Silence and Sound

As I walk in a moonlight night
With the scent of night-bloomed flowers
An eerie silence makes me restless
As one that looks at sound for peace

Silence deafening, silence maddening
Silence if this was before creation
Then this silence I do not cherish
This this silence I do not want

This life is opposites, it's wicked and wise
This life is balance, it's both act and rest
Look not for only, the strive to escape
Live well the life here, do serve to help

Lessons from the movie The Pursuit of Happyness

IMDB Link: Indeed, a most touching movie. A man who loves his son and aspires to set things right from the financial perspective. His struggles with homelessness, and the very fact that all this is based on a true story.

The tragedy of having to fail in a difficult marriage, of losing equipment that are his livelihood, of having to give away $5 to a boss, something which he cannot afford. Staying in shelter homes, even once in a public restroom..it was absolutely hearbreaking.

Vindicates from the many acts where what he lost kept coming back, and that he was still able to give his child joy, that if you hang it, you'll make it.

Was very pleased to read that the protagonist, entrepreneur and finance expert Chris Gardner based on whom this movie was, made it big in life and is still an influential figure (Wikipedia Link).

Spoiler: The movie has a happy ending

PS: His struggle is emotionally overwhelming, the mere thought of the scenes in the movie fills me up. Can't write all in a single sitting. Might have to keep coming back to edit this article

Lessons from the movie Thor on Bharat-Pak relations

I see the rhetoric of Bharat-Pak relations going the wrong way..a recent viewing of the movie Thor (IMDB Link) was a stark reminder that while war might objectively have a win/lose result on the face of it, if you go deeper the losses are more than what it's worth.

Defending one's nation is paramount. I'm not one to say to be submissive. But diplomacy should be the strategy than formal army-led "surgical strike" machismo.
There might be a lot of mileage being sought or not, but the move in itself was not good. Instead, RAW-led disturbances, or at the very least, not making global news of it should have been the restraint shown.

Indeed, was very happy with Pak acknowledging the global isolation that Indian diplomacy was aggressively moving to. It's a tragic story there, where the elected democrats are more puppets at the hands of the army and radical clerics. I wonder how and why minorities there survive there than migrating and seeking asylum in other countries. And to say that such a nation, even starts talking of J&K issues is something worth taunting and belittled at. But that's how the country stays relevant...

Bharat, on the other hand, has been progressively moving forward. Our entrepreneurs caught the software services way at just the correct time. We need to go from strength to strength. The last thing we need is a war. We do not want our soldiers hurt, leave aside lose their lives. Let's invest in technology (drones, robots, unmanned aircrafts). Invest in civil nuclear to take the country forward to achieve power self-sufficiency to the extent there are no power cuts, and not only that. To the extent that we have a surplus that can be directed to making sea-water potable.

Indeed, steps taken by our PM Narendra Modi, including the impromptu stopover once to meet their PM, sadly was not reciprocated by the Pak PM Nawaz Sharif. His rhetorics on J&K despite all these positive measures are what actually started this downward spiral.

Isolate Pak in every aspect (sports, artists - ignore the hypocrite Bollywood artistes who don't understand loss of land or life as long as their fortunes stay intact). It is these elites of Pak that should then influence their policies to improve relations with Bharat. Unless their pockets are burnt, they won't have a need to do this.

Isolation is costlier to Pak. Any attacks on them will only insinuate and vindicate their radical elements. Let's pursue an aggressive posture in these lines.

Blessed Gifts

O Son, as you lay on my lap these thoughts
Of benedictions that you have you poured

These bliss of experiences, as I step aside and watch
O the mirth you share, by just being yourself

Dear Gods, you've blessed me, with another gift too
The Shakti of Devi, the one to grace us

While mountains and rivers, is the glory of nature
The family, purushartas, the story of life

Devi, your mere sight

My Mother, Dear Devi, your mere sight
Reminds me of love, poured by doting mother on child

You loving look at me, as the Ganga gushing forth
Your mere sight gave goosebumps, had the prana throbbing inside
I could feel the change within, as something unexplained

You are mother that feeds, the Shakti that nurtures
You bless us with child, and the love to pour on child
You are Mata Bhavani, the giver of courage,
With you within me, why the world do I fear

True knowledge may dawn, this all my illumined projection
Ishta Devi Saraswati, may your sight invoke  this insight

You are Mata Bhadrakali, with blood oozing all around
Your drive away abhorrence, blessing all with devotion
You are the power that takes us, past the beginningless Samsara
Why, your mere sight Mata, wipes out aeons of my Karmas

From Tamas to Rajas and only then Sattva

I recently read that while anger and depression fall under the tamasic guna, passion and desire fall under rajasic.

This is something that modern medicine and spirituality should focus attention on.
To medicine and psychiatric healing this is a vindication: their methods and therapies generally aimed at making the patient love life again, by setting goals to look forward to in this life, is a must to first get the patient out of his melancholy.

But as with the nature of Rajas, this victory could be short-lived. For Rajas has the range of a pendulum; this world and life thrives on this guna. So when it swings toward the negative, the mental tendencies can make the patient cherish Tamas again.

The only way out is to take the patient towards Sattva, once he comes out of Tamas and gets settled in Rajas. This is only when and imperatively where spirituality should come in.

While in Tamas you teach workouts, in Rajas you teach Yoga. While in Tamas you make him run outdoors, in Rajas you have him start Pranayama. Let him eat all he enjoys while roiling in Tamas, make him watch what he eats, when he starts establishing in Rajas.

And then you start giving him sips of nectar: the royal road of Vedanta is what he should tread. Once he starts on that journey, there is no coming back. Not to Tamas, not at all, maybe Rajas during struggle.

Lessons from the movie Atmakadha

Atmakadha (IMDB Link), is a heartwarming story of a self-reliant blind man. With some very good and natural performances, it gives a view of how a blind man also can have a complete life. Even showing a blind couple managing a home and bringing up offspring. The movie shows the role churches (and such religious places of worship) have a role to play in assisting the disabled to gain their self-esteem.

Srinivasan couldn't bring out a tear like a Mohanlal or Mammootty could have, but perhaps that was never the intent. Also the movie should not have shown the child also turning blind; it does undo the good work done in displaying how two blind people can have healthy offspring. Also the daughter could have been shown as completing her exams irrespective. This would be the guidance to the audience to show how such a person can secure her future. These things could have been highlighted upon, but perhaps the director wanted to keep the scope of the script as the protagonist himself, Simple.

You are your present..

You are your present, though your past has made you
You have to breathe now, breathless though you have been

I have the freedom to choose, every minute, every second
I have the responsibility to focus, it is my awareness, my nature

To express first lose one-self, how profound are these words
Dear Mother you have insight, that lifetimes take to occur