Prayer heals!

I look at my hands and I can hear them begging to me..." stop it please... do not abuse us so much"... I open my vaseline jelly and apply it on my palms to make them feel better .
Earlier my hands used to smell of masalas, spices or incense, but for the past one week they are smelling only of dettol.
This is not the story of just my palms ....
My home smells of dettol and lizol ; I have already exhausted this month's usual quota of all disinfectant floor cleaners, toilet cleaners and even hand washes.I have stacked up my cupboard with enough of medical soaps. Our medicine cabinets have been updated with surgical spirits and many homeo medicines.My kids smell of dettol or eucalyptus oil.I even gave off a bottle of Lizol to the maid who comes to sweep the corridors of our apartment complex . I have agreed to sponsor dettol hand wash to my kids school.

Do not mistake this for a marketing portal for disinfectants .... what then?

Yes , you guessed it right ! Something is terribly wrong with me! When I am trying to make hand washing our home culture I just feel like Lady Macbeth trying to wash away the imaginary blood from her hands always in a state of hallucination. When I am always in the look out for a sneeze or running nose from my two little boys I feel insane.I used to take things so lightly . Never have I rushed my kids to doctors for a small rise in temperature , a cough or cold. But today my heart beats faster each time I think of my kids away from me in school...... ... are they washing their hands... with soap? Are they digging their noses , or biting their nails ?

I am after all a mother ....!!!

The scare of the pandemic H1N1 virus spreading like wild fire globally, the heat of its virulent flames burning life's of people close to our residence....just sprouted fear is many of us ...A month or so ago , I remember reading about this viral infection called swine flu affecting life's of people in Pune... but then I read it like any other news and never thought twice about it ....Today I feel ashamed !!!
Why am I feeling connected when it comes only to people close to me? Last few days were also days of reflection and introspection.With a baggage of thoughts dancing in my head I just sat down to check what I felt about the whole situation.

The answer I got was fear! Yes! I was overwhelmed with fear....! Fear of death , fear of the unknown , fear of future , fear of anticipation , fear of loss , fear of the unexpected...
I was imagining the worst , I was trying to live in the future "ifs". I had just forgotten the beauty of the present ... and the moment I realized this, prayer arose ! I could send prayers to not just my near and dear ... the spectrum of it embraced humanity as a whole !

Along with all the precautions we are taking to control the spread of this pandemic , the aura of our deep consciousness should expand ....!!! Prayer heals ....

The'ga" of Sadhana

The "Ga" of my Sadhana is that I am a " Chrysalis". Try to recollect what you learnt in your biology class in school. ....
Doesn't Chrysalis sound familiar? An adult butterfly lays eggs , which hatches into a caterpillar. Caterpillar swallows and accepts all the greenery that comes its way ..shedding its skin every now and then. It later transforms into a chrysalis or pupa before evolving into a beautiful butterfly.

I remember learning the life cycle of a butterfly in school, but now, I am relearning it. Today I am not forced to memorize the process of metamorphosis in a butterfly, but I pause to think the powerful message it implies. Metamorphosis is not a process that is characteristic of insects or amphibians alone. Though not physically, we homo sapiens too have the innate capability of metamorphosis. Like a caterpillar we take in with greed all that comes our way. As we tread along towards growth, we shed our, preconceived notions, beliefs and image building egos...changing every moment. Then we enter into yet another new existence ....that of a pupa.....which might seem static, but is actually a dynamic existence.
A state of meditation, awareness .... moments brimming with life.
A state which makes life meaningful and worth living.
A prelude to a celebration....
a state before the flowering of a butterfly.

Like the light in total darkness which guides you find your way, the various retreats and youth programs at the "Oneness University" helped me live each moment of my life. Boredom was erased from my life dictionary, and I started living life with all intensity. Perceptions and attitude changed, and I stepped into the robe of a chrysalis.

Here is a video on metamorphosis!!! Hope all of you will enjoy!


I was delighted when my brother Naveen responded to this post with a beautiful poem.To read this poem click here.

The "Re" of Sadhana

Once upon a time there was a man who used to go from street to street selling hats. One day, when the Sun was scorching, he sat down under the shade of a huge tree to have a midday nap. With the basket full of hats next to him , he dozed off . The huge tree which sheltered the man was also home to a few monkeys. Fascinated by the basket full of hats, the monkeys grabbed all of them from the basket. Now each of the monkeys had a hat on top of their head!

When the man woke up he found his basket empty. What he found was a bunch of chattering monkeys crowned with his hats. He tried to shoo them, but in vain. Then he threw stones at them. They imitated him by throwing back fruits from the tree. He suddenly realized that the best way was to trick them. He understood that monkeys only imitated, while he had the capability to think and act. He removed the hat from his head and threw it towards the monkeys. Any one can guess what the monkeys would have done. They just imitated him and the man got back all his hats.

The "re" of my Sadhana is that I was more or less like a monkey during my growing up years. That doesn't mean I have stopped growing now :). I was just alluding to my school and college years. I never knew why I was doing something. I just did it because everyone else did it. After my tenth grade, I chose science group, just because everyone around me was doing that.I wrote both the engineering and medical entrances because I did not know what else to do. After I got selected for Ayurveda and Homeopathy(two streams of medicinal approach), my mother asked me whether this was what I exactly wanted to do. The answer was no. But still I did not listen to what my heart spoke....! The other options were taking up a degree course....there were varied subjects from which I could choose from....physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics.....Any subject was equal to me as I never realized, what I actually liked. The Principal of our college, asked me to take up English literature as I would not have to lose lab attendance, whenever I wanted to participate in extra curricular activities. I just nodded my head and signed in. I am not sure whether I enjoyed my classes in college. After my graduation, I pursued post graduation in the same subject...this was when I started knowing the fact that till now I was not listening to my heart ... or my passion.


Here is an interesting video on Ganesha Chaturthy!