Munnar

Munnar

Tall trees of silver

Pierced the evening sky,

Green checkered hills

Slowly rolling by;

Fiery poinsettia

Kissed by the sun,

Butterflies in a tango

Beckoning beyond;

A waft of fresh, green leaves

Round every other bend,

Heady smell of tea leaves

Sublime and potent.

The cool air tingled,

Stirring hearts and souls,

Winding roads, hovering mist,

Beauty to behold!

(12th November 2012)

Rain and Love

Rain and Love

A cotton wool canopy

pregnant with rain;

shimmering silver waters

in a distant lake.

A thin veil of mist

hanging low;

the valley blushing -

a new bride aglow.

A silent rendezvous -

the earth and sky,

in a tight embrace;

no room to sigh!

A sudden cloudburst

drenches hills below

Giving birth anew -

to rain and love.

(11th November, 2012)

Letting go

Sometime ago, I listened to a spiritual master through a Youtube link that someone had sent me. A story from the Puranas (I think) that he shared touched me deeply and has been coming to me often and repeatedly, every time a fear of letting go grips me. Letting go has been the biggest challenge for me and it still is.......but it has become easier once I started doing it.

The story he shared was about a parrot and goes something like this:
There was a parrot who was caught by a man and trained....he carried it on a stick. But the parrot, although it was a bird by nature and could fly away anytime, could not......because it had forgotten how to fly! It was scared....and every time it felt fear, it gripped the stick more tightly instead of letting go.....the process of just letting go of the stick (here we could liken the stick to our ego, conditioning or anything else that we hold on to dearly) would have given the bird the freedom it so badly wanted. Why should it hold on to something so dearly when it knew deep inside that it could fly away wherever it wanted and whenever it wanted to? Why did it not let go?

Let go......let go......this is what echoes in my mind and heart these days......and like the parrot, I do find it hard to let go of some things.......but that is the ONLY way out for me! I know that....I want that....and I am trying to do that with everything in my life.....trying to break free and find myself.

Letting go.....

If only I could let go....

of love

of fear

of anger

of everything 

that I think is ME

I know I would find myself.....

the light

the shadow

the mirror

the abyss

and set my soul free......

Being in the eye of the storm

Everywhere today in the news, all that I could hear was talk about the monster storm Sandy that was on its way......visuals of the waves lashing the shores....swirling winds in the satellite images....talk about how massive the hurricane was and what to expect or not expect.

As I watched all this, I could not help but think of what the Universe was trying to tell us through all this. Was it to stop running around like crazy after mundane things....pause....reflect....on what was most important? Was it to pin us down and let us know in a way that we will never forget - that there is nothing that is beyond the power of the earth? Or was it to show us the way to find peace......to look within....deep within....be centred and calm just as the eye of the storm is....amidst all that turmoil and swirling winds around us in this world and our life?

We did make calls to some of our family who live in the areas that are in the path of the hurricane. It was surprising and yet comforting to hear their reactions to our worried voices. From ignorance to indifference to nonchalance to surprise....I did not hear one voice that echoed a surrender......to the power of the universe. Or maybe it was there....but veiled by fear and insecurity. Well, but who am I to say that or even think that? Have I surrendered to my inner self and the Universe? Perhaps a little, but not completely.....perhaps in some things, but not all. And yet, I know in my heart and soul that surrender has to be complete. No questions. No answers. No thought. No feeling. Just being....and Inter-being. That is the way to surrender I believe.