Sparkling in the sun...

What was it that i wanted - i couldn't quite remember...

did i want to sit down and do nothing while life just went by,
did i want to listen to a song, that would weave a beautiful illusion,
did i want to invite that refreshing harmony,
did i want the simulation of a good conversation,
did i want to relax through the complex art of contemplation,

but suddenly it came to me, as i walked into the marvellous sunlight,
there it was - sparkling in the sun...

Ravana

"Would you know what this is?" asked Steve, holding a small round seed. "I went to Singapore recently - got friendly with an Indian there - a priest of some sort - nice chap bless him - and he gave me this - said I was the good man."

Of course - most people from India would know what that is. It is the Rudraksh - given to the King of Sri Lanka - Ravana, by the Hindu God Shiva - as a symbol, a present if you like.

"A gift - what for..." asked Steve.

Well, Ravana did some great things in his lifetime - one of them was to discover the technology to mutate human beings to another life form.

"Really" said Steve, "that's mind blowing."

It is indeed - too much for the 'scientific world' of the west to digest. The western world has always ridiculed and scoffed at the achievements of other civilizations while subscribing and confirming to unsophisticated narrow-minded patterns of thought themselves.

"What else has he done," asked Steve, choosing to ignore my observations.

At one time, he was the emperor of the world, having single handedly vanquished thousands of kings across the entire continent. The residue of Ravana's culture, can be felt even today when one visits different countries across the world and looks beneath the surface.

He was also a scholar of immense intelligence and a devoted husband of one of India's traditional five perfect women, Mandodari. His capital Lankapuri was made of gold - literally. Tradition tells us that his devotion to Shiva was so intense that he created the Indian raga/melody system so that he could sing Shiva's praises.

Ravana is said to have composed the magnificent Shiva Tandava Stotra - describing the beauty and power of Shiva. Towards the end of the stotra, Ravana refers to himself as "dashavaktra" - meaning "the ten headed", signifying that he had knowledge spanning all the ten directions.

A compelling and complex personality - Ravana is to many Indians an achiever, a great hero.

"But isn't he a symbol of evil - as well," mused Steve.

Yes - according to Ramayana, the epic of 24000 verses - Rama who killed him in battle, ordered that the funeral arrangements of Ravana be those befitting his grandeur, knowing perhaps that he had nearly met his match in Ravana, who was a Brahmin by birth, well versed in the Vedas, and prolific in his knowledge of Sanskrit.

"Time for lunch - lets go."

What is Fear....

I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in
To saucy doubts and fears.
- Macbeth in Merchant of Venice

Fear exists not only at the conscious level but deep down at the unconscious level. There is the fear with which we are familiar and to which we have become accustomed. There is also the fear deep down, hidden, concealed. Is it possible to be free of all fear? To understand that, one must understand the whole content of consciousness. Now, you have to understand the fact, not what consciousness is according to somebody...you have to observe.
- J. Krishnamurthi

Fear is an energised negative thought pattern - a programming in the brain - and usually, one is caught in it.
- Anonymous

Anything that is connected with fear, a mature person should disconnect himself from. That´s how maturity comes. Just watch all your acts, all your beliefs, and find out whether they are based in reality, in experience, or based in fear. And anything based in fear has to be dropped immediately without a second thought. It is your armor.
- Osho

If you started on a scavenger hunt today and you were told to bring back a bucket full of fear, you could look forever, but you'd always come back empty handed. Fear simply does not exist out there in the world. It is something that you do to yourself by thinking fearful thoughts and having fearful expectations.
- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Knowledge is the antidote to fear.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A person who is walking around with a chronic core of fear gnawing away at them is vulnerable to illness because fear diminishes the ability of their immune system to function. This is, of course, no great news to Western medical pactitioners who know fully well that fear and disharmony can manifest themselves as illnesses recognizable to modern science.
- Deepak Chopra

I've had many fears - most of which have never happenned.
- A Sage

Conversations....

'Are you Indian?' the girl smiled as I settled into my seat on the TGV.
'I'm from India' I replied, 'and I live in London'.

'You know, I love the icons of the gods and goddess from India,' she said.
'They are fantastic,' I said, 'a living proof of India's tremendous contribution to the world'.

'Have you been to Paris before,' she asked.
'Yes, like India, France is a republic. So there is an identification there. In London the identification is different.'

'How so,' she asked.
'Well, when i look at the buildings in London, I have a feeling that all this infrastruture has been built with our wealth, wealth from 'india' as the subcontinenet is known as today - and therefore i have a right to it. After all, England is rich because India is poor'.

'Interesting thoughts,' she said.
'It's only my view,' I grinned. 'Freedom of thought and freedom of expression are rights fundamental to all human beings.'

'Indians say that the world is an illusion, don't they,' she said glancing at me.
'What they really mean is that the world is made of the same material that dreams are made of, though they appear to be completely different - like carbon and diamonds'. I said

'Hmm, is it true that arranged marriages are very common in India? What kind of marriage would you go in for?' she asked thoughtfully.
'A love-marriage, an arranged marriage or a live-in relationship - to me, these are merely different approaches and have little relevance. Surely, the actual relationship beween individuals who choose to live together, is more important than the approach'.

'Very true - do you believe in re-incarnation?' she asked.
'Re-incarnation is a biological fact. The materialist conditioning may find it difficult to comprehend the concept, but the fact is, nothing really gets created or destroyed - energy gets recycled all the time. For example - the carbon atoms which we have in our bodies now, have been used in countless other molecules since the beginning of time - when an organism 'dies', the carbon atom does not 'die' but continues to 'live' and gets re-used in another molecule in another organism. The ancient indians knew this tens of thousands of years ago. In fact, the Sanskrit word for the human being is 'purusha' - which means one who dwells in the human body. Also, if one believes in re-incarnation, then, what one does now, at this moment, becomes tremendously significant and not what lies at the end'.

'Very very interesting, we must continue our conversation another time. Would you like some coffee....' she said.
'Sure - let's go and get some coffee....'

Le Paris Visite....

The train pulled into the Eurostar terminal at Gare du Nord in Central Paris. It was only when I got off the train that I realised that I didn't know a word of French.

Gare du Nord is a station like any other but the architecture of the building is balanced and harmonious. I was to find out later that all architecture in Paris - Opera Garnier, Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Jardin des Tuileries, Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Hotel des Invalides, Basilique du Sacre Coeur, Jardins du Palais Royal, Galaries Lafayette - have the same sense of balance, symmetry, harmony and space - a testimony to a brave attempt of the modern man to create a 'civilised world'.

Le Pyramides forms the entrance to Musee de Louvre which houses the Mona Lisa - 'the most famous painting in the world'. La Gioconda - as the French call the Mona Lisa - is a surprisingly small painting in comparison to its fame or to the gigantic painting on the entire opposite wall "The Wedding Feast" by Paolo Veronese which is truely impressive, magnificent and telling. Le Pyramides Inversee at Carrousel du Louvre is also quite intriguing.

My favourite place in Paris is undoubtedly - Avenue des Champs-Elysee. A bright sunny day, cafe-au-lait with croissants and engaging conversations with Parisian friends truely make Paris a memorable and an unforgettable experience.

The Eurostar Experience....

This was special - as it was my first visit to Paris. And i was travelling by Eurostar. I've always loved travelling by trains and the Eurostar, based on the TGV, is right at the forefront of train technology along with the bullet trains of Japan. All promised to be a great experience....

Arrived at Waterloo International Eurostar Terminal, checked-in, went through customs and everthing was fine, nice & comfortable and before I knew I was sitting in the train looking forward to the roughly 2.5 hours the train journey....

The Eurostar started noiselessly and travelled at a comfortable pace through to Dover - the English countryside was breathtaking in the setting sun. The driver announced that we would enter the Channel Tunnel and would be under for about 20 minutes. Sure enough, 20 mins and a very smooth ride later we emerged from the tunnel on the other side in France.

This was when one got to experience the real speed of the TGV technology and the Eurostar (since the French run their TGV trains on modern tracks unlike their poor English cousins who still live on the old). The neat villages in the tidy French countryside shot past the window and in the the strange light that is there every evening, one couldnt help but feel that one was part of a lovely and beautiful painting....

The Only thing that matters in life is the living of it....