Khanabadosh - A beautiful Sufi word meaning one who carries his house on his shoulders. One who doesn't get rooted, his feet does not get planted.
Mirza Ghalib said 'Sair Kar Duniya ki Ghalib, Yeh Zindgani Fir Kahan....Zindgani Rahi Bhi Agar ... Yeh Naujawani Fir Kahan...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A question from "Samaaj" ...

Well.. this one is for the "samaaj" ....I was asked a question related to my so called "joblessness" ...
"So ... kuch kamana wamana hai life mein ya saari umar naukri chod ke he baithna hai?? koi goal hai life ka?"

I didn't think about it at that time but later in the evening the following thought striked... don't know how to expalin this to them... anyways.. they won't understand ...

Life has no aim .... Life's aim is life itself. Higher life, deeper life, more life but life itself.

Life is the aim of everything. Hence, life cannot have an aim other than life itself.


We all carry a hollow inside us. Like my hollow is for travel. . .as long as that hollow is not filled . . I will be restless.

When I listened to my heart and shut my mind down ...

Not all was going well in life and when this happens, you start thinking much about life.

A thought struck me that when I die, god will ask me just one question ... ''son, I gave you a life...did you live it'' ...and I knew the answer was a big NO. I decided that I would listen to what my heart says and stop thinking from the mind. I decided to start living my life the individual's way not the crowd's way now and do things that make me happy. Travel was one thing that has always kept my spirits high, so I decided to travel, only to realize later that this was just the beginning of a very joyful life.



To start with I decided to travel from bangalore to delhi on my bike. On the way, I stopped in Mangalore in the campus of NITK Surathkal with few friends for 5 days and decided to do a trek in Kumara Parvata and it was fun, great joy and peace was over me. We spent a night in the forest on the peak and since some calculations went wrong, we were without food and shelter there. We somehow managed to light a fire to avoid any wild animals and slept under the open sky. After a really really long time I saw the night sky in full glory, oh, what a scene to behold it was. I tried to sleep but was woken up at about 2 am by a nightmare of wild animals surrounding us. As I woke up I looked towards the forest and saw that the sky had come down on earth and the stars were twinkling right next to me and they were scattered all around and it was really very pleasant, I don't know if there is god, but it sure was an experience of godliness, and then as I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, I realised that it wasn't the sky but these were a million fireflies in the dark of the forest displaying their magnificient show only for me (until I woke up others). It was ....it was ... Words are so bad ..you can never find a good one when you need it. While returning from the trek we stopped at a river bank and ended spending a full day there doing nothing. I realised on this day that doing nothing is very difficult because you never know when you finished.

I left mangalore and headed towards gokarna with a plan to spend a night there on the OM shaped beach. This was another beautiful experience.

Further on my travel I stopped for lunch at a place called Jhulwania in MP and met a few people who looking at my bike guessed that I am a traveller and asked me to visit a nearby place called bawangaja, there qas nothing here of interest and I ended up spending the night in a small town called Bhidwani. In a dramatic turn of events I met Medha Patkar and Arundhati Roy here. These are 2 people I have been wanting to meet from a really long time.

This was the day I heard my heart talking to my soul and saying ... . ''listen to the heart and I will keep you happy...forever..... Mind will give you money and material pleasure....but heart will give you eternal joy''.

Just a week out on travel and I have spent a night in open, trekked amazing peak, felt godliness, spent a day at river, met people like Medha and Arundhati and above all....felt content....

Of lost love and Life ahead ...

In unchaiyon se meri bhook mite,
In jharno se mein trapt ho jaon,
Yeh pawan azaad hai, chanchal hai,
Is pawan sa ho jaon, kuch aisa kar do....

Is parvat pe mera dam nikley,
Is shweth barf mein dafn ho jaon,
Woh shweta thee, shweth thee,
Is shweth mein samaa jaon, kuch aisa kar do....


Is phool sa mehek paaon,
Is fal se mithas paaon,
Yeh paed sharaabi hai, madhosh hai,
Is paed sa jhoom paon, kuch aisa kar do...

Is titli se udna seekhon,
Is bhanwarey se khush hona seekhon,
Woh kaaran thee, astitva thee,
Is astitva ko jee paaon, kuch aisa kar do...

Chai Chilam Chappati Charpai

A cow moans outside the window and I am woken up. The room is still dark and it's cloudy outside. It's eight in the morning and I desperately need a cup of Chai.
I am in Manali... just the name strikes a few chords inside. This is a place with something to offer to every soul. I have myself been here 4 times and have found something new every time. Life here revolves around four things, chai, chilam, chappati and charpai.
Get up in the morning, drink a nice piping hot cup of Chai, eat something (Chappati) and then there would be definitely someone to offer you Chilam, smoke it, and go to bed (charpai) and ‘repeat’. Oh man ... isn't this the life everyone wants to live....




I was referred by a friend from Delhi to his friend in Manali and that's it, my stay and food for one week has been free and on top of that as the 'pahadi' culture has it, he has taken great care of me. He has shown me the local joints and places which otherwise would not have been possible. I have made some really good friends in the market.

One day, I was invited by a friend into his shop to talk over a cup of chai and I see a photograph amidst the photos of gods in his shop, the photograph of a lake, a lake like I have never seen before. Upon asking details he says this is Parashar lake, It's about 60 kilometers from here and this is a holy place with a temple on the bank of the lake. There used to be a sage with name "Parashar" and the locals believe in him and the temple was made by the local king during his times. There is a yearly fair that happens on the lake.

The next day I pickup my day pack and head towards the place. I am told to board a bus upto Bhutar and from there ask for lift as no public transport goes in that direction. I get lucky to get into a truck, which is being used to carry stones for building the road very close to the lake. The truck driver turns out to be a very nice guy and drops me off about 12 kilometers from the lake from where it's an easy trek. He also offers me his water bottle and a few apples for the trek ahead.

The first glance at the lake and I am short of words, there is just a shriek moan that came out. I rush down to the lake and park myself just a few meters away from the lake. Ahh, the beauty of it....

I stay here for a few hours and eat the tastiest 'daal-chaawal' at a small canteen nearby. I returned with a heavy heart back to the place where the road was being built and again someone drops me at the road on Bhuntar. Another 4 hours by bus and I am back in Manali.
I smoke a chilam and am off to bed. I am told in morning next day that I was smiling the whole night, they thought it was the extra charas in the chilam... but I know what it was ............