SOULspace

The place we are born in, the people we are born with, the bed, the linen, the food. The size of things, the manner of doing things, who we do it with, how we do things...nothing is permanent, everything is transient. Just climb into your own personal glider, fly high, right there above those pointy trees, towards that clearing and look down...at yourself. Are you where you want to be, how was the journey? Where do you want to go from here, how far away, or near? Thoughts float into me, as I stare at my daughter's feet. This foot I hold was so tiny at one time, just as big as my forefinger...maybe smaller. Did I imagine it would grow to this size when I held that frail little thing clumsily in my hand. I know she would grow, but how did it happen? In fleeting moments, as fast as the beating heart In creeping minutes that I painfully felt... Time is transient Nothing is permanent Change is inevitable Change happens every minute, and we dont even know it happens at t...

  Couldn't resist just snapping some pics of Rangoli's outside the door. This was sneakily done, I should have done it more boldly, walked up and down the apartment, but I got shy, and then I was worried I would be asked to come in. Somehow, though I have lived in the Airforce for so many years, I am not used to this walking in and "bouncing" people culture. Which is just that, you bounce people unannounced!! But surely on Diwali night, doors are thrown open; but I had another excuse...I had walked out impulsively, and was not dressed properly!! My daughter and her friend too tried their hand at Rangoli indoors, so thats their artwork; indoors, as it was too windy to do this outside the door. Good effort right?!!  

September30th created a meeting I will not forget. When you meet someone after 15 odd years and then continue the conversation like there was no interim, then you really understand the meaning behind the words; Life's ebbs and flows. So smoothly did we hit it off, like we have kept in touch for all this time. We dwelled on the past, our journey, our shared tales and of course new stories that has created who we are now. I am lucky she did decide to come for this Confluence of storytellers held on the outskirts of Bangalore; with uncertainty over what an educator would do in a gathering for tellers.... But the informality and the openness of the tellers gathered, made it easier. Thats one story The other is the East and West meet, briefly I stayed to interact with people from the Eastern mountains of Sikkim, and the blue mountains of Nilgiri mountains. A story wove us through a Treasure Hunt, beautifully created by Salil Mukhia( along with Ba...

Driving back home one evening, after a long day at work; a deep breath to inhale the wonderful earthy smell of Bangalore. Sometimes the beauty of this place makes me send up a silent prayer for all that we have and have been given. It takes me back to other places and other smells, fragrances, feelings, thoughts and oh so seemingly tangible memories. My throat swells with emotion as I write this....we leave our past behind, yes otherwise there is no moving forward, but sometimes when I visit those spots, those spaces, i feel comforted. After all who I am is a whole bunch of memories!! Incense, agarbhati and dhoop....any Tam Bram household you know wakes up to these smells. Mine was no different. The pooja room with its distinct odour, morning and evening wafting its gentle fragrance into the house. Now we have Aroma Therapy, but back then, that was a part of our daily routine. I do it now too...light agarbhati morning and evening, and I swear when I come back home the first sme...

I was reading Robin Sharma yesterday, and every page is a gem. This one is called "Who will cry when you die". The way in which it landed in my hands is a short story!. There is a store-in-charge cum assistant in the library I work for. Smart, diligent girl, but lack of exposure has given her a language handicap. Dusting the shelves she chanced upon this book and the title was irresistible for her. So she promptly plonked the book in my hand with a desire to have me do Bhaashan on it and in that way as they say in Tamil;"oru kallile rendu maanga"; for my more discerning readers that's Tamil metaphor for one shot,two mangoes;double pleasure! She gets philosophy expounded to her with minimum effort... My pleasure! Why should the book be irresistible for her...a valuable question. As I said before my student is a sharp cookie, and apparently she goes around telling her folks that no one should cry if she dies and there should be no hoohaa over her death ( th...

This post may seem weird to some and may need some PG rating ( flicked that from a friend!!). Well I hesitate to even talk about it as it is a part of me that I keep as a well guarded secret. Well...taking into consideration that I have a spouse who condemns all such irrational nonsense and a best friend who would in all probability make the hooting fun of me....I have to keep it to myself... Yet...I can't deny I am hopelessly in and head over heels in.... Hold it...I mean your breathe... let it out now... yep, the same breathe... so here goes... I think I am more than normally convinced.... That we humans have rebirth, that we are born into a particular family for a particular purpose, and all other subsequent attachments and detachments have a necessary link to past life... There I said it... Whacko? Well, working in a library I have access to many books, and given my natural curiosity for occult, philosophy and alternative systems, I happened to read the bo...

Telling stories from mythology to small children is a bit tricky. Do we need to discuss the gore and brutality that is sometimes included in these stories? Do we need to actually speak about the heavy romantic sentiments which gets included in these stories? Or do we really need to tell children about cheating and deception, betrayal and loss of faith? Now Myths are a part of every society...we have Nordic Myths, Celtic Tales, Indian Folklore, and Greek Heroes. Where strange fantastical beasts, half human/ half God, perform crazy feats with such elaborate story lines, that even I get lost. I do tell a lot of mythological stories to my children and of course Amar chitra katha is a great educator. Whichever stories I have not told, they get from Dr.Pai's innovative idea, which has raised generations of avid readers like me ( and my kids). In our country Hindu mythology is engrained in every child's learning process. Somewhere they come to hear of the story of Ganesha,...