Onam...

Happy Onam to one and all...

Has anyone thought about the REAL SIGNIFICANCE of ONAM?

The festival ONAM has such deep connotation.

Lets retrospect on this by beginning on the Avatar of Mahavishnu who plays a small role in the grand scale of things. The Avatar of Lord Mahavishnu this time is called "VAMANA" the first avatar in the treta yuga or second age. Please be aware that this is the first time Lord Mahavishnu is bearing a human form as an avatar.

Coming to the story ...

King Mahabali was known for his just rule, he was pious, always concerned about his people and was in everyones prayers. His rule over the kingdom was superfluous that the people stopped praying to the gods and started praying to him. King Mahabali, without knowing was elevated from a mere mortal to a god. His divinisation had started and the gods in heaven started to feel the threat. They all went to Lord Mahavishnu for help and they begged him. The lord said he will take care and went to earth as VAMANA, a brahmin who was no more than 3 feet in height. The lord visited him during a yaga, King Mahabali went all out to take care of the brahmin. The Brahmin was extremely impressed with the way he was being treated and blessed him to live forever. The King was so happy that he requested the brahmin to be presented with anything. The brahmin asked for just three paces of land. Before the king said OK, his guru stopped him and warned him of a foul play by the gods. He didnot heed to his advice and agreed to the request. The three foot brahmin grew into a huge person and with one measure of his feet he covered all of heaven and with the second he covered  earth and hell and was looking for place to keep the third but there was nowhere to go, so the great King Mahabali bowed in front of the Lord and said please place your feet on my head. The Lord was so mighty pleased with his humility that he blessed him with a boon, The requested that he come back to his land once a year to check upon his subjects welfare. The lord being even more pleased blessed the King and placed his feet on the Kings head and completed his third stride thus completing the promise by the king to the Lord.

My look at this story -

King Mahabali was an Asura. Asura is a person who has more of negativity in him than the others. They indulge in worldly pleasures and take to violence to solve problems. This story is about an Asura who became a Deva. The story has the message staring right at you that anybody can attain brahman / nirvana and the lord does not show partiality. When King Mahabali realised that he was on the verge of attaining Nirvana a tinge of ego had cropped up. He tried his level best to overcome it and he was loosing the battle. So he asked for help from his lord, Lord Mahavishnu. The lord had promised to all living things that you pray to me and I will take care of you. That's what he did. The king prayed and the lord answered. In the grand scheme of things, the lord wanted the devas to cull their ego, especially Indra. He wanted the devas to realise that anyone can attain divinity and the lord is impartial. He is just to all. He does not differentiate.

When the King prayed to the lord, the role had started. The dice had been rolled, if you remember when the devas had gone to meet Lord Mahavishnu he greeted them with a smile. The significance of the smile is that he already knew why they had come to meet him and what the end is going to be. When the placed their prayers at his feet the lord agreed and thus the role of VAMANA had come into being. When Vamana had come to meet King Mahabali, the king knew that his time for salvation had come. Deep in his heart, he knew that the brahmin standing in front of him will help him attain brahman. The penultimate test that the lord put him through was when his guru reminded him of the foul play by devas. The king had already decided to surrender to the almighty and there was noting stopping him. When the lord covered the the entirety in two steps and queried to place the third the King was more than happy to bow before the Lord and surrender to him. Contrary to popular belief, the king was not pushed down to hell but he attained brahman. He joined the lord in his entirety.

I remember a scene in which King Mahabali is looking at the lord, when the entire world was seeing the brahmin the King was looking at Lord Mahavishnu who had taken his normal form. The king hugged the lord and cried tears of joy, the end of his journey was at the last pace. This was when the soul of the king was to merge with the lord.

The rest is history.  

Help...

Give assistance or be of service.

If one cannot be of assistance one should never put off people who wants to do it. I have seen numerous occasions in my life when a person who wants to help has been shot down on petty ego. Frankly speaking, I am yet to fathom the reasons why people scuttle out others who wants to help. 

What is the pleasure that they derive from it?

Our scriptures irrespective of religion have always said that the primary responsibility of a human being is to love and help others. The worst of the lot are the manipulative ones who puts in thought of negation in our head to ensure that the help does not go through. Such people never change their thought process even if the truth is staring at them right on their face. 

Anyone who is reading this always remember

IN THE END, ONLY KINDNESS MATTERS

Off and On...

What is it that makes us human? I have wondered, is it the way we are taught or is it the way we are born. Male or female, does it make a difference, to the way we portray our thoughts. Hmmmm. 

There are days when incidents have made me think, How fragile a human being is! Moments ago I read an e-mail from my friend that had a small video clip from which a full grown maggot is taken out from the skull of a lady. DAMN! How did it reach there? Was delivered by a mosquito. Like Amithab Bachan said in a movie... "ek machar aadmi ko hijara bana detha hain!" (One mosquito can make a man into a eunuch. Google Hijra and you will see that killing a mosquito and the dance of a eunuch are the same.) Damn straight, I would say at least in this case. 
I sit in my room looking out through the window with the vehicles plying by incessantly and the clouds have moved over for some sunshine (at last) heavy winds though, is making it chilly today. 

Planning to go home on the 17th of Aug. To the land where all is green KERALA-GODS OWN COUNTRY. It is indeed , you need to see it to believe it. I am going home for ONAM. The only festival that unites all cast and creed under one umbrella, The place where it burns the delicate infringements of caste and creed ONAM is always the sliver lining to the dark clouds. This has made me wonder and ponder quite deeply, Lord MAHAVISHNU foresaw the fact that his own country before it turns out to be his backyard; He created a point in time, On that point (day) all the mind will be free of all evils and will rejoice together for the fact the UNITY and the ONENESS, The supremity will always be there for us. So that we may not decimate ourselves.

Food...

Now... where do we begin from? Me being a foodie myself (90 kgs I weigh) it becomes a very difficult task for me to commence my post. So, let's begin with the obvious. Do we eat to live or live to eat? Some people do the latter. Now why is it such a crime to say, "I live to eat." The problem is the mindset of the people. It takes a long time for people to accept new things. So in this case too, it will take time.

"Food, is an essential part of our existence." We need it as it fuels us. The word food also features in the motto for existence. Food, as we know it has evolved on great deals. I remember when the teacher in my college told us about the romans and their banquets. It seems it used to go on for days together. It was so extreme that when full, they used to empty their stomach (throw up) so that they may continue with their eating. They used to practice at home to pick up real hot food from the gravy so that they may pick the best pieces when they go for a banquet.

"Annum illengill beejum Illa, beejum illengill nee Illa" which is translated as "if no food then no seed, if no seed then no life." Such  a strong statement. Which is why we pray before we eat.

The need to feed is basic of all needs of man. The need to feed is the need to survive. 

FOOD for thought...

Silence...

People were floating around. 

Some huddled in deep but inaudible conversations.

The ladies were seated on the floor.

Verses from the Ramayana were resonating in the hall.

Death had caught up.

The only truth in the universe.

Why do we fear death? The answer is very simple. We do not understand it. What we humans don't understand, we fear and we retaliate. We do not know what is on the other side of the door. Is it heaven or hell, nobody knows. Those who know cannot communicate it to us. So we are stuck with our imagination.

I remember reading a story of a dying man who realised what's on the other side of the door by observing a dog!

I will try and recollect it as much as I can for you.

"Mr. Burke is terminally ill. He has been diagnosed with Lymphosarcoma of the intestine. It means he has been diagnosed with malignant cancer in the intestine. He innings was coming to a lose and by the looks of it an abrupt finish was in the cards."

He started his radiation therapy and Chemo to begin with. As his condition progressed the amount of medicine that he consumed was more than the amount of food he ate. He suffered bouts of pain in his stomach. He had loose stools mixed with blood. 

He was weak, physically and metaphysically.

On one particular day his pain was unbearable. He was writhing and twisting in his bed. He thought that god had forsaken him. For all the abuse his body had tolerated through his younger years it was paying back with interest. An intense pain shot through his body and he convulsed. He convulsed in pain badly. In that moment a prayer slipped out of his soul without his knowledge.

The door open slightly and nobody was there. All of them looked down and saw a dog. He had stuck his head into the room and was staring at everybody with his tongue out. It was a Labrador. The dog made his way into the room and lay down in one part of the room and went to sleep. On numerous visits to the hospital Mr. Burke had seen this dog and wondered who the owner was. He overheard other patients in the Chemo room say that the dog was here searching for his master as he had passed away. Some said that it was the dog of the owner of the hospital, some said it was of a top doctor. Whatever it was he didn't care. He loved the dog. There was innocence all over his face. The best part was that he never barked, not even a peep when he was in the hospital.

The members of the family of Mr. Burke felt uncomfortable when the dog walked in and stayed in his room. They called up to the nursing station and raised their concern. The nurse said not to worry he will leave by the time you place the receiver back on the hook. And it happened, as soon as they placed the receiver back on hook the dog got up and walked away. before leaving he turned around and looked at everybody and walked away. Strange they thought of this incident.

When Mr. Burke woke up from his pain killer he was feeling much relieved. He felt a new sense of energy, he had hope in him., he was positive, he was feeling upbeat, he felt strange, he felt HAPPY from the inside. His family members narrated the strange incident that happened. He smiled. his friend had come to see him he thought.

As fate would have, the dog walked in again and this time he sat right in front of Mr. Burke on the bed. He looked directly into the eyes of Mr. Burke. He got up with great difficulty and wished the dog Good morning. The dog just looked at him with his tongue out and then slowly turned his head around and looked at the rest of the people in the room. They just stared for a long time and then Mr. Burke slowly got out of the bed. The dog leaped out of the bed and waited for him at the door. He slowly made it to the main door with great difficulty. He stumbled but moved on. his family members tried to help him but the dog politely cut them off. Mr. Burke finally reached the door. He looked at the dog and said "Thats interesting!" The dog scratched on the door and looked at him. He opened the door and both of them looked out. It looked like a whole new world to Mr. Burke. The dog led him on and they walked through the corridors. Finally he reached a door and the dog jumped on it with a whimpering sound. The door opened after a minute to see an elderly gentleman. The dog jumped onto him and started licking his face and fussing around him with varied displays of love. He looked at Mr. Burke and said Thank You and winked at him. Mr. Burke looked on to them and he traced his way back to his room.

That one moment made him a different man.

He made peace with his condition.

He realised that his current assignment was over and was reassigned to another place.

He smiled, the smile of a man who realised the truth.

When he reached his room his family members were concerned about his whereabouts, but looking at him everyone was stunned. There was renewed energy in him. He was glowing. He had an aura around him. His connection with the one had been renewed. He was smiling. The smile of a man who understood the purpose of his existence.

This current situation of Mr. Burkes brought peace in the room. Everyone basked in the warmth of his radiance. He spoke to all of them, nobody asked him on the change of his current situation but everyone enjoyed it.

After a long time he had his belly full of food. 

Nurses and the doctors who came to see him was really pleased to see the positive development.

Mr. Burke laid down on his bed and closed his eyes to move onto to his new assignment. Just like the way the dog understood that on the other side of the door his master is waiting for him.

There is nothing to fear about Death.

Death is just a new beginning.