Rahul Writes

Pic-Blog

Flowers play many roles. They are basically to attract others so as to facilitate pollination, and hence give back to nature what they consumed to become a flower. But, they go beyond that; and teach us many lessons:

Flowers are colourful. ' Smile, always.

Flowers have (generally) fragrance. ' Make a positive change wherever you are.

Flowers are not permanent. They die after some days. ' Keep changing. Nothing is permanent, not even 'I'.

All flowers on a plant are not exactly the same. ' There is no art in replicating past success ' improve.

Flowers of two different plants are never similar. ' We all are different. That is given. Build on that.

Flowers die and then fruit comes. ' One opportunity goes, and then another appears. If only we can see it.

We break flowers and throw them somewhere. They become plants. ' Use challenges as opportunities.

Some flowers close during night and open during days. ' Optimise your efforts. No prize for drinking the whole sea.

The petals are not exactly symmetrical, but we never notice that. ' Our external look is not everything, but it matters.

Flowers move and are flexible. ' Those who don't bend, break.

Flowers (generally) don't have thorns in them. ' Give, with no strings attached.

Flowers come before fruits. ' Nature sends 'signs', if you can understand them.

We offer flowers to Gods. ' If you love someone, you should give him/her the best.

They make garlands out of flowers. ' Associations and affiliations give you strength and comfort, but you have to bear the pain of the needle and there is a strong attached.

They manufacture plastic flowers. ' If you do good, you will inspire many others too.

Even a faded flower has a scent. ' We don't leave our nature easily.

No one loves a faded-flower. They discard it. ' Do good while you have energy to do so. Don't delay.

Say Ram

When I saw this picture some weeks before in HT Brunch, something happened to me. I don't know how to express that, but it was something like a strong attraction. Then I took a snap of the picture. At that time, I didn't know what to do with the picture.

On Saturday evening, suddenly I wrote all that I posted on my previous blog. It was instantaneous. I don't claim to be wildly read J or a learned sole J or any thing nearby. I reason things out before I believe, and once I believe in something, then I reason it out why shouldn't I continue believing that. I am neither fluid, nor rigid. We all learn in life, and that needs us to remain open to ideas.

I never imagined that the emotional post of mine would create some emotional reactions too J. I was asked some questions, which I replied. Here is an account of some parts: just to make it immortal J

~*~

Which version of Ramayana you have read? There are many.

Actually, I haven't read any of them. I know Ramayana from the folk lore that are known to all, the stories that I read in my childhood, and Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana that we all watched on TV (that was Valmiki's).

I believe the writers of the books were human, and I am a human too. I don't wish to write a new Ramayana though J

BTW, did you read Kabir Das say: pothi padh padh dhai akhar prem ka J

Ram as a brother: Ram took his wife with him, but Lakshman didn't. Was that fair?

It was not fair. Vanvas was given to Ram and it was not necessary for Lakshman to accompany Ram. But Lakshman insisted. It was not a decision of Ram to take Lakshman with him. It was Lakshman’s decision to come with him. He was kind that he allowed him. Because he loved Lakshman like one can ever love his brother.

Again, it was Lakshman’s decision not to take his wife with him, not Ram’s direction. Ram was strong enough to take care of him and his wife, and needed no help. As I said, may be he agreed to Lakshman’s decision because he loved him so much.

Ram as a husband: wasn't Sita deserted and disgraced by her husband?

Deserted? Yes. Disgraced? No. Ram loved Sita. Just try to imagine how bad Ram felt when he had to leave Sita like that. How would one feel? Ram knew the truth that Sita was pure, as Hanuman had told him that Sita was living with honour in Ravana’s Lanka. Still Ram had to take that decision, because he was ‘people’s king’. Even in our democracy, we want prime ministers to just ‘act’ on what ‘people’ ‘want’. And Ram did just that.

I am not justifying deserting one’s wife. Perhaps no one should ever do that, even if the world says whatever. But one should understand the ’situation’, ‘perception’, ‘time’, ‘expectations’, and a whole lot of things before trying to judge other’s decisions taken in a different time.

Ram as an administrator: just because one person said something inside his house, Ram left his wife?

A good administrator has to keep a watch on what public is thinking. May be a thousand people criticized Sita in their homes, but it was just one person who said that by mouth! Just like many of us doubt many things, but it takes one/two of us to put that into words!

I wonder if I would ever like Ram to be either my husband or my father.

No Ram of today would do what Ram of then did at that time. So even if Ram is a husband today, he won't do that. So rest assured J A father? Here I differ. It would be so great: living in peace with nature in a forest, playing with tiger cubs, taken care by one's mother, and trained by a Guru. At least I would love that! Do you have an offer? I am for it!

You painted Ram as a human being, and not as God.

Gods are just like that: you can fit them into whatever shape and role you like, and they won't mind. That is why they are Gods. Human beings are Gods too.

Complements

I won't take complements seriously J Writing is easy. Doing is not. While I do take care that I always practice what I say or write, I would rather be remembered for what I did rather than what I said or wrote. I would like to do great some day. Every day.

~*~

Snapshots from childhood: Revisited

Even before Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana made the epic reach our homes, we read one Comic version of Ramayana from Gita Press. We had received a copy from our grandpa. Whole Ramayana was pictorially described in the thin book. I was around 8 then, and was highly inspired by many of the scenes. The most inspiring for me was when young Ram and Lakshman went with their Guru on a trip, to kill the Rakshasas, just after they had completed their education. And they cleared them all.

I got this dream many times. I was Ram. My younger cousin brother was Lakshman. And many of my other cousins were Bharat and Satrughna. And my mother and aunts were like the four mothers Ram had J We had bows and arrows like Ram had. And then one night, I fought a very long battle with the demons, and when I woke up, I was tired and exhausted. But I was happy because I had won it J

~*~

PS: Thanks a lot to all those who asked questions, so that I got another chance to post this picture. J

Gods also learnt it, the hard way

This picture was published in HT one day. This is a snap of the same. What do you see in it? It's a completely different world out there.

Some things that cooked inside my mind while I see this picture:

Education: Ram got educated in ashrams, under distinguished and learned Gurus. He had to live there in order to practice each and everything he learnt in the class-room sessions. And Guru was not there to take his salary at the end of the month. Think about the way we get education, how our teachers are, and how 'educated' our educated fellas are.

Training: Ashram education was never complete without 'training-on-the-job'. Ram killed so many rakshasas while on an 'outbound training' session with his guru. Life was never secure: one wrong move could take away the life: it has never been a more 'living on the edge' example ever since.

Occupation: Whatever we know about 'people-management' or the management gurus can ever 'cook' theories in the next thousand years, Ram knew all, and practiced all. And he got the ultimate respect that a leader can ever get: worshiped as a God.

Family: Ideal in any sense, any picture is incomplete without showing Sita and Ram together. And Lakshman and Hanuman, the family has never been extended enough after that. Humility defined. Attached and yet unattached. Love in its purest form.

Wife: I know many of us still wonder why Ram left Sita. My self-developed theory would say: never judge one by his/her 'one' action. I won't try giving my logic why he did that, but Ram still is a benchmark that any husband can ever have.

Siblings: In a time when almost no relationship is sacred, love for one's siblings or extended family can still take inspirations from the four brothers.

Home: Did Ram ever felt pain when he had to leave his comfortable home, to live in forest for 14 years? He must have. But in this picture, we can see where home is: where family is.

Attire: Our fashion designers may take inspirations from exotic societies for fashion sense. But our traditional Indian attire remains the best looking, and will always be just like that.

Relationships: Father-son, father-daughter, husband-wife, brothers, guru-student, idol-bhakta, master-subordinate, name a relationship and you have a benchmark here.

Nature: Remember Jatayu: the king of birds who died rescuing Sita? He was not 'trained' in a Circus or 'preserved' in a zoo. Living in peace with nature was possible then, and is still possible now. But who cares about nature? Show me the money!

And Gods also leant all this, the hard way J

In support to Tibetan struggle for freedom.

Will write an article in some time.

I and one friend went to Borivali National Park yesterday, and we did good photoshoot. While clicking this picture of his, I made sure that the papaya plant had the last smile :)

Once VT wrote about the Indian Jugaad - I call this our ability to perform and innovate amidst scarcity. This is examplifed in this picture. See the stair-case, which is nothing but a set of appropriately put stone slabs! So if this family can’t afford a good staircase to reach the roof, it still has access to it: thanks to Jug

This picture appeared in the newspaper in some other context. I clicked this using my Nikon. It seems it has appeared good.

I attempted to return back to my childhood and tried to draw a picture that we used to draw in our childhoods.

Mountain standing

River walking

Sun watching

Boat passing

Trees listening

Birds singing

After I finished the drawing, I tried to find out how different I did this from what I would have done in my childhood.

Here is what I find out:

Made conscious attempt to make only an even number of birds ' they shouldn't be in odd number

Tried to make sure that the boat is sailing

in the direction of the wind ' but couldn't make out;

so drew that at random.

Made sure that the sunrays should scatter

in all directions ' and equally.

Mountains shouldn't look all the same ' so I made them diverse.

Water shouldn't look still ' so I made it look like flowing.

Observed something special?

Nice visiting back .

Rahul can still make drawings !

What is change? I think I had never put on Red or Pink so far. And what a break! Our class decided that on this Tuesday, all boys would come in Kurtas and all girls in Salwars. So I bought my first Kurta, though I wasn't sure whether I would put it or not. After much pondering, I gave in. Class liked it and I was given a 'look'. Well, I seldom really dress up to the occasion, so this was a good affair with an outfit called Kurta. Don't you think that we Indians still look best in our ethnic wear? Here is a snap for you. (though my glasses are missing here).

I told you about my childhood days residential quarters. This time when I went home, I shot this picture. You can see only a glimpse of it; it is not very well maintained now. There is a peepal tree in front, a well, open garden, and lots of greenery.

I have a record of preparing sketches of Lord Ganesha. This is the latest one at my home.

This 'lone tree on a hilltop' represents a lot of things. Singleton, unity, boldness, brevity, manhood, and what more? You suggest.

In India, lack of public toilets is a big problem. And people employ a lot of ingenious methods to ward off others from making their roadside walls wet. A lot post derogatory remarks about who-so-ever dared to pee on the walls. And some others write names of Ganesha and Shiva to create another effect.

This one posted is a new innovation. Seems to be from some really right-minded person. It mentions on the wall, the location of the next public toilet! Haven't seen so many caring wall-owners

Pic-Blog means a picture will tell you the story.

Using Red in Color Therapy

Red is the lowest of the seven colors in the visible spectrum and is known as a “warm” color. It is stimulating and energizing therefore it is helpful for tiredness and lethargy, to stimulate low blood pressure, to boost sluggish circulation. NB Red should not be used on anyone, with hypertension/high blood pressure since this color increases blood flow. (That is to say as a color treatment). Pink may be used instead in such cases.

Red, in its most positive sense, is the color for courage, strength and pioneering spirit. However, in the most negative aspect, it is the color of anger, violence and brutality and, interestingly, before world war two it was noted that a lot of red was being worn.

Using colors well in the home is a way of creating a balanced environment. Red is energizing and excites the emotions, and can stimulate the appetite.(Often used in restaurants). It can be used in any activity area but red needs careful choice of tone and depth and the space in which it is to be used as it can make a space look smaller and can be claustrophobic or oppressive. However, used well, red and its variations can make a space feel warm and cozy.