Shiva's Abode

Shiva‘s Abode

Strange is the house of Shiva. The lord himself has snakes all around his neck. Ganesh roam around sittng on the mouse. And Kartik has his own carrier, the beautiful peacock.

What we know, the snake eats mouse. And the peacock eats snake. But in Shiva‘s house, all three co-exist; peacefully.

Strange indeed the abode of Shiva!

Or the house where such contradictions co-exist, become the house of Shiva!

Tell a Tale!

Tell it to the walls

A poor widow lived with her two sons and two daughters-in-law. All four of them scolded and ill-treated her all day. She had no one to whom she could turn and tell her woes. As she kept all her woes to herself, she grew fatter and fatter. Her sons and daughter-in-law now found that a matter for ridicule. They mocked at her for growing fatter by the day and asked her to eat less.

One day, when everyone in the house had gone out somewhere, she wandered away from home n the sheer misery and found herself walking outside town. There she saw a deserted old house. It was in ruins and had no roof. She went in and suddenly felt lonelier and more miserable than ever, she found she could not bear to keep her miseries to herself any longer. She had to tell someone.

So she told all her tales of grievance against her first son to the wall in front of her. As she finished, the wall collapsed under the weight of her woes and crashed to the ground in a heap. Her body grew lighter as well.

Then she turned to the second wall and told it all her grievances against her first son’s wife. Down came that wall, and she grew lighter still. She brought down the third wall with her tales against her second son and the remaining fourth wall too with her complaints against her second daughter-in-law.

Standing in the ruins, with bricks and rubble all around her, she felt lighter in mod and lighter in body as well. She looked at herself and found she had actually lost all the weight she had gained in her wretchedness.

Then she went home.

(From Folktales from India by A K Ramanujan)

So how about telling a tale and getting lighter!

The Sun-Crier

The Sun-Crier

In the chicken yard, the rooster was so ill that no one could count on his crowing the next morning. The hens were very worried that the sun would not rise, if the crowing of their lord and master did not summon it. The hens, you see, thought the sun came up only because the rooster crowed. The next day, the sun cured them of their superstition. To be sure, the rooster was still too sick and too hoarse to crow, but the sun shone anyway; nothing had affected its course!

(From Oriental Stories as Tools in Psychotherapy by Nossrat Peseschkian)

Comment: Ah! Many times we are fooled, and given the impression that, the office runs because of us. We are indispensable for the family. And so on and so on.

One day we die. The office runs. The family members continue living.

Birthday Thoughts

28th June 2011

Today is my birthday. Birth day of a common man. Not much of fun'fair, not much of celebrations. Simple happy birthday messages and thank Us.

Woke up in the morning with the beautiful music of rain drops. It must be raining through out the night. A beautiful feeling. As if nature is telling me a very happy birthday!

Is it mid-life? Do not know. It is not important also. But somehow the thought comes to mind, how much life left?

It does not matter. A common man lives and dies un-noticed.

'Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;

Thus unlamented let me die,

Steal from the world, and not a stone

Tell where I lie.'

---- Alexander Pope.

Living un-noticed can be so romantic!