The Little Sailboat

the little sailboat
rides the swell
of a tipsy ocean
sprawled out
beneath
a sober neon sky.

its destiny
is written
not by the
parched white sails
of defiance
billowing and
cutting through
waves and wind,

but rather
in knowing that
when it is
absolutely still,
the breath
of the whole cosmos
fills its sails,
and guides it
towards
the distant horizon.

strength lies
in knowing
when to be still,
so you are moved.

The Silent Warrior

like the ripe old leaf
awaits her fall,
even as she twirls
with the wind
on a blind date;

like the obscure spider
creates her fragile art -
a labour of love,
as she waits to make
a tryst with destiny;

when you rest
in the peace
of deep knowing
that there is nothing
that you ought to do;

when you find love
in everything you do
and do not do;
a silent warrior is born,
to fight, with love.

Tryst with Destiny

After both a quiet and an exhilarating time at the homeschoolers' conference at Khandala, we started on the next leg of our long road trip - from Khandala to Aurangabad through Ahmednagar, where we wanted to see the world famous Ajanta and Ellora caves.

According to Google maps the distance was about 240 odd kilometres, which we hoped to do in a few hours, giving ourselves enough time to see Ellora caves on the same day :) It was a plan that looked good, until of course the Universe made other plans for us! Somewhere near Ahmednagar, while following the GPS on the phone, we took a wrong fork in the road, and soon found ourselves on a village road with pretty fields of potatoes and onions, dotting the countryside.We didn't realize our mistake for quite a long time, and when we realized, it was too late. We were doing more than a hundred odd kilometres extra!

That was a blessing in disguise as we were able to go off the highway, on village roads and  stopped by at a potato field and took some pictures. That was the first time the three of us were seeing potatoes grow and we were all excited! Soon, we came by a field where we saw a group of men and women packing onions into sacks. I wanted to get off and look, while my son and husband were not too keen. They were already worried with the detour we had made. But when I saw a pony, some sheep and goats there, and told my son, he changed his mind :)

They had just harvested onions and were packing some of the leftovers into sacks, to be sold in the local market. We spoke to the owner, who was a lady farmer. We tried to ask her a few things in Hindi, which of course she did not understand, and talked to us in chaste Marathi! Somehow we spoke and communicated to each other with a mix of sign language and Hindi/ Marathi.  We gathered that she was talking about low prices in the market and losses, but that she was doing organic farming, as she felt that was the best way. She then offered us some onions from her farm ro take back with us but refused to take any money for that.  The wrinkles on her face and the stains in her withered hands spoke of her hardships, but the radiant smile on her face spoke of her large heart.  She invited us to her little home behind the fields, and while we gave her some money to keep for her little grandson, she kept shaking her head in disapproval, as if to say that money cnnot buy or be bartered for some things. We  insisted that she should take it as a gift as we had nothing else to give her,  and that it was a token of our love. She was touched and so were we.

We reached Aurangabad very late that night - it had taken us more than 11 hours to get there from Pune, more than double the time that we had expected it to take.

Later that night, while  I was talking to my father,  who asked if we managed to go to Shirdi on the way, we saw the  map and realised where we had perhaps taken a wrong road. The detour we had been on took us just 18km away from Shirdi, and we did not know that! When I told my father that, he promptly said that perhaps Shirdi Baba was calling us to come and see him ( he is a great believer in Baba and we got married at the Shirdi Sai Baba Mandir in Chennai!). It suddenly occurred to me that we were indeed blessed by Baba through the old lady we had met...what other reason could there have been for our  unknown detour and chance meeting and tryst with our own destiny? Here was a connection that defied logic! A soul connection perhaps.....

Desire and Destiny

desires
are pearls
that are opened
every moment,
strung together
on a fragile thread
of surrender
to the present -
when you hold
yourself
with love and faith,
you live your destiny
as each pearl,
strung with grace.

Where do you find your star?

don't look up to the
studded night sky,
don't look for that perfect star,
don't rest your dreams
upon floating clouds,
don't pin a wish
on things afar;
rip yourself open - now,
bare everything
you've tightly locked,
and in those vaults
of overwhelming darkness,
you can be sure
to find your star!