The Secret of the Falling Stars of the Night

Once upon a time there were six friends. Their names were LAILA, LILY, BELLA, MARIA, TWILIGHT and NIKI. They lived in LAILA’s grandmother’s house in the outskirts of Bangalore. It was big with many rooms. It even had a library and it looked like it had as many books as the Lost Library of Atlanta. On her death, LAILA’s grandmother had left a huge fortune along with the house to LAILA. LAILA’s parents were wildlife photographers and roamed the world. So, LAILA lived with her friends at the house she had inherited. They had all just finished their studies at THE SPACE COLLEGE in the USA. On their return, they had converted a part of the house into a research lab and worked as researchers for THE SPACE COLLEGE.

They enjoyed star-gazing. Their terrace was big and had a very powerful telescope. They would also enjoy lying on the terrace and finding constellations in the sky. TWILIGHT loved doing this the most and was a keen observer of the sky. She knew the positions of the stars like the back of her hand.

One day she noticed that some stars had gone missing. On more observation through the telescope, TWILIGHT found that pieces of some other stars were slowly chipping off. She told her friends her startling discovery and was alarmed that the sky would become starless if nothing was done about it.

They decided to get to the bottom of the matter.

First, they went to the library to see if they could find any book to help them. After a long search they found a thin small book with the title “SECRET OF THE STARS”. The book was just the size of NIKI’s palm who had found it.

The book said that beyond the science of the stars there is LIGHT MAGIC, which if mastered can change one’s life and give the ability to control the stars and the power to control the elements of harmony which are fire, breeze, balance and nature. To gain the power of this magic, there were four STARS OF LIGHT which had to be found. As per the book, the first star was in the volcano called THE MAUNA LUA. It was the FIRE STAR. The second star was in STARLIGHT VALLEY. It was the STAR OF BALANCE. The third star was in BLIZZARD GLADE. It was the BREEZE STAR. The fourth star was in THE ENCHANTED JUNGLE. It was the STAR OF NATURE.

But the book did not seem complete. Apart from the pages which talked about LIGHT MAGIC and the STARS OF LIGHT, the rest of the book was blurred and the last page just said “TO BE CARRIED”.

NIKI, the explorative type, rushed to open a world map in the map section of the library. She found MAUNA LUA to be in Hawaii. She remembered a dream she had recently. It had been about a volcano which she had seen while vacationing in Hawaii. She discussed her dream with the others and they agreed it was an indication and they should visit Hawaii and the MAUNA LUA volcano there.

The six friends went to the VOLCANO OF FIRE. They searched for an entrance at the base of the volcano. Suddenly, they saw an unusual formation of rocks. On moving it, they found a secret tunnel. As they went into the tunnel, they were amazed to see a soft shining, five-pointed star floating in the darkness. LILY felt a pull and went close to the star. The star floated and landed on her hand gently. LILY put it in a special box.

They returned to their home at Bangalore and decided to read the book again. To their astonishment they found two pages which were earlier blank now visible. These pages said, “You did well! You can continue back where you started. You will find darkness as you are on the quest to find the six STARS OF LIGHT.”

They thought for a while. Where did they start their quest? TWILIGHT broke the silence and exclaimed “Library!”

They ran to the library but there was nothing different there. After some searching, NIKI snapped her fingers and said “Where the book was!” They went to that shelf and to their surprise, the books had not closed the slot from where they had picked up the “SECRET OF THE STARS” book. They were very excited but also deep in thought. After a while, NIKI could not contain her excitement anymore and put her finger which was all that could fit into the space.

Suddenly a big portal opened up.

It was like a strong blackish purple wind and was twirling like the top of a tornado. Despite their fear, deep inside, they were all very excited and decided to go in. TWILIGHT started a count down. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. JUMP.

They held hands and jumped together into the portal.

They landed in a place which looked like it was from a dream. The cars were flying, people had wings, fish were flying – their fins had become wings, birds were swimming in a liquid which looked like the portal they came through – everything was different. They pinched each other thinking it was all imaginary but it hurt a lot.

The portal had closed. So, after exploring a little, they found a building with marble pillars, fully white except for colourful pearl decorations around the pillars. It looked magnificent – like the Taj Mahal with balustrades just below the dome and a balcony there. There was a beautiful garden around the building. They thought it was a palace. But then they felt it would be a hotel as there was a rush at the entrance. When they got closer, they asked a person who was writing on a sheet if they could stay there. She replied, “This is a residential school.”

They went to meet the headmistress. She had short grey hair, a little longer than a boy, a long thin face, a blue dress and looked kind and gentle. They told her about the portal and how they came to this place.

She revealed to them that only if one of them was a fairy, they could come here through the portal. They were shocked. Who was a fairy amongst them?

The headmistress told them that they could stay there and learn till they found who was the fairy amongst them.

Then they narrated their whole story and their backgrounds. She listened patiently. She asked, “Can I see the book?” When she saw the book, she said, “This book belonged to my friend, LEVLA.” LAILA exclaimed, “That’s my grandmother’s name!” The headmistress said that LEVLA and herself were FAIRIES OF LIGHT. They had gone to the human world to stop someone who was stealing the light of the stars.

The headmistress explained, “LEVLA saw many people in distress and decided to stay in the human world to help them. While doing that, she also managed to keep the stars safe. Now that, she is no more, someone has started sucking the stars’ light again. You, as her granddaughter must take up her duty.”

The friends were shocked to hear this but were also excited to help LAILA.

The headmistress offered to teach LAILA a few spells which they might need on their journey. LAILA was happy.

Over the next few days, LAILA learnt how to transform and get wings to fly, a spell to make a safety bubble and many others. Her friends watched her learn. Soon, they were ready to continue their quest.

They talked about it to the headmistress. She also sensed they were ready and revealed to them that the STARLIGHT VALLEY where they would find the next star was actually in the sky of this world. She also told them that she had felt five other magical auras while she was teaching LAILA. She recited a spell and asked each of them to repeat it.

The results were amazing!!!

Each of them created a pearl necklace out of nowhere. “All of you are fairies!” she declared happily and told LAILA to teach them everything she knew too. As soon as they had all learnt how to transform to their fairy looks and how to fly, they bid farewell to their headmistress and teachers and left for STARLIGHT VALLEY.

They looked around the sky for several days and found nothing. BELLA began thinking. “STARLIGHT: ‘where light goes to stars’, which would mean where stars store their light”. She looked around and pointed out – “There! That area seems brighter than the rest! Maybe that is STARLIGHT VALLEY!”

They went to this area. The centre of this place was really, really, really bright. LAILA taught them a spell to create sunglasses out of thin air. The magical sunglasses helped them see clearly in the brightness.  As they went closer to the bright spot, NIKY spotted a little star inside the brightness. She couldn’t resist going closer. It was dark on one half and bright on the other. It was outlined with rainbow colours and only NIKI with the really sharp vision could make it out.  She held out her hand and the star jumped onto her hand.  The extreme brightness reduced and the six of them rejoiced at their second success. “YAY!” they shouted in celebration as they had found the STAR OF BALANCE.

Having found the STAR OF BALANCE, they decided to look into the book for more clues. Again, magically, the writing cleared in more pages. These pages said, “The desert wind goes through me but yet I have no heat. I’m at the bottom of the Earth. Look for the black penguin and you shall find the STAR OF BREEZE.”

“Where could this be?” thought LILY aloud. “The bottom of the Earth, of course!” she then exclaimed. She asked LAILA to create a globe for them and looked at the bottom. “Antarctica!” she exclaimed. “Of course! It is at the bottom of the Earth,” NIKI replied.

TWILIGHT said, “I guess we have to look for a fully black penguin there. How are we supposed to do that?”

“We will figure that out along the way,” BELLA said. “Let’s get going.”

LAILA used her magic to recreate the portal and they returned to earth. They flew to Antarctica as fairies. On reaching there and seeing the harsh, cold weather and strong winds, MARIA said, “This has to be BLIZZARD GLADE. Now to find the black penguin.”

They found a colony of penguins and looked for a black one but could find none. They continued searching more colonies. In one such colony, they found a researcher hurting the penguins.

They used their magic to send him away. Luckily the penguins had managed to stay safe and glided away, except one little baby penguin which was hurt with no one to help it. TWILIGHT felt sorry. She wanted to heal the penguin, but LAILA reminded her that she would lose her power to stay warm. TWILIGHT went ahead without about thinking about herself and put the healing spell on the penguin. The penguin recovered. But TWILIGHT started freezing in the cold. The penguin’s feathers slowly became fully black. It opened it wings and there lay the STAR OF BREEZE. It floated towards TWILIGHT and landed on her open palm. TWILIGHT regained her lost power and the penguin disappeared into the air.

Now with the three stars and the others to go, they decided to return home and have a look at the book.

In the library, they opened the book and found one more page had cleared up. This said, “Enchanted though this place is, it is right in front of you.” There was also an image of a green and yellow portal. LAILA said, “Maybe we need to find a portal that looks like this. Maybe the book will lead us to the portal.” The moment she finished saying that, she touched the image and instantly, they found themselves in the house’s garden. Where they landed, they found a tree trunk with a tiny portal which looked like the image in the book.

They became small and flew in through the portal to enter the ENCHANTED JUNGLE. The jungle was thick with very less light. The ground was full of bright green glowing grass. The trees’ leaves were of different colours like pink, yellow, blue, teal, aqua and gold.

They decided to search the forest. As they looked around, they found a huge swamp which was white in colour. The centre of the swamp was glowing like the sun. Suddenly, a star jumped out of the centre and onto LAILA’s hand.

But this star had a tiny note on it. It said, “If you find THE STARS OF CREATION and DESTRUCTION your goal will be complete by turning into the six fairies of light. That completes your quest and you can control the stars, and do as you like but if you are evil the stars will brighten, and you will fade.”

Now, they started thinking where the STARS OF CREATION and DESTRUCTION could be. They looked closer and found another note that said, “Chant this – ‘The Egyptians of night come alive. Tell me the truth where to find THE STARS OF LIGHT’”.

As they chanted this incantation, there rose a big creature from the ground. He had the head of a goat, body of an eagle, wings of a dragon, tail of a crocodile, one leg of a T. Rex and another of a bull. He even had a paw of a lion and a talon of an eagle. He also had a horn of a ram, an antler of a deer and ears of a donkey. In a deep but human voice, he said, “Answer my riddle and I will show you the way to the star you seek.”

“When I am big enough, I will fall and only rise up when I am small.”

LAILA said, “A person?”.

“Wrong,” said the creature.

BELLA said, “Rain drop?”

“Correct,” said the creature. “You will find the stars when you unite like the stars.” After saying this, the creature sunk back into the ground.

They held their hands together and closed their eyes and the four stars came out of LAILA’s bag and floated in the air to form a diamond shape. Two new stars appeared in the centre of the diamond-shape.

The six friends left their hands and put their palms together forming cup-shapes.

THE STAR OF CREATION fell on BELLA’s hand. THE STAR OF DESTRUCTION fell on MARIA’s hand. THE STAR OF FIRE fell on LILY’s hand. THE STAR OF BALANCE fell on NIKI’s hand. THE STAR OF BREEZE fell on TWILIGHT’s hand. THE STAR OF NATURE fell on LAILA’s hand.

When they opened their eyes, the stars blended with their hands, and bright wings appeared on their backs.  They started glowing like the grass on the ground and a wand appeared in their hands. They waved it in a circle, and they got teleported to a magnificent castle. It had a globe like structure in it.

In the globe, they noticed a star had started falling. They lifted their wands, trying to put the star back up in the sky. The star went back up. The six friends ran out of the castle to see a star slowly rising. They were pleasantly surprised at the sight. Now they knew what had happened. They were transformed into THE FAIRIES OF LIGHT.  They controlled the stars now with the globe and maintained peace and harmony.

-Written by Stuti (aged 9) in 2021-2022. Also part of the book “Thoughts and Beauty”

Morning Thought

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Indeed, what one thinks in the morning shapes up one’s day. By “one’s day”, I mean the thought patterns for the day which define how one would react to situations. Situations, obviously are quite beyond one’s control. But the responses to the situations aren’t – they can definitely be controlled to suits one’s goals.

One very powerful way which has worked for me to regulate responses and build mindfulness is the “Morning Thought”. It is not an original concept. Several experts have already shared deep insights on what I refer to here as the “Morning Thought.”

Very simply, “Morning Thought” is what one consciously thinks first thing in the morning. I stress here on “consciously”. So far as I am concerned, as soon as I wake up, my chattering mind is all over the place – having just got free from its wild dream-world and into the cage of conscious existence.

A few years ago (no idea when), I realized that to regulate the day and make it productive, one should make the day’s plan early in the morning. I got into the habit of mentally listing out the tasks or activities for the day and my strategies to attend to those tasks. I would mentally list out priorities, set mental (or mobile) reminders as required. This helped me a lot to keep my focus for most part of the day and I realized the importance of the “Morning Thought”.

But planning the day’s activities only helps to manage one’s material life.

The next version of the “Morning Thought” I adopted (maybe a year back) was of gratitude. This is an undoubtedly powerful thought to keep one happy during the day. Telling oneself that it’s a great day and mentally (or verbally) thanking God / the Universe for the little and large pleasures and comforts (home, kids, family, car, food, greenery, rest, job, money, etc.) is a wonderful way to calm the mind for the day. I continue my practice of saying thanks to everything in the morning.

About three months back, I came across another very significant “Morning Thought”. Surprisingly it came in a management course I undertook.

I digress here to state that one thing I respect about the West is that they work towards building up spiritual practices into day-to-day material life. A lot of management techniques reflect inner practices of developing peace and spreading joy. I personally believe that spirituality should be practice-able by every person while doing their normal activities.

So back to the “Morning Thought” which I use now.

It is: “What kind of a person do I want to be today?”.

This is then followed by a detailing of the question – some options which could come up are:

• Calm and Peaceful
• Focused on work
• Kind
• Grateful
• Happy
• Relaxed

This then extends to how the chosen aspect/s would reflect in the day’s situations. For e.g.: “I will be a calm person under work pressure” or “I will maintain focus on completing all pending work and relax later” or “I want to be kind to my family and co-workers today”.

As long as the thoughts are positive, it will steer the day to happiness and contentment.

For me, this one thought – “What kind of person do I want to be today” – sets a great direction every day. It is a paradigm shift from activity-based thinking to character-based thinking. The “Morning Thought” is powerful, potent. It is also a way of ensuring that one’s mind is under control from the start of the day.

Family Fun and Bonding

This was an exercise I really loved. As on many occasions, it was initiated by my ever-enthusiastic daughter – Stuti.

We were having dinner. Most likely my mother would have said something reflecting under confidence in herself. (Some people having this habit of under-rating their wonderful life – but that’s a different topic to write about).

Stuti doesn’t like people becoming negative and would not let this go by. I was sitting next to my mother. Stuti asked me to say something good about my mother.

One thing about my daughter – you can’t say “No” to her for 2 reasons:

1. She generally asks for the right things.
2. If you say no – she will gently, sweetly and persistently make sure you end up saying “Yes”.

It’s funny about family – while we may appreciate each other, we don’t express it. It’s generally taken for granted – the morning coffee, the timely food, clothes washed and stacked properly, whole days spent to get the month-end salary, the laughter – so many such day-to-day occurrences.

So, when Stuti persisted that I say something good about my mother, I thought (for maybe a minute) and I said a couple of lines about her balancing work and family when I was a child. It didn’t really change my mother’s perception (old impressions don’t fade quickly). So Stuti passed on the baton to my wife, Subhashree, who was sitting next to me. By the time she had finished, Stuti brought up the full scheme – everyone was to tell something good about everyone else.

We all fell in line and it was a great 15-20 minutes spent over the dining table. Six people telling each other what’s good about them. We didn’t get up even after we had finished eating as the round robin scheme was still continuing.

A lot of positivity was generated that night. It was an exercise which reinforced several beliefs and strengthened the familial bonds.

I would recommend every family to do this – maybe even on a regular basis and I do hope you see how much it makes a difference over time.

I Go On

The beautiful home I built,

With delicate petals and twigs,

Stood ramshackled in the harsh wind,

A figure of broken beauty eliciting lost joy.

And Yet I Go On.

Fellow travelers have gone their path,

The sacrifices I made are now but madness,

The dreams of togetherness withered in isolation,

I stood alone, lost.

And Yet I Go On.

The dreams I saw have become vapor,

As dreams are not that one can touch,

Yet they seemed real and achievable,

Now not even a glimmer of them comes back.

And Yet I Go On.

All I set for my life,

Expectations, the joy of fulfillment,

The pleasure of achievement,

Stood shattered.

And Yet I Go On.

For a new house has risen from dust,

Companions rediscovered, dreams shared,

The world provides, there need be no expectations,

Efforts yield, peace and happiness reign.

So I Go On.

For I try no more,

You have sheltered this lost soul.

Leading, shielding from the thorns,

All worries taken to Your Self with only joy to behold.

So I Go On.

Levla

She bobbed her pretty head along with the gentle wind’s caresses, full of joy and anticipation for the time she would open to the world and enjoy the sun’s warm rays on her whole self and feel the moon’s soft light when she closed for the night.

Levla, the yellow rose bud’s excitement didn’t go unnoticed. The older flowers in the garden laughed at her excitement. It was infectious and even the weathered down ones smiled every now and then and went back to grieving as they were withering away without going through the Suffering. They would not get Emancipation, they would just rot on their plant.

“Hold back Levla,” Grifner transmitted. He was a bright yellow marigold, in his prime. “It will all happen as and when it should.”

“I look forward to my Emancipation. It will be lovely – a grand, happy one,” Levla transmitted with all her energy. A flower’s energy when transmitted could go any anywhere in the world where it willed, it could be received by any flower it wanted to convey a message to.

Levla’s open calls could be heard even far away where flowers were being strung into garlands. They heard her call despite their own wails of pain. The needle passing through them hurt and this was just the beginning. The string passing through their stalks would remain there till they withered away and their life force ebbed out. In pain, they transmitted low moans. The less fortunate ones lay discarded in a heap being of no use and not serving any life purpose. They had lost petals, been bitten by insects, damaged, unsuitable for any purpose. They transmitted groans of grief. One of them, was from Levla’s bush. Levla heard her wailing and quietened.

Flowers live for Emancipation, Levla had been taught by others in her garden. But that involves Pain. “Embrace the Pain and get free,” Luna had told her and screamed. She had been plucked at that instant when she was conversing with Levla. Levla had just started forming then. She has been an infant bud and Luna’s screams scared her. “How could such a painful experience set one free?” she thought.

Yet with time, as she knew more of the fate of other flowers, she had decided that Pain is the route to Emancipation. She was willing with all her life force to withstand and get beyond the Pain.

The glorious sun filled her with joy. She could sense her petals shaping up. She had a while to go still to blossom. Blossoming would be her preparation for Emancipation.

It was about the time after blossoming that she sometimes worried about. Would she wither away on the branch and live a life of no useful purpose? Or would she be destroyed by an insect or maybe a strong wind? She had heard the fading transmissions of others who ended that way. They felt sad as their life ebbed away. She wanted to be joyous and have an end with a purpose. The best she was told was to be part of a garland or a bouquet, be part of the community. She was told she would blend with a mass of others to decorate a gate or a pillar or a room. If she was lucky, the garland would be worn by a woman and she with the others in the garland would find their Emancipation in serving that person.

Levla wondered what had happened to Pretni. Pretni had been Levla’s mentor in the time of Early Formation. She has explained to Levla methods of staying in good shape, the trick of growing a strong sepal covering to last till she was ready to blossom, how much nutrition to take and such Flower Tricks. Pretni had explained the necessity of the bees and butterflies after blossoming. Pretni had been plucked recently and had been transmitting to Levla from her basket till she was picked up for use. After that, she had gone silent. She had no doubt withered away by now. Levla wondered if and how she had met her Emancipation.

With the onset of the morning sun the next day, Levla knew it was time to blossom. She prettied up and started pushing the sepals covering her petals. It was hard work. She had made herself strong. She huffed and puffed and yet with joy kept sending waves of happy energy around. The older flowers prodded her to put in more effort and she kept it up. The first sun rays hit her petals. She felt warm and happy. Emly, the neighboring jasmine encouraged her further. “You are lovely, Levla,” Emly transmitted her calls. “I’ll be so happy to see you in full blossom.”

It took half the day till the sun was up high when Levla felt the warmth on her whole self. She had pushed her way out of the cover of sepals. She had more to do. This was the first stage. But she could rest for a while and she enjoy the break from the hard labor.

“Pain and Suffering,” Emly said. “These feelings Emancipate you. I’ll be plucked soon and be part of a garland if the bugs don’t get me. It’s the highest Pain as the string remains in your stalk always. But all garlands find purpose. With that purpose, we bear the pain and brighten the world till we decay.”

“I’d like to be in a garland,” Levla said quietly.

“Roses generally go into bouquets,” Emly said. “Marigolds and jasmines are more fortunate to get into garlands.”

Levla hesitated. She wanted Emancipation in the best way. From what she was told, that was to be in a garland. “How does a rose ensure she goes into a garland?” she asked.

“Do the best, look pretty, the rest is destiny,” Grifner replied. He saw Emly sulk. He was experienced enough to sense her jealousy. But Grifner knew Levla was innocent and special. He didn’t want anything killing her enthusiasm. Levla summoned all her energy and prettied up.

She was told several things over the next few days as she grew stronger and beautiful. Emly kept saying roses were for bouquets. Hujer from the jasmine plant screamed loudly when she was plucked. She was discarded and tromped on. It was sad to hear her final moans. “If you show your Pain, the picker may discard you,” Grifner said after he was plucked. He had managed to stifle most of his screams after being cut off from his branch. From then, Levla decided she would put up with the Pain. She built her energy, built her petals. Anyone could tell her shape was as near to perfection as possible.

“You do all you want. Yet you are still there and here I go without no effort,” Emly cried when she was plucked one day. “It’s all destiny. Don’t waste your energy. You’ll die fast if you do.”

“I believe in effort, I will keep myself pretty for the day and I will have the best Emancipation,” Levla transmitted very softly. Her transmission was heard only by Sylvesta on the Hibiscus shrub. Sylvesta had grown on a high branch. She was too far from the ground to be plucked. “Keep going, Levla,” she said. “I believe in you and wish you all luck.”

She was growing old and the first sign of decay had started. Levla was concerned. She has not yet been plucked. She didn’t want to rot on the bush. She wanted to live her life of purpose and go through her Pain with resilience. But was Emly right? Had she used her energy too quickly?

Levla heard Sylvesta’s happy transmission. Sylvesta had no expectations, no worries. Connecting her thoughts with Sylvesta, Lelva decided she would remain happy – no matter what. She gathered her energy and let out happiness all over. The garden heard and the flowers smiled. Her joy was contagious.

It happened!

Her happiness was mixed with the sharp sensation at her stalk. She realized she was being plucked. She thanked Sylvesta and continued her happy transmissions. She remembered her resolve to be happy at that moment and that she would not express her Pain. She continued spreading happiness. The flowers rejoiced. It wasn’t a while till her intensity reduced that Sylvesta realized what had happened. “Levla has been plucked,” she shrieked. The flowers fell quiet.

Levla felt the Pain. She had a choice. She could cry out like all others. She chose not to and again summoned all her energy to transmit a few moments of joy before falling silent.

Sylvesta understood what Levla was trying to do. She took over where Levla left and soon there was merriment again. The flowers who had been enthralled by Levla’s happiness gave back to her their happy transmissions.

After a while, Levla regained her energy. The flowers stopped this unique farewell to their most enthusiastic friend and fell silent. Levla wondered how she would meet her Emancipation. The garland would be great, but she knew that destiny would go its own way. She felt strange as she wasn’t in the vicinity of other flowers. Hands closed in on her. She could not feel the light. A dash of despair crossed her thoughts. What if she was just going to be discarded? She put away the thought and prayed. The hold on her was soft. She realized she was being held delicately.

She heard a low hum and felt relieved. “Come what may, I will remain happy,” she said to herself.

The pain dulled. She had been carried from the garden. The hands opened and soothing light fell on her rejuvenating her form and spirit. For the first time, Levla experienced happiness in silence.

Her stalk pricked a little as she felt she was being set somewhere. She ignored the pain while taking in the soothing aura of her new environment. After a while, she sent out a query to hear from anyone nearby.

An answer came, in a very soft, divine tone. “Welcome Levla. I am Jayfrer, a red rose.”

“Where are we?” Levla asked.

“Where the best and happiest can be. On the altar of the Creator – He, who is worshipped by all beings. Do you feel the energy of obeisance coming to us?”

Levla paid attention. She was feeling respected and admired. “And I thought garlands were the utmost to fulfill the life of a flower,” she signaled.

Jayfrer continued, “This is the ultimate destiny you can meet, Levla. Happy ones get Emancipation here. We don’t transmit about it as few understand. Destiny brings those flowers here, who work for their Best Emancipation.”

There were no more conversations and Levla needed none. Levla kept herself fresh for the next three days while other flowers withered away and were changed every day. She remained happy and fresh till finally Nature finally had its way.

As she finally lost her elegance, she was tucked away into a person’s hand. “She’s been gifted to a human as a blessing,” the flowers on the altar sang.

Levla sang a final note of happiness as her energy faded away and a little girl embraced the blessing she received – of happiness and faith.

The Universe Conspires for you if you’d like to Practise Kindness

At the Sri Badrika Ashram during the New Year celebrations, December 2019, I was astounded by an announcement Om Swamiji made. A child – Krish, about ten years old, had registered a Random Act of Kindness (RAK) on the Black Lotus app every day for around 500 days.

Mind boggling!!! 500 days of practiced kindness by a child!!! I have believed that adults have a LOT to learn from children. This was one more learning prompt for me.

I was pricked. The best streak of RAKs I had done was of 11 days. Though I had tried to do longer streaks, I never got down to it. Maybe it was just laziness, maybe the resolve wasn’t strong enough, maybe the conviction needed strengthening. That’s when this announcement hit me.

It strengthened my resolve but still I didn’t get to down to it. I guess another trigger was still required and its funny how things can get started off.

The Black Lotus app was upgraded in August 2020.

In the previous version, separate streaks were maintained for Meditation, Chanting and Kindness. I was on a meditation streak of over 500 days and intended to continue it. In the new version, there was only one kind of streak. It was then that I decided to do everything in the app every day to keep my streak going. I started my Register-A-RAK-A-Day effort in real earnest.

Call it the Universe or maybe Swamiji working His way through His devotees, the fact is that since then, I have found an opportunity to do a RAK every single day for the last 4 months.

It’s great, the way the Universe Conspires for you when you really want to do something. There have been a few incidents since then which makes me conclude that this is indeed the case.

1. There was a day when it was already 8:00 PM and I hadn’t done anything to qualify as a RAK. I was telling my wife this. I thought I would miss the RAK for the day.

In the pandemic, reduced interaction with people has been a challenge. It had also been a tiring day. My wife and I agreed to drive around a bit in our locality to have a change of scene. While doing so, we stopped at a signal light.

Suddenly a person came up to my car and knocked on the window. He looked normal and well-dressed. I lowered my window to enquire. He said he had lost his purse and needed some money to return home. I gave him some money and he left.

My wife and I both realized that the opportunity to help someone had come upon us in the most unexpected manner. I thanked the Universe for providing this chance and happily registered the RAK in the app.

• On another occasion (8-Oct as per my diary), it was already 9:00 PM and I was again cribbing about not having done a RAK for the day. We had no intention of stepping out of the house either. Just when I thought my streak was going to break, there was a ring on my doorbell. One of the apartment guards had come to deliver something to me. It was uncommon for this to happen as we are expected to collect our parcels from the gate.

I realized I had the opportunity. I thanked him, appreciated his work wholeheartedly, ensured he smiled and happily registered my RAK of the day.

• A similar incident happened again when the person who cleans my car showed up at 9:30 PM one night asking for the car keys. It was a day when I hadn’t registered a RAK yet and I got the opportunity to appreciate and thank him for the diligence in his work.
• There have been days when I found opportunities to share positive comments on public forums, help co-workers, feed strays, etc.

With a vast store of opportunities listed in the app, it becomes easy with time to practice kindness and make it a habit. The results are very positive – peace, calmness, happiness.

My learning is that the Universe operates in its very subtle ways. We have the freedom to resolve and act at the right time. The rest is all part of the Grand Design. Elevated souls like Swamiji probably perceive our resolve and help us tread on the path without being harmed. We are only instruments in the hands of the Almighty.

I would be gratified if anyone reading this post could take one strong resolve – no matter how small, towards developing and spreading positivity or kindness or compassion and let the Universe work its way through you to make the resolve a reality.

Wishing you a Very Happy New Year filled with joy and kindness!!!

The Best Compliment I got from my Children

One day, my wife asked my children what they liked about various family members. I don’t remember all that was said but when it was my turn, the answer was a revelation. I hope I never ever forget it and live up to it all my life. It’s been my sutra for a good family life, for being a good parent and enjoying the role of being a parent. 

About me, they said, “Appa likes to do whatever we like to do.” 

That moment, I was gratified, elated and blown away. That line holds a lot of significance for me. What better can a parent do than behaving with children in a way that they get acceptance. That line was the ultimate testimonial of acceptance.  

In my opinion, parents (at least in today’s social environment) aren’t meant to be sitting on high pedestals as authoritarians. They aren’t meant to “make” the kids do something or “shape up” the children in a particular way. Kids are smart enough and too well exposed to make their decisions eventually. 

Parenthood today, is a lot about acceptance.  

Consider this, people tend to pay attention to those whom they relate to. People accept others with whom they share common interests or common ideas. We make friends while playing badminton at a club, with other readers at a library, with people who like the same kind of music, with others who use the same brand of car and so on. We inherently look for people with similar likes and accept them while also trying to gain acceptance with them. 

The same applies to children. One can deduce that the best way to gain acceptance with one’s children is to like what they do and do what they like (of course, not all the time and not what is completely unacceptable). 

Truly, it’s not so hard liking what kids do. In fact, it’s enjoyable. For example, children love blowing bubbles or playing games. I am yet to meet an adult who would say they don’t love to do these. It’s only the adult ego that comes in and prevents one from enjoying those activities which get exhilarating as a child. Once that ego is set aside, a parent can well enjoy time with their children, and gain acceptance. 

As kids grow, parents refuse to indulge in child-like pleasures thinking it will show them in poor light. Maybe others will find it amusing to see a parent dancing away with a teenaged son on some contemporary music. Society may find it off-beat to see a parent day-dreaming with her child and talking of fairies and princesses.  

But what really matters is that the child would enjoy this kind of company from a parent. The bond becomes stronger; an openness is established that holds the family close. Acceptance of each other is paramount and there could be no better way than to have common pleasures.  

The step starts with the parent – not the child.  

While all behavioural changes don’t come with guarantees and warranties, in the least, it is most enjoyable to drop the mask of adulthood and let loose the child within in the company one’s own kin. It’s most gratifying when one hears their child tell them, “I love you because you like doing all that I like to do.” 

HAPPY DIWALI AND HAPPY CHILDREN’S DAY!!!

Trust Children – They Know

I believe children know and understand much more than adults given them credit for. I put this theory to test recently.

In the apartment where I stay, there is a shortage of play space for the more active kids who like to run around and play physical sports. But kids being what they are, there is very little to do to stop them in spite of the space crunch. As a result, there is considerable noise and possible damage when they play around. I arranged a story telling session for the children recently which ended in a group discussion and brainstorming by the kids on how to solve the problem.

The children not only brought out all the problems but also covered solutions right from alternate arrangements for play area including fund raising for the same, precautions the residents could take for ensuring safety, restriction of play timings and the like. Some ideas generated by the children were actually original and had not even been proposed earlier by our apartment association members. The episode re-affirmed my faith that a child’s brain is fertile, receptive and can comprehend much beyond what an average adult generally feels.

While this is not a research paper, this incident shows that children need not necessarily be treated as inferior in mental capability or thought-maturity to adults. As I look around me and see several parents grappling with children’s problems, my method (which I can vouch works well at my home) has been to have a healthy open discussion with kids at home. When a conflict arises, it helps a lot to have a discussion, the onus being on the adult to have an open mind, listen, understand, relate to the child’s state of mind and also be willing to accept the child’s solution if is serves the purpose of resolving the conflict. This could be related to study hours, play time, lack of concentration, lack of interest – anything of general conflict.

Almost always, the adult or parent comes with a fixed mind-set on what should be the way out. This is not just in their dealing with children but with others around them too – at work, in the society, in the family. A little patience, the strength to put off one’s ego and openness to fresh and positive thoughts can go a long way to bring peace to one’s mind.

It’s easiest is to try practicing these with one’s own kids as compared to other people and the results would be immense.

Some time back, I was going through a dispute with someone and finding it difficult to talk and resolve. I remember my two-year old daughter telling me – “Appa, one day, wake up, have breakfast and go to their house and talk”. My own ego and thought-complications prevented me, but I realize she was right and that was the best thing to do then.

As I said, children know, they simplify, their innocence can be a great guide for adults to unravel the complex webs spun for themselves.

The Best you can do for Yourself is to get Rid of Guilt

Everyone wants to be happy, yet aren’t. One of the major impediments in being happy, by my personal experience is the feeling of guilt. Guilt can drive a person to forgetting completely what it feels like to be happy.

Guilt starts from the feeling that one did something wrong or didn’t do something right. I stress the word “feeling” in the last line. Right or wrong, as I have learnt to see, is largely contextual (excluding perhaps in the legal context). What’s right for one person is definitely going to be wrong for another and vice-versa. Hence the word “feeling” is stressed upon. The “feeling” is not necessarily true, it most likely isn’t and the “feeling” can be proved wrong when the incident is looked at from a different perspective.

When one looks at an incident and one’s actions in hind-sight, there is likely to be the feeling that he or she didn’t do the right thing. Expected results did not come and what came in was harmful to oneself or others. People around then rub in the feeling and it intensifies to become a strong feeling of guilt.

During my travels as part of my earlier venture, I had the opportunity to interact very closely with my colleagues (who travelled with me). I developed some great relationships. However, on the professional front, there were issues and I had to take steps to have these people moved out from the organization. I struggled with myself for quite some time with the feeling of having been guilty of giving them a career set-back when they had been very helpful of a personal front. With time and analysis, I eventually got over the feeling of guilt and restored my relations with them.

So, guilt starts when one looks back at events and one’s actions or thoughts.

It is of course necessary to analyse one’s actions and thoughts – there is no doubt in that. Living without analysis of oneself and one’s surroundings would be meaningless stagnation. But the subsequent feeling of guilt is something I have struggled with for a long time as part my learnings from life. I don’t claim to be successful in eliminating the negative tendency entirely but here are a few methods which I keep using to cut off the guilt at the base and look at the learnings more objectively.

• Talking to the person concerned with the incident
• Avoiding people who rub it in
• Taking action towards resolving the problem (this is a great healer)

No one is perfect. That is a simple re-affirmation which helps immensely. Of course that is not a licence to be indiscriminate, but it’s a great soother for the mind when things have gone wrong. Any feeling or thought that disturbs one’s natural state of peace and happiness needs to be eliminated. Reminding oneself that one is not perfect and cannot be right all the time is a great helper.

In the larger picture, I firmly believe that whatever happens, happens for good. The chain of events in life is too complex for one to fathom. What seems to be trouble, in the long term may prove helpful to the people involved.

Guilt is only a self-imposed barrier to peace of mind and is best eliminated early as it can be an immense impediment to joy and productivity.

My Family – My Elixir of Life

She’s been the butt of many jokes,

On social media targeted by all those folks,

Who’ve gone through many life’s events

Those which caused them many spending strokes.

 

In humor we talk of our wives,

As the bane of our free lives,

As she who causes us to lose,

Our freedom of bachelorhood to a life of strife.

 

And the kids are talked of being the reason,

Of many a burden no matter what season,

Their many wants, their tricks unlimited,

To a man’s dreams they are posed to work as treason.

 

Parents, we feel are those police men,

Who tell us what not to do even when,

We’re old enough to control our life and choices,

When we feel we don’t need advice again and again.

 

But my friend, spend time without them,

You realize how, if you don’t be with them,

A big hole in the heart emerges,

In all fun and frolic with the world, you still feel glum.

 

Family is yours for this life in this world,

The only ones who will be with you, mark my word,

It to them you relate the best,

Only to them are you the most preferred.

 

This poet having been for a time without them,

Has realized when his feelings went numb,

That in this life if there is heaven,

It is with them, it is with them, it is with them.

 

It isn’t special moments which make up life,

But being everyday with parents, kids and wife,

This is a tribute to my darling family,

My own potent elixir of life.

 

Notes: I’ve been away from my family for the last year to pursue a career and soon we are going to be back together again. This poem sums up my learning over the last year about my family