Maya...

The living creatures and their ways are in God's power. Whatever He says, they do. When the Sovereign Lord of the Universe is pleased, there is nothing at all to fear.
Jīa jugaṯ vas parabẖū kai jo kahai so karnā.
Bẖae parsann gopāl rāe bẖao kicẖẖ nahī karnā.
जीअ जुगति वसि प्रभू कै जो कहै सु करना ॥
भए प्रसंन गोपाल राइ भउ किछु नही करना ॥
ਜੀਅ ਜੁਗਤਿ ਵਸਿ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਕੈ ਜੋ ਕਹੈ ਸੁ ਕਰਨਾ ॥
ਭਏ ਪ੍ਰਸੰਨ ਗੋਪਾਲ ਰਾਇ ਭਉ ਕਿਛੁ ਨਹੀ ਕਰਨਾ ॥
~Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji~

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Date / Time:  Another day in paradise. The precise moment when the first rays of Sun segregate dusk from dawn.

Before the day ends, Lokesh has an important journey to complete and thus he hails an approaching cab.

Lokesh: Please take me to the Narayan Film Studio, Antriksh Marg.

Cabby: That’s too far off. Instead, let me take you to the Maya Photo Studio, Lobh Nagar.

Lokesh: Huh! No.

Cabby: Why?

Lokesh: See, I have been called to audition for the movie, “Nirvana”, and the screen test is in the Narayan Film Studio. Please help; this may be my big break after several years of mindless struggle.

Cabby: No, I say you should go to the Maya Photo Studio, it is nearer.

Lokesh: I have been there in the past, instead of developing a positive, all they hand you is the negative and later when you are gone, a picture hangs on their wall. And that road is behind me, not where I am headed, so why would you suggest something so absurd?

Cabby: Forget the big break, let me take you to the Maya Photo Studio or else…

Lokesh: Or else? What? Don’t bother, I know how to walk and can make that journey on my own. Although I fail to understand what is with this tag line “We Take You Where You Want” on your cab when that is the least of your interest?

Cabby: That is a typo. It was meant to be “We Take You Where We Want”, but since honesty tends to scare off people, have never bothered to correct it. As long as the traveller is traveling my way, I take him there, or else I don’t. Maybe I should start a chain of “My Way or Highway” cabs.

Lokesh: Yeah, you should. Good luck with your enterprise, may God bless it always and forever. In any case, I prefer to take the highway, have found out it is the fastest route to happiness. I will walk for now, thanks so much anyhow.
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Auditions are on at the Narayan Film Studio. The one and only Absolute Being, or AB as HE’s popularly known by HIS infinite followers, is taking the screen test for the upcoming “Nirvana”. In the history of mankind, no soul has ever bettered HIS scriptwriting; HE is The Supreme Crafter, always full of heartfelt passions and mind blowing twists. Truly, HE is the biggest writer, producer, director of the celestial, the true King of the Kings.

Lokesh: Boss, I am here for the screen test.

AB: Hmmm… Been a while since you received the call, so what took you so long?

Lokesh: Actually I was deliberating how to reach here, and eventually I walked. Sorry for the delay.

AB: No worries. And as long as you have learnt that it is always best to walk your own path in order to reach where it counts, there is no real delay as such. Besides walking is good, it keeps your heart and body fit, it keeps your mind and soul aware. Keep walking.

Lokesh: Yes Boss. Always will.

AB: BTW, just in case you are still in daze, that cabby was me.

Lokesh: Huh!

AB: See, I knew you aren’t fully aware as yet. Enlightenment must come little by little, otherwise it will overwhelm you, and you my child have always been overwhelmed by all that the world has shown you.

Lokesh: But how? Why? And if you were here in the studio, how could you have been there?

AB: I am everywhere. Omnipresent. In every living being. In every soul. In every cabby who helps or doesn’t help you in the journey, it is me, I decide, I direct who will get to play what part. Look, a cabby or a “saarthi” as Lord Krishna was to Arjun, will not only take you from one point to another but will bring wisdom. Always look at the bigger picture if you want to learn. If cabby knows the route, I will direct him to help you. If the cabby doesn’t know the way, I will direct him to refuse you, so that you can find your own way. Unless he refuses you, you will go on and on in circles with him without ever trusting yourself that you can reach to me on your own. I knew that walking will do you good, will give you more time to prepare for the audition.

Lokesh: But what if I would have decided to go along with the cabby?

AB: Always your Freewill. You can choose whatever your common sense tells you, it is all about priorities. If the screen test is an important break you wanted, you will come. If it isn’t, you won’t. That is always your choice. I can only offer you something when you decide to come, not before that.

Lokesh: I am glad I decided to walk. Now it makes all the more sense.

AB: Hmmm… Any experience of acting?

Lokesh: Boss, I have been acting all my life. I mean, there have been times when there was an audience, but for most of the time I was busy acting for myself, to myself, trying to do all by myself, alike Sunil Dutt in Yaadein. Does that counts?

AB: Ha Ha Ha… You are mad. Anyhow, we will now do the screen test. Go and pick a dialogue sheet of any random character, let me see if you have it within you to deliver a sterling performance, so this must be an honest attempt by you.

Lokesh: Yes Boss. Thanks, I will always attempt to the best of my ability, after that Que Sera, Sera… I am carrying a sheet on which I wrote something earlier, I’d read it out…

jisse samjha tha ibaadat; woh shayad mere dimaag ka khalaa tha
haatheli pe ghaav banna ke apni lakeerein badalne chala tha
muqaddar ke sitam ko samajh ke muqaddas, yeh majnoon dhadkane
ek khandar pe pehra deti ab bhi muqarrar, jaise dastuur ho koi…

AB: Are you insane? Neither is this couplet a patch on Ghalib nor is this movie about him… The name of the movie is “Nirvana”, do you even understand what it means… It means Mukti… Moksha… Liberation… oh BTW, we are making it a bilingual; the version for the international market will be titled “Salvation”…

Lokesh: Sorry… My bad… Since the title is “Nirvana”, may I try speaking the dialogues of Mother Teresa, she has been a role model and I have always looked up to her…

AB: Ha Ha Ha… Are you mad? I can’t possibly ever take you for the role of Mother Teresa; I mean even if I ignore the gender difference and the obvious contrast in appearance, you have a rude voice which is absolutely unsuited for such a soft gentle role.

Lokesh: Is it imperfect voice?

AB: Ha Ha Ha. Unsuited is more like it. Besides, what is your motto in life, understand that the true production value is in being real at all times, so will you be comfortable speaking the lines of the great Mother Teresa since all the dubbing must be done by you and not someone else.

Lokesh: Yes Boss, as always you are right. I am imperfect to be alike the great Mother Teresa. I still live my life by the immortal lines by Saint Aurelius Augustinus, “Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet."

AB: I knew it. Thank ME you are not completely mad.

Lokesh: Thank God. Thank God indeed. So, how about I speak the lines of Kurt Gobain, from the grunge band “Nirvana.” First of all, the name of the band matches the title and second of all, I am absolutely at ease mouthing his famous lines, “Nobody dies a virgin... Life fucks us all.", and also “I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.”

AB: Don’t be silly. Kurt Gobain was a lead singer and like I said, you have an absolutely horrendous voice imperfect even for the bathroom singing. Get real as I said, Get real. GET REAL.

Lokesh: Sorry Boss. I agree, I am imperfect as Kurt Gobain too. Acha, I have always been a huge fan of Bhagavad Gita, so how about if I try and go mythological and do some reading from it for this screen test.

AB: Uh oh! We don’t have a separate Bhagavad Gita on the sets but for now the epic Mahabharata is available to you. Be aware that the teachings of Bhagavad Gita are a part of it. Go get that from the top shelf, open any random page and enact the first name that appears, it will be a good test to find out if you have any improvisation skills within you.

Lokesh: Yes Boss. Here I go and here I come. OK, so the first name I find on the page is Gandhari, the wife of Dhritarashtra.

AB: Ha Ha Ha… Ah, the famous luck of Oye Loki, Lucky Oye is back. How on earth will you enact as Gandhari? Again there is the gender difference, and moreover Gandhari after meeting her husband Dhritarashtra for the first time and realizing that her husband was born blind, decided to protest silently by blindfolding herself. So is this constant silliness your way of protest? Are you willing to be blindfolded for the remaining of your life?

Lokesh: Err… No. Sorry, my bad. And the famous luck of Lucky Loki says sorry, my bad too. Can I wear Ray Ban’s instead of being blindfolded permanently? I can take those off and put them back on at my convenience.

AB: Shut up. Get real. Get real for MY sake. Get real for your sake. GET REAL.

Lokesh: Boss, you are Absolute and you are absolutely right, I agree that I am imperfect to be Gandhari. Having always believed that life is meant to be lived to its maxim, I can’t let anyone or anything change that ever. I mean, how can I possibly forego to make the most of this beautiful life when the whole eternity, Kaynaat, is majestically mesmerising, I can’t possibly cherish and nurture it to my best by needlessly remaining blindfolded for the rest of my life.

AB: Phew! Change… Change the page…

Lokesh: Haha…

AB: What?

Lokesh: Ah! The famous luck of Loki is back... The next name is Dhritarashtra…

AB: Hahaha… Abe duffer, when you are imperfect to play Gandhari, how on earth will you play Dhritarashtra… Change… Change the page… Change the page before your time is up…

Lokesh: Wokay… Here I change… so the name that appears first on this page is of Bheem… Yayyyy… I’d love to play Bheem… I love the dialogue from Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, “Thair paapi ... main teri zubaan kheench ke loonga ...” and “Dharamraj, iski jubaan kheench loon ke?”

AB: Abe Nautanki… First have an honest look at your lean body, I will need to magnify more than x 100 for you to look alike Bheem… Do you live to eat or do you eat to live… All along I am telling you to become real… I want you to become a story within a story, and yet you are merely engaged in acting within acting…. Are you interested in this screen test or not?

Lokesh: Sorry boss, who kya hai apni na ki apni bad luck hi kharaab hai… Galti se mistake ho gayi…

AB: Time khoti matt kar babu… Hurry up… Change the page…

Lokesh: Yes Boss… the next name is Karna… Yayyy… this is where my luck changes… I’d love to play Karna…

AB: Think it over… Karna was a great warrior yet history hasn’t been kind to him…

Lokesh: I am not going to live forever that I worry about how I am going to be perceived, thus I don’t care if the history will or won’t be nice to me, all I care is to play the part to the best of my ability. My job is to hope and pray for your kindness, that’s all I am interested in.

AB: Karna learnt all on his own after being refused by Dronacharya, how about you? Are you willing to learn on your own?

Lokesh: Boss, I too believe every moment in itself brings a new lesson, and if I am willing to learn, I am willing to grow… I honestly intend to keep learning as long as I am alive… Yet unlike Karna, I cannot claim that I have learnt everything on my own, all the friends and foes have been my teachers… Life has been the greatest teacher…

AB: Hmm. But Karna had been cursed by a Brahmin whose cow he accidently killed. He also carried the curse of Parashurama: that he would forget all the mantras required to wield the divine weapon Brahmastra, the most destructive weapon in archery, at the moment of his greatest need. Do you understand that although Karna was an extremely competent warrior, more skilful than Arjuna, yet the curses on him brought his doom in crucial moments of his battle with Arjuna?

Lokesh: Curse or no curse, I am not going to let the fear get the better of me in any battle…

AB: Hmmm… Karna, the son of Surya, was as radiant and powerful as him… Will you be able to do justice to Karna?

Lokesh: Sire, I find the light within, and I rely solely on my courage and your direction, will it be suffice?

AB: (Smiling) Yeah… Totally… But Karna fought against his own kin Pandavas for his friend Duryodhana, can you do that…

Lokesh: Yup… Absolutely… A friend is the family I choose for myself… I can fight any battle for my friend…

AB: Even if the friend would ask you to fight an unjust battle…?

Lokesh: Err… No… Not really… To go by the wise words of Aristotle, “Piety requires us to honour truth above our friends”, I’d stick with the truth if it came between choosing between a friend and the truth…

AB: Ha… But what is truth… Your truth can be different from anyone else’s truth… Your truth maybe Monday morning on India time yet it may still be Sunday evening for someone who is living in another part of globe... Do you understand that time can blur the truth…

Lokesh: Yes, I understand… Everyone has their own path, and everyone has their own truth… Everyone must live their own truth… My truth is only binding on me…

AB:  Hmm… Flip some more pages…

Lokesh: Ji Boss… Wokay, so this page starts with the mention of Abhimanyu… Yayyy… I love Abhimanyu… The protagonist in the TV serial Fauji played by Shahrukh Khan too went by the name of Abhimanyu…

AB: What do you know about Abhimanyu?

Lokesh: I know that as Karna was the son of Sun, Abhimanyu was the son of Moon… He too was a great warrior… In the absence of Arjuna, Abhimanyu was the only one who knew entering the deadly and virtually impenetrable Chakravyuha… But…

AB: Buttttt? What?

Lokesh: (Gulp) He only knew how to enter and not how to exit… He died…

AB: You do comprehend that Abhimanyu couldn’t have been killed; he perished only because he was attacked by multiple enemies…

Lokesh: More than that, all I comprehend is that Abhimanyu attained Moksha after dying a hero… and that in itself is the greatest reason for me to want to emulate him.

AB: Are you afraid of dying?

Lokesh: Nope… I am not afraid of dying; my only fear is living an unlived life… And when the death comes, I want it to find me alive…

AB: So be it… May you be alive and feel alive as long as you live… May the fear of not knowing how to exit never stop you from fighting the battles of your life… I bless you...  I grant you this role…

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Standard Disclaimer:

This is a work of fiction and the characters and events in it exist only in its pages and in the author’s imagination.

No wait a minute…

Modified Disclaimer:

In fact all the characters and events are real in this work of fiction… God, The Absolute Being, AB is real. All the names that appear in it are real as illustrated in the Glossary… Lokesh is in the process of becoming real… So that leaves only the cab story as a work of fiction… Believe you me, now it exists only in author’s imagination...

Glossary (in order of appearance):

1.            Mirza Ghalib http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirza_Ghalib
2.            Sunil Dutt (Yaadein) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaadein_(1964_film)
3.            Mother Teresa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa
4.            Saint Augustine http://library.thinkquest.org/18775/augustine/bioau.htm
5.            Kurt Gobain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain
6.            Bhagavad Gita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita
7.            Mahabharata http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata
8.            Gandhari http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhari_(character)
9.            Dhritarashtra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhritarashtra
10.          Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSj7DuaX0lk
11.          Karna http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karna
12.          Aristotle http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aristotle
13.          Shahrukh Khan in Fauji http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauji
14.          Abhimanyu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhimanyu

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OM, O Shiva, the God with three eyes, we worship and adore you, you are the fragrance of life, who nourishes us, restores our health, and causes every being in this world to thrive, we hail to thee, we meditate on you, just as in due time, the stem of the cucumber weakens, and the gourd is freed from the vine, so free us from attachment and death, and do not withhold immortality, please open our eyes to the wider dimension so that we renounce mortality to be in peace forever.

ॐ त्र्यम्बकम् यजामहे सुगन्धिम् पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान् मृत्योर्मुक्षीय माम्रतात् ।।

Om tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭi-vardhanam
urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyormukṣīya māmṛtāt

~Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra, Yajur Veda (3-60); Also called Tryambakam Mantra is because it worships Shiva, The Three Eyed God. And because this mantra observes Shiva in the fiery aspect of Rudra, it is also called Rudra Mantra~
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Enlightenment is a full, permanent recognition of what one truly is, free of all false positions, speculations and other mental encumbrances. At the end of a hard day trading, it is enlightenment that is the only thing worth taking home from the spiritual marketplace.

~Oshana Dave~
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Once there lived a devotee called Ismail. His prime concern in life was to remember his spiritual master and be one with his love. For survival of body and to provide for necessities of life, he sold vegetables. With love for his master in his heart and mind, and a basketful of vegetables, every day he visited the market.

Knowing his simple nature, people used to cheat him. Every day, some people would give him counterfeit coins for his vegetables. Some would even come the next day to exchange the counterfeit coins they had, saying, “Yesterday, you gave us this coin; please exchange it with a real one.” Ismail would quietly accept the counterfeit coins.

Time passed thus. His body became old and the end of physical life approached.

Ismail sat for his final prayer. ”Dear Beloved, throughout my life I have accepted counterfeit and bogus coins from one and all, never once rejecting or refusing them. Oh Beloved! Time has come that this counterfeit coin reaches your divine presence. You too, likewise, do not reject the useless coin. Kindly accept it and give it shelter at your feet.”

Needless to say, the Lord accepted him with a showering of love.
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Dear God, Dear Universe, I too have been a counterfeit coin.

Please accept me and give me shelter at your feet.

Please...

Karma...

Understand Karma. Understand that you are a soul with a body & not a body with a soul. By sticking in a hurtful relationship, you actually allow & encourage piling of negative karma onto the souls of those who are hurting you. This eventually hampers their growth & journey. Rather than loyalty or sacrifice as the worldly voices would suggest this to be, it actually is a disservice to their soul & your soul.

Ko▫ī bolai rām rām ko▫ī kẖuḏā▫e.

Raamkalee, Fifth Mehl:

Some call Him, 'Raam, Raam', and some call Him, 'Khudaa-i'.
Some serve Him as 'Gusain', others as 'Allah'.
He is the Cause of causes, the Generous Lord.
He showers His Grace and Mercy upon us.
Some bathe at sacred shrines of pilgrimage, and some make the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Some perform devotional worship services, and some bow their heads in prayer.
Some read the Vedas, and some the Koran.
Some wear blue robes, and some wear white.
Some call themselves Muslim, and some call themselves Hindu.
Some yearn for paradise, and others long for heaven.
Says Nanak, one who realizes the Hukam of God's Will,
knows the secrets of his Lord and Master.

Rāmkalī mėhlā 5.

Ko▫ī bolai rām rām ko▫ī kẖuḏā▫e.
Ko▫ī sevai gus▫ī▫ā ko▫ī alāhi.
Kāraṇ karaṇ karīm.
Kirpā ḏẖār rahīm.
Ko▫ī nāvai ṯirath ko▫ī haj jā▫e.
Ko▫ī karai pūjā ko▫ī sir nivā▫e.
Ko▫ī paṛai beḏ ko▫ī kaṯeb.
Ko▫ī odẖai nīl ko▫ī supeḏ.
Ko▫ī kahai ṯurak ko▫ī kahai hinḏū.
Ko▫ī bācẖẖai bẖisaṯ ko▫ī surginḏū.
Kaho Nānak jin hukam pacẖẖāṯā.
Parabẖ sāhib kā ṯin bẖeḏ jāṯā.

रामकली महला ५ ॥

कोई बोलै राम राम कोई खुदाइ ॥
कोई सेवै गुसईआ कोई अलाहि ॥
कारण करण करीम ॥
किरपा धारि रहीम ॥
कोई नावै तीरथि कोई हज जाइ ॥
कोई करै पूजा कोई सिरु निवाइ ॥
कोई पड़ै बेद कोई कतेब ॥
कोई ओढै नील कोई सुपेद ॥
कोई कहै तुरकु कोई कहै हिंदू ॥
कोई बाछै भिसतु कोई सुरगिंदू ॥
कहु नानक जिनि हुकमु पछाता ॥
प्रभ साहिब का तिनि भेदु जाता ॥

ਰਾਮਕਲੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ॥

ਕੋਈ ਬੋਲੈ ਰਾਮ ਰਾਮ ਕੋਈ ਖੁਦਾਇ ॥
ਕੋਈ ਸੇਵੈ ਗੁਸਈਆ ਕੋਈ ਅਲਾਹਿ ॥
ਕਾਰਣ ਕਰਣ ਕਰੀਮ ॥
ਕਿਰਪਾ ਧਾਰਿ ਰਹੀਮ ॥
ਕੋਈ ਨਾਵੈ ਤੀਰਥਿ ਕੋਈ ਹਜ ਜਾਇ ॥
ਕੋਈ ਕਰੈ ਪੂਜਾ ਕੋਈ ਸਿਰੁ ਨਿਵਾਇ ॥
ਕੋਈ ਪੜੈ ਬੇਦ ਕੋਈ ਕਤੇਬ ॥
ਕੋਈ ਓਢੈ ਨੀਲ ਕੋਈ ਸੁਪੇਦ ॥
ਕੋਈ ਕਹੈ ਤੁਰਕੁ ਕੋਈ ਕਹੈ ਹਿੰਦੂ ॥
ਕੋਈ ਬਾਛੈ ਭਿਸਤੁ ਕੋਈ ਸੁਰਗਿੰਦੂ ॥
ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਜਿਨਿ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਪਛਾਤਾ ॥
ਪ੍ਰਭ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਕਾ ਤਿਨਿ ਭੇਦੁ ਜਾਤਾ ॥

~This Shabad appears on the page 885 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji~

Ham sar ḏīn ḏa▫i▫āl na ṯum sar ab paṯī▫ār ki▫ā kījai.

There is none as forlorn as I am, and none as Compassionate as You; 
what need is there to test us now?
May my mind surrender to Your Word; 
please, bless Your humble servant with this perfection. 
I am a sacrifice, a sacrifice to the Lord.
For so many incarnations, I have been separated from You, Lord; I dedicate this life to You.
Says Ravi Daas: placing my hopes in You, I live;
It is so long since I have gazed upon the Blessed Vision of Your Darshan.


Ham sar ḏīn ḏa▫i▫āl na ṯum sar ab paṯī▫ār ki▫ā kījai.
Bacẖnī ṯor mor man mānai jan ka▫o pūran ḏījai. ||1||
Ha▫o bal bal jā▫o rama▫ī▫ā kārne.
Kāran kavan abol. Rahā▫o. O Lord, why are You silent? ||Pause||
Bahuṯ janam bicẖẖure the māḏẖa▫o ih janam ṯumĥāre lekẖe.
Kahi Raviḏās ās lag jīva▫o cẖir bẖa▫i▫o ḏarsan ḏekẖe. ||2||1||


हम सरि दीनु दइआलु न तुम सरि अब पतीआरु किआ कीजै ॥
बचनी तोर मोर मनु मानै जन कउ पूरनु दीजै ॥१॥
हउ बलि बलि जाउ रमईआ कारने ॥
कारन कवन अबोल ॥ रहाउ ॥
बहुत जनम बिछुरे थे माधउ इहु जनमु तुम्हारे लेखे ॥
कहि रविदास आस लगि जीवउ चिर भइओ दरसनु देखे ॥२॥१॥


ਹਮ ਸਰਿ ਦੀਨੁ ਦਇਆਲੁ ਨ ਤੁਮ ਸਰਿ ਅਬ ਪਤੀਆਰੁ ਕਿਆ ਕੀਜੈ ॥
ਬਚਨੀ ਤੋਰ ਮੋਰ ਮਨੁ ਮਾਨੈ ਜਨ ਕਉ ਪੂਰਨੁ ਦੀਜੈ ॥੧॥
ਹਉ ਬਲਿ ਬਲਿ ਜਾਉ ਰਮਈਆ ਕਾਰਨੇ ॥
ਕਾਰਨ ਕਵਨ ਅਬੋਲ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
ਬਹੁਤ ਜਨਮ ਬਿਛੁਰੇ ਥੇ ਮਾਧਉ ਇਹੁ ਜਨਮੁ ਤੁਮ੍ਹ੍ਹਾਰੇ ਲੇਖੇ ॥
ਕਹਿ ਰਵਿਦਾਸ ਆਸ ਲਗਿ ਜੀਵਉ ਚਿਰ ਭਇਓ ਦਰਸਨੁ ਦੇਖੇ ॥੨॥੧॥


~This Shabad appears on the page number 694 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji~

Weird...

You know what's weird… 

Two people can get married in few hours, be it at a Mandir or a Gurudwara, get it registered, and voila they are married. Yet when it comes to one or both in an unhappy marriage deciding to go separate ways, such are the intricacies of law that it will make them run from pillar to post, subjecting them to numerous conditions, forcing them to remain in an unhealthy relationship over a period of time, which could stretch to several years given the number of cases pending in Indian courts, until the court finally allows to bury by issuing a death certificate to that, what had perished eons ago.

Whereas any parent may wash their hands off an adult child simply by giving notification in two national newspapers whereby they may choose to disown their child severing all ties with him or her.

Huh?

To be blessed into becoming a parent is truly a gift of The God Almighty. Biology plays its part yet it is least of it or else there wouldn't have been so many childless couples whose tests otherwise are normal. Even by taking biology into account, a child needs almost ten months from conception to arrive in this world, then another eighteen years to become an adult, yet at any given time, any aggrieving parents who don't get along with their adult child for whatever reason, may renounce them.

So basically law believes marriages, good or bad, are made in heaven and are sacrosanct, whereas a child is produced merely in the spur of an earthly passion.

Rocking!

Mahabharata... Within and Without...

Before the start of Mahabharata and as the preparations for the war were being made, Arjun went to seek Krishna as an ally whom the Pandavas valued above all.

 

Hearing from his spies about Arjun's visit, Shakuni advised Duryodhan to forestall Arjun in his bid to seek support of Krishna. Duryodhan rushed to Dwarka and reached just before Arjun.

 

Krishna was sleeping when they both arrived. Duryodhan, who was first to enter, sat on a seat at the head of the bed on which Krishna was asleep, and Arjun went to the foot of the bed and stood there with his hands folded.

 

On waking up, Krishna's eyes first rested on Arjun and then he saw Duryodhan. On being asked the reason of their presence by Krishna, Duryodhan said that the war with the Pandavas was inevitable and thus he had come to seek Krishna's help, and that because he was first to reach, it was only fair that Krishna joined Kauravas side as Krishna was related to both the Kauravas and to the Pandavas.

 

Krishna smiled and said, "Due to your pride you sat beside my head so I saw Arjun first. But you are both dear to me so I will help you both. On one hand my famous Narayani army comprising of one akshauhini of warriors, and on the other I shall be alone, I shall not wield any weapon, I will not fight in the war. To one of you I will give my Narayani Sena and to the other I will give my moral support. Arjun being younger to you shall have first choice."

 

Arjun fell at the feet of Krishna with tears in his eyes and without wasting a second, chose Krishna's moral support. He knew that with his support and guidance, the Pandavas would certainly win the war.

 

Duryodhan thought Arjun was foolish to choose Krishna who wouldn't even fight in the war, over Krishna's huge army which would certainly be of immense help to Kauravas. Thus he returned satisfied with the army.

____________________________________________________

 

 

At some point or other in our lives, we all face the Mahabharata, the war within. The battle between the brain and the heart, where brain has been conditioned and heart has been withered by the world, yet both given by The Almighty, The Universe, and not by the world. A fight between dreams and reality. A conflict between hopes and despairs. A rage between the body and the soul. 

 

Only one thing determines the result. Our choices. 

 

Just as Krishna offered a choice to Duryodhan and Arjun, we too have choices to make, whether we choose the Narayani Sena or The Narayan Himself, is an option granted by God to our Freewill. 

 

Krishna, the Saarthi, the Charioteer, the Inner Voice, will take us wherever we want to go, yet the Freewill to choose where we want to go always rests with us.

 

We are what we are today because of the choices we made yesterday, and we will be who will be tomorrow because of the choices we make in the present. Our choices make us as much as we make them. We have a choice, to accept conditions as they exist in life, or to accept the responsibility for changing them. We can choose to allow the world to describe us or we can be the author of our own stories which will eventually define us. It is our choices that will lead us to our highest good, far more than our abilities. Life is the sum total of our choices we have made and of those that we shall make. 

 

The choices we face may not always be between good and bad, or between complete and deplete, or between discouragement and encouragement, or between feasting and fasting, or between being miserable and happy, or between materialistic and spiritual. Sometimes the choices are between what's good and what's best, or between what's right and what's easy. Often what is true is forgotten by what is convenient. Often the voice within gets lost in the noises without. These choices are as easy or as difficult as we believe them to be. We can choose to hide with fear and think that our choices at the fork in the road will lead us to a mistake, or we can choose to side with optimism and see the fork in the road as an opportunity to recreate and rewrite our destiny.

 

Sometimes faced with choosing between two equally good but tough choices, one may decide not to choose, which again is a choice. Whether we believe that we have been blessed by God with freewill to choose or whether we believe that we don't have any freewill to choose is again an individual's freewill, a choice he or she chooses.

 

The crux however is that we cannot arrive at a different destination by continuing on the same path we chose yesterday. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. We can always choose to ignore the inner voice but by ignoring it, we imbalance our center, we move further away from our true path. Listening to the inner voice, the spirit, the universe is all about trust… trusting that what we are being told or lead to do is what is best for our highest good. 

 

Happy Journey.

____________________________________________________

 

Since the self-proclaimed opinionated worldly wise around me trust that I am sans any brain, thus effectively the heart has always been and will be the only choice for me. I listen to my heart, which is where The God speaks to me. God gave me this life and The Universe gave me the freewill. I owe it to God that I make choices that are healthy for my body, mind and soul. I choose what I love and I love my choices. I choose feeling alive over anything and everything. I honour the privilege, the right to choose my path. The path I deem fit to keep me emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually fit.

 

It doesn't matters if the world thinks I am a saint or that I am a sinner. The only thing what matters to me is what I believe, what I feel, what I think, what my inner voice guides me. Neither can I control what others think nor do I wish to. It doesn't matters to me if people will choose to look down upon me for my choices in life, absolutely no worries et all, that is their choice. I can't do anything about that. The only thing I can do is decide how to live my life.

 

Neither do I hinder anyone's freewill, nor do I allow anyone to obstruct mine. Not out of fear or money, and not even out of love or obligation, no human has the right to take away from me the Freewill given by God. The worldly wise, May God bless them all with a long and prosperous life, can't meddle with my freewill simply because I won't let them. 

So help me God. Amen. 

____________________________________________________

 

 

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.

 

~Eleanor Roosevelt~

 

I won't tell you that the world matters nothing, or the world's voice, or the voice of society. They matter a good deal. They matter far too much. But there are moments when one has to choose between living one's own life, fully, entirely, completely—or dragging out some false, shallow, degrading existence that the world in its hypocrisy demands. You have that moment now. Choose!

 

~ Oscar Wilde~

 

There are times in my life when I have been medicine for some while poison for others. I used to think I was a victim of my story until I realized the truth that I am the creator of my story. I choose what type of person I will be and what type of impact I will leave on others. I will never choose the destructive path of self and outward victimization again.

 

~Steve Maraboli~

 

~The Thousandth Man - Rudyard Kipling~

One man in a thousand, Solomon says,
Will stick more close than a brother.
And it's worth while seeking him half your days
If you find him before the other.

Nine nundred and ninety-nine depend
On what the world sees in you,
But the Thousandth man will stand your friend
With the whole round world agin you.

'Tis neither promise nor prayer nor show
Will settle the finding for 'ee.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em go
By your looks, or your acts, or your glory.

But if he finds you and you find him.
The rest of the world don't matter;
For the Thousandth Man will sink or swim
With you in any water.

You can use his purse with no more talk
Than he uses yours for his spendings,
And laugh and meet in your daily walk
As though there had been no lendings.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em call
For silver and gold in their dealings;
But the Thousandth Man h's worth 'em all,
Because you can show him your feelings.

His wrong's your wrong, and his right's your right,
In season or out of season.
Stand up and back it in all men's sight --
With that for your only reason!

Nine hundred and ninety-nine can't bide
The shame or mocking or laughter,
But the Thousandth Man will stand by your side
To the gallows-foot -- and after! 

~The Thousandth Man - Rudyard Kipling~

Fatal Rubble / Rare Fable

murshid mere, rooh meri ko teri parhaaye aayaten... 
bey daam khareed mujhe, bass itni hai munaajaaten...

मुर्शिद मेरे, रूह मेरी को तेरी पढ़ाए आयतें... 
बेदाम खरीद मुझे, बस इतनी है मुनाजातें...

Be my core 
Be my mentor 
Be my soul 
Be my center 
Buy for free 
All that's there 
An eternal tale 
An honest prayer

~Excerpts from “Only Love Is Real; The Story of Soulmates Reunited” by Dr Brian Weiss~

You will not always marry your most strongly bonded soulmate. There may be more than one for you, because soul families travel together. You might choose to marry a less bonded soul companion, one who has something specific to teach you or to learn from you. Your recognition of a soulmate may occur later in life, after both of you are already committed to your present life families. Or your strongest soulmate connection maybe to your parent, or to your child, or to your sibling. Or your strongest connection maybe to a soulmate who has not incarnated during your lifetime and who is watching over you from the other side, like a guardian angel.

Sometimes your soulmate is willing and available. He or she might recognize the passion and the chemistry between you, the intimate and subtle bonds that imply connections over many life times. Yet he or she may be toxic for you. It is a matter of soul development.

If one soul is less developed and more ignorant than the other, trait of violence, greed, jealousy, hatred, and fear might be brought into the relationship. These tendencies are toxic to the more evolved soul, even if from a soulmate. Frequently rescue fantasies arise with the thought, I can change him; I can help her grow. If he does not allow your help, if in her free will she chooses not to learn, not to grow, the relationship is doomed. Perhaps there will be another chance in another lifetime, unless he awakens later in this one. Late awakenings do happen.

Sometimes soulmates decide not to get marries while incarnated. They arrange to meet, to stay together until the agreed task is completed, and then to move on. Their agendas, their lesson plans for the entirety of this life, are different, and they do not want to or need to spend the entire lifetime together. This is not a tragedy, only a matter of learning. You have eternal life together, but sometimes you may need to take separate classes.

A soulmate who is available but unawakened is a tragic figure and can cause you great anguish. Unawakened means that he or she does not sees life clearly, is not aware of the many levels of existence. Unawakened means not knowing of about the souls. Usually it is the everyday mind that prevents awakening.

We hear the excuses of the mind all the time: I am too young; I need more experience; I am not ready to settle down yet; you are of a different religion (or race, region, social status, intellectual level, cultural background, and so on). They are all excuses, for soul possess none of these attributes.

The person may recognise the chemistry. The attraction is definitely there, but the source of chemistry is not understood. It is delusional to believe that this passion, this soul recognition and attraction, will be easily found again in another person. You do not run into such a soulmate every day, perhaps only one or two more in a lifetime.

Divine grace may reward a good heart, a loving soul.

Never worry about meeting soulmates. Such meetings are a matter of destiny. They will occur. After the meeting, the freewill of both partners reigns. What decisions are made or not made are a matter of freewill, of choice. The less awakened will make the decisions based on the mind and all of it fears and prejudices. Unfortunately this often leads to heartache. The more awakened the couple is, the more the likelihood of a decision based on love. When both partners are awakened, ecstasy is within their grasp.


~Excerpts from "Only Love Is Real; The Story of Soulmates Reunited" by Dr Brian Weiss~

Ain't it funny that there's no honey in money...

The other evening I was in an elevator with my cousin and he remarked, "Bhai, if Papa was alive today, he would have been mightily pleased with the humongous amount of money I have made."

And I thought is it really what his father would have wanted, or for that matter is it really what any parent would desire for their child?

In my prayers to God when I seek blessings for my 4 year young daughter, all I pray is for God to bless Kaynaat with confidence and courage, happiness and health, that she should feel alive as long as she lives.

But money, now what's that?

I mean, sure she should have just about enough of money so as to live with dignity and pride, and not be dependent on anyone except God, but beyond that money is pretty much useless. Money cannot buy good health, love, time, and sanity, so pray, what good is money?

Money cannot even buy me common sense or I surely would have bought one.

My cousin's father, may he forever rest in peace, left for his heavenly abode two decades ago at the age of 55 due to cardiac arrest when my cousin was 17, so I believe if et all his Papa was seeing him from heavens, he would rather be seeking a long life with good health for his son more than any amount of money.

But that's just my two cents, no one has to agree or disagree with it. I sing a song because I have the urge to sing one, not because I have an audience or that I am looking to be appreciated.

Reflecting upon my childhood every now and then, I realized long ago that although I had learned the importance of being responsible for myself in the absence of my parents (my dad had health issues, was in
and out of hospitals for most part of any given year, and my mother was busy taking care of him), but because I had missed the physical presence of a father figure, I never actually grew full in the self-confidence until much later in life.

So although I pamper Kaynaat as much as my Dad pampered me (sometimes even more since daughters deserve all the pampering they can get), yet I am honest in my endeavour to maintain good health so that she has more of me whenever she needs me. To be emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually fit is a conscious effort so that I can avoid passing my vacuum to her. I don't see her life as an extension to my life, she doesn't needs to live my dreams, but if possible, she should avoid the potholes I encountered.

Kaynaat tells me that she wants to grow up soon, so that like me she can read books and watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S (which according to her are the two things I do the most), to which I laugh off and tell her that she will find her own calling and interests as she grows up, which may not be the same as mine, so that she knows that it is alright for her to be different than me, than anyone else.

I trust my sole job as a parent is not to take decisions for her but only to be there for her as a safety net. Instead of following me, or the crowd, she should be able to celebrate her uniqueness. That is why I encourage her to make her own decisions, good or bad, so that she's able to trust herself and grows in self-confidence.

Life is a great teacher. Kaynaat will learn on her own just as I did. She will. Inshallah!

Lokibaba Aur 40 Chor

Considering that we had no VCR in 1980, the high end of entertainment
for me was watching movies at cinema halls and the low end was
watching Krishi Darshan on Doordarshan. I say it a low not because of
the content, it may or may not have been good since I don't remember
any of it, but because neither did I have any interest in the
khaad/fasal etc., nor did it made any sense to me, yet I unfailingly
stayed glued to it every evening, except for the times when all the
kids rushed out to play "I Spy" on the evenings whenever there was a
power outage in our locality.

Maybe it was God's way of developing my patience for the times when
the happenings around me go beyond the capacity of understanding for
my tiny little brain.

Thank you God Ji.

And Cinema, the high point of Life-e-Loki @ 7, is behind penning this post.

Sometime during my summer vacations, Dad got tickets for Alibaba and
40 Chor, playing at a cinema hall in the vicinity.

The chase, the horses, the magic, and the treasure, all caught my
imagination. I was fascinated by this Dharmendra, Hema Malini and
Zeenat Aman starrer. I thought it was truly awesome to have a cave
full of treasure, which opened itself to the magical words "Khulja
Simsim" and closed itself on hearing "Band Hoja Simsim."

Over next several weeks, Alibaba and 40 Chor consistently figured in
my chit chats with friends. Later as the summer holidays ended, each
of us found new things to discuss and gradually the topic of Alibaba
and 40 Chor faded away.

End of the story.

Not really.

A few months later I saw a dream. In it, instead of going in to
retrieve the treasure, as soon as I reach in front of the cave, I
forget the magic words which will open it. Substituting for Alibaba's
soul, my dream-dream had been infested by the soul of Qassim, who in
the movie forgets the password, gets stuck inside the cave, and
eventually gets killed.

Go Qassim; Go away.

But neither did Qassim nor did the dream leave. Both of them become
persistent. I would wake up in cold sweat every instance that I had
this broken dream. I reasoned that it is merely a nightmare yet it
started to get on my nerves that that even before I could enter the
cave and get the treasure, the dream would end every single time. I
knew the magic words, yet sleepily I faltered when it mattered most.
And as much as I hoped that my dream would have a different ending
next time, yet it always ended at the entrance of the cave. The
nightmare continued on and off for few years, I wanted the end to
change, it didn't, eventually I made peace with it.

Then sometime in 1985, when I bought a special issue of "People", the
dreams featuring those who featured in the Australian magazine of
topless models replaced the nightmare. Voila!

The soul of Qassim had lost to the hot bodies of Australian females.

Victory for a 12 year young boy knocking at the gates of puberty.

Not really.

The soul of Qassim had somehow affected my psyche even without me
being aware of it. The worry of forgetting the magical password after
I am inside the cave, made me fearful of attempting to say it at all.
The fear of falling to nadir stopped me from attempting the zenith and
yet I was falling. I would live on the edge, yet not quite on the edge
of the edge. I would dare, yet somehow in the end, inexplicably I
would give in. I became an escapist.

Not any longer. Not anymore.

I realized that the soul of Alibaba was all along inside me, and had
masqueraded as the soul of Qassim only because I feared it was Qassim.
The moment I found the courage within, it transformed back. Like the
musk-deer, I was searching for fragrance which was always within and
never without.

Dear God, Dear Universe, I seek your divine guidance. Please bless me
with courage for this journey to overcome my Achilles Heel. Please
bless me with the conviction that I must first climb the hill in order
to find the cave. Please bless me with the competence to remember
everything that I must never forget, and forget everything that I must
never remember. Please bless me the clarity of wisdom that the
solitary way of finding if therein lays the treasure or another life
lesson is only after I enter the cave, and therefore I must. Amen.

Feel the rain...

Surprisingly it rained in the afternoon. Thank you God Ji.

As it started to drizzle, Kaynaat and I went up on the terrace… to get
drenched, to have fun, to try and make the most of it.

Some 10 minutes into our impromptu rain dance, Kayu suggested that it
made more sense to walk in the rains, than to be at the terrace.

Indeed it did.

We walked merrily in the bylanes of our colony, and then on to the
main road, childishly kicking into the poodles of water every time we
saw one on the road, splashing it over each other, yelling "Yayyyyyy"
to no-one in particular but to anyone who cared to "Yayyyyyy" back.

And just as unexpectedly as the rains had come, it stopped all of a sudden too.

Just like that.

Lokesh: Baby, it has stopped raining. Chalo, let's head back.

Kayu: No, wait, maybe it will start again.

Lokesh: Hmm, ok, but not for too long, let's just walk for 10 more
minutes and if it begins to rain again, good, if not, then you and I
go back home and take shower.

Kayu: No, not 10… we will walk for 12 minutes.

Lokesh: Ha… ok, 12…

Kayu: But why is it not raining?

Lokesh: Jaan, I don't know. Do you feel the strong gush of wind
blowing across your face; the same wind has probably blown away the
clouds to some other place.

Kayu: But Papa, where?

Lokesh: Only God knows, only God controls it. I don't know if it is
raining anywhere now; maybe the clouds have gone towards your school.

Kayu: Then let's drive towards the school!

Lokesh: Ha Ha… Good idea… But what if by the time we reach your
school, God Ji chooses to send back the clouds over here.

Kayu: Yeh Bhagwan bhi kitna ghumaata hai na…

Lokesh: Ha Ha Ha… More than you know baby… More than you know…