A different flavour of life

It’s raining! ‘Has some yagna got over?’, a thought came to my mind. India has won the world cup!

What better could be my first day back in my hometown (I feel better calling it just my birth town now).

Landed at Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi at 11 pm last night. The moment I stepped out of the plane, I could sense the difference. There was a different kind of smell. For the first time I could understand what all those emotionally patriotic poets meant by ‘meri mitti ki khushboo’. It was really nice.

Fortunately and unexpectedly, the temperature was just 26 degree Celsius. It was cold enough for me to keep the windows of the PRTC bus (govt. bus from Delhi to Patiala) close which used to get opened again and again by themselves.

I knew it will take me 5 hours from Delhi to Patiala, but it was a really difficult fact to digest. Every time my co passenger used to tell me that so much distance is still left, I used to tell him, ‘No no, it’s not all that far …see we already have reached blah blah place..’

I listened to all the bhajans, songs and chanting I had in my phone till my senses of listening reached saturation point. , but still 5 hours were not getting passed.

6:30 in the morning I had a sigh of relief as I reached Patiala. Felt really nice to see all those shops homes and streets on the way back home with my dad on our old Bajaj Chetak scooter.

Awareness levels dropped to negatives, I was looking for the nearest bed after finishing kriya. I slept in daytime!! May be for the second time in my life after I grew up (so called).

I don’t know why but generally I can’t sleep after sunrise and before sunset irrespective of my schedule. May be I am a ‘Jadu’(refer to Hrithik Roshan’s movie Koi Mil Gaya for details) who gets energy from the sun :) :P :)

Anyways even today my sleep didn’t last long.

 Then the match started. Watched it intermittently while reading a novel. For reasons unknown, I have lost my interest in cricket.

Finally the winning moment was there when I was proudly telling my dad, “Do you know both these teams have done AOL courses and Dhoni was there in ashrama few days back.”. Anyway my dad seemed indifferent to it.

And soon there was a lot of noise, shouting and howling – the Punjabi’s trademark way of celebrating. Youths on the roads were shouting again and again only a single word – “Hoyee…”. I bet no Punjabi scholar can tell the meaning of this word. :) Perhaps it’s not a word, it’s just a sound which comes out for the expression of the Desi Punjabi Joy!

As the team India lifted the world cup trophy, it started raining here. ‘Has some yagna got over?’ , a thought came to my mind. India has won the world cup!

Love,

Hoyeee….

Balle Balle..!

Jaigurudev

 ਪਰਵੀਨ (Parveen in Punjabi)

ps: Manavathe part2 is delayed because of some unavoidable circumstances.. Coming soon..

The journey begins - Manavathe - I

“again and again our experience has been that whenever we give first priority to Seva life has been so much fun and it just keeps following us wherever we go.”

                                                                                                            ….. Rashmin bhaiya

Three consecutive weeks of office bunk, khadoos Team lead, swiping out every night at 11 pm, 5 hours of sleep every day, mandatory maintenance of cleanliness in house:), government officials of colleges and KSRTC buses. But undoubtedly these were the best days of my life since I passed the age of 12. These few days with caring like mom, Manisha di, the sweetest sister on this earth, Dhara di (She seems to me like comic charchter ‘Pinki’ :)), a superb mentor Kapil bhaiya (I wish I have him as my boss in office too) and a person who could understand me without my words, Ramya di, I lived my LIFE to the fullest.

The list actually doesn’t end here. There are some more angels who filled my life with amazement and joy.

This is a guy, staying with whom for more than an hour may be hazardous for your health. You may get a heart attack because of over flow of blood circulation due to excessive laughter. Every second minute with him, you will find yourself rolling on the floor. Yes, this is Rashmin bhaiya. :)

Then, there was a Punjabi messed up with south Indians:). We call him DD (Deepak Duggal in short) in Punjab. I can’t resist sharing an incident with him. In south India, there is a ritual that people give lemon to the guest as a symbol of protection from Buri Nazar. So, on the last day of a course, in a college, there was a felicitation function organized. Principal of the college came on stage and gave a lemon to DD bhaiya. DD bhaiya astonished by the act replied, “Sir, I am not hungry.” Lol :)

And also, I met a gujju teacher here whose face resembled my childhood crush(5^th class to 10^th class:)), divine Shruti didi. Really spent a great time with her.

The naughtiness of Ram bhaiya, coooooooooolness of Kapil bhaiya and facilitation by Sandeep bhaiya (in various ways) made Danavathe (as called by my deity) such an enjoyable and fun filled journey.

These few days of seva and the divine company took me to a different level of awareness.

 I still can’t believe that I could remember so many things and manage them all. I was so poor in remembering people and now unbelievably I still remember the contact number of a college coordinator! Its 9480155155! :)

And all this HAPPENED without even taking a single leave from office.

One sentence of Rashmin bhaiya which really clicked to me is that “AOL is all about making yourself available at right time, at right place. Rest all is happening.”

And that’s all what I did – making myself available. Rest all was the grace of these divine souls.

Thanks a lot, lot, lot to all the teachers for giving me the privilege to enjoy your company - Sachin bhaiya(official inaugurator of Mysore manavathe courses :)), sweet Piyu di, Chaitra di (Great news! We found one more young teacher in Mysore!), Himani di (a volunteer in my first Yes!+, those unforgettable moments:)), Rohan bhaiya(head volunteer of Yes!+ Mysore, now a teacher:)), the sweet and polite Shailaja di(came all the way from Orrisa), Archana di (the humblest scientist of India :)), Gautam bhaiya (a basic course teacher, now choicelesly converted to YES!+ teacher:)) and last but not the least Khushboo di(came all the way from Bombay even with a fractured foot).

And I wish have a photography workshop with Abhiram bhaiya soon in Mysore.

A sincere request to all the teachers:

Mehran waleya saiyan rakin charna de kol (a line from Gurbani – holy scriptures of sikh religion)

(O graceful lord, keep me near your feet (under your grace))…

Love,

Mony baba

(Rashmin bhaiya named me so, as I keep silent mostly.. )

Manavathe – part 2 coming soon….