Happy New Year !!!!

Time has come to start life afresh !
Happy New Year :)
Have a Blessed and Beautiful year ahead !

And if you still haven't done an Art Of Living course, don't miss it this year :)
Blessed Blessed 2009 :D
Jai Gurudeva !
MnD :)

Peace Soldiers

Talk by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - 6th December 2008 , Napean Sea Road ,
Mumbai

It is obvious that when the society is attacked, and we lose our near
and dear ones, it causes a lot of sorrow. It also causes fear. But if
we keep reeling in this sorrow and fear, and the anger that comes
along with, then life moves towards the path to perdition. But suppose
we want to channelize this energy and prepare to face this war
bravely, we need to first calm the mind and come to a state of
equanimity.

We need to become `Sam-darshi' (One whose vision is equanimous). At
this Priyadarshini Park, let's all pray for those who have departed,
and let's take a pledge to be `Sam-Darshi', the equanimous one.

Today we are all angry with the politicians, or with our system. Our
police lack the necessary arms and ammunitions. We still find
ourselves stuck with old outdated concepts. Entire Mumbai seems angry.
I would say in one way this is good, that we at least have woken up.
We are no longer ready to take the `Chalta Hain' attitude. For so many
years India has seen terrorist attacks in different places, but for
the first- time the entire community, especially the youth, have woken
up. But I would like to say that changing one person, trading one
minister for another, is not the solution. A new minister swearing
into some position would take 6 months just to understand the whole
system. So we all need to think on how to make our system stronger.
Just by reacting out of anger, and targeting one community in our
anger is fruitless. We cannot blame an entire community for a wrong.

Firstly, we all need to come together and pledge that we shall work
for protecting our country. And let's also resolve to first examine
the qualifications of those who we elect. We need social leaders who
are `Satya-Darshi' (Truthful), `Sam-Darshi' (Equanimous) , and `Door-
Darshi' (Farsighted) . We need to protect our country from those who
manipulate issues for their personal gains and lead by playing `Vote-
Bank' politics.

Secondly, we will resolve to not act out of anger, but instead
channelize our dynamic energy for the betterment of the society. We
will also expose all those who are supporting violence, no matter what
religion they belong to. We will get rid of the mentality which asks
us to protect people from our own religion, or community, even if they
are doing wrong. This is very important. Sometime we protect the
faulty people in our families. We will not do this anymore.

I just returned from Arunachal Pradesh in the morning. We need to send
this message to all our neighboring countries that India is ONE. China
is asking for Arunachal Pradesh, I would like to tell them, "Why are
you just asking for Arunachal Pradesh, ask for the whole of India! We
consider the entire world ours, why are you stuck only with Arunachal
Pradesh then?" We will never allow this separation to happen! We are
not ready to cut one thumb out and give them, but we are ready to give
our entire hand to shake! India is ONE and will remain ONE. We might
have different religions, communities, languages and cultures, but
underneath all this diversity, every Indian is ONE. We need to send
this message to Pakistan, Bangladesh or any other nation. We will not
allow them to play with us anymore.

Today when Mumbai is attacked we all have woken up, but you go to
Assam and see the condition there. 5 districts there are suffering
from continued violence. Lakhs of people had to flee from their houses
and are living in camps. The situation in Assam is completely hand
crafted by politicians. But we never get to see this in our news.
Today, we shall pray for not just the victims of Mumbai alone, but for
the victims of terror and extremism everywhere in India.

We are proponents of Peace, but we also are the descendants of Guru
Gobind Singh. Today, we need `Sant-Sipahi' (The Saint who is a
Soldier). We don't need just saints, we don't need just soldiers, but
people who are both. Every human here shall be a Peace Messenger, and
a Peace Soldier. Peace Soldiers are those who have dynamism and a will
to stop the wrong. Peace Soldiers are those who expose the wrong deeds
and doers in the society, and stand in protest.

Today is Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's anniversary. We all must remember
the good work done by him in starting the movement against `Un-
touchability'. Even today, some villages of India are practicing Un-
touchability. This should be immediately curbed. Nowhere in our
scriptures has un-touchability been advocated. In India, we have a
tradition of worshiping the feet (Paada-Pooja) . In fact in the west
the feet are considered low and un-holy. Washing the feet, worshiping
the feet has always been a sign of reverence in our culture. Just like
the body has different organs, the society has different castes
philosophies and religions. But all of them ultimately represent that
One Divinity. Remember this fact. Never think that our scriptures, our
religion is superficial. There is immense depth in our `Shastras'.
Sometimes we see that there is a huge valley between what is written
in the scriptures and what is seen in our daily practice. Islam, what
it actually says and the way it is practiced today is completely
different. Same goes for the Vedic knowledge.. Our Vedas say that all
humans are one, and yet we see casteism and un-touchability practiced
in places. These practices have no religious significance whatsoever.
This should be stopped.

So we need to bring a wave of social transformation, and each one of
us here will need to take responsibility for the same. Can we all do
it? Raise hands – all those who would like to join hands for this
task. Yes, we all can do it. But one thing we need to remember again
is that we should not act out of anger. When I went to Iraq and met
some ministers there, and told them that by practicing meditation we
can pacify our anger, they requested me to not pacify the anger of
their people! They want their citizens to stay angry till they don't
take their revenge from America. I was shocked! Anger will always lead
you to remorse.

Peace does not mean inaction. We want a revolution, but we want a
Peace Revolution. Mahatma Gandhi advocated Peace, but he did not just
sit back and let injustice happen. Out of peace, he took action. The
essence of entire Geeta is this – Fight with equanimity. Today, this
message of Geeta is applicable to Mumbai. Mahabharata, which happened
5200 years ago, is now repeating itself again. We are again seeing a
`Dharam-Yudha' (A Battle for Religion). And in this battle, all the
nations of the world, except a few, are with us! And even those
nations, which are not with us, it's only select people from those
nations who are not with us.

Their own missiles are now shooting back at them. Let's not make this
mistake ourselves. Whenever I have traveled to Israel, I have been
told by the Jewish leaders there that India is the only nation in the
world where a Jew has never been attacked! India is known for its
tolerance and peace. India is the only nation on the planet, which has
advocated peace and welcomed people from all religions and countries
with arms wide open. But what has happened this time has left us hurt
and wounded. However, we shall not let this stain our spirits – We
shall overcome. Are you all with me?

We will not let go of our culture, our nature – which is peace, which
is non-violence. But with this philosophy of non-violence and peace,
we shall teach such a lesson to all the terrorists, that they will not
even know what hit them!

And I would like to ask all the media and the journalists to pay some
attention towards the North East provinces of India. There is a lot of
violence happening there. Our media does not show these incidents at
all. Each state there is gripped with violence. People are living in
fear. We have completely forgotten those people. They only see Mahatma
Gandhi's name in the currency bills, otherwise there is no reflection
of his principles there.

I would like to say to all the families who have lost their dear ones
that the soul never dies. Those who have departed us have merged with
the divine, and their souls are still with you, with us, with the
entire nation. Hence we should not sit and shed tears for them, for
they are martyrs. Everyone will die, including us. But they have
sacrificed their lives to wake us up and make us realize that others
should not need to suffer, that this should not happen again. Know
that once you drop the body, there is no more suffering to the soul.
However, people who are left behind on the planer suffer for their
loss. Now this sorrow that you might feel should be channelized
properly. Don't go in depression. We are conducting Trauma Relief
Workshops everywhere. All those who saw these attacks, and are
suffering with the traumatic impressions it leaves in the mind, need
to learn pranayams and meditation to flush this negativity out. So
ensure all those who you know are feeling dejected and scared, even
just by seeing these proceedings in TV, attend these Trauma Relief
camps and learn meditation, so that they can once again be filled with
hope, enthusiasm and happiness.

Alright, I recently read up Doctor Faustus (really cool, go ahead read it !) and Aristotle's 'Poetics". Also, Shakespeare's Macbeth (really good !) . All this reading was basically to complete an assignment ( delayed from the deadline by just a couple of weeks ;) ) but I think anybody can read it.Such a post is maybe a bit out of place in here, but "Such Is Life !" :)

Doctor Faustus is one of those dark stories, including supernatural elements.
Macbeth is about a noble warrior whose ambitions to become King lead to his downfall. (It includes a package of three witches too, i didn' like them much :))
In literature we call these both characters as 'tragic heroes'
Basically, this post is for those who are into Literature or who just like collecting some information from here and there and for those who are curious enough to check new things out :) So, read about the tragic hero !!!!

Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology.

About the tragic hero he says :

The tragic hero is a character of noble stature, elevated above the common man because of innate virtues like wisdom and bravery which are evident and appreciated by the audience. The tragic hero essentially commits a wrong act in ignorance or because of lack of proper judgement (hamartia) causing him to undergo a period of degradation till he comes to the realisation of his misdeeds (anagnorisis) which led to his downfall. That is, the character recognizes his flaw and accepts responsibility in bringing himself to his own fall. Thus, a tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to hisr own destruction

The tragic hero has been defined by Aristotle to have certain specific characteristics. For instance, the hero should essentially be of noble birth and he should commit a hamartia. This act of mis-judging and error should lead to the reversal of his fortune in the course of the play (Peripeteia) . Also the tragic hero always recognises that this peripeteia has been brought about by his own error (anagnorisis) but this realisation comes too late for him to avoid the consequences of his mis-deed.
In short, the tragic hero discovers his fate by his own actions(hamartia) and sees and understands(anagnorisis) his doom.

Infact, Hamartia and Anagnorisis are so important that in Aristotle's words, "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall."
And the hero's downfall should arouse pity and terror in the audience eventually resulting to the catharsis of such emotions.
So that the emotions aroused are strong, the hero is often a king or leader of men, so that his people experience his fall with him. The hero is physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, often resulting in his death. Also, importantly, the suffering of the hero is always meaningful.

The tragic hero is neither thoroughly good nor thoroughly evil. Instead, the development of the plot which includes the hero's error, rather than his innate goodness or evil, lead to his tragic downfall.

The audience must feel dramatic irony for the character. The Aristotelian tragic hero dies a tragic death having fallen from great heights and having made an irreversible mistake. The hero must courageously accept their death with honour.

Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus is a famous tragic hero.
A man endowed with intelligence and ambition above the common ground, Doctor Faustus leads himself to his own damnation due to extreme pride and arrogance.

[CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE]

The prologue introduces Dr. Faustus as a man not belonging to noble blood but nevertheless, as a renowed scholar of Theology. He's described as being 'swollen with cunning' pointing to his intellectual capacity and his desires for honour, authority and power which would feed such an intellect. However the prologue also hints at his eventual downfall by comparing his story with Icarus' myth mentioning that one who'll “mount above his reach” will suffer the fate of Icarus, the ambitious son of Daedalus who, using wax wings flew too far, went near the Sun causing his wings to melt and sending him to his own death, as depicted in the followin lines :

‘In heavenly matters of theology;

Till swoln with cunning, of self-conceit,

His waxen wings did mount above his reach,

And, melting, heavens conspir’d his overthrow

For, falling to a devilish exercise’

Faustus' character is established with his first soliloquy in the very first scene. Faustus rejects all subjects he's studied yet such as logic, medicine, law and importantly theology, claiming that he "hast attained [the] end" and mastered these areas. He derives that, because everybody sins, there's “no truth in us” and further, he concludes that there is no reason to believe in a faith where without any option, one faces death. It is evident that Doctor Faustus desires knowledge for the sake of attaining super-human power. He wants to acquire power to make men live eternally and the power to bring the dead back to life. Doctor Faustus rejects the religious teachings as they are based on the recognition of man’s morality and fallibility. He therfore very boldly breaks his bond with religion with the words” Divinity, adieu!”.

[DOCTOR FAUSTUS]
(in the magician's circle with a magic book in his hand and the devil at his command)

Faustus readily sells his soul to to the devil Lucifer and takes up black magic as these are the means which, according to him, will make him a super human. He starts feeding himself with black magic and starts calling spirits of the dead. With the devil Mephistophils as his servant for 24 years, Faustus leads a life full of pleasure and fame. Whatever he could wish for, gets fulfilled through the devil, except for answers to some questions like “who made the world ?“. Such questions are not answered by Mephistophilis ( pointing to the fact that the answer would be “God”). Mephistophilis' reluctance to answer such queries makes Faustus think if he's on the wrong path, but such thinking is strongly discouraged by the devils. Infact, he's even threatened by the chief devil Lucifer that he will have to suffer very heavily if he tries to repent or take the name of God as he sorrowfully says towards th end of the play“[the] Devil threatened to tear me in pieces if I named God “

Anagnorisis is clearly seen as the play approaches it's end with Faustus seen screaming and crying for salvation and repentance, clearly aware that he himself brought this fate on him. For example, he says that the sickness is not due to overeating or over-drinking but to an excess of the heinous sin which will now bring about the damnation of both his “soul and body.”
He shows the recognition of his sin and guilt saying that God can never forgive him for the sins he has commited. He mentions that ” the serpent that tempted Eve may be saved” “but Faustus' offences can never be pardoned.” He can clearly see his folly in seeking fame and power in the world when he could have gained “Heaven, the seat of God, the throne of the blessed, the kingdom of joy” and is now overwhelmed with fear and sorrow thinking of “what shall become of Faustus, being in hell for ever?”

At this moment the audience are led to hugely sympathise with Doctor Faustus as he realises the happiness and joy which could have been achieved if he had followed the path of righteousness. The character of Faustus portrays a vast amount of sinful desires and feelings embodied in the form of devils that will not allow him to repent. Towards the end, Doctor Faustus strongly believes that his soul must live for ever and that he endures the tortures of hell due to his deliberate transgression and abuse of his capacities. Hence, the tragedy of Doctor Faustus in a way can be seen as a book advising people to uphold righteousness in action and thought.

The character of Macbeth by Shakespeare is a classic example of a tragic hero.

[ SHAKESPEARE]

The play negins with Macbeth and Banquo returning toScotland, victorious
from a fierce battle between the Norwegians and the Scottish.
They have won the war for Duncan, the king of Scotland, an able ruler and a good friend to Macbeth..This shows a noble virtue of Macbeth, that he is loyal to the King and that\ is a great warrior.

However, the tragedy moves on to show the degeneration of all positive qualities of Macbeth as various factors contribute to this peripeteia.
The first main reason is undenialbly the prophecies by the three witches, who hail him as the thane of Glamis and Cawdor and as the future King of Scotland ! When immediately after these prophecies, Macbeth receives the news that he'd indeed been made the thane of Cawdor, he becomes curious about his future, and the possibility of becoming the King. However, his virtues are not lost since it's more of a curiosit than an ambition and his respect for King Duncan is undisputed.

As this prophecy reaches Lady Macbeth, who is clearly interested in becoming the Scottish Queen, Macbeth is manipulated by her into murdering Duncan to attain the throne. This susceptibility to the wrong ideas of somebody coms up s a major flaw in Macbeth's character, another major flaw being his fierce ambition, a trait which becomes more and more prominent as the play progresses.

After commiting the murder, Macbeth's repentance is great. He is “afraid to think what I [he] have [has] done “ and is in deep depression when again manipulated by Lady Macbeth's words he gets back to his normal self.

However, from this point it can be noted how Macbeth's character degenerates from a noble man to violent individual since after the first murder, and his repentance over it, Macbeth is seen as much more harsh than before as he goes on to murder even Banquo besides attempting murder on all possible successors to the throne. This new

character of Macbeth contained greed, violence, and hunger for power.

Importantly it should be noted that Macbeth as a tragic hero has deep awareness of the wrong he is doing. He is caught in a paradox of knowing that to murder someone, and that too a good King is a huge sin but he also realises his apparent helplessness in teh matter as his compels him to secure the throne for himself. He compares the extreme mental sufferings he faces due to his errors as ‘scorpions in my [his] mind’

[MACBETH AT WAR]

Macbeth's tragedy involves free will, the exercise of which only leads him to his doom and that too knowingly ! Macbeth thus seems a victim of circumstances. Just as the third prophecy comes true Macbeth becomes obsessed with his throne. He does not care if he loses his life, friends or family because the throne remains the centre of all his concern. Macbeth constantly sees that he's on the wrong path but doesn't do anything to avoid his awaiting doom, which is clear even to him.

He loses his peace of mind, murders his own friends and redces from a noble, brave man to one forever disturbed,

Macbeth knows of his ultimate failure but he takes the challenge to fight till end and this declares him as a a hero. A revival of his bravery is seen as he accepts to fight with Macduff and Fleance despite clearly knowing that he would die in the end, as was indicated by the witches, It is evident that he will fight to his death. Thus through his error in judging the right, perepeteia and finally, the anagnorisis, Shakepeare's Macbeth stands out as a powerful tragic hero.

Hence we can see how, using tragic heroes like Doctor Faustus and Macbeth, and by arousing emotions like pity and fear through their stories, tragedy allows for the catharsis or purging of these very 'unhealthy' emotions to leave the audience with a cleansed mind and conscience.

Letter from a mouse thats learning to roar!

Let's all get together in this hour of terror and violence to show that India is still a nation of Peace and Prosperity, Love, Harmony and Spirituality. Together we pray and stand up as One, Brave soldiers of Peace in our Beautiful Motherland. with the firm belief tha our energy, intellect and strength will bring us Victory !

Vande Mataram,
Jai Hind,
Jai Gurudeva.

And, btw, I got this in the mail today :)
[photo of this cute mouse cut n pasted from Bawa's blog ~ my favourite blog :) do check that out bawandinesh.name ]

Dear Mr. Prime minister

I am a typical mouse from Mumbai. In the local train compartment which has capacity of 100 persons, I travel with 500 more mouse. Mouse at least squeak but we don’t even do that.

Today I heard your speech. In which you said ‘NO BODY WOULD BE SPARED’.

I would like to remind you that fourteen years has passed since serial bomb blast in Mumbai took place. Dawood was the main conspirator. Till today he is not caught. All our bollywood actors, our builders, our Gutka king meets him but your Government can not catch him. Reason is simple; all your ministers are hand in glove with him. If any attempt is made to catch him everybody will be exposed. Your statement ‘NOBODY WOULD BE SPARED’ is nothing but a cruel joke on this unfortunate people of India.

Enough is enough. As such after seeing terrorist attack carried out by about a dozen young boys I realize that if same thing continues days are not away when terrorist will attack by air, destroy our nuclear reactor and there will be one more Hiroshima.

We the people are left with only one mantra. Womb to Bomb to Tomb. You promised Mumbaikar Shanghai what you have given us is Jalianwala Baug.

Today only your home minister resigned. What took you so long to kick out this joker? Only reason was that he was loyal to Gandhi family. Loyalty to Gandhi family is more important than blood of innocent people, isn’t it?

I am born and bought up in Mumbai for last fifty eight years. Believe me corruption in Maharashtra is worse than that in Bihar. Look at all the politician, Sharad Pawar, Chagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane, Bal Thackray, Gopinath Munde, Raj Thackray, Vilasrao Deshmukh all are rolling in money.

Vilasrao Deshmukh is one of the worst Chief minister I have seen. His only business is to increase the FSI every other day, make money and send it to Delhi so Congress can fight next election. Now the clown has found new way and will increase FSI for fisherman so they can build concrete house right on sea shore. Next time terrorist can comfortably live in those house, enjoy the beauty of sea and then attack the Mumbai at their will.

Recently I had to purchase house in Mumbai. I met about two dozen builders.

Everybody wanted about 30% in black. A common person like me knows this and with all your intelligent agency & CBI you and your finance minister are not aware of it. Where all the black money goes? To the underworld isn’t it? Our politicians take help of these goondas to vacate people by force. I myself was victim of it. If you have time please come to me, I will tell you everything.

If this has been land of fools, idiots then I would not have ever cared to write you this letter. Just see the tragedy, on one side we are reaching moon, people are so intelligent and on other side you politician has converted nectar into deadly poison. I am everything Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Schedule caste, OBC, Muslim OBC, Christian Schedule caste, Creamy Schedule caste only what I am not is INDIAN. You politician have raped every part of mother India by your policy of divide and rule.

Take example of former president Abdul Kalam. Such a intelligent person, such a fine human being. You politician didn’t even spare him. Your party along with opposition joined the hands, because politician feels they are supreme and there is no place for good person.

Dear Mr Prime minister you are one of the most intelligent person, most learned person. Just wake up, be a real SARDAR!!

First and foremost expose all selfish politician. Ask Swiss bank to give name of all Indian account holder. Give reins of CBI to independent agency. Let them find wolf among us. There will be political upheaval but that will better than dance of death which we are witnessing every day. Just give us ambient where we can work honestly and without fear. Let there be rule of law.

Everything else will be taken care of.

Choice is yours Mr. Prime Minister. Do you want to be lead by one person or you want to lead the nation of 100 Crore people?

Prakash B. Bajaj
Chandralok ‘A” Wing, Flat No 104
97 Nepean Sea Road
Mumbai 400 036

Lakshya

After the hustle-bustle, meetings, training sessions, FUN, enthusiasm of the UTSAV preparation days, this total absence of any such activity is over-whelmingly strange. A certain inertia seems to be permeationg in all that i do... and the inertia's origin I can trace to the absence of 'a lot of work'. Studies (Oh ! I forgot that in its verb form ! ) don't come easy ( though i can be a total nerd when i be the total nerd ;)). Eating, sleeping patterns have changed... All day i just feel like sitting around and (hopefully) watching movies.


A new IMP lesson to be learnt - while doing Sewa, we really should remember that there was life before and there will be life beyond the Event :) Giving our 100% is really necessary, infact things in Art Of Living don't work without that, but ultimately, looking at all these events and activities in the Big Bigger... context is also necessary.
It all changes, everything comes and goes, this will also pass. It all passes and becomes a dream.
We JUST cannot hold onto anything ! What a mystery ! What a Wonder :D


Btw, I just saw the Hrithik Roshan-Preity Zinta starrer 'Lakshya' ( I know I'm REALLY late!)
AMAZINGGGGGGGGG :D


This beautiful movie invokes deep respect for our soldiers (or any soldier). It really makes you realise that yes, if these guys wouldn't have been alert 24*7, the one billion ppl in India wouldn't have been able to smile. The Music, landscape, dialogues all is really cool :)
hmmm, let's all take a minute out to thank and bless our Brave Soldiers from our heart and be proud of all that they do, all their sacrifices, all their bravery :)
And don't miss the movie if you already haven't seen it !!!!
Jai Hind.
:)
Jai Gurudeva !

UTSAV !!!!

UTSAV (Delhi) 2008

It was in the air... "Delhi is having an UTSAV"
Crisp excited crackle followed.
Interviews, training sessions, meetings, assigning of responsibilities...
And we had the UTSAV volunteer team ready.
Intro talks, training sessions, MISTAKES (so many !), Lessons for Life, Anticipation, Enthusiasm, Masti ;)
Passing through phases of total excitement to absolute boredom the team reached the Beautiful state of Pure Commitment.

Brahm Naad + PDS + UTSAV... It had to be Life changing.
Few days before the Event everything started to change.
UTSAV (celebration !) could be felt in the air, the littlest of activities were automatically done with zest and perfection.
Faces of all volunteers suddenly looked calm and smiling, the commitment reached a new and unseen stage, nobody needed anymore encouragement.
All were motivated. We had no clue what was to happen but the happiness was just too Beautiful to be analysed and everyone reposed in it.

And Finally The DAY came :D
Bawa looking brilliant in a beautiful blue kurta (alliteration!) and Dinesh bhaiya- a smiling elegant figure in white..
4,620 youth in the audience, a refreshing breeze, a glorious yet gentle sun and a cool pleasant weather.



Vajrasana (the ultimate source of pain for first timers) and Pranayams were followed by 4,620 x 3 Omkars (!!!!) - a splendid experience.
Then, the Sudarsan Kriya happened.
Smiles and smiles and more smiles all around :) :) :)
By the third day Bawandinesh's fan following had included 4500+ youth - some participants very cutely called Bawa n Dinesh also Gurujis (Ye wale Guruji, Vo wale Guruji !) and Bawa had to clarify that Only the man with the beard is Our Guruji :D

And on the third day, The Man with the Beard actually came onstage :D
His Holiness looked so Beautiful, the stage appeared a Heaven...
Guruji answered questions and acknowledged experiences from the audience with His Divine Voice and Infinite Love - an unforgettable session...



Bawa's question answer session followed - the funniest and most witty thing going :D
The youth were really DONE for ;D

Last day, the UTSAV was taken by Atika didi, a different flavour and a really cute one at that :)
A ROCKING Satsang concluded the Event (the conclusion of the Satsang was however very much extended bacause of the untiring energy of the participants!)
and everybody had lost themselves to the Music :D
All participants were smiling and glorious like the Sun and that was the Best experience i've ever had... to see thousands of youth Happy Just 'cause the are Happy :D
In Bawa's words... Life had changed from a pursuit of happiness to an Expression Of Happiness :D
Thankyou Bawa and Dinesh bhaiya :D
Celebrations forever :D
Loads of Love :D
Jai Gurudeva !!!!

Promise :)

Promise

PROMISE
If I had to promise you something, what would it be?

I can’t promise that you would always be comfortable…
Because comfort brings boredom and discomfort.

I can’t promise that all your desires will be fulfilled…
Because desires whether fulfilled or unfulfilled bring frustration.

I can’t promise that there will always be good times…
Because it is the tough times that make us appreciate joy.

I can’t promise that we will be rich or famous or powerful…
Because they can all be pathways to misery.

I can’t promise that we will always be together…
Because it is separation that makes togetherness so wonderful.

Yet if you are willing to walk with me,
If you are willing to value love over everything else ~

I promise that this will be the most rich and fulfilling life possible.
I promise your life will be an eternal celebration,
I promise you I will cherish you more than a king cherishes his crown,
And I shall love you more than a mother loves her newborn.

If you are willing to walk into my arms,
If you are willing to live in my heart,
You will find the one you have waited forever….
You will meet yourself in my arms…
I promise.

Guruji's poem for all of us :D