Fix your gaze upon the Light

The lamps are different, but the light is the same;
It comes from beyond.
If you keep looking at the lamp,
Thou are lost.
For thence arises number and plurality.
Fix your gaze upon the Light.

-Maulana Rumi, the great mystic in the Islamic tradition

I came across this wonderful poem at the end of a nice article which started with the question "Why exactly do we celebrate these festivals?", which I asked myself many a times. The article doesn't stop there, but tries to analyse the inner meaning of what a celebration means in context of Diwali, touching the view points of Gandhi, flowing through epics Ramayana and MahaBharata, quoting Kabir and Einstein and ending with en-lighten-ing Rumi's poem, with a concluding statement "Fixing our gaze upon this Light which reveals the unity of all life is the real Diwali."

A Beautiful Mind - John Nash!

Though it has been in my mind for nearly 2 years to watch that, it was finally possible only last sunday. That was a different experience completely. Believe me, it's not an easy film to watch. But once finished watching, I couldn't resist myself from thinking of John Nash or rather his "beautiful mind". I felt that this living man has once more proved the strength of will power of a human mind, even in its abnormalities.

After thinking over it for a while, I didn't feel that his problem "schizophrenia" is so strange. In fact, I felt that many of the "normal" people suffer from it, but in a different manner, may not be to that extent too.
All the fears/tensions that come and go in our daily lives, aren't they manifestations of our own mind only ? Exactly as in Nash's case, as long as one "feels" that they are real, and try to interact with them, they make the life still more miserable. Once it is understood that all these are just the creations of our own mind, one can take the decision to encourage / ignore them. Ofcourse, it needs constant efforts and determination not to pay attention to those illusions, to win over them! But that's worth it. Dont we want our minds beautiful too?

Live simply to let others live !!

It's a slogan of Timbaktu.. As i heard about it for the first time, it is a small school for underprevileged children to mould their lives economically, socially and importantly to be simply human. But there is much more to it, as i have been there quite some times, to know about the place.

Can u think of a place close to nature, a good educational institute, a social awareness center, an environmental protective organisation ?? Timbaktu is all of them put together (still i doubt, there is more to it) !! My love for Timbaktu is for the first two of the above qualities..
As it is situated 5km far from a small village( Chenna kottapalli, Anantapur Dist, A.P.) surrounded by hills, one can have the previleges of being with the nature around, listening to the music of wind instead of motor horns nad mobile tones, watch the mighty stars in dark nights instead of dazzling brightness of lights, feel the seasonal changes around in complete way ! No words to describe the view of sunrises and sets from the hill ! No electricity consumption there, the power comes from the solar plant, for little lights to just show the way in nights. Nights look like nights really !

About the school and children.. The children are very enthusiastic and keen to learn that they induce them to visitors even. Their day starts actively at 5.30 morning. They have classes in languages, basic maths and science in the morning session. The emphasis is more to mode of learning than the matter of learning, which is lacking in most of the modern schools. There is no syllabus as such, but there is a good collection of books in the school. The one in Timbaktu is only upto 7th, and they have one in village till 10th class. One thing i like is, the mode of addressing is akka/anna (sister/brother) by anybody to anybody. The same holds even with the students to teachers or visitors ! Funda of universal brotherhood doesn't limit to just addressing, but extends to real affection !!

Post meals session is for vocational training, in which they learn tailoring, handicrafts, knitiing & embroidery, cycle repairs, farming and others. One has to see the glow in their faces while showing their works to the visitors.. So many little joys! Then the play time in open air. They have got table tennis also recently. Then evening bath, followed by dinner and story session and then to sleep !! How enjoyable it is !!

Every sunday they have a cultural session by children, in which they sing, dance, play some musical instruments and what not.. There is no stage fear in most of them. They know some foreign songs too, which are leant from foriegn visitors due to bubbling enthu to learn something new. I'm stunned when i heard the explanation of movie "Gandhi" while watching, from a timbaktu guy who had just passed his Bachelors , being with Timbaktu.

The people involved to make it possible and striving to make a difference, consists of Phd's from IITs and engineers also.. Too humble and simple when one approaches them. The underlying funda is only one : Live simply to let others live !!

Want to know more about Timbaktu ??? Click http://timbaktu.org/

Death ... how to take it ???

This is a question which raises for everybody atleast once at some point of time ! Sujatha, about whom i was talking in the post Deliver(y)ance, had delivered a boy baby 10 days back, who was very healthy in looks and just resembling his mother. She was very happy for him, though it was an unexpected early delivery. She just had few days for the "attachment" to grow with the little one, for whom she has been awaiting. A day before suddenly, with an unknown disease he deceased.
Everybody knows that death is a common phenomenon, as life is. In daily news, one comes across many of such cases, not just one, but that lies far to heart. Demise of old or ill can be taken, as one will have a clue to think of it and get ready! But if somebody who is closer leaves off unexpectedly forever , how one should take it ? Not philosophically but, practically ... If all this agony is due to the attachment or love, isn't it right for a mother to feel close and love her child ??

For being book tagged ...

Writing this blog with my poor memory is not as easy as to pick up a book to read .. But still, the list goes here ..

Books I own :
Around 50-75, in which Mathematics books dominate the number, they inlcude general math books along with very good text books..

Books taken from others but never given back ;) !!
4 or 5 which i liked very much, so that the giver didn't want to take back from me .. Thanks to Vikrant who is the actual owner of these books ! In a way these come under gifted ones ..

Prize Books :
8- 10 general mathematics books which i wanted to buy even otherwise .. A Mathematician's apology, Story of a number, Mathematical circles, How to solve it are some of them.

Gifted Books :
Thanks again to my good friends who made a good number to my little collection which has all kinds of my likings, ranging from Tyagaraja kritis, Ramakrishna kadhamrita, Shankaracharya's bhasya of Vishnu sahasranama to Zen speaks: shouts of Nothingness, Jonathon Livingston Seagull, Anne Frank : Diary of a young girl , Ignited minds and some math books .. Most of these have added a little more to my life...

Books I like : (feel like reading any number of times ...)
Gitanjali, Sanyasi... many of Tagore's creations have a high impact on me !
The story of my experiences with Truth(The first book i bought), Vivekananda's Bhakti Yoga and In search of God among several others
Telugu :
Kritis of Annamacharya and Tyagaraja, Tiruppavai - Bhasyam by Sribhasyam Appalacharyulu, Amrita Veena by Krishna Sastry

Last book bought :
Road less travelled

Last book owned:
Tottochan (a nice little one)

Books in progress :
Letters to my friend by Tagore, Mathematical circles(both of these were started long ago ...)! Geometry and fourth dimension(may not complete this, though a good one )

Books that make zero sense to me :
Most of these are telugu books, of which i dont even remember the names properly ! thanks to my forgetfulness...

My most treasured books:
Gitanjali

Thanks to Ram who gave pleasure of recollecting all these treasures, though i thought tagging is stupid at first ..

Dream and real Life

How does one differentiate dream and real life ?? If one dies while dreaming in sleep, is there any chance for him to know that it wasn't reality, but a mere dream ?? If one wakes up after death, doesn't life look like dream ??
One may answer like this ... Dreams don't have links among them, in the sense, between y'day's dream and today's dream there may not be any relation at all & one won't be knowing the happenings of the earlier dream in today's dream, where as in life that's not the case, as we do remember what has happened y'day ! That means, when two states are related and latter state knowing about the ealier one, then these two are reals and the in between state is dream and vice-versa... If one agrees to this, after death when one wakes up in a new body, there will be neither apparent relation between the states before n after death nor knowledge of earlier life .. So, is life also a dream ?


(Questions raised while reading "Achanchalam", which means steadyness)

Deliver(y)ance

Sujatha, one of my dear friends is going to welcome a little new-comer very soon. May be this phase is a boon for womankind, though painful physically.
In everything they do, eating, sleeping, talking, walking and what not, there will be a mark of thought for the baby .. Whatever they do is intended for more comfort of the inside one ! The thoughts are fully occupied by the coming one.. One has to see the expression of a would-be mother when she feels the touch of tender limbs from inside .. Many a times i feel it's a nine-month Tapas !
The same stage from the view point of fetus inside ... Will it feel that there is somebody behind the protection and the energy supply which is making it grow day by day ? Does it know that there is a Biiiig world awaiting for it, outside this small little place full of darkness and fluids .. Can it imagine that once it comes out of this womb, it can see and feel the presense of The Mother who had taken care of it right from the beginning and can be along with Her for the remaining part of the life ??
No, i feel ... It doesn't know ! just like we are ignorant of the world of His Infinite Love.