Hosur Road Stories - Part Deux

Zen moment on Hosur Road.

Driving to work one morning, it was heavy traffic as usual. We were creeping forward in jerks, and folks all around me were honking randomly - a normal day. Suddenly I experienced a Zen moment - in the midst of all that chaos, the mind got quietened and became an observer. All the minor internal reactions of anger, frustration, and despair just melted away. A smile tentatively bloomed on my face. I looked around me. All the vehicles were still there - we were still occasionally crawling. But inside, I was peaceful, smiling and watching everything, as if from a high platform. That elated feeling stayed sustained for a few minutes, and then it disappeared, as quietly as it had manifested. I became normal again, honking and mentally scolding imbecilic drivers with renewed vigour. It never happened again - was there something weird in the orange juice I was drinking that day?

Cops who stop traffic - literally.

Traffic on the Hosur Road is like a rampaging flock of sheep. Traffic lights have absolutely no effect on us - we just plow through. So, the cops at the intersections, desperate for a solution decided in one of their weekly meetings to create a new team of super-cops, who, armed with wands with flashing red LEDs, like jedi masters, would walk in front of the moving vehicles to stop them. Two cops from either side of the road, with their wands waving, would start walking across and meet at the centre - completely cutting off the flow. When they decide to let the traffic move again, they would quickly run to the sides of the road, and we folks with our growling engines would roar forward.

Minding the Gap.

We have deep urges to get ahead, if not in our lives, at least while on our roads. Every gap between vehicles needs to be conquered. If you make the mistake of leaving a gap between you and the vehicle in front of you while at a traffic stop, the guy behind you cannot bear to watch it. He will honk, flash his lights and do anything to drive into your mind that there's a virgin gap in front of you. He would be desperately screaming, at least in his mind "What the hell is wrong with you? Why aren't you seeing that gap? Don't you find that gap attractive enough for you? You must be out of your mind! Go on, move forward, don't make me suffer".

Watching the Hand.

When approaching a bigger vehicle, like a bus, or a truck, it is very important to watch the right hand of the driver, which usually rests on his window. His hand's movements signal what's on his mind. If he wishes to change lanes and come in front of you, he will point his index finger to the right. If he urgently needs to cut in front of you, and requires you to hit your brakes, his hand comes out a little more outside the window, and waves rapidly. If he is however in a benevolent mood, he would sway his palm back and forth, inviting you to overtake him. If you make the mistake of not reading his hands, and come up on his right side when he was actually intending to move to his right, his hand would spread it's fingers and turn, which is an action similar to rolling eyes, essentially conveying to you 'Dude you are such a moron - what's your fricking hurry?'

Ma liaison amoureuse.

My affair with Akshaya has been carrying on well. I meet her everyday on my way to work. We exchange sweet nothings and terms of endearment. Her luscious green leaves wave everytime I drive by at 40kmph. We've known each other for nearly two years now... and our bond has been growing. My wife, ofcourse, knows all about this - and has been very understanding, hehe. There's a poignant side to Akshaya's life though... you can read more about her in my first set of Hosur Road stories here.

Today is Ugadi - the start of the Hindu New Year according to the lunar calendar. Wishing you a wonderful year ahead!

Petites pensées

My Ganesha Theory.

Contrary to popular belief, Ganesha is not a remover of obstacles. Instead, he has the power to change your perception of and reaction to obstacles. He gives you the strength and resourcefulness to accept your challenges and overcome them.

Struggling Tigers stop hot Indians.

This was a news headline I saw. Sounds like an adventure in an Indian jungle, or perhaps even a Sri Lankan jungle, eh? Well this is actually a sports news headline - these are names of American baseball teams: Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians :)

The Telebanking Voice.

I would like to confess an irrational hatred that I harbour in my heart. I hate the voice of the lady used for my bank's telebanking system - if a real lady exists behind that voice, I think I actually hate the lady herself. I think there is some subliminal thingie going on inside me which is causing such a reaction. That lady sounds pompous, supercilious, condescending, hypocritical, and oozes feigned friendliness. Perhaps this voice reveals my bank's attitude towards their customers? Everytime I hear her say "Thank you for calling (bankname)", I interpret that as "Hey sucker, you will suffer for disturbing me. I will now take you through various menu options and loan advertisements until you get frustrated. This is not your lucky day. You will never reach a human operator. Wuhaha!".

The low cut conspiracy.

I have recently arrived at the realization that traditional Indian women's attires are getting bolder in their designs. Once upon an innocent time, a churidar or salwar kameez was considered conservative in their coverage. Now, the necklines, both back and front, have reached new depths. The sides are turning into grids with holes in them. The long-repressed belly button now gets to peek out and see the world. Gosh, this is shocking. What is going on? Is there a silent rebellion underway? Is this a conspiracy of male attire designers to emancipate the conservative Indian woman? Or are they just listening to the hushed requests of women to help reveal their beauty while appearing superficially traditional? Or perhaps is it simply one of the effects of global warming, driving women to demand more air-circulation?

Impressioning encounters

It is mysterious how momentary encounters lasting a second or even lesser can create lasting impressions in the mind. Here's my theory: our minds are aggregations of thought energies floating around in an ocean of other energies - sort of like boats on an ocean. Our thoughts create ripples in all directions. When we approach and pass by somebody, there is a subconscious interaction between our energy fields. This interaction is intensified when one eyes or senses the other person, and more so when the eyes meet, or both become aware of each other... there's a subtle communication that's happening during those moments, which gets registered in the mind. Outlandish? Wait till you read the rest of this posting :)

I feel it should be theoretically possible, by cultivating detachment and quietening your mind, to read this subtle communication and know what the other person is thinking or feeling at that moment. Normally, our minds merely receive impressions like attraction, disdain, admiration, distrust... and so on. These are just the aftereffects of the thought waves interacting, whereas the data creating these impressions is still quite hazy and vague. When you can evolve to a level where you can consciously read the thoughts of another person in your vicinity - you can eventually become sensitive enough to read the thoughts of any person anywhere on earth, from their live broadcast or from their past. Uncanny, eh?

Stretching this possibility further (just when you thought I couldn't, or wished I wouldn't), this ability can help communication with other life forms, from the animal and plant kingdom to the esoteric world of gods, angels and other spirit beings, propitious or otherwise.

It's not just life forms that emanate energies... geometrical structures like pyramids, natural formations (both above and below the ground) all have an impact on their surroundings. For instance, an underground water stream creates an energy dimple, which a dowser or water diviner can sense and amplify using a divining device. Similarly the practitioners of feng-shui and vaastu have long studied the influences of man-made structures on the energy fields, and their effects on humans. Einstein theorized that every object causes a dimple in space-time, but this is only passive. When the object has life, it not only causes a dimple, it also causes a ripple with infinite life. Keep in mind that the ripple never damps - so Einstein's original thoughts are still somewhere out there. With the right search mechanism, you can locate these thoughts and read them - and if Einstein's spirit still exists, you can invite him over for a cup of tea to discuss how far he's progressed with his unified theory.

To summarize (hang on, we're almost there), the next step in our evolution would be to gain understanding of these energies and enhance our sensing abilities. Just like electricity always existed in various forms, but humans started understanding, creating and using it only in the last century or so, time is beckoning us to take curious steps into this currently unaccepted, unknown and unexplained world of energies, and to emerge with a new formal science.

So the next time you feel that pang of attraction for someone you locked eyes with for an instant, realize that there's more going on behind the scenes than mankind currently knows! :)

Kama in the Vishnusahasranama

This title was created on the 14th of February - it sounded promising. Perhaps there would be some astounding revelations inside, shaking the very foundations of Hinduism? An exposé of some sort, like, OMG Lord Krishna had this child we never knew about, whose descendants now live in various parts of Bangalore and are part of this super-clandestine organization.

Humph, I wish it was something as exciting as that. But non monsieur, il est tout à fait prosaic. It is merely a listing of all the verses in this poem called the Vishnu Sahasranama which contain the word 'kama'. Sigh. That's all. You see, I wanted to somehow bring in the significance of that day being the 14th of February... (Psst, you know, it's that day that deserves a Statutory Warning for men: Forgetting to physically express your undying love to your sweetheart on the Fourteenth day of February can be injurious to your love life.) So I tried hard. I located all the verses. And found a couple websites that provide their interpretations for these verses. Listed them all down. Then I wanted to make the post sensational. So I took this photo I had taken of me kissing my wife on the windswept peak of the Devarayanadurga hills, and after tweaking it to make it family-friendly, decided to upload it to this article. But then, how would I associate it with the previous scholastic listing of verses from the Vishnu Sahasranama? I couldn't just say, ok folks, that's all for the listing, and now, here's a picture of me and my dearie . No, that wouldn't work.

So until I get some ideas, this article will remain sensation-free. Ok here goes. The Vishnu Sahasranama, as you may already know from here, is poetry in praise of God. Reciting this produces a wonderful feeling inside... a sense of warmth, and peace - a feeling similar to experiencing love. 'Kama', as you may have already seen in titles of certain literary works, translates to 'desire'. It can also take the meanings of love, lust and pleasure. This word occurs a few times in the Vishnu Sahasranamam, in various contexts. These occurrences are noted here, with their possible interpretations. (Sources: 1, 2)

kAmahaa kAmakRut kAntaH kAmaH kAmapradaH prabhuH || (32)

kAmahaa: the Destroyer of material desires.

kAmakRut: One who fulfils the desires. (Note that these desires should obviously be non-material desires, or else they would get destroyed.)

kAmaH: The ultimate Lovable who creates desirable things (This is tricky - can these things can be material? If not, what is a non-material thing made of? Can you have non-material desires for material things?)

kAmapradaH: the Grantor of wishes.

kAmadEvaH kAmapAlaH kAmI kAntaH kRutAgamaH | (70)

kamadEvaH: The One who grants all desires. (Again, these better be desires certified as acceptable to God.)

kamapAlaH: The Protector of the gifts that He bestows, and the Protector of those who desire Him.

kAmI: He who has all things that are desirable, and He who is of fulfilled desires.

bhArabhRut kathitO yOgI yOgIshaH sarvakAmadaH | (91)

sarvakAmadaH: He who bestows all desires.

Yes, that's all folks. No photos here. Sorry, it didn't get past my puritanic editor ;)

Happy Peepal

Bangalore has had it's first rains of the year last night. The Peepal tree in my apartment's garden is looking very happy today. She's feeling so refreshed. In fact, all plants, trees and flowers everywhere are looking cheerful today, exuding healing pranic energies.

City dwellers don't always care much about trees, and spending time amongst them. But one just has to go to the countryside to realize that a tree is so much a part of the fabric of life. Tired farmers taking a nap, village folks chatting and passing time, cattle peacefully munching on their cud, stray dogs socializing and occasionally arguing over contentious matters... everyone seeks it's shade. There's also the occasional enterprising vendor setting up a small shop by selling bidis, matches, betel leaves and paan in a basket. Life moves at a leisurely pace... the usual traffic consisting of bullock carts transporting people, produce, or manure, the infrequent village bus rumbling by on the decrepit road leaving behind a cloud of dust, and the spunky village kid riding a big bicycle "scissor-style". The trees selflessly offer solace and tranquillity to all who seek them.

Our ancient Indian culture had profound respect and gratitude for trees... with many trees being considered sacred in India. Our ancestors discovered that trees like the Peepal (also spelled Pipal/Peepul) and plants like the Tulsi (also spelled Tulasi/Thulasi/Thulsi) have curative properties. Hence the tradition arose to worship these plants and trees as representative of divine forces, thus bringing the worshippers in close contact with the tree, and resulting in transference of the curative energies. Even the leaves of the trees and plants (e.g. Tulsi leaves) were discovered to have specific healing powers - thus the leaves are eaten directly, or concoctions prepared from them.

This close symbiotic relationship with the plant kingdom that man once had has been eroding nowadays. Our greed, hubris and demands have been resulting in large scale deforestation and a damaged ecosystem, leading us onto global warming and its dire consequences for mankind in the near future. An urgent global effort is required to change mindsets and curb our insensitive assaults on Mother Nature... for our Mother can only stay tolerant of our pranks to a limit... after that comes the spanking.

Ok, I've been rambling on too much. Perhaps I've sniffed in too much of the fresh rain scent in the air this morning.