IN SEARCH OF A HOME: October 2020

Friday, October 23, 2020

Disappearing Daylight!! It could be Worse!!

Wow, published a decade ago....October 17, 2010 here is this again because we are in the same season and light is evaporating.....being sucked out and we are trying to maintain our calm.

Also, want to let you know that I will be away from about 2-3 weeks. Away as in might not post due to deadlines. I have already posted more than one post a week this year. So please bear with me .....this was the first year I was here. I cannot believe that its been this long. My life has been unpredictable and at some point I stopped planning. I need to get back to it. This time with much more care. Enjoy reading, leave a comment and see you again in 2-3 weeks.

Flower Show in Singapore

These images are saved for gloomy days. We already have only 10 hrs of light. We have lost about 6 hrs of light since August. End of the month is day light saving. Which means it will start to get dark at 5:00 pm. By December we get darkness as early as 2:00 pm. My consolation, that that stays only for a month or so. Post December 22nd, the light starts to go up. I am told, in doors, October is the coldest month, since the University and official buildings do not turn the heat on until November. And November is the most depressing month, because it is dark and rainy. But come December there are christmas lights and then all is well with our soul.

Let there be light!! (The Bible).

Rage, Rage against the dying of the light (Dylan Thomas).

And here is the closing of one of my favorite shows.....Northern Lights, from the show called Northern Exposure. The whole episode focuses on the idea of light....and our fear of the darkness.

To end then, here is one of my favorite prayers that asks divine intervention for enlightenment. We request only to walk on the right path, so that we may know truth from untruth. Knowledge from darkness. Regardless of color, creed, race or religion that we belong to...isn't that our ultimate goal.

Asato Ma Sadgamaya Mantra (Upanishads).

English Translation

Lead me from Untruth to Truth Lead me from Darkness to Light Lead me from Death to Immortality

The website I got the english translation from states the following:

In the third line, the seeker is not asking for eternal life or immortality. The seeker is asking for Self Realization. The seeker is asking to be awakened to his Infinite, Timeless, Un-born and Eternal nature. The seeker is requesting to be awakened to his True Nature, to who he truly is, and that awakening to the eternal Self is the freedom from time and death which he is seeking.

If ever you were to meet the Genie in a bottle, I suggest you immediately chant this mantra for your 3 wishes

Me, I am looking forward to December 22nd, when the balance is tipped and we move towards the light. Till then, thankful for these 6 weeks of contemplation. Grateful that I am in the south, I am told, in the North, one can go for days without seeing any daylight.

Told you, it could always be worse!! But it ain't!!

Friday, October 16, 2020

Clarion Calls: Autumn Leaf Festival

First published on September 27 of 2014, here it is 6 years later. The reason posts are slightly delayed is that blogger for now does not allow to schedule old posts, which makes it difficult for me to constantly be on time. I wish they would change it. But until then, will write to put it up some time on Friday if not at midnight, as it was done for the last year or so.

This time ini Pennsylvania was the most beautiful. Till today nothing beats Pennsylvania --- in autumn colors. I light up, even when I think of it. Clarion introduced me to it. I had dreamt of Pennsylvania even in India. I had read about the Amish in Reader's Digest. Then heard about that movie, 'The Witness' with Harrison Ford. I was forever attached to the colors. We get some colors in Delhi--being north and sort of temperate climate. We do get five seasons and since they are spread out, both autumn and winter intermingle over three to four months. It goes pretty fast. Up in north of India, in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh (check it out online) the colors are more beautiful. It seems like they are prettier than Switzerland. But for a Delhite like me, it was restricted. The long drawn out autumn of about three months in Pennsylvania, made me fall in love with it. It was for that I returned to Pennsylvania in State College. While I met great people, and learnt much. It did not bear well in the long run. So my advice, be attracted to a place but always know why you are returning. Always have a well thought of plan and a clarity on your own goals and needs. You may not get what you planned, but if you go with the flow and only on emotion, it may cause you to feel some regret later on. But that is where mentorship comes in. Be a mentor, teach others, be guides. So many of us are lost.

I do my best. I have been a mentor to my nieces and nephews and 100s of students, who still keep in touch. I spoke to one of my first students from India. Who I taught only for 6 months. I was barely 20. But to connect with him and speak to him for 3 hours and then speak to his teenage daughter was such a delight!! In those moments do I feel the completion and a sense of what I am....and where I am in this world.

May you all find--joy in your hearts this autumn, and connect with a passion that burns to serve the world....like the colors of autumn that burn till the end, to delight our eyes and give us long and languid benignly sunny days!!

PS: Here is a post from Penn State that you might enjoy.

A shot of Main Street during Autumn Leaf. Note: This picture was taken from the net (click here to see the source), as were the other logos.

Pennsylvania was a dream for me. Clarion, with its simplicity and quietness made it happen for me. It was the hardest of times in more than one ways, but visually, it was ‘many sights to remember.’ My memories of first autumn in the US are from Clarion. Clarion is synonymous with ‘Autumn Leaf Festival’, when everything turns red, yellow and orange.

I attended about four of those in Clarion, two as a student. One as faculty, and one as a visitor.

The sleepy little town comes alive--for weeks before the actual day. There are reminders on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, in stores and in schools and universities. There are sights to see, and smells (mainly food, talking mainly food) to smell and memories to make.

It should be around anytime soon now. For me though, autumn is always reminiscent of the first time I saw the nature burst in color--in Clarion.

Its a town that still remains unknown (one American student had asked me, 'so is Clarion really famous in your country?* with a reference to us landing in Clarion as students.

Nope,it had a department I was looking for and the admission fee was not too high. She had smiled.

But my heart was also set on Pennsylvania, ever since I had seen pictures and read about the Amish.

That love affair lasted over a decade. I don't know its politics, nor do I know much about special laws, rules and regulations if any apply ---(except that there is an exemption of taxes on computers and electronics stuff every february--and no taxes on clothes)--but I know all about candied apples, blueberry muffins, pumpkin spice ice-cream, and of course autumn's leaves!! I can smell Pennsylvania on crisp days, I am back in Pennsylvania every year on the first day of snow, and I wake up in Pennsylvania every year when daffodils make their appearance in spring, or trees blush at their own coming of age in autumn.....

And wonder if the school children I saw march in bands in Clarion, are now bringing their children to the autumn leaf festival this year......

Friday, October 9, 2020

More Musings About the Moon

Here is a follow up blog again from December 2012. First published on Dec 7, 2012.

PS: Blogger is changing several things, one is that I cannot simply repost, but have to create a new post if I want to schedule my posts. I schedule during the week so that bloggers posts automatically. Saves me time. I have so much material here on this blog --much of it is not saved else place. I hope this process will continue. At some point, I know i will start a new blog possibly with my name. But for now, this is all I have. Enjoy the post, write from time to time.....thanks.

“I don't know if there are men on the moon, but if there are they must be using the earth as their lunatic asylum”
George Bernard Shaw quotes (Irish literary Critic, Playwright and Essayist. 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1856-1950)

“When a finger points to the moon, the imbecile looks at the finger”
Chinese Proverbs quotes

The Burglar

neglected to take

the window's moon

John Daido Loori,

Zen of Creativity, p. 154

Sometimes, the moon is the most expensive thing a Burglar could take....but AH.... the most precious of things can never be stolen!! They can only be enjoyed....like love!! There is a whole tradition of stealing love, like Lord Krishna does, in hindu mythology. But this stealing of love is still done by belonging. By noticing, by caring, by giving of one’s attention. Like Lord Krishna does for Radha. But, in the final analysis, the richness of it all lies in experiencing the joy in your lover’s eyes.

Just like the moon, so rich and silvery, can never be had, but may be in its reflection, which is fleeting....

Karlstad, Sweden, December 2010.

We were headed towards town for a faculty dinner, just before Christmas break. As we all stood freezing at the bus stop --yes Swedes included, none of us could ignore the bright moon. I was lucky, as always, to have my camera hanging on my knapsack.

I have also to acknowledge the richness that I have been given in the midst of all confusion. The four full moons between beginning of August 2012, and end of October 2012 (August 2012 had two full moons) were all spent in different countries on three different continents.

They all had their own flavors, the moonrise over the Drakensberg mountain, the shiny moon of early autumn in Sweden, the quiet silent one in Bhutan and finally the one in Singapore--waving a finger at busy singaporeans to slow down.....

Bhutan September 28, 2012

Both the above the below pictures were taken in Bhutan. The starkness is so apparent, the pictures look black and white. If you click on the pictures and see them in their enlarged version, you will notice the grey clouds framing the moon.

However, if you notice the following two pictures, you will see the distant lights of Paro City. I remember staring at it in the dark Bhutan is quite safe, so I could simply breath in the fresh, slightly chilly Bhutan air and simply whisper a ‘thankyou!!'

Bhutan September 29, 2012

The following two pictures are again from Karlstad, Sweden. Feb 2011. Notice how bright is lady of night (In India the moon is a ‘man’. Affectionately referred to as Mama, mother’s brother!!

Karlstad, Feb, 2011

Here are two quotes from different traditions, Buddha vs. Mark Twain. Both of whom I have affection for....for different reasons. I leave you with these two quotes for you to ‘muse a bit about the moon!!’ and its place in our world, thoughts and cultures.

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
Buddha quotes (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

“Every one is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody”

Mark Twain quotes (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)

PS: Here are links to all time favorite songs where lovers are talking to the ‘Chanda’ (the moon) or their love....through the moon!

1. Dam Bhar Jo Udhar Moon Phere (If only (dear Moon) you look away for a moment, I will show affection to my beloved)

2. Yeh raat yeh chandni phir kahan (Neither this evening nor this moonlight will return (in the same way), so come my beloved to meet me.

3. Yeh raat bheegi bheegi:

This Rainy Night ...these stunning surroundings
And Rising gradually rising, that lovely moon
Why is the Moonlight silent after setting me on Fire
and the beautiful evening signals me away from sleep

4. Aao Tumhen Chand Pe Le Jayen: Let’s take you to the moon (where santa claus lives
according to this song...not the North Pole..Too far from India!! :)
This song is a famous Bollywood Lullaby from the 1970s!!

5. Chand Sifarish Jo Karta Hamari: If moon recommended me to you...it would
have told you that I ‘like you’ (english subtitles)

6. CHANDA CHAMKE (the moon shines): A tongue twister--to be sung with children!!

I TRULY HOPE THE READERS WILL NEVER SEE ‘THE MOON’ THE SAME AGAIN...

ENJOY!!

Thursday, October 1, 2020

A Thief's Oversight

Cannot believe that this was first published in 2012. Remember 2012? When everyone predicted that the world was going to end? But we saw those hints in 2020. Posting this again because I wanted to look at these pics and because tomorrow Oct 1 is a full moon in adhik maas. Look up adhik maas if you are interested--there is a wiki entry for it, but it is a month that is added every 32 months to Indian calendar to keep up. So that month is used for extra spiritual activities and most of the major holidays are delayed. Regardless, this article was first published on December 5, 2012--and here it is again.....