Love changes everything.

One of the most beautiful lyrics ever written.
To all you people in love out there...



Love, Love changes everything:
Hands and faces,
Earth and sky,
Love, Love changes everything:
How you live and
How you die

Love Can make the summer fly,
Or a night
Seem like a lifetime.


Yes, Love,
Love changes everything:
Now I tremble
At your name.
Nothing in the
World will ever
Be the same.


Love,
Love changes everything:
Days are longer,
Words mean more.
Love,
Love changes everything:
Pain is deeper
Than before.


Love
Will turn your world around,
And that world
Will last for ever.


Yes, Love,
Love changes everything,
Brings you glory,
Brings you shame.
Nothing in the
World will ever
Be the same.

Off
Into the world we go,
Planning futures,
Shaping years.
Love,
Bursts in, and suddenly
All our wisdom
Disappears.


Love
Makes fools of everyone:
All the rules
We make are broken.


Yes, Love,
Love changes everyone.
Live or perish
In its flame.
Love will never,
Never let you
Be the same.

Shivratri

Shiva in Ecstacy


Shiva is dancing, lost in the ecstasy of Self, sounding his
        own cheeks.
His tabor is playing and the garland of skulls is swinging
        in rhythm.
The waters of the Ganga are roaring among his matted
        locks.
The great trident is vomiting fire, and the moon on his
        forehead is fiercely flaming.

-Swami Vivekananda 

The holy night of Shiva is near and I am leaving for Kollam, Kerala to soak myself completely in the divine presence of Shiva himself. We are 30 odd people from Bangalore travelling to Kollam. I am sure it will be a once in a lifetime experience to celebrate Shivaratri in Guruji's presence.

The chants of 'Om namo bhagavate rudraya...' and that sweet sandalwood smell and the devotion of a few lakh people present there... oooohhh , i am in bliss right now!

So wait for my next post till I come back to Bangalore.

Om Namah Shivaya!


P.S. If you are not coming to Kerala because of some genuine excuse then don't forget to watch the event live on Sanskar channel on Monday 23 Feb, 6 pm onwards.

When I went home.

I have hardly mentioned about the time I spent at Sikkim. Have been busy with the Yes+ happening and 8 sem project and stuff. However, here I am! and I want to share a few things about the adventures I had when I went home.
This time it was different, I did not go to Sikkim directly but stayed for a night at Malda. Ashish had insisted for me to come and they had advertised "as a singer from Bangalore is coming and we should have a big satsang". The satsang was very good and though I was missing the rocking YES+ feel but the warmth with which the devotees there filled my heart was amazing. It is amazing to see how devotion and spirituality crosses all boundaries of geography,language etc.I am specially grateful to Asish and his family for the wonderful love which they extended. I never felt that I am staying in someone else's home with someone else's family. There was such intimate and 'no-show-off' love.

Then after a refreshing satsang at Malda, Ashish and me headed towards the mountains to have some adventure. Sikkim was so refreshingly cold and sometimes it made me miss the almost non-noticeable weather of Bangalore. We went to Tea Estates,monasteries,giant statues and had authentic Sikkimese food at more than one place.
We even boarded the cable-car. The cable car is between a very short distance just meant for recreation but it gives a very beautiful view of Gangtok, the capital town.
More than once I told Ashish that if the entire yes+ gang was here then everyone would have had so much fun. Plan a trip to Sikkim, i am sure you will enjoy a lot.
We took many photographs, here are some:

 

We found this banner welcoming us as soon as we got down at Malda railway platform.

 

The river Teesta is one of the two main rivers of Sikkim. The entire bus route of 4 hrs from Siliguri to Gangtok is along this river. Ashish was always looking for the window seat to have a view of the river.

Momos is a  very famous dish from Sikkim. It basically is a dumpling of flour stuffed with veggies,usually cabbage,onion etc and steamed in a special vessel called 'Moktu'.

 

A bird's eye view of Gangtok, this one is taken from the ropeway.

 

The cable car(ropeway)

 

As every major city in India, the main road in Gangtok is also called M.G marg. Notice how clean is the road and there are flower pots and light fountains along the road. Perfect for a stroll in the evenings .

 A candid pic of a young monk trying to get inside through the window.Reasons unknown. This picture is taken at the Rumtek Monastery.

 

I found this sign outside one of the monasteries. Just as its main purpose might be to prevent groups of people from making noise,, i also immediately thought of how we must always move forward in life no matter how many problems and challenges may come. There is "NO STOPPING OR STANDING". "KEEP MOVING!!!!"

The Prayer wheels.. when you enter a monastery, you must roll them.. They signify the wheel of Life-death, which keeps rotating..We keep taking birth again and again.. Once you complete rolling them and reach main hall, you attain "Liberation", " Moksh" in life...

A brilliant Yes+ week comes to an end.

The YES+ with JD bhaiya was one of the best. Full of energy and belongingness, it just swept away everyone in its wave of happiness,knowledge and devotion.
JD bhaiya conducted the course with absolute perfection and there was no room of even .0001% error.
Most of the participants were from the IISc and we had a few rounds of brilliant questions and answer sessions throughout the course.
And the satsangs with JD bhaiya mesmerizing everyone with this guitar skills and melodious voice were simply brilliant.
All in all a fantastic course and a fresh batch of 50 or so YES+ graduates.
The icing in the cake was the early morning visit to the Veda-Agama Gurukul campus in the Ashram where we had a short devi puja conducted and also the Guru Puja. We even visited the Goushala and everyone was silenced by the solidified peace of the entire ashram specially the Gurukul area.
Comments like "I feel that we have travelled back in time to the vedic times" were very common.
To get all this in your first YES+ course, you need to be really lucky.
This course had a record 5 YES+ teachers present with JD bhaiya leading them and also on board were Smita di, Niharika di,Vasudha and Ganesh ji.
Also a record of around 700 pics were taken by me alone(not counting several other camera's at work)
Enjoy the pics below:

 

 

This one is an after course chill at IISc 

 

Mesmerizing effect

  

  

 A spectacular view!

 

A walk to remember.

 

All smiles 

 

Whether you have done it already or not, don't miss the next YES+ course, take it for granted that it will be one of the best times of your life!!

Annie's song.

Just sing along. This is one of my favorite english songs. And just like any other song, I like the Vikram Hazra version better than Denver's. Anyway, here is mine:

You fill up my senses
like a night in the forest
like the mountains in springtime,
like a walk in the rain
like a storm in the desert,
like a sleepy blue ocean
you fill up my senses,
come fill me again.

Come let me love you,
let me give my life to you
let me drown in your laughter,
let me die in your arms
let me lay down beside you,
let me always be with you
come let me love you,
come love me again.

P.S.
A rocking Yes+ course has started yesterday i.e. on 9 feb in Bangalore with the awesome JD bhaiya leading some 50+ youths through the thrills and learnings typical of a Yes+. We are planning a grand Valentine's day satsang on the 14th in the beautiful IISc campus. Let us come together and celebrate love!!!