Kaleidoscopic life

Nature is our greatest, wisest and noblest teacher. A tree, flower, leaf, sun, pets, wild animals and everything around will teach us something. Only thing we should have to look into and be ready to learn. “Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.” – William Wordsworth Path to success is not straight forward. There will be many twists and turns. Be adaptable, be flexible and be tolerant to win the face of difficult odds.      Tolerance is as simple as trying to accept the fact the we live in the world of different opinions or behaviors that we don't necessarily agree with. Very often, we feel unsafe or threatened  because some one else express a opinion that is very different from ours. We need to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable in order to grow.  In many cases  tolerance results in increased understanding, better relationships and improved behavior. [Note : Tolerance should not be confused with toleration ]...

  Karna is one of the most popular and complex character in the Mahabharata. Karna(Surya Putra) is the personification of   charity, valor, sacrifice and selflessness, however he also had some bad qualities which overshadowed his good qualities. There was always a dilemma whether to categorize him as a hero or a Villain.   Wait... why should we even try to categorize him? Do we have the right to pass judgment? Let’s consider Karna just as a character made complex by writer/fate/life/destiny/God to preach us a lesson of fortitude, sacrifice and acceptance, and focus only on the learning.   He went through a series of tragedies with/without his involvement/choice/knowledge are a proof of his misfortune.     Be a True Friend: It was Duryodhana who saw Karna’s capabilities. When everyone disregarded him and even insulted him, Duryodhana stood by him and embraced him. Though Karna and Duryodhana became friends for their own selfish r...

      Today is SriRamaNavami, celebrated as the birthday of Rama. The Ramanaya(Rama’s Journey) Epic is the best action/thriller/romantic/emotional/family drama featuring the most handsome hunk Rama(Ajanubahum , Aravinda Dalaya Taksham) as the hero, the beautiful Sita (lacks metaphors to describe her beauty) as the heroine,  the arrogant Ravana as the villain, and Lakshmana, Hanuman, and others as supporting actors.   The director started writing Rama’s Journey with the intent of teaching various life lessons to humankind with lots of devotion and finally he had to divide it into seven parts: Bala kanda, Ayodhya kanda, Aranya kanda, Kishkinda Kanda, Sundara Kanda, Yuddha Kanda, and Uttara Kanda. Each Kanda deals with a particular period of Rama’s life. As Winston Churchill said, “Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” We should strive to learn many leadership characteristics and gain motivation from role model R...

In this chapter, Arjuna urges Krishna to tell him about the Supreme God and how one can identify and reach Him. Krishna explains how to worship God and attain Him. A person who thinks of Krishna when their last breath is taken will be with God and there will be no rebirth. Now I am really thinking about Krishna. I started imagining myself wearing a (very beautiful ) orange Saree with beads(No not made of Rudrakshas definitely, may be Ruby beads)  around my neck and some instrument( It doesn’t make any difference as I can play no instrument). Krishna is talking about death which is unknown to us. Let’s come back to our life and see how to apply this to our life. The theme of the chapter is, ' As You Think So You Become ' and it's all about how practice makes the man perfect! -> The world is desire-driven. Work on improving the quality of desires. Every move is out of resultant of desires whether you are watching a movie, going for a walk, eating food or sleeping . You wi...

Till 6th chapter, Krishna imparted knowledge to Arjuna on how to perform duties without expectation, sacrifice, self control and then do meditation. Chapter 7 opens with Krishna continuing his disclosure. He discusses jnana (knowledge) and vijnana (realization, understanding). He also emphasizes the importance of choosing the eternal Spirit over the ephemeral world. It’s a little bit complicated for me. I feel that this whole chapter can be explained through the means of one beautiful Telugu poem by Potana. ఇందు కల దండు లేదని సందేహము వలదు చక్రి సర్వోపగతుం డెందెందు వెదకి చూచినా నందందే కలదు దానవాగ్రణి వింటే  Meaning: When Hiranyakashyapa asks Prahlada where Vishnu is, Prabhlada responds by saying,"You do not need to doubt where Vishnu is. He is everywhere. Where ever you look for him, you can find him." ->Understand the power within us. We have infinite power and Bhagvadgita lets us tap into the power with in. How can we do this ? Does education/a degree teach us this ?...

In this chapter, Krishna emphasizes on performing duties without expectation. He gives an extensive explanation of meditation and how to meditate.   Man should elevate himself with his own mind, not degrade.  For humans, the mind is the cause of happiness and sorrow. Regulation of diet and sleep is recommended. See God every where and in every thing. While I was reading all these verses, I had lot of questions in my mind. Is it really that easy to do meditation by sitting in a calm place and focus? Let me start tomorrow. I should get up early in the morning and start practicing yoga. I need to clean kitchen tonight. I should have idly batter ready, so I can make idlis immediately after my meditation.  But how about the weekend then? In the weekend, I want to sleep a little longer and by the time I get up, I will be hungry. When I wake up, I would have forgotten about meditation. Oh no! It’s already Thursday! So I can’t continue if I start tomorrow, so I wil...

In this chapter, Arjuna asks Krishna which is better, renunciation of action or performance of action?. Krishna responds both lead to higher bliss. But performing action is better. Krishna explains the qualities that a human should attain to reach god. -> Controlling his own senses and Renunciation This is the most difficult part in any one’s life. We struggle everyday to control our taste buds and tongue. Why do we love to eat in restaurants, though we know it is not good for our health? Why do we love eating a masala dosa in a restaurant more than what we make at home, in spite of knowing that it is loaded with butter/oil/ghee? Why are we standing in a queue in front of a pani puri stall on the road side, despite having doubts about its cleanliness. Why are we overeating, though we suffer from bloating by end of the day ? Why is dieting so difficult? [P.S : Everyday morning I tell myself that I won’t overeat today. I watch all cooking videos, start cooking and finally end up over...