Who said......

"Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever" ? I asked Maya, an pat came the reply - M.K. Gandhi :)

Throughout school history we have lived on a "Gandian" diet. Each page in our 10th class history book had the name "Gandhi". Growing up in India I loved having a holiday on Oct. 2 - Mr. Gandhi's b'day and Jan. 30, Matyr's day - though he did not die fighting for the freedom of India! But thats about the end of it. They (the history books) say that M.K Gandhi was killed by a mad man, Nathuram Godse. Politicians have demonzied Godse. Anyway according to Godse's guilty plea, he said he killed Gandhi because of the latter's policies being anti-Hindu. Which may be true, obviously we wont know all that happened and we cannot trust the history books.

So...back to my post ....I wrote this post about M.K. Gandhi because I wanted to share the photo below that is from a place 8 mins from where I live. Its a statue of Gandhi and it is in the city of Sherborn, Massachusetts!

When I write about Gandhi, I have to write about Godse, because as I said... I don't trust history books written by politicians!

Enlightenment!

It is a well known story that Prince Siddartha left all his duties and sat under the "bodhi tree" and attained enlightenment. So how did he get this enligthenment? The books will say by meditation. What did he meditate on? Hard to say, because the great Buddha himself did not reveal it.

Yoga teaches us one form of meditation. In this form of meditation, you train your mind to concentrate nsomething, like your breathing. But is this kind of meditation enough for enlightenment? I guess not. As human beings our minds constantly work overtime. So many thoughts in such little space! Concentration is difficult and besides once it is gone, we are back to our normal thoughts.

So how should I meditate? Here's my two cents of knowledge on how to meditate:
First find a time when you have absolutely nothing to do.....say a couple of hours. Then find a quite place, the best place may be the restroom. (No offense to the great souls, I am just keeping up with the times!) Take a deep breath and exhale, clear your respiratory system. Close your eyes and try not to sleep. Now summon the first thought. Think about it analyze it, express you opinion to your thought. Once you have dwelled on it enough, dismiss it. Then call on the next thought and do the same thing. A few thoughts a day clears your mind to an extent.

We have so many thoughts. To clear each one of them will take years. So now you know why the great souls spent many years meditating before they became enlightened!

My Grandparents

Since my last post, life has changed permanently! God sent Kriti into our lives. There is a very strange connection between my children and my grandfather. Arjun was born on his English B'day and Kriti on his Tamil B'day! I hope my children have all his good qualities.

Grandparents form an important part of our lives. Sometimes as important as raising a kid without the child's parents being around like our president-elect Barack Obama. In my life grandparents have not played that important a role, because of living in a different city.

I do not remember the time I spent with my maternal g'father. He passed away when I was only 4. Amma says I troubled him a lot when Maya was born. Paati and thatha took care of me entirely when Mwas born. I always had a special bond with paati. I was her first grandchild and she loved me. She used to buy me anything I asked for and also cook all that I liked. I loved her idli and molaha podi. No one can make it like her. Paati also made thertipal and maaladu everytime I visited her house. Paati is my best childhood memory of a grandmother. I thank her for great memories. Now, though I must say, things have changed, she has moved on. She has other grandchildren whom she loves, they are with her. I think I just exist for her, nothing more.

I do not have any childhood memories with my paternal grandparents. We visited them every summer vacation. But thats all I remember. I had cousins who were closer my grandparents. Maya and I were almost insignificant. We were the "outsiders". Anyway as time passed, and we grew older, my cousins moved out and did not have time to spend with thatha and paati. Paati didnt talk much anyway. Till today I have not sat down and had a conversation with her. Till today I dont know if she likes Maya and me. Thatha I guess yearned to talk to his grandchildren and I was the only one who listened to him. He told me many stories from the days of the Raj. He was very happy with my marriage and was there to bless me on my wedding day. After I came to the US is called him, but towards the end, I was not allowed to talk to him, "others" would answer the call and say he couldnt talk. I did not believe them. I believe they never told him I called. He passed away in about 9 months after my wedding.

Anyway, on his last b'day I didnt call him and wish him, because I knew those "others" will not let me talk to my thatha. And I did not want to talk to those "others". I feel bad that I couldnt wish him on his last b'day. So I think thats why Arjun was born his b'day, so that I always celebrate the day for the rest of my life!

इन दिनों ......

मुझे अपने "ब्लॉग" देखे बहुत दिन हो गए है! पिछले दो महीने मैंने अपने आप को खोजने में लगाया है - "जानकी : एक खोज"

अपने बारे में लिखना बहुत ही कठिन है। मुझे यह नही पता मुझमे ऐसा क्या अद्भुत है ..... मुझमे लोगों को साथ ले चलने की शक्ति है की नही ...मुझे यह भी नही पता मैं जो कर रही हूँ वोह क्यूँ कर रही हूँ...फिर भी मैं सूखे पत्ते की तरह हवा के साथ चली जा रही हूँ.....शायद यह भागवान की इच्छा है... इस सफर के लक्ष्य पर पहुँचने पर मैं अपना यह "ब्लॉग -पोस्ट अपडेट" करुँगी।

Kurai Onrum Illai

Titbits : This song was composed my Rajaji. It was sung by MS Subbulakshmi at her United Nations concert in 1969 arranged by the then UN Undersecretary-general C V Narasimhan.

Dedication: This song is dedicated my dear Arjun who wants this song sung at 4am and that too in my voice!

kurai onrum illai marai moortthi kannaa

kurai onrum illai kannaa

kurai onrum illai govindaa

kannukku theriyaamal nirkinraay kannaa kannukku theriyaamal ninraalum enakku kurai onrum illai marai moortthi kannaa

vendiyathai thannthida venkatesan enrirukka vendiyathu verillai marai moortthi kannaa manivannaa malayappa govindaa govindaa

thiraiyin pin nirkinraay kannaa, kanna thiraiyin pin nirkinraay kannaa, unnai marai odum nyaaniyar mattume kaanpaar thiraiyin pin nirkinraay kannaa, unnai marai odum nyaaniyar mattume kaanpaar enraalum kurai onrum enakkillai kannaa enraalum kurai onrum enakkillai kannaa

kunrin mel kallaaki nirkinra varadaa kunrin mel kallaaki nirkinra varadaa kurai onrum illai marai moortthi kannaa kurai onrum illai marai moortthi kannaa manivannaa malaiappaa govindaa govindaa

kali naalukkirangi kallile irangi nilaiyaaga kovilil nirkinraay kesavaa kali naalukkirangi kallile irangi nilaiyaaga kovilil nirkinraay kesavaa kurai onrum illai marai moortthi kannaa

yaathum marukkaatha malaiyappaa - un maarbil edum thara nirkum karunai kadal annai enrum irunthida edu kurai enakku enrum irunthida edu kurai enakku onrum kurai illai marai moortthi kannaa manivannaa malaiappaa govindaa govindaa govindaa govindaa

Cursing

How often have you cursed something or somebody when something has not gone your way? Knowingly or unknowingly we curse. There are times when it comes so naturally that you will not realise that you are actually cursing.

We are still humans, even great sages with lot of self control curse. But for them by the grace of God the curse becomes a blessing!

Even Sage Narada, the mind born son of Brahma once cursed Lord Vishnu. It so happened that once Sage Narada was in deep meditation. The king of Gods, Lord Indra got worried and sent his retinue of Kamadeva and celestial damsels to disturb Sage Narada. But Sage Narada did not move a bit. When Narada awoke from his meditation he noticed Kamadeva standing in front of him. Sage Narada understood what happened and was immediately filled with pride. The sage went to Mount Kailash and told Lord Shiva that he was greater than Lord Shiva because he had conquered Kamadeva. Lord Shiva smiled and asked the sage not to tell Lord Vishnu about it. But as he was filled with pride, Sage Narada went directly to Vaikuntha and reported it to Lord Vishnu.

Lord Vishnu was naturally sad that his devotee was filled with pride so decided to teach him a lesson. He asked Goddess Lakshmi to incarnate as the beautiful princess, Srimati, of Ayodhaya.

Once as Sage Narada was moving about the three worlds, he reached Ayodhaya. He saw princess Srimati and fell in love with her. He wanted to marry her and approached her father. The king told the sage that he had arranged a Swayamvara for his daughter for the next day and invited the sage.

Now, the sage wanted to look irrestitible to the princess. He went to Lord Vishnu and asked for a face that would make the princess pick him in the Swayamvara. Lord Vishnu used the oppurtunity to curb the sage's pride. He gave him a face of a monkey. Sage Narada didn't realise this. He went happily to Ayodhaya and was sure of being the chosen suitor. When the princess came towards him with a garland she burst into laughter. Sage Narada was confused. Just then, Lord Vishnu appeared in the Swayamvara hall, and the princess chose him as her husband. Sage Narada went to the pool of water and saw his monkey face. He was furious that he had been tricked by Lord Vishnu. In his anger he cursed Lord Vishnu that the Lord will be born on Earth, will have to bear the pangs of his wife’s imposed separation from him and only a monkey will be able to relieve him of his sufferings.

This curse caused Lord Vishnu to be born as Lord Rama and the rest of the story forms the Ramayana.

Sage Narada was spirutally advanced, but even he in anger cursed. This reduced his spirutual merit. Each time we curse somebody our spiritual merit goes down. The sage's spirutual merit was so much that he was an immortal. But, we mortals, have so little spiritual merit. Can we afford to waste it in cursing???!

SALE! Everything is Free!

Some of life's best things come free. Have we ever stopped breathing for a moment and thought we are taking in too much air? Well we care little about free things that have been eternally free...but jump on something that says SALE!!

So here are a few things that come/came free -
1. Air - Since we take air for granted and dont bother about keeping it clean, we will soon end up thinking about how much air we are breathing. Pay for a cylinder of clean air and get excited about "Sale" on a can of air.
2. Water - When God made the earth he gave majority of the space on the surface of the earth to water. As per Wikipedia -"about 1.460 petatonnes (Pt) of water covers 71% of the Earth's surface". You may agrue that only about 0.6% is portable. But, we humans arent able to look after even this small amount so we end up paying money for even water!
3. Happiness - Happiness is meant to be free...but with our everchanging lives we have changed the condition for happiness. It no longer comes for free :) The more money you pay the happier you get.
4. Peace - Mental peace is free but again the conditions for it have changed. Everything is money - Am I making more than them? How do I secure my money? etc etc.
5. Thoughts - All our thoughts are free. Only great people - like Nobel laurettes and rich people like Bill Gates get paid for their thoughts ...for now! :)
6. Gossip - Interesting right? Yes it comes free. Wanted or unwanted all gossip is free.
7. Advice - This was an after thought...something people love to give free

There may be more things...but I can think only so much for the day...free thoughts are limited !!! ;)

Guru

Don't get excited I am not writing about the Mani Ratnam film. Its about a real Guru. I am reading this book titled "Divine Discourses". It is a collection of discourses give by H.H Abhinava Vidhyatheertha Swamigal of Sringeri, as interpretted by a disciple. Most of the book is about the importance of a Guru in our lives.

I have friends who have their family Guru, and have often wondered why my family does not have one. More often it appears as tough, if we want something, a Guru is our direct contact with God. We are all believers in God, but no Guru to direct us. How will we reach God? But is it really true that we dont have any Guru?

Well, when I come to think of it, our first Guru is invariently our mother. She is the one who teaches us most of our formative lessons. She teaches us to walk, talk, read, write and pray, to name a few. So, our first Guru in our path to reach closer to God, is our mother.

Then as life goes on we learn a few things about God from our father and teachers. After a few years when we venture out on our own, its something inside us that directs us. But at this stage we are more concerned about wordly things. Still no physical Guru in sight. Personally, I am at this stage.

I don't know if I will find a Guru. Can I not reach God without a Guru? I don't know, but right now there is God who is guiding me on the right path. Its the same God that guided Arjuna on the right path. So for now why do I need a physical Guru, when I have the greatest Guru guiding me, the one Guru trascending time and space????

I wish.....

Have you ever wondered what would be the one boon you would ask God if he appeared before you? But first, lets be clear on a couple of things.....if God appeared before everyone so easily then he would not be God, he would be a genie! Then I need to understand that I am not a very evolved human being....I still have all those "bad" qualities and a busy mind!

But what would I ask? I wish.... No not this, its too low....may be this.....naah! too little for God to give....and soon I find myself testing God's giving power. Then this story comes to mind...the story of young Dhruva...and interesting one...may be it will teach me what to ask for???

There was a prince named Dhruva, he was the son of King Uttanapada and his wife Suniti. The king had another wife Suruchi and a son Uttama through her. Suruchi and Uttama were the king's "favorites". One day, while playing the two princes raced towards their father to sit on his lap. Suruchi chided Dhruva and told him he had no place on his father's lap. She further told him to seek Lord Vishnu and ask him the boon of being born as her son in the next birth.

Dhruva started crying and went to his mother. Suniti consoled young Dhruva and asked him to pray to Lord Vishnu to end his misery. Dhruva then undertook a severe penance as directed by Sage Narada.

After several hundreds of years of penance, Lord Narayana appeared before Dhurva to grant a boon. By this time Dhruva had forgotten the reason for his penance. So, he asked Lord for a life dedicated to singing praises of the Lord. Dhurva could have asked for anything including moksha. But Dhurva had no personal desires. This made the Lord very happy and gave him the highest seat in heaven...a seat that will never move. To this day you can see it in the sky...its the Pole Star or the "Dhruva-tara".

Ok so the highest place in the Universe is taken...what do I ask for....well I still dont have an answer...sorry God! I wish... you could give me a hint. Oooops!!

Support System

Yesterday, I finally managed to finish watching this movie called "Arai En 305il Kadavul". It simply traslates to "God in Room 305 of the lodge".

Its a story of God coming down from the heavens to teach the important lessons of life to mortals in a poor neighbourhood. Most of the lessons seemed cliche`d. But the one discussion on who God is and why he should exist was interesting.

As humans who have a wide range of the so called emotions, we constantly need support - "emotional support". When we are sad, angry, happy...we need someone to listen to us..someone who will give us a shoulder to cry on if we need. Most of us find our support system in our family.

But sometimes there is something lacking....I wouldn't say lacking.....may be we need more support....a support that is not corpereal ... that I believe gives rise to the concept of God. Some people would call it internal strength. Something our heart tells our mind and our troubled mind becomes stable again....that voice from our heart is God. The form that we give God is the form given by our mind. So no matter who we are God, I think is the same... the voice of our hearts....the rest of it is a world created by our minds!!

The Earth Day

For the uninitiated, April 22, is celebrated as Earth Day. Its a day when everyone talks about "going Green". Reducing, Recycling and Reusing waste are buzzwords. Al Gore will be the most used celebrity name. Then there is the Global Warming and the melting polar ice caps. And not to mention the "carbon footprint". Suddenly, its the question - "Is life on Earth going to end?"

I know that Srimad Bhagavatam talks about a great deluge (pralayam)when the entire population on the Earth disappeared under water. Lord Vishnu comes as Matsya avataram to preserve life forms from the deluge waters. Searching through Wikipedia reveals that most of the world's religions have some reference to "the great flood". In western mythology, Noah builds an Ark to save the various life forms.

So, all this talk of global warming, melting glaciers and rising sea waters, does it forebode a similar fate? Is it God's way of punishing us irresponsible humans?

The Bhagavatam says that after a deluge none other than the Primodial Souls exists. Then as per His will life begins again.

Global warming will happen and continue to happen, if not carbon gases it will be some other gases in the near future. With time we humans learn more, the more we learn the more we will come face to face with the eventuality!

Its Spring Time!!

The best part about living in this part of the world is the change in seasons. Its not like Chennai, where the only season is summer.

Its spring time - all the snow has disappeared even the big mounds. The grass is greener. The squirrels, rabbits and birds are all out. The trees are begining to bloom. Its exciting to watch even though it happens every year. Its a sense of freedom from the many layers of clothes. No more heaters. I can walk out without a jacket and shoes. Arjun can go out on demand!

A new hope that it will be summer again!! Spring is a wonderful time. It may not signify too much in the larger picture of life, but for now its just the feeling of freedom!

The Beloved Devotee

As a mortal always needing love and nurturing, I have often wondered if God really loves me? If yes, why do I have to go through so many agonies, metal and physical? May be my definition of love is confused.

I will narate the following story which I often remember when I think about God "liking" me. I do not know its origin.

One day sage Narada went to Lord Narayana with a query - "Who is a beloved devotee of yours?" Now, Narada muni, as we all know, is a foremost devotee of Lord Narayana. Always repeating the Lord's name, Narada muni moves about the three worlds, stringing his veena.

Lord Narayana, immediately pointed the sage to a farmer on earth. Narada muni became curious as to what this farmer did that made him the Lord's beloved. So, sage Narada came down to the earth.

The farmer was poor, he had a wife and children to support. He toiled all day long in the farms to make ends meet. In the evening he came spent time with his family and had supper with them. Then at night he lay on the bare earth with only his hand for a pillow. Just before going to sleep, he repeated the name of Lord Narayana a few times.

Narada muni was shocked that repeating the name of Lord Narayana just a few times a day made the farmer one of the Lord's beloved devotees. He went back to Vaikuntha (Lord Narayana's abode). He asked the Lord, what made the farmer his beloved devotee. The Lord said repeating his name just a few times qualified the farmer to be one. Narada muni argued that if that was the criteria, then he should be the Lord's beloved devotee because he repeated the Lord's name infinte times.

The Lord then gave sage Narada a pot of water filled upto its brim. He asked the sage to take it to Mount Kailasa and come back without a single drop of water falling. Narada muni did not understand the reason for this. But nonetheless he accepted the Lord's wishes. Narada muni went to Kailasa and came back. All along he made sure that the water did not fall out.

Sage Narada handed the pot of water to the Lord and pointed out the fact that not a drop of water had spilled. Then the Lord asked him one question - "All this while did you take even a minute to think of me and utter my name?"

Now sage Narada understood what the Lord was trying to teach him. The poor farmer, in his whole day of work thought about the Lord at least once, which the sage in is preoccupation to prevent the water from being spilled did not do even once.

Thinking about God even once without any condition (like wanting something to work out etc) makes one a beloved devotee of the Lord!

South-Indian Nomenclature

I don't recall the exact time, but I do remember being asked by somebody - "Why are you South Indians named after Gods?"

At that time I didnt have any answer. I knew I was named after my paternal grandmother and my sister named after my maternal grandmother. My mother was named after her grandmother and so on....

May be today I have a better answer. The following is a story that I came across in the Bhagavatham (ok that happens to my favorite book! :) )

There was once a very noble brahmin called Ajamila. He lived his life very piously. He was a good husband, good father and good son.

One day when Ajamila went to the forest to collect fuel wood, he saw a women of low morals and fell in love with her. Taken up by her, Ajamila abandoned his family and his righteous life and went to live with her. He made a living by theft, fraud and gambling. He had ten sons with her. The last one was named "Narayana". Ajamila was very fond of his son, Narayana. He only thought of Narayana, day in and day out, while eating and sleeping.

This way he passed many years of his life. Finally one day, he saw two hideous looking creatures with nooses in their hands. They were coming towards him with great speed to cast their nooses around him. These were the messengers of Lord Yama - the God of death. They had come to take Ajamila. Ajamila did not realise that he was about to die, he was so scared that he called out to his son Narayana. That very moment there appeared two beautiful godly figures, with mace and discus in their hands. They were the messengers of Lord Narayana himself. They heard Ajamila call Narayana and immediately came to his aid.

Then there was a great debate between the messengers of Lord Yama and Lord Narayana. Finally, the messengers of Lord Narayana declared, that though Ajamila had forgotten his divine nature, he had uttered the holy name of the Lord at the time of his death. The mere uttering of the Lord's name is enough to absolve one of all sins. Hence, Ajamila had been rid of all his sins. The messengers of the Lord of Death did not have any answer to this. So, they left Ajamila. Now, Ajamila realized what happened and led the rest of his life piously, in the constant thought of the Lord.

When I read this story I understood why we have God's name. Parents are most attached to their children. So, naming their children after God at least makes them repeat the name (Nama Japam) which itself is enough to purify one's mind.

Astrology

Should I or should I not believe?

For starters I must admit that I do believe astrology is a science. I know many people will disagree. But, if you consider predicting weather to be scientific, then astrology is science too.

Weather "scientists" predict weather based on wind and pressure patterns. There are a fixed set of rules that say that if there is high pressure over an area, then the weather would be sunny and clear (a prediction). If there is low pressure over an area it could rain depending on the moisture in the air (again a prediction). It is not always that the weatherman is right. Now you could take the risk of not taking you umbrella when the weather "scientist" says its going to rain.
To me astrology is similar. Astrology has a fixed set rules. Predictions about a person's life are made based on interpretation of the placement of the planets. Of all the basic components in a birth chart, only the houses or bhavas in a birth chart were "created" by ancient astrologers. The rest is a map of the sky at the moment of birth. That is astronomy another "science" !

I have seen three types of views towards astrology.

The first is the cynic view(an extreme). The cynic says "Lets see how it happens" (challenging the prediction) and sits back. For example, the birth chart indicates that the person will attain a high administrative position. Now, the cynic sits back and tries to see if a miracle happens - testing the prediction. Obviously not! Unless you put in the effort, the prediction is not going to come true. "As you sow so you reap". So the cynic usually declares that astrology is a waste of time.

Then there is the weak minded. He thinks everything that happens to him is because of astrology. He needs something to put the blame on - something other than himself. So whats better that blame the poor planets and they won't even complain!

The third and the most practical person is he that accepts that certain things happen in life due to some strange force. But this doesnt stop him from working hard. This is the middle approach. Yes, astrology does provide some insight into hte future but it is not everything. There is still the unknown. If everything could be predicted why should we live our lives?

So as with the weather, if astrology predicts tough time, prepare yourself mentally, may be it won't be so tough in the end. Like if the weather man says its going to rain, take your umbrella!

Rebirth

Can we really control what we are born to be?

I had this discussion with my mother. There are a few people in this world who think the grass is always greener on the other side. So, all they do day and night is talk about people who are sucessful. You and I may be their favorite topic of discussion. "Oh, she is so lucky to have her daughters settled!", "That girl is so lucky to have such a husband", "They live in the USA, so life must be really good!", "She earns so much money for no work", "She has a grandson!!(Her greatest achievement in life!)"..... a few things you might hear from such people. Lets call these people "mongers".

These mongers get into our skins to such an extent that we cannot but help think of them day and night. So, now we have mongers thinking about us and we thinking about them.

The Vedas say that a man will be born as that thing in his next birth about which he was thinking most at the time of his death. Therefore wise men advise people to think about God as much as possible during their daily life, so that the mind gets conditioned enough to think about God at the time of death.

The following story appears in the Bhagavatam (Bhagavat Mahapuranam):

There was a King Bharat, who was the son of King Rishabh of the Solar dynasty. King Bharat ruled the earth for a long time in a just manner. The country India or "Bharatvarsha" is named after this king. The king had five sons. When the time came, the king divided the kingdom among his sons and retired to the forest to perform tapas.

One day when the king went to the riverside for his prayers, he saw a pregnant doe that had come to quench its thirst. Suddenly, there was a huge roar. The doe got frightened and jumped into the river to get to the other side. But, because of shock, the doe gave birth to a fawn in midstream and itself reached the other side of the river and died. King Bharat was moved to pity at the plight of this fawn and rescued it from the river. He started taking care of this fawn like his own child. He was so attached to the fawn that he forgot his spiritual pursuit. Day and night he was absorbed in the thoughts of this fawn, now a deer. Even so when King Bharat was about to die he was thinking about the deer. As a result, as soon as the soul left King Bharat's body, it was born as a deer in a nearby forest.

The story goes on to say how the deer(King Bharat in his previous birth) had to earn a human birth and then in the human birth (as Jadabharat) had to live without any attachment to any material thing in order to attain moksha.

Now, back to my discussion about the mongers....So if the mongers think about us day in and day out, they will be reborn as somebody like us. The world surely will be a better place to live in.

Having said that, if we keep thinking about them, we may have to be reborn as them. This won't make the world a good place. So for the good of this world, we have to shut out such people in life. Whenever the mind wanders to them, "switch off", think about God. You then at least have a chance to think about God at the time of death!

Realized Souls

The other day I watched a Rajni movie - Shri Raghavendra. There were a couple of questions that came to mind. The foremost being that why should a realized soul lose material things rather than give it up. Isn't renunciation all about giving everything up? I am not questioning the greatness of the saint. He did give up his wife and son. That is my other question. Why should great souls neglect the resposibility they undertake. The movie justified it as the saint's previous birth karma. Shri Raghavendra is considered to be an incarnation of Prahalada. But doesn't the unwritten law of karma say for every action there is a result? So what is the result of abandoning resposibility?

Are these great souls born again after they take samadhi? May be.... Prahalada was one of the greatest devotees of the Lord. He was reborn! Even God takes birth in every yuga, then what for us insignificant parts of the whole?

Why is it that most of the great souls end up in the body of a man? Why not a woman? May be it is more difficult for men to give up all that they have. For women, they give up something at every stage of life. That sounds feminist. But that is the only explanation I can come up with.

Anyway I am yet to meet a realized soul in this life...may be he/she would be able to answer these questions....

The First One

I thought and thought and thought even more....but did not see the sense in starting a blog. Why should I start one? Because everyone has one? Well that stopped me for a while. And then the other thing that stopped me was the face of my dear 10th grade English Language Teacher Mrs. Biswas. She never gave me a score greater than 40% (thats just the "naiyya paar" type of score). But then my little brain thought again (its going to burn one day!) , I need a place where few of my golden thoughts ( out of the too many I have) will be saved for a time long after I am gone.... also a place I can safely store some of my recepies and finally a place I can practise my AW for GMAT.