I don’t see cows, I don’t see people coexisting in chaos and more importantly mother’s curd rice and rasam is not there.

At work, I sometimes find it difficult understanding their Singlish and am also finding it hard to break ice, I don’t go out with them during lunch. I remember mam teaching us in CCM class that the Chinese, the Japanese and generally Asians get accustomed over Food. The problem is they go in for a Chinese restaurant and I find it really really difficult to find a veg dish, even if we go elsewhere, I don’t kind of understand what the item in the menu card is. I guess I need to take a course on these dishes and separate training on how to pronounce them.

"In doing what i am doing, what am i reallly doing"

"If you are not friends with yourself, who else will be
If you are not what you are then who are you
If not now then when"

- Zen Saying

Power of NOW: Caught in this mad race, where do I have the time to view things as they are? I keep labeling things and have my own perceptions on everything that I come across. A victim of my own mind, I am caught in duality, Good – Bad , Beautiful – Ugly, Rich – Poor and many more. Oh Lord!, let me break free, relieve me from this illusion. Let me view things as they are. Let me view a flower without labeling it good or bad, let me talk to a person and not judge him. Let me experience the power of NOW and let me understand that my perceptions of the future and my worries of the past all arise only from the NOW. As Kalidasa said,

“For yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope”

Such is the salutation to the dawn...

The potential of a tree lies in a small seed. I look at a seed with great admiration, for it contains a beautiful tree in it. Nature is Natural; I guess that’s why it got its name. It does not resist, it does not boast of knowledge and does not have any perceptions. It is just there, It allows sunlight and water to act on it and then flourishes and blossoms at the right time. I have never seen a tree crib about the lack of sunlight or water, never seen it go on a strike. How beautiful is nature. Oh lord! let me be like the tree without resistance, give me the power to understand that each time I resist I don’t allow you to work through me, yes my lessons in physics teach me that energy always chooses the path of least resistance. Let me not resist, let me not question your nature, let me just be, just like the tree, like the river. GOD, I am the seed; there lies within me the potential to become you. Act on me as you did to the tree and let me blossom.

We are constantly in search of a role model a person whom we can emulate or imitate. We would want to be Amitab bachan in making, Abdul kalam in intelligence and Aishvaria rai in beauty.

I just came across this beautiful story

“Ever since I was a little kid. I didn’t want to be myself. I had great admiration for George and wanted to be like him. But george dint even like me. I tried to walk like he walked. I tried to talk like he talked. I tried to imitate him even signed up for the high school he signed for.
Which was why george changed. He began to hang around Jackson; he walked like Jackson. He mixed me up! I was confuced! I began to walk and talk like george who was walking and talking like Jackson.
And then it dawned on me that Jackson walked and talked like Michael and Michael walked and talked like peter.
So her I am walking and talking like George imitation of Jacksons version of Michael, trying to walk and talk like peter.
And who do you think peter is always walking and talking like
of all the people SAM, that, that little peat who walks and talks like me!"

We are the best the way we are. Look into yourself and let others go their way...

"When the shoe fits in the foot is forgotten
when the belt fits in the belly is forgotten
and when the heart is right
good and bad are forgotten"

Who decides what is good and bad?. We have been hearing this constantly from our parents and our so called friends from the society. They decide what is good and bad for us. Lets think for a second, No doubt with all love and compassion they keep telling us, but how do they know what is good and bad for us. We think they no better about our body conditions and our inner feelings; we have made to think so. From our childhood we respect their authority and are servile and that keeps continuing even when we are grown ups, we listen to our friends, our bosses and more importantly the society (super boss). The innocence is lost, the urge to dream and feel is lost. Ultimately we know ourselves as what we have come to believe from what we have heard from them. Just an illusion an image. That which is robbed by clubs or guns can be retrieved but who can give us our dreams that are robbed. Let us beleive in ourselves and remember we are the best the way we are. The almighty has not created junk, he has created diamonds. Let us keep in mind that one needs to process coal to get diamond; similarly life is a process, let us leave it to nature to do all the process to get the diamond out. Let us not resist, let us not allow others to rob us of our dreams.

Life doesnt treat me fair..Why do i have to face all the problem when my neighbor and friends are enjoying their life. "It looks like GOD is partial and he has not been favoring me at all". Am I echoing your views, dear friend wait a second, numerous men have asked this question and never have they got an answer. Nature cannot err, in the entire cosmic movement, the universal law stands impeccably right and we fail to realise it. We reap what we sow, when a Mango seed is sown only a Mango tree grows and not an apple tree. The knowledge that we have is limited and can only witness the micro movement and not the macro. In hindsight we feel that all that happened was for good. However during that particular instant we fail to realise and get dejected. Friends look beyond, humans err and the nature doesnt, what we get is what we deserve and not necessarily what we desire. Nature has a bigger plan, surrender yourself to nature and it knows what to give you when, where and how.

Dreams are the only source of power. We have been robbed of our innocence by the society and have foregotten how to dream. As toddlers it was never a problem, it came to us naturally. However with this faced paced life, we have no time even to dream. Wait a second you might still feel that you get your time to dream.. but my dear friend look back and see what you have done with that. Its time that we realize our potential. Mankind from time immemorial has never been happy, they have been wandering in search of happiness not realizing one bit that it lies within them and not elsewhere. So friends dream and make dream a reality and thats the way to lead a happy life