I was really surprised and would say moved when I read the Priyanka Vadera ( nee Gandhi) went to visit Nalini in prison- one of the accused in the assasination of Rajiv Gandhi. I have never met Priyanka nor do I know what transpired except that Nalini has made statements of how much she now respects the Gandhi family. Apparently Sonia Gandhi herself had asked for clemency against the death sentence on Nalini because of her (then) five year old baby. Priyanka apparently went to get closure for herself on her father’s tragic and brutal death. I guess I find this act of forgiveness and redemption not only very moving, but also that there was absolutely no attempt to make political capital of this visit from India’s most political family.
Water Film Festival : support it if you can please
Dear Shekhar
I have been volunteering as project co-ordinator for an international water film festival titled Voices From the Waters. The first edition was held in Bangalore in 2005. The second was held in June last year and it is still continuing as a travelling film festival across cities, small towns and institutions across the country. It has been concieved as a platform without any defined boundaries celebrating the blue gold and building awareness. The next edition of the festival is scheduled for September 2008. I have attatched below the call for entries. We would be extremely grateful if you could help spread the word or even offer us suggestions for the festival.
Please refer to the website http://voicesfromthewaters.com/ or any further information. It would be great for any help you could offer.best of luck,
peace,
siddharth
hey mr. time man
hey mr time man
i got your number
i took away your sickle
and pulled off your hood
and found myself
staring back at me
wanna dance
mr time man ?
Larry King and the how to live longer. How about just play ?
Happened to catch bits of the Larry King show last night on how to live longer. My friend Deepak Chopra was on it – though he did not seem to get too much of a chance to speak. The one thing no one mentioned was community. That people that live in harmonious communities, or fulfilling relationships have healthier immune systems. Deepak did mention the idea of toxicity being not just about pollutants, but also how relationships can also be toxic. There is enough research now to show that loneliness is a great cause of loss of immune system and therefore the onset of disease. In modern society though, we see isolation almost as a pedigree to success. Almost masculine.
For those of us that come from in India, remember the word ‘Mehfil’ ? I remember my boyhood being spent on my bicycle going to friends houses and shouting at their windows to come and play. Play. That is what keeps harmony in communities. Play is what keeps relationships together. Play is how we defuse stress and tensions. Play is what keeps the immune system alive and healthy.
Time, love, eternity, is ’emotional time’ real time ?
The perceptions of time change so much even though we believe that ‘time’ is fixed. For the greatest measurement of time seems to be our life spans. And ageing. We even call what happens to our bodies as we age the ‘ravages of time’ as if time was this train that chugs along at it’s unchangeable pace, and everything seems to revolve around that pace. And yet we keep trying to slow down that train, hoping that we will age slower. In fact by living healthier (or trying to !). And often because we savour the situations we are in and never want them go away. And often blame time for those anticipations and situations for going away. So time at best is a perception that is based on the situation we percieve we are in, or how healthy we feel. Time sits so heavily when we are depresesed for example, we say. So why do we give time an ‘actuality’ like a precise ticking clock that reminds us of it’s tick tock every second. Imbibe upon time a ‘a law pf physics’ that is completely unchangeable, but every moment are perceiving time completely differently depending upon the current state of our minds.
Did you say to anyone that you will love them forever ? My guess is that if you really felt it, and if your being was engulfed into that one statement – then you really did sense the the word we call eternity. I have loved you through eternity and will love you eternally. Suddenly all perception of time for that moment has disappeared. The clock does not tick any more. In the holding of that one hand, in the harmonizing of the two breaths, eternity has been sensed.
So where are we at those moments ? ……
Continue reading “Time, love, eternity, is ’emotional time’ real time ?”
Deepak Chopra, Einstein and questions of Infinity
Deepak Chopra and I have so many conversations about consciousness and the nature of existence, mostly me searching and looking to him for answers – so sitting in his office in NY one day, we decided to ask someone to record the following rambling conversation. But there is interesting stuff in it.
http://deepakchopra.com/video/deepakandshekhar.mov
The Rev Patrick Davies
When as a flippant boy I went to learn accountancy in London, Pat Davies took me under his wing. He determined to look after me and help me find a more serious side of myself ! I don’t think he had enough time to do that, for he left to take up a job as a financial director in Australia. I then heard the news that Pat had a change of heart, or should I say a revelation of his true calling in life. Pat decided to study to be ordained as a Catholic priest, and entered the church and a monastic life. Though monastic, Pat’s spirit of adventure never left him. He remained an extremely active person and travelled the world in the cause of healing and peace. Especially in Africa and South America, where he used his inherrent organizational skills to work for hospitals , schools, and even as part of the ‘truth and recconciiation’ effort in South Africa. Finally he came back to London and took over a diocese very close to Soho. I remember Pat as a tough squash opponent, and the camping journey’s he took me into the rugged parts of Scotland. And so you can imagine my sorrow to learn that his body is giving up and he is readying to take on another journey. I want to share with your Pats letter to his friends and family, and to the members of his diocese informing us all …….
End of thought
a thought came
a thought passed
and I thought
to observe that thought
as a thought came
a thought passed
and I thought
a thought
that left a memory
of thought
and I thought
of thought memories
of billion thoughts
and a thought came
and a thought passed…
the sun went down
dream time came
ahhhh
In search of water
Every year, over 500,000 children in India never reach the age of 5 because of water-related diseases like diarrhea, gastroenteritis, hepatitis. Over 300 million Indians have no access to toilets. Already, 224 million Indians live in water stress. About 70% of irrigation needs and 80% of municipal water supplies come from groundwater sources. However, depleted aquifers and lowered groundwater tables mean that this is no longer sustainable. It has been estimated that by as early as 2020, India’s demand for water will exceed ALL sources of supply.
Can we make a difference? One individual thinks so. And one organization is supporting him in his mission for the cause of water. On April 26th 2008, Sharada Prasad will start a 19,000 km Motorcycle Ride across India. The objective of Sharada’s ride is to discover what water means to people across the country. The problems faced by people with respect to water are different in different parts of the country. Support him by going to ;
http://www.indiawaterportal.org/k2k/
From self to no self
It’s a yo yo. From flying free in the midst of exhilirating creativity, knowing that the being is going beyond the limitations of the self – the limitations of perceived and imprisoning sense of individuality, and knowing that all things take care of themselves, a knowing that lies beyond reason for there is a trust in the Universe. Like the deepest, most passionate feelings of love, where all else falls away. Like a veil of dark mist that is lifted from the eyes, like a cage that both imprisons and oppresses the mind has opened and the being steps out into exhilarating freedom. Where all observation is free flowing and interconnected, where no thought is imprisoned into structure, and passes as easily as the next one comes, like wisps of breeze that that touch and flow away… an exhilarated creative state of accessing the creativity of the universe. Creativity, Faith, God.