Feliz Pascoa (Happy Easter)

Easter is universally celebrated by the followers of the messiah of world peace and amity, Jesus Christ, "The son of the God or Son of Mother Virgin Mary" on the occasion of his resurrection. He devoted his life uplifting the value of humanity, spreading the message of true spirituality and corrupt bureaucracy which was deemed with superstitions. He was the last resort for the sufferers and those who are rejected in the society. He cured mentally and physically challenged with his gift of healing. He treated all genres of people in the society equally. Hence, his resurrection is celebrated with enthusiasm, passion and devotion across the globe.

This Easter was special and different for me. I celebrated with Dani’s family at Espirito Santo Do Pinhal with the presence of Dani’s grandparents, parents and siblings. Ironically Dani’s absence (She was in Sao Paulo) didn´t hindered and I was wholly involved in the fiesta. The entire family was very happy with my presence and they served me with the delicious Brazilian dishes.
Mae (Dani’s mother) prepared mouth watering exquisite dishes and I could feel the taste of those on my tongue even after a day. After the lunch we basked under the sun in the twinkling harmonious lush green of grass, coffee, oranges, roses and eucalyptus in the backyard. Wi (William) plucked the oranges, Ju (Julio) did the ritual of peeling off the skins and we (grandmother, mae, victor and I) encouraged the ritual by eating, like cuddling of grass by cows. Later Mae drove Williams bicycle like a vibrant teenager around the casa (house) and it appeared to me that she lost 25 years. As always she is dynamic, calm, composed and smiling.

During the wee hours of evening, I went to play Futsal along with Ju, Vi, Wi, Bruno. Ale (Ju´s girlfriend) and her friend Jessica played the role of cheerleaders. The children’s and the fellow players were very excited to play with an Indian and they admire India as “land of Gods, elephants and paradise". I scored three stunning goals and exposed my dribbling skills which mesmerized the crowd. The kids taught me few Portuguese slangs and the experience left me with admiring memories. Later in the evening I went to the church with the family to attend a mass. The priest made a resonating speech and the choir enchanted the prayers with absolute hymn which echoed the massive hall. After the church, I went with Ju and Ale to eat hamburger from a famous street fast food shop. I concluded the day by picking up Dani from the bus station.
Like Jesus, I was able to deliver happiness to the “Felippe” family and the memories of this Easter (2010) will always be the most delicate and special.

The beginning of a great sojourn and expedition!!!

It’s 2:40 p.m, waiting anxiously at the gates. I got married to tension, whopping frustration and maimed thoughts. Oh well, pretty much they have been my uninvited guests for last couple of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and months. My hawk eyes skimmed through the arrival list and I traipsed between the exit and enquiry display. I finally got seated, but got up immediately due to gripping tension and excitement, Oh my!!!!. I haven’t consumed any solid food since morning (Or should I say, since ...today, yesterday or day before yesterday morning???). And I have answered the “natures call” many times which exceeded the daily quota. Again with deep breath I seated, kept the baggage in the adjacent chair, I gave a hasty glance at the ravishing red rose and pink zarbera, which elucidated and curtailed my tension. I refined, reinstated, reincarnated and reiterated my consciousness by taking some deep breathes. I saw desperate, excited faces of many who sat beside me; passengers rammed out of the exit and exchanged exhilarating gestures. Many foreigners passed by, I looked at them with a spirited heart. I made calls to my dearest, caring, daring, well wishers and schmoozed with them to reconcile my pounding heart beats. There was a lady seated adjacent to me, bleary eyed, squeezed, pale face, yawning which gave a clear picture that she hasn’t slept the previous night. Suddenly I saw her face turning color, pervasive jubilation. She exulted and hopped from the chair, with hasty footsteps juggernauted towards the exit. And she escaped out of my site, and later I saw her canoodling, holding hands with a cheerful tall gentleman. Seeing the couples charismatic smile and synergy soothed me and I moved my immobile hands and kept fingers crossed again.

After a very prolonged wait, I edged towards the corridor and stood my feet steady. Suddenly a white fairy tale spotted on my exhausted eyes, with an unflinching and overwhelming joy I made speedy footsteps near the corridor. Was it any dream?

Voila!!!...I captured the beautiful damsel on my eyes and looked deep into her eyes. With an emanating holiness, charismatic smile, awe inspiring and showering bliss she returned me with an enchanting smile. We exchanged some gestures with hands and I waited at the corridor meantime she went to pick up her baggage. We both were wearing as per our preplanned wishes, I was in her favorite red shirt and blue drained jeans, wherein she was in my favorite white tops and black pants.

My heart vehemently started to beat fast, completely sudated, eyes flickered, hands trembled and pervasive goose bumps. As she was marching towards me, I left motionless, became deaf, empty air. With a shaking hand I bestowed her with the flowers and without looking at the flowers she accepted with a shaky hand as her eyes taking snapshots of every inch of my face. We exchanged a hug, which is considered to be the worst hug in the human history and she later commented later “The man to man hug”. It was the first time in my entire life, giving hug to a lady. She didn’t stop staring at me. I carried her hefty baggage and came out of the Bangalore international Airport holding her hands.

I asked her to wait at the entry gate, and meantime I galloped to get the car which is parked in the parking lot. She didn’t give any attempt to stop glancing at me while I was driving the car. I showed her some famous outdoor activities like people crossing abruptly, cows on the road, hefty traffic, which India is very famous. And I talked many things some are gibberish, and I explained her about the trail of events happened since yesterday. But she didn’t pay any attention to what I was blabbering, instead she sued her eyes on me. She was skeptical and disillusioned whether I am the ONE whom she was in fathom love for the past 18 months. I found we both are uncomfortable and insecure for the current situation. We reached my place, opened the door and made a beeline to our divine deity; swami picture was placed in my small organized ritual room.

Well, it was the beginning of a great journey…..a journey of mutual learning, understanding, co-existence, reconciliation…self realization and onnn….

F E A R

“Fear not what is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed.” – Bhagavad Gita
“Why fear, when I am there” – Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

What is fear? Why do we fear?
Fear or phobia is a disease, a byproduct of over indulgence and unawareness. Every single creature in the universe is bound by certain phobias. Fear is an attribute which drive humans to pause for a second and revisit or verify their thoughts/acts. Fear is also a resistance or an excuse which forms a wall and prevents humans from exploring the unexplored intricacies of human self. It is an apparatus which separates divine and demonic acts. We fear because, we are responsible and fear the consequences of your acts. We fear God, because God cannot accept our acts which might directly or indirectly hurt another person and eventually we are punished. It is that fear which refrain us from committing a certain mistakes. When you don’t find the answers for your questions, we fear.

Those which have life are tagged with fear. When we have fear, anger as a catalyst, we transform to a wild carnivores whose claws are sharp, perching on a heap of Caracas and ready to charge at you. Humans are an intelligent and prudent creation of God, let’s unfold the truth that we humans are blind and are not transparent. We often forget the “real” potential that is bedridden deep down inside us. We need to polish our skills, love ourselves (having said that, don’t be selfish or ego centric), refrain from attachments and be a “Buddha”. Do the things which give us pleasure and bliss. If only we have happiness inside, we can share and spread the happiness around us. Happiness with the support of tantra can wipe out fear, but not completely per se.

We should not have fear for parents, teachers, elders, machines, objects or nations, but it should be the respect which we have to develop. Out of fear, we forget our uniqueness, transformations and objectives. We restrict ourselves from expressing the uncertainties. We never try because we fear, we are bound by certain level of security and comfortable and we don’t want to lose it. We fear losing, because we don’t believe in ourselves. Our potentials are hidden under the dark clouds waiting to be ejected.

Halleluiah, as derived from the root cause analysis, the essential element which route fear is lack of confidence and courage. Acquiring confidence is like attaining salvation which can be embraced by sheer awareness or Tantra (expansion through awareness). If you have the knowledge and an orientation towards taking risk, we can gain more confidence and lessen our fear. But during the process of risk taking humans can fail, but those failures are stepping stones for better objectives to pursue.

Boy, I see in myself a lot of fear inside. It is that element which prevents me from achieving certain expectations. FEAR (Finding Excuse And Resistance) a sole handiwork of mind.

The S O U L

The SOUL is revealed when:
-You feel Centered.
-Your mind is clear.
-You have the sensation that time has stopped.
-You suddenly feel free from boundaries.
-You are keenly self-aware.
-You feel merged with another person, either in LOVE or silent communion.
-You feel untouched by aging and change.
-You feel blissful or ecstatic.
-You have an intuitive flash that turns out to be true.
-You sense the truth.
-You feel supremely loved or absolutely safe.

The SOUL is disguised when:
-You are too tired or stressed.
-You are pulled outside yourself.
-Your attention is dominated by externals.
-You act out of compulsion.
-You let others think for you.
-You are influenced by fear and anxiety.
-You struggle and suffer.

The SOUL has certain universal qualities:
-It is constant.
-It never loses sight of you.
-It is connected to every other soul.
-It shares God's omniscience.
-It is untouched by change.
-It lives beyond time and space.

"The SOUL", is some excerpts from the book "Life After Death" by Deepak Chopra

Daily Prayer

Enchant this daily prayer everyday to enlighten your day, body and soul
________________________________________________
I ask that spirit walk with me this day and that I have the courage to carry this truth within me in all that I do.
To fully stand in my own truth and power is to honor the spirit within
Help me today to re-member both who I am and who I am not.
Who I am is magnificent, yet to carry a facade of who I am not only detracts from that magnificence.
To accept the truth of my own limitations, clears the path to carrying my true power.
I know that holding my power is only possible when I am not afraid of being vulnerable.
This day I will balance my ego by checking it often and see my true motivations.
I accept the power that is rightfully mine and will to use it to create Home on this side of the veil.
I ask that I may allow spirit to emanate from me to all who choose to look upon me, that I may be a perfect mirror so that they may see the God within themselves
Help me to touch their hearts with my love and allow them to re-member home and who they really are as I re-member who I am.
As spirit walks with me this day I remember to give thanks for the gift of spirit on my shoulder. May I always use it to the highest good of all concerned.
I vow to enjoy this day to its fullest and to laugh at every opportunity.
This day I will play the wonderful Game and I will carry the vibrations of Home in every move on the Gameboard.
This day I will Re-member.

African KuKu

Kuku is a very delicious, colourful African dish made of chicken and lentils/beans. This flavoursome curry can be served for lunch or dinner along with rice or chapattis. Some of the ingredients mentioned below are optional.

Ingredients –
Chicken pieces
Ginger paste
Lentils/beans
Finely chopped onion
Peeled and chopped tomatoes
Mexican green chilly
Lemon juice
Coconut milk
Fresh coriander
Black pepper

* Apply the chicken with ginger paste, pepper powder and salt. Keep is aside to marinate for some hours. Cook the lentils in and keep it aside. Meantime chop the onions, tomatoes and green chilli, most importantly relax and get some fresh air.
* Heat the oil (coconut/vegetable) in a pan and fry the chicken pieces until it becomes evenly brown. Make sure not to fry it in high flames. Transfer the chicken into a plate and leave the oil in the pan.
* Add the chopped onion and garlic into the pan, fry it for 2 minutes. Calmly add the chopped green chilli and tomatoes. Cook for another 3-4 minutes until it is evenly cooked.

* Add cooked, smashed lentils into the mixture followed by coconut milk. Add lemon juice to make the sauce more sharp. Stir the mixture evenly and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the fried chicken pieces into the sauce and cook for 15 minutes. Add finely chopped coriander leaves on to the sauce. Sprinkle few drops of olive oil. Once cooked keep the curry with closed lid for some minutes.
* It’s time to eat mouth watering curry, which goes perfectly with steamy rice. Don’t burn the mouth which apparently happened to me. I couldn't wait to let the curry n rice to cool a little bit. This juicy creamy coloured curry easily gets along with rotis or chapattis. This could be prepared during any celebrations and serve to
our dearest.

Yogapelapaz

Introduction of Yoga during the early 1950’s into the mainstream west brought a renaissance of cosmic relationship and nifty life. Since then remarkable visibility of this phenomenon, Karmic Yoga become pervasive and perch high above all the geographies. B K S Iyengar, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Osho are few of the many Indian masters who practised and taught Yoga in the West. Simple, transcendental, vibrational meditations and many other types of meditations became immense popularity in the last few decades. People in the west are known for their sheer unrestrained dedication and exploring the intricacies of 21st century through the medium of Yoga. Yoga masters, books and videos are of high demand in the west.

During my visit to Brazil, Dani introduced me to her Yoga teacher, who practises and teaches Yoga for over two decades. She taught the session at her beautiful house. She charmed her students with eloquence and benevolence. Without cringing and premeditating I accepted her invitation to take Yoga session at her beautiful residence. It was a formidable challenge because of the time constraint and the language barrier. She gifted me a t-shirt which had an inscription “Yogapelapaz” and very traditional Brazilian coffee chocolates. Dani is her favourite student, friend and daughter.

On my first session, I was introduced to a bunch of mixed aged pretty female students. I gave a very short and crisp introduction about Yoga. I enchanted couple of prayers in a hushed rhythm before commencing with the asana. I showed them the extended and hybrid version of Pranayama. The session continued for almost 30 minutes and I wrapped up the session without dawdling on lectures. Later session was attended by my family. Pai, Mae, victor, uncles and aunts represented from Dani’s family along with other students. Initially I was in a swamp of decay as my beautiful family glued their eyes on me. After the session I smeared Vibhuthi on all my students’ foreheads. Photo sessions followed after the every session. I saw a halo of happiness worn around my students which gave me confidence and an indication that I have something to cherish. Dani was my translator and she was remarkable, spontaneous and synchronised. She cajoled, “Pooja you can do it”.

Next days, I took couple of sessions exploring some new techniques to the next bunch of students thereby expanding my service. Some of the students were kids, teenagers, and Dani’s patients. The students were smart, liberal, inquisitive and calm. The students crawled in my proximity and posed for the photo session. I was treated a like celebrity Yoga guru and they lined up for hugs and kisses. We formed the famous “circle of love” with a radiant smile and place our arms around the shoulders.





My Learning: I was not simply an instructor there, but I was a keen learner and an explorer. The sheer and ardent dedication of my students enlightened me the significance and the magnitude of this incredible culture. No wonder why yoga has found a place in their heart. The west has an impression that, all the people in/from India are either yoga masters or religious followers of yoga. But to unfold the truth, Indians are breached by contriving vicious globalization and yoga finds oblivion under the concrete blocks. Recently an increasing trend has shown up for giving high importance due to the change in lifestyle. People rather forget the fact that yoga is not a set of predefined exercises or asanas for good life, but it is a culture irrespective of any religion or creed, a magnanimous path to tranquillity and salvation.