Two to Tango 2008

When your college farewell starts getting close, It's natural to suddenly remember all ya Good Ol' Days ...  and you start feeling nostalgic.
I am no exception to this phenomenon. So one day, I suddenly decide to compile my most memorable performances executed during my graduation years.

What better order to follow than the chronological order itself? So lemme begin from the very beginning :-)




Video Description:
Me and my friend perform the "WINNING" performance at our college Two2tango competition. It's one of those full of awesomeness videos :)
Most people would love it ! 

This puppet dance was prepared and executed by me and R D (Roopak). The complete practice was completed in less than two days. Of course we had seniors of the likes of Piyush Arora and Ashray to help us. 1st year, 1st semester, It was such a Fun time. Now that I think about it, those were the days! 

    

IIIT-Hyderabad Felicity

IIIT, Hyderabad – a place with absolute geeky demographics. The students here are smart and so is the faculty. The sheer energy level of us IIITians may well hold the key to the next leap in human evolution. But as the saying goes – “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” IIITians are anything but dull. One of the single most prominent reasons in us not being dull is Our Felicity.







This video was prepared as a promo for Felicity-2k10 by us – me and Shashank (lambai). Although this video is quite old, but the spirit of Felicity is not. With each passing year, our felicity keeps getting bigger and better. Every time with a new theme and new talent to showcase. And so I pray, may remain the scene for decades to come. Amen!
So come, let’s celebrate together.

You did not even say goodbye

अलविदा भी न कहा

तुम्हारी गाड़ी के चालु होने की आवाज़ से मेरी दोपहर की नींद टूटी. मै उत्साहपूर्वक गाड़ी में कूद पड़ा - इस अपेक्षा से कि आज फिर कहीं दूर कि सैर पर चलेंगे.

उस रोज़ रास्ते कि हर गंघ मेरे लिए नई जान पड़ती थी - जैसे उन में भी किसी रहस्य का तत्व हो. 

गाड़ी से उतरा तो संपूर्ण भूभाग में नवता पायी. उस पर से तुम्हारे करो के बीच मुझे मेरा प्रिय खिलौना दीख पड़ा.

मै प्रफुल्लित हो तुमसे लिपट गया.

तुमने फेंका और मै झट दबोच लाया. तुमने और दूर फेंका, मै फिर से ले आया.

तुम्हे यह ज्ञात था कि यह मेरा पसंदीदा खेल है. पर आने वाली परिस्थिती से मै अज्ञात था.

इस बार तुमने पूरी जान से मेरी फ्रिस्बी को दूर - बहुत दूर फ़ेंक दिया.

मै पूरे आवेग से दौड़ा, किन्तु अपनी फ्रिस्बी को मुह में दबोच कर जब पलटा तो दृश्य को बेहद भयावना पाया.

बात को समझ पाने की कशमकश में अपने खिलौने को मैंने और जोर से जकड़ लिया.

क्या गलती हुई मुझसे? क्यूँ तोड़ रहे हो तुम मुझसे अपना सम्बन्ध? 

क्यूँ ऐसा कि तुम हो कुलीन और मै तुम्हारे अधीन?

मेरे आतंकित मन और भयवश थरथराते तन कि तुमने कोई परवाह न की. 

अपनी गाड़ी लेकर तुम गायब हो गए शाम कि उस गोधुली में.

मुझे पीछे छोड़ गए एक निर्जान खिलौने के सहारे. बैठा रहा मै टकटकी लगाये, पूरी निष्ठा से, तुम्हारे इंतज़ार में.

मेरे पीछे का सूर्य क्षीण हो चला और संपूर्ण परिवेश गहरा गया.

दिन ढलते गए, शामें जाती रहीं. तुम्हारे इंतज़ार में मै वहीं पड़ा रहा.

तुम्हे ताकते - ताकते बस ये ही सोचता रहा -  हमारे धवल सम्बन्ध का इतना धूमिल अंत क्यूँ?

अपनी आखिरी सांस के साथ मैंने अंतिम बार तुम्हारा नाम लिया और अपनी वेदना से वहीँ ढेर हो गया.

क्यूँ तुमने मुझे न चाहा मालिक? क्यूँ न कि मेरी परवाह?

क्या मै तुम्हारे लिए बस एक झबरीले बालो वाली लार टपकाती वस्तु था?

मै वहीं पर पड़ा रहा मालिक तुम्हारे इंतज़ार में, पर शायद मेरा ख़याल रखना तुम्हारे लिए बोझ था.

अब मै नही हूँ मालिक, अब हम भी नही बचे - मै और तुम.

पर अब भी बचा है एक प्रशन - क्यूँ तुमने एक बार अलविदा भी न कहा?


Inspired from a popular English poem - http://jaagruti.org/2011/10/03/an-abandoned-pet-you-didnt-even-say-goodbye/ 

Love is the Best Fuel

If life is a journey, and the human being is the vehicle, then the best fuel for a successful completion of this journey is love. When we substitute some other emotion and make it our central core, our fuel, the vehicle obviously cannot perform as well as it should. The journey is then no longer smooth, but jumpy, noisy, bouncy, uncomfortable, prone to frequent breakdowns and constantly needing help from others to set it right.
Love is available in plenty; it is unlikely to be depleted. Every human being is a source of this fuel called love. We are capable of producing love 24 hours a day, endlessly. Love is our natural state.

Love works slowly as compared to its opposite emotions, namely fear and hate. Though love is natural, hate and fear come to us much more easily. If you want to get a group of people together for a common cause and under a common banner, love for something might take you years to unite them. Hate and fear can work in a matter of minutes. Hence the natural enemies of love are much more powerful and appealing to us. Love appeals to the true being of soul, while the mind thrives on hate and fear, more than love.
Why does fear predominate, when we all know that love is the true fuel of life? This is where the mind comes in. Our true being or spirit thrives only on love. But between spirit and body is another important entity- the mind. The control of our lives, instead of being in the hands of our spirit, has been taken over by the mind. And the mind is complex. It is logical and illogical, rational and irrational, good and bad, loving and hating, giving and grabbing, killing and rescuing, full of hope and help, while also filled hopelessness and helplessness. Mind is a paradox, unpredictable with its own way of functioning. It is volatile and restless; yet, it constantly seeks peace, stillness and stability.
To be with the mind means to live our lives like a roller coaster ride. Up and down, side to side, in and out – the ride goes on. The stability and stillness that we seek in our lives, the rest and relaxation that we crave for, the peace and calmness that we desperately need, are not to be found in the arena of the mind. If they are found, they will come coupled with their respective opposites. This is the duality of life. Duality is always of the mind. The spirit or soul is always one. And it needs only one fuel- LOVE.
One cannot get love without first giving love. That is the law of nature. In existence, giving comes before receiving, sowing come before reaping. But we are unaware of this. We seek and hope to receive without wanting to give. So, the first step, which is totally in our hands, is to give love. And then we will receive love not as much as we want or as much as we have given, but a thousand times more. The Universe is ready and waiting to flood us with love. But it needs us only to take the first small step of giving. The Buddha used to say to his disciples, “If you knew the power of giving, you would not have a single meal in your life without first sharing it with someone.”

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-29/edit-page/29716324_1_love-works-fuel-journey

Feeling Content

Have you ever longed for a satisfying and peaceful life? What is it that’s required for feeling content? A person needs to be happy so as to lead a peaceful and content life. But what exactly is this Happiness? Nothing describes it better than the following quote:

Happiness is like a butterfly

The more you chase it, the more it will elude you.

But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.

All that matters is your attitude towards life. The key in being happy is to feel content by embracing a positive attitude. Although it is not easy to take everything that comes your way in a positive sense but to achieve this feat, it is important not to be afraid of the doubts and queries that we face constantly. That is coz there’s always something that we may learn.

In this post, I have listed out 4 self realizations and 4 learning that were made through the study of Shri Yogavashitam. I strongly believe that these self-realizations combined with the learning from the sacred texts of Yogavashishtam can help in leading a satisfying and peaceful life.

The Self-Realizations:

1.       Remain close to nature. When we feel connected to the nature, when we become a part of nature, we feel immense contentment. It is important to appreciate the beauty of lush green hills, soaring mountain peaks, vast expanse of the sea, the chirping of birds and the fondness of animals. Personally, I have always been close to nature. Not only do I enjoy the company of birds and animals, but I can feel that they also enjoy my company. I enjoy feeding pigeons, caressing dogs, watching squirrels, loving cows and other such activities. Moreover, the serenity of mountains, valleys, green vegetation and other such beautiful sceneries fill my heart and soul with joy.

2.       Don’t get too attached.  Getting too much attached to something or someone, living or dead, tangible or intangible, human or animal, male or female (or ... :P ), your own or someone else’s, is the single most severe reason that drains the satisfaction and contentment from a person’s life. The thoughts that ‘stick’ to our mind and don’t let go are the principle cause of attachment. These sticky thoughts – known as our vasnaas ( vasan is a Sanskrit root meaning sticky) are something we should all try to keep at bay. But it is easier said than done. Thus for a beginner, the first step in this direction would be to not get attached to whatever we do. This in turn controls the intensity and duration of our smriti (loosely related to memory). It is noteworthy that without smriti, there can’t be vasnaa and getting attached to something makes it very difficult for us to forget it.

3.       Put your heart and soul in the work you do. This is the most essential thing required for leading a satisfying life. It was once pointed out by Steve Jobs - “It is because our work is going to fill a large part of our life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” It should be made clear that putting your heart and soul in the work we do is about getting fully involved and engrossed in your work. It is different from getting attached. Thus we must learn to put a mammoth effort in the work we do without getting attached to it. It is important to maintain this delegate balance and avoid crossing the line of involvement – attachment.

4.       Be aware of death. This is another important aspect involved in being content. The best way to do this is to look in the mirror every morning and ask yourself – “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” This is actually a very effective way of being satisfied. It is because remembering that I will be dead soon is the most important thing to make the big choices in life, because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. Following this approach empowers a person to follow his own heart.

These are the conclusions that I have made after learning about the ideas of Shri Yogavasishtam. These self-realizations have dawned upon me as a result of learning through the course in part and also through self introspection. So as to conclude, I would like to cite the following important ideas of the sacred text, remembering and understanding which can pave the way to lead a truly satisfying and peaceful life. So as to maintain the originality of the teachings, I have tried to cite them ‘as-it-is’ in their original form and tense.

The Learning:

• World is a reflected manifestation of Brahman in the mirror of mind with all the three (Brahman, World, Mind) being in Brahman. Brahman is non-dual. But the world displays multiplicity. Due to this we can’t live in the world without duality. But sticking with duality will not allow us to be aware of the nitya. Thus the solution is to be a dvaitiya when we are in the world and be an advaitiya when we are with ourselves.
• Great Doer (Maha Kartaa): is the one who performs actions as they occur to him without any hesitation or doubts. Although this doesn’t mean he/she has the freedom to do anything. He must conduct himself appropriately in this transient world.
• Great Enjoyer (Maha Bhoktaa): One who does not hate anything, does not desire anything but enjoys all there is available in current, is known as great enjoyer. If we become a great enjoyer, then everything pleases us.
• Great Renouncer: One who rejects in his mind: happiness-unhappiness, birth-death, sweet-bitter, all desires, all doubts, all rewards, motivated efforts and all determinations (Sankalpa).

Thus it all boils down to this –

Becoming a great enjoyer, a great doer and a great renouncer will result us in leading a content and peaceful life.

Refrences: The sacred texts of shri Yogavashishtam and Steve Jobs speech at Stanford

Aarogya

Note : The following content is more relevant for the people of my institute - IIIT, Hyderabad.

If you or anyone among your neighbors recently felt a need to seek a doctor’s advice, you must be aware of the health center facility viz. Aarogyaa which has been functional for more than two months now. The word aarogyaa literally means being ‘disease-free’. Providing a doctor for consultation when a person is sick is necessary but insufficient for being aarogyaa. Keeping this in mind, the health center has come to offer many Naturopathy services on a no-profit basis. Our yogachaarya Vinayak ji was visibly excited when we inquired about the health center. He told that the idea of dirt being the root cause of disease is the basis of naturopathy. Disease is caused by the dirt in our body, activities and mind. Naturopathy cures through cleansing us off this dirt. Rejuvenation and treatment services that are currently offered include body massage, hair massage, sauna bath, mud bath, steam bath, etc. With the aim of gauging the quality of services being currently offered, I decided to try out a full body massage session. All you need to do is to tell your hostel guard and you can then fix an appointment for yourself at a time that suits you. One thing that I could tell after the massage is that it certainly feels good. Yuktahaar staff has undergone proper training for offering these therapies. Separate women employees are available for catering to the ladies. In addition to a full body massage, I was offered a partial mud-bath session as a complimentary service which was rejuvenating but messy for obvious reasons. A decent kitchen-garden is also being maintained at the back side of the health center. Homegrown and self prepared medicines from turmeric, jaggery, amla etc are prepared at the center. When asked about the infrastructure costs that were incurred in setting up this facility, Vinayak ji proudly said that he believed in the concept of Kabaad se Jugaad. I would encourage the readers to visit the health center and see for themselves what he actually meant by this.

Don't Quit

• Don't quit when the tide is lowest,

For it's just about to turn;

• Don't Quit over doubts and questions,

For there's something you may learn.

• Don't quit when the night is darkest,

For it's just a while 'til dawn;

• Don't quit when you've run the farthest,

For the race is almost won.

• Don't quit when the hill is steepest,

For your goal is almost nigh;

• Don't quit, for you're not a failure

Until you fail to try.

Source : http://www.indianchild.com/dont_quit.htm