Mental Excursions

Thank you for being here! Something or the other is always happening somewhere in the world. But lately, it feels as if we are standing in front of a buffet of chaos, confused and indisputably, helpless. Just when you exhale with relief that people caught in forest fires which engulfed cities, are now safe, the earth does a Rudra Tandava (Lord Shiva’s dance of destruction) on Richter scale somewhere, turning fine buildings and shanties into rubble alike. One country is battling floods with submerged towns and fields, while in some other, people are looking heavenwards, praying for a few drops of water to quench the thirst of parched, cracking land. Natural disasters aren’t always our fault, the thought comforts your frightened, vulnerable mind, but the man-made ones, coming in thick and fast, are handcrafted by ambitious minds destroying the planet which still want to conquer Mars. Be politically correct and call what is happening between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine...

Grilled, Gooey, Glorious:  Sandwich or a hug?   Unless you've reached yogic levels of detachment and are प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठित ( Pragya Pratishthita, with wisdom established) as described in the Bhagavad Geeta , complete with inner peace, zero WiFi, and as serene as Rishi Vashishta himself, how can you stay unmoved, untouched by the happenings in the world these days? What are most of you doing right now? Passionately/grudgingly agreeing or disagreeing, or just rage-scrolling through the chaos half of which is caused by (or blamed on) the drama factory of the day, the United States of A? But pause, let us thank them, read on. For once, the Usanians (The word should be used more frequently for ease of expression.) have united the world with a sandwich; specifically, the humble grilled cheese , giving it its own special day: National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day —celebrated every April 12th (today for us, tomorrow for them). What did you think I was going to talk about- tariffs...

Allergic to fresh air? It was 3:45 a.m.— that magical hour the spiritually inclined refer to as Brahma Muhurat , when the soul is supposed to awaken and connect with higher realms. I have no idea where my soul was although my body had awoken not for enlightenment, but because of a dry, blocked nose, itchy throat and headache. My whole being felt like what clothes might feel after going through the spin cycle in the washing machine. I stumbled out of bed, trying to recall what I had done to anger the gods the previous day, but nothing came to mind. I passed the day trying to stay distracted. I took whatever I could to relieve me of the pain and discomfort and stayed busy, thinking it was a cold and would be gone within a week or maximum, seven days. But it persisted and when after a couple of days, a friend uttered the word ‘anti-allergic’ in passing, it hit me! Do you remember those pictures in our Hindi books of class 2 and 3, of a sunrise? There would be a couple of birds wi...