A small five letter word. But in reality it means our very existence. To be truthful and to seek the truth…the truth of our existence…and the happiness thereafter…

In the 13th verse, Chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita – ‘Conches, drums, trumpets blared forth all at once and the battlefield was surrounded by loud noise’

Everyone on the battlefield blew conches and trumpets and the loud noise declared the onset of the war.

Now, from this verse we can understand that – When an elder of the house raises his voice, rest of the family members follow suit.

It is like as though everyone was waiting for the eldest member to begin.

The truth here is that elders always set an example for the younger generation. It actually matters how a parent conducts himself because that shows in the behaviour of his or her offspring.

When parents say, “Look at my child. He/she is so haughty and has such a bad temper, is so irresponsible and so on and on…”

Take one look at the parent. You will see the very nature hidden or many a times visible in the parent.

The child is innocent. The child is like clay which a parent can mould the way he or she wants. The child learns from and impersonates his/her parents until he reaches a particular age. After which the layers of conditioning make it difficult for the now grown up child to change ways practiced over the years.

It is when a child is in the womb that the training begins. Parents and elders of the house must understand that every thought, word and action of theirs is making impressions on the unborn child in the womb.

The loud noise is the sound within us. If you raise one doubt, one emotion of fear or anger you will find yourself surrounded by many more similar emotions.

When you lose your temper you find yourself saying things which you had never thought of or never meant to say…

One small sound made in anger leads to hundreds of sounds and the resulting noise is inevitably loud.

There is too much noise within us. In fact the noise within us is louder than the noise outside…however loud the noise outside might be.

Close your eyes and peep inside. Try to hear the noise going on inside. It is too loud…

Quieten the sound. Meditate. Reduce the frequency of thoughts that are creating the noise…

Meditate on what the truth is. Meditate on who you are actually. Mediate on the inner self and the sounds will reduce.

It will take some time to reach the state of silence. Probably a long time…

Absolute silence with no noise of thoughts, emotions or experiences…

Silver Oak farm

We booked a family room for an overnight trip and got a 24 hour check out facility from 12 noon till 11 am next morning for Rs. 10710/- for four of us (2 adults and 2 kids). This included three meals and tea, coffee served in the evening.

We drove through the city towards Devanahalli to the Bengaluru International Airport and after passing the airport we drove on as per the directions given on the website and pretty soon we were driving through the gate of Silver Oak Farm which lies on the base of Nandi hills.

We were greeted by the owner, Mr. Praveen Khanna and his wife Meera Khanna and their two adorable German Shepherds named Micky and Mini. We were showed our room which was neat and tidy. A double bed and two single beds joined together was just perfect for the four of us. The bathroom had hot water which was from a solar heater.

Mr. Praveen Khanna

The family room

There was a central courtyard just outside the family room and there we saw a cute little tortoise having a meal of shredded lettuce and pieces of carrot.

The central courtyard

Cute little tortoise

After we freshened up we were offered lemon juice. Lunch was at 1.30 pm and so we decided to walk around the farm. There were many vegetables and fruit trees and we had great fun. The walk was led by the dogs. Mini walked ahead showing us the path while Micky hung around with us as we took snaps.

that’s Micky

Micky and Mini

Lemons…

The farm

We had walked up a good appetite. Lunch was simple but delicious. There were 10-12 casseroles with food arranged on a side table with serving spoons.

We loaded our plates with food and had to take a couple more servings till we were full. The meal had plain rice, rasam, 4 types of pickles, lemon rice, chilly bhajiya, moong curry, carrot and green peas curry, chicken curry, a dry vegetable sauté of zucchini, onions and tomatoes, curds, hot chapattis and well that is all I remember. Probably I missed out something

And the dessert, believe me was something out of this world. We looked into the bowl served to us. It had four thick pink petals floating in transparent sweet syrup with two freshly baked cookies on the side. Our host told us that it was sliced pink guavas peeled and deseeded. The syrup was flavoured with cinnamon and there was cream for toppings which was optional. The cookies were out of this world. Praveen’s wife Meera is a great cook. She enjoys dishing out special menus.

Slightly reeling with the heavy meal we decided to walk up the Nandi hill to digest it. We climbed around 425 steps which is actually three quarter way up the hill. We rested there for a while amidst nature.

Trek up the hill…

steps and steps…ufff…

It was a beautiful experience. We got back and slept off.

At 5.30 pm tea and coffee was served in the veranda and there was home baked cake and some cheeslings to go with it.

Dinner would be at 8.30 pm we were informed. So well we went to our room and read some books and just relaxed.

At. 8.30 there was a discreet knock at our door announcing dinner. The table was set neatly with two candle stands. The night was dark and silent.

We were served vegetable soup with bread which had olives, sun dried tomatoes and fried onions.

The main course was pasta with creamy spinach and sweet corn sauce. The side dish was boiled broccoli and carrots.

There was a very interesting salad of red cabbage sliced finely accompanied by carrots and small slices of pineapple.

Dessert was interesting. We were served with Danish pastry topped with hot chocolate sauce.

Next morning we skipped the early morning tea. Breakfast was buffet and there was a lot to choose from.

Puri and potato subzi, toasted wholemeal bread, 6-8 varieties of preserves, butter, cornflakes, small croissants and muffins…

All this accompanied by freshly squeezed sweet lime juice, pieces of musk melon, tea and coffee.

After the breakfast we went to the nearby village temple which is very ancient and beautiful.

The ancient temple

The chola period…

Architecture!!

Next, we saw a potters place and tried our hand at pottery! We did manage to shape some small sized pots, though the finish was not as great as the ones that the potters make.

We checked out of the farm at 11 am. We still had to drive up the hill to see the temple there.

A monkey watching us!

view from the top

Beautiful…isn’t it?

Awesome…hmmm…

We purchased some fresh assorted vegetables from the farm at a reasonable price.
Most of the dishes prepared were made from organic vegetables picked from the farm.

It was a great experience and we enjoyed a lot. The farm is good, the concept is great and the hosts are very good people…

www.silveroakfarm.com/

Each of us is pure, but we need to wash away the negative impressions gathered over the number of lives that we have lived. These negative impressions are dictating our actions and creating our destiny…

Coming to the 12th verse, Bhishma, grandfather of the Kauravas and Pandavas blew his conch shell so loudly that it sounded like the roar of a lion giving Duryodhana immense joy.

In the above verse, we can see the child like behaviour of Duryodhana. Bhishma knows that there is no chance of the Kauravas winning with Krishna supporting the Pandavas. Yet he wants his grandson to know of his indomitable support and out of compassion he blows the conch shell loudly.

Duryodhana is happy to have the great valiant Bhishma on his side. Deep inside he knows that victory is difficult, yet he doesn’t care to listen to his inner voice. He is happy with the external circumstances and feels joy to hear the loud roaring sound of Bhishma’s conch shell.

We are also trapped in the external situations happening around us. It is very rarely that we look inside and talk to our real self.

We take joy in the happenings that we can see and ignore the truth that our inner self reminds us of. We push it behind in the dark recesses of our mind not caring to look at it. The situation outside is favourable and we drown in its ecstasy.

But very soon the truth will surface and then we curse our luck and destiny.

Doesn’t mean that we must not be happy… But be happy from deep within. Be happy with what you believe is the truth and be happy when you conduct yourself as per the instructions of your inner voice. That is the ultimate reality and to experience joy in that is the truth…

We have heard over the years that ‘Truth prevails, truth wins’, ‘Good wins over evil’ …

We have heard it, said it, but probably not believed it entirely. We have doubts. We have many examples in front of us where an evil person has won or gained something. We wonder how God could do this to us. We have questions, we have doubts.

All these doubts are obstructions in our path. We must trust the inner voice, the voice of God, the voice of the atman…

Krishna is God and when God himself is on our side, no person or situation can defeat us. We all know this. God here means the truth, the positive and the goodness.

Let us not like Duryodhana be lost in false pretensions or seek happiness in that.

Let us seek the truth with the help of our inner voice and seek happiness in the truth…

Let us see reality with the eyes of our inner voice…

Believe me, she meant good. When something good is about to happen you obviously would love to share it with your neighbours, relatives, friends and of course your family.

But deep within, you are scared that the good news might just not happen if disclosed to many. And eventually you find out that whatever good was to happen didn’t happen.

You end up blaming someone or the other for the same. And if not someone you blame your destiny. But you never blame yourself.

At times you also say about certain people “If I tell that person, my work never gets done.”

How is all this true? Does another person’s ill will or negative thought change what is in your fate?

Can a person think ill about you and make it happen? There is more to this than you are seeing.

First of all you need to understand that no person can change your fate unless you want them to or allow them.

Kisiki buri nazar kaise lag sakti hai jab tak tum usse adhikar nahi dete?

How can someone cast an evil eye on you unless you permit them to?

The books and CD’s on law of attraction also say the same. ‘You attract what you want’

So when you discuss about the good news which is yet to happen, you discuss it with a fear in your mind. You need to erase that fear. Because of the fear inside, you attract the evil thoughts of others.

It is not that everyone out there is going to wish ill about you. Even you know that.

But there could be some people who think ill about you. But to accept or reject their thought is in your hands. If you are very positive, no negative thought will attach to you. It is just impossible.

I can say this positively because I have tried this. In the last one year I had very many good things happening and I shared it with all the people I knew. I was advised by some well wishers not to reveal everything before it actually happened. But I did not let that affect me. I knew that the good would happen irrespective of what anyone thought or said. I concentrated on only the positive aspect and so none of the negative thoughts which others might have thought of affected me.

So it is you who allow the negative thought of others to take over your positive thoughts and then simply blame them for thinking negative. What you attract is your responsibility. What others think or attract is their responsibility. How can what they think happen to you unless you have accepted the negative energy they sent. And you can accept the negative energy only if you have something negative within you.

So think positive… be positive… and only positive things will happen in your life.

Think of only what you want – not ‘what you don’t want’

This is a question which we must all ask ourselves. Almost all of us spend our present moment thinking of the past or the future. When are we actually in the present moment?

Very rarely we actually live in the present moment. When I brought this question up with someone recently she said, “Hey, come on. I am not thinking about the negative incidents of my past. I am reliving the beautiful moments I spent during my vacation.”

To that I asked, “Is the present moment not good enough that we need to feel good in the present by reliving the beautiful moments in the past?”

We both sat silently thinking on that. Isn’t it true? Why do we paint rosy pictures of the future in the present moment? Why do we think of some good memories in the past and sigh?

Don’t we all do this? Why?

I am not saying that we must forget the past and the associated memories good or bad. But the present moment is the truth and rest all is either over or has never happened. So why go into it?

In fact, if we are actually thinking of some good moments of our past, if we recollect properly we will realise that even in those happy moments we were thinking whether the future will be as good…

The past is over. We must learn something from our past. But it is the present moment that is important and we need to actually live in that moment. As within a flash that moment will become the past and we will be in the next moment.

No one knows their future. So why think about it? Why not be happy in the present moment. It is the present which becomes the past. So if you are happy in this moment, soon it will be the past and it will be a happy past. And because you spend the present moment smiling, your next moment will also be the same.

It might take a while for this equation to sink in. But it is worth a try…

Here we can understand and see the insecurity felt by Duryodhana. He has the great Bhishma and his skilled teacher Dronacharya on his side besides all the other Kauravas. His army is well sectioned and yet deep in his heart he feels fear.

He is afraid that grandfather Bhishma will leave him or that Dronacharya will change sides and join the Pandavas. His confidence is based on these two people who had not spoken a word when Draupadi had been humiliated in front of all during the gambling game. He knows that both these men have a soft corner for the Pandavas and hopes that they will continue supporting him during the battle.

When we make a mistake we all know that we are erring. Don’t we? Probably we feel that the action is necessary or it is right and might even argue about it. But somewhere deep inside, a voice always tells us what is right and what is wrong. It always does. Only thing is we fail to hear or fail to follow the instructions of that voice.

The voice is ours. Each one of us has this voice inside us which warns us when we are on the wrong path. It is the inner voice, the voice of our atman, the soul.

Let us try to first see if we can hear that voice within us. Next let us learn to believe in the voice and then let us follow the commands of the voice…

It rained and rained with no respite. It was as though the clouds had decided to release their sorrows and were hence shedding all the tears in stock.

I like to travel but not during the rainy season. One good thing though about the place where I had been was that there was no water logging like it happens in Mumbai.

It is great to sit in the house and look at the rain lashing away. The sound of the rain falling on the roof…

I felt one with nature till the time I had to leave for the airport. Driving down with the roads practically invisible and the sudden flash lights of the car coming from the opposite direction all seemed too scary and yet thrilling.

The driver knew the road very well and he went about smoothly turning along the bends which I couldn’t see at all. The wiper which was doing a good job was actually of no use. It was raining that heavily.

There was very little turbulence during the flight and I reached Mumbai hoping that it would be nice and sunny.

But my hopes were very soon dampened by the heavy rains there too…

But unlike Kerala there were those occasional respites when though the sun didn’t shine furiously, the rains did reduce to a drizzle.

Finally when I got back to Bengaluru I was very happy. No rains! Bright and sunny…

For a day…

It is cloudy now and might rain any moment!

That is what the Gita is all about. In the next few verses of Chapter 1 (from the 4th verse to the 10th verse ) Duryodhana continues his talk about the strength of his army. He names each of his special warriors and claims that the Pandavas would fall weak in front of their prowess. He is in effect comparing the strength of his army to that of the Pandavas.

The above verses bring home the truth that a person who compares himself to others lacks confidence. There are many Duryodhanas out here in this Kalyuga.
Most people compare themselves to others. Comparison could be based on physical looks, money, status, exam scores, children…

The list is endless or rather ever expanding. When a person lacks confidence in some field or the other he or she tends to compare oneself with others. The comparison is generally to show that ‘I am better off than the others’.

Comparison brings about sorrow. At times when we compare ourselves with someone who we consider inferior to us we feel good. But such feelings are always short lived because due to the habit of comparing with others we would very soon find someone superior to us and that would bring about grief.

The focus should be on the self and not on what and how others are.

If a person is confident he would never need to analyse the strength or weakness of other people, ‘coz they would not be a threat to him.

Confidence comes from within and is not based on superficial traits. Confidence comes from knowing who you are actually and not from this body…

There is so much to learn and so much to understand in depth about the self…

After many rounds of hide and seek with the clouds, the sun finally decided to hide for a day. An entire day! And even as I am writing I am waiting for the sun to peep out so that I can feel the warmth of its bright rays…

The cool breeze and the rain have triggered serious bouts of cold and almost everyone is down with flu. It is viral! That is what doctors say.

Last couple of days even I was down with an extraordinary cold and was finding it difficult to work. The laptop screen seemed too bright and my eyes started watering.

A cold can really be very irritating.
But then I love to look at the advantages.

Hot soups! Cuddling inside the warm rug! Watching a comedy movie! No work!

But all that is fun for a day or two. So I made the most of it. And today I decided to gear myself up and say ‘Get lost’ to the cold and have switched on the laptop and am all ready to continue writing my novel.

Hmmm…Achooo…Ooops…

It has turned dark again and the clouds are all ready to burst.

Bright sunlight…Where is the sun?

The climate seems a little bit loony
In seconds it turns from sunny to gloomy

The sun just seems to vanish
Heat and sweat the rains banish

And even while I pen these lines
I can see flakes of sunshine

The clouds make way
Not sure they want to move away

Large drops of rain turn smaller
Looks like the sun is the winner

Clouds dash each other with anger
Trying to justify who is the traitor

Who gave way to the sun?
Was that cloud on the run?

With rage the clouds get darker
And the sun hides behind them in fear

The angry clouds now burst in fury
And here I sit wondering whether its rainy or sunny???