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!