Love's Philosophy - Shelley

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In another's being mingle--
Why not I with thine?

See, the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower could be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--
What is all this sweet work worth,
If thou kiss not me?

me

MMMM....

Silk on skin...Lace on skin....Satin on skin...Strings on skin...ok ladies, you know what I'm talking about and men....you know what I'm talking about...yep, lingerie.

What brought this on? I was out looking for some workout clothes and saw the number of lingerie stores that had sprung up. Paradise for me! Step into my closet and you'll know what I mean. I have a thing for lingerie. And I have a HUGE thing for lace lingerie...wispy stuff, racy stuff, coy stuff, cute stuff...name it and if it's in lace, it's sure to be a part of my lingerie drawer. And all for myself. It's my secret with me - one which I hug really really close - literally :)!

But this is not about me and closet of lacy secrets. It's about how the scene is changing in our country. Gone are the days when we could only pick the stuff from our trips abroad. No more do we have to sneak the "item of clothing" into the list of other desirables when our favorite bua/chachi/massi was coming over from some other part of the world. Gone even are the days when it was a counter manned by women - pun intended - and it was a woman's world.

Today, these swank stores have men selling women their stuff to strut in. And men are walking in more and more to ask for sweet almost-nothings to give to their sweethearts. And what stuff...

What are you still doing here? Go on, step into that sweet little parlor...

What a day!

Visiting the abode of the blind acharya who knew the vedas by heart- when he was 4! A King Cobra in my backyard!! Back to my workout days of running 3 kms - in 20 mins - at a stretch on the treadmill - and I went once in the morning and once in the evening!!!

What do you think won hands down in terms of the ohMIGAWD factor?

Tell me after you've read the details.

I started out the day with my driving lesson - which my instructor was very happy with, by the way. Day 2 today and I again drove on the Ring Road. No driving ground needed! Drove around the larger part of South Delhi and stumbled (figuratively, of course) only once. I'm VERY proud of myself :D. Drove till the gym and worked out for 2 hours straight. If you could see me now, you'd see a cheshire cat grin on me!

Got back and got ready in barely 15 minutes to go visit a swami ji my father has known for the last 40 or so years. Went there and did some langar sewa - served people lunch - and had one of the tastiest meals I've had in some time. I only had Amritsari Naan and the curry from a Dum Aaloo dish, but boy, did it put most of the places I eat at to shame - and I do eat out at a lot of good places. Anyway, I digress. The acharya I talk about was Shri Saraswati. The gentleman suffered from chicken pox as a child and lost his vision. Yet he went on to found the Veda Samaj. He was an illiterate person, yet translated the Vedas to English.

We came back from there and on the way back got to know that we had a king cobra hiding away in what I can - exaggeratingly so - claim to be my backyard. My brother, sister-in-law and some neighbors had been standing - literally - vigil for about 3 hours and when we arrived home, I took over from them. They'd called someone from the snake - catching department - did you EVER know we had such departments? - of the Municipal Corporation and they were stuck in exactly the place we were just coming from. Anyway, so while we waited, we kept vigil...and I saw the hood of the thing - shiny black - like a smooth onyx, with an absolutely white tilak - two perfectly parallel lines joined at the bottom in a U shape. OK, i just checked it wasn't a King Cobra after all. Hail Google baba! SO - I don't know what kind of a snake it was, but I've just told you what happened. And when the snake catcher did turn up, he started kicking around the cobblestones in my backyard. Now what I know of snakes is that they can discern even a whisper of a movement on the ground and be alerted by it - and here was this professional creating the loudest racket you would have ever imagined. Anyway. I assumed the man knew his job. And all the while he was putting his life at risk for us - the man wasn't wearing any kind of protection - normal shoes, no thick gloves, nothing at all. Just plain and simple moccasin-like shoes! - I was standing at a vantage position in my balcony that overlooked this cobbled backyard of ours, telling him where I'd seen the blessed thing. And I can tell you I was praying all the while to all the Gods I could remember having ANYTHING to do with snakes to tell it to not harm us and to also keep the thing from harm itself - I didn't want it dead. I've seen enough of those he-snake being killed and she-snake turning up to take her revenge to be quaking in my boots and praying fervently it would go away and never return again. Finally, surprise, no snake. 'He must've slipped away'. THANK YOU kind snake catcher sir, for that precious nugget. While you were creating that racket, and pulling up my entire cobbled backyard, the snake would sit there patiently in EXACTLY the same spot, waiting for you to catch it and take it to its certain death!

Well, he finally left. And I laced up - literally. I'm talking of my shoes, of course and went back to the gym. worked out for another hour, reached my 3 kms in 20 mins, smiling to myself went through the rest of my workout and got acquainted with a fellow runner - an uncle, please, don't get your minds racing, you naughty people - got some gyan from him on how and why I should alternate my workouts, said goodnight to him and then stepped into the jacuzzi for the yummiest time. Warm, gentle water that bubbled and gurgled - water that lulled me into drowsiness till I realised I'd been in it for more than 15 minutes. 15 minutes of uninterrupted, honest, relaxed pleasure.

Sigh! I just CAN'T pick the OMG factor of the day...

Coming of age

I went to yet another one of Delhi's swank hang-outs...and I was bored. I had the right company, the weather was just right, the music was at the threshold of good...yet I was...bored!

Lately, I've come to realize, my idea of a good time has subtly changed from being in the right place at the right time with the right people to being with the right people - away from the maddening - yes, that's right - maddening, not madding - crowd. Just to talk, to share thoughts, to laugh at something inane, to argue about something that's important to one of us. Just to be. I don't want to dress up to be just like another one of the girls in the crowd. I dress to let me be me- hail eminem - I couldn't discern one woman from the other tonight.

When I left it was 12:45 AM...the time when I would normally walk in to a club. And as I was walking out of the place, I wondered how it did nothing for me.

Now, tell me again why the place is called Climax?!?

Some Sai Bhajans I Wrote...

...Way back in 2000...

1. Baba mujh par karo tum itni inayat
Apne charnon ki sharan de do
Bhatak rahi hoon mei dar dar
Kha rahi hoon har pag thokar
Sai itni daya to kar do
Apne charnon mei sharan to de do
Aap hi Sai ho deen dayal
Bhakton ke Sai ho rakhvaal
Jo koi aapki sharan mei aaya
Jeevan ka har sukh hai paya
Sai meri bhi har peer mita do
Apne charnon mei sharan to de do

2. Sai mujhe bhi apni daasi bana lo
Shirdi ki nivasi bana lo
Nahi to mere bhatakte man me
Sai aap apna ghar bana lo
Kab tak thokar khaungi mei
Kab tak tumhe aavaaz lagaungi mei
Kyun nahi aakar mera sir sehlaate
Kyun nahu mujhko apna banate?

3.Jo murdon me daale jaan
Vo hain mere Sai mahaan
Ab mujhko bhi de do baba
Sada mere sir par apna
Aur mata pita ke haath ka vardaan
Aap mujhe nazar to na aaye Sai
Par mata pita ne mujhpar apni
Sehat, dhan aur neend lutai
Unpar apni daya drishti daalo
Achi sehat, lambi umr
Kasht rahit jeevan ka vardaan de daalo
Sai hogi aapki bari kripa
Mei rini rahoongi jeevan bhar
Mere mata pita ka rakho dhyaan
Itni daya karo mujhpar.

4. Mera saaya bhi le aapka naam
Karna hai mujhko yeh kaam
Rom rom mei tumhe basaun
Nahi to jeevan se bisraun
Sai ji aap ho daata mere
Yaad karoon tumhe mei shaam savere
Jholi meri bhi tum bhar do
Sai ji itni kripa tum kar do
Gun bas tumhare hi mei gaun
Subha shyaam bas tumhe dhyayun
Aur jo mujhse koi pooche rab kaun aur kya
Mei boloon Sai bina mere aur na dooja.

5. Mere maalik tum bin mujhe koi aur na dooja
Aashirwaad do karoon raat din aapki pooja
Dhyaan na idhar udhar bat sake mera
Simran rahey bas naam aur dhaam sirf tera
Naam tumhara jagti me failaaon
Bhakt janon ko tumse milaun
Jag ke sab bande - bhale ya mande
Ke man mei shradha deep jalaaun
Sai mei aap naam mei yeh jeevan lagaun!

6. Karam tu kar le bande
Fal to mera Sai dega
Karte karte vo kabhi tera imtihaan bhi lega, par
Karam tu kar le bande
Fal to mera Sai dega

Na yeh soch kisi ne
Tujhe kya diya, ya fir
Tujhse tera kya le liya
Bas yeh yaad rakh
Ki Sai ne jo yeh jeevan diya
Kisi karan ke liye hi diya

Isliye...
Karam tu kar le bande
Fal to mera Sai dega