Only in India

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Only in India can one find a shop called ‘Janata FOOTWEAR’ (mind the word in caps lock) BUT has nothing to do with FOOTWEAR at all.

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 Instead it sells and repairs BAGS !

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The shop (with its name) is bang opposite my house and has been there since I was 6. And so has the old chacha(uncle) who has probably by now repaired the zip of every school bag I have ever had.. and continues to do so!  

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Some things just never stop amazing you in India! 

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To the quirkiness in every little thing around ! 

Wisdom Note

Saw this embroidered on a bag of a beautiful Israeli girl who I was interviewing for a documentary project in Pushkar, Rajasthan ! I love it when WISDOM words are thrown at you so randomly ! 

Specially this one below! Makes me feel like when you have to know something you will encounter it in any media, shape and form ! 

Here is to the ‘Presence’ of the present! 

 

Message from Bhutan

Found this in my notes from my trip to Bhutan. Bhutan is full of such wisdom messages. I must have read it somewhere on a board.. 

When the last tree is cut, 

When the last river is emptied, 

When the last fish is caught, 

Only then will man realize that 

HE CANNOT EAT MONEY! 

 It may sound true and make you feel a little hopeless but I have FAITH in both Nature and in Humanity !

So let’s wake up and together work towards Harmony !

Seeing moments pass by

Small things like playing with street kids on the road, striking a simple conversation with a co-passenger in the train, making strangers smile, asking rikshaw-wallas their name and chatting up or helping someone unknown have always made my day and lit up my face with a huge smile. These are simple moments that I stumble upon and act naturally and almost effortlessly. Actually, once you get into this habit of making people smile it is almost addictive.

There have been days when I have consciously looked for such opportunities to make my day. After my encounter with Jayesh bhai, Nipun, Vinod and the likes I started calling these small interactions ‘RAK- random acts of kindness’ or the famous ‘Smile card moments’ !

However, Last week I was a bit disappointed with my self. I let three such opportunities pass by.

Monday morning, I was on my way to work in an auto rickshaw. I saw two young ladies teaching about 15 kids all dressed in blue school uniforms sitting under the shade of  a tree on the  footpath (pedestrian way) of a busy main road in Andheri. I so badly wanted to get off the rickshaw, just meet the kids, get some chocolates, appreciate the teachers and see if there was any other way I could be of service but by the time I could act I had left them far behind!

Then on thursday, I was travelling by an auto rickshaw stuck at a signal at juhu galli. I noticed a 10yr old girl on the side of the road. She was holding her left ankle, taking the support of the wall and trying to balance her self while tears rolled down her face. I guess she had fallen down and was hurt badly. Many thoughts passed by. In my head, I was working out what to do next. Should I leave the rickshaw, should I take her to the doctor or may be just drop her home. But by the time I could get my act together the signal lights turned green and the auto rickshaw zoomed in the direction of my house. Another opportunity missed.

Lastly on Saturday, four of us friends went on a bike ride to Lonavala – a beautiful hill station near Mumbai. Just before the toll naka I saw a dead dog lay right in the middle of the freeway. I just wanted to tell my friend Pariket to stop and we could bury the dog or at least put his body on the side of the road. But for some reason I found my mouth stitched .. just couldn’t say anything to him. Don’t know why ?  I am not one of those people who fears what people think? or wastes time in contemplating ! When we reached the incredibly beautiful hilltop I couldn’t help but think of the dead dog. It disturbed me for a while and I was hoping we will find him on our way back but we ended up taking a different route.

I wish I could go back in time to each of these moments and ACT. I regret that inspite of the desire being there I did not act but at the same time I am glad I feel that way. Next time when an opportunity shows up I will remember to grab it before the moment passes by.

No contemplating! And no holding back!

Games on ! waiting for the next one

Embrace

Finally !

For all those who read the Embrace Recce Blog entry. Here is the film.

In brief, The shoot was fabulous and at the same time serendipitous !

The husband in whose mud house we were planning to shoot was already drunk. Every now and then he enquired if  he was a hospitable man or not? Our main cast  - the mother with the kid was feeling really shy to act and wanted to back out on the day of the shoot. After a lot of persuasion she agreed but once we reached the set she wanted to run away from there after every few minutes. The kids, the neighbors and the wise men of the village also decided to bless the set with their presence and we received unconditional attention. Lastly, I’d say we succeeded ! We made it happen! And it all worked out fine – thanks to the support of the villagers, the school principal and our friends (Gitanjali, Manish, Salman and Vaibhav).

To a great adventure and a great shoot !

Brother’s Ferrero special

For those who know me well, already know what a Rockstar my brother Yash is ! The best cook ever ! Full of surprises and lots of love. Well, here is my brother’s latest –  Ferrero Shake ! Rich, Delicious and Heavenly !

The joy of hosting (the first) wednesday in Mumbai!

Last summer, when I was in Berkeley for the Metta Mentors program, I had the blessed opportunity to attend my first Wednesday in Santa Clara. Since then, for the next 12 weeks, Wednesdays were sacred, and instead of Wednesdays being fit into my schedule, my schedule was planned around Wednesdays. These silent evenings not only energized me but they also kept me grounded in my journey and gave me an opportunity to practice ‘Being’. They were powerful and transformative.

While leaving Berkeley in August 09, Nipun had planted a pay-it-forward seed and I always held this dream of hosting Wednesdays in my hometown –  Mumbai. After my return to India, on many occasions, I thought of hosting these magical Wednesdays but was always discouraged by the critical inner voice — it’s a big responsibility, what if I am unable to continue, or do it regularly?  I have crazy working hours and I hardly stay in Mumbai. I am not ready yet — at least not to create something as powerful as Wednesdays in California. How will Grand-Dad take it? My house is not quiet for 5 mins; how will there be a disturbance-free environment for one hour? I cannot sit for half an hour; how will I host meditations for an hour? So on and so forth. Basically a lot of excuses and mental drama.

For the last two weeks, I have been home on a break, once again standing at a crossroad in life trying to figure out which path to take next. I was struggling with my daily sits and was being very irregular. And then I came across Viral’s article: ‘ A Heart of Patience’.   Reading that, two things particularly really stood out for me.  First that when we think we know, we expect to find a solution in the direction in which we are looking; when we don’t know where to look, we remain open to all directions.   Second that it’s best to let go of our tendency to fixate on outcomes we’d like to see, and in time-frames in which we’d like to see them, because we don’t always know what is best.

And then the final push came when I read a notification from iJourney.org that read: “A volunteer has expressed interest in joining your local ‘Mumbai’ meditation group.  If you are already hosting a group, do send them more information; otherwise, perhaps you could explore starting one.”

I finally decided to stop thinking and just give it a shot ! Even if it meant that this was the only Wednesday. I sent out an email inviting folks to come along to a Wednesday meditation at our home. I  was really apprehensive about how this would work out. By 7 pm, we were 8 people (including my mom and my brother) all ready to sit in silence for the next hour. A little nervous, I introduced the concept. For the first 5 mins, my mind was wandering and  thinking of all the imaginary logistical glitches — hope the fan is not too fast, or is my phone in the silent mode, or hope no one rings the bell, etc.  But then, I had one of the best meditation hours ever.

A beautiful Kabir song rang on my phone, when the hour was over. I thought of Santa Clara openings of people like Nipun and Somik. We then introduced ourselves and discussed the iJourney reading of the week, shared our experience on the hour in silence and then had a home-cooked vegetarian dinner together. In this room we had school teachers, an ex-air hostess-turned-nutritionist, an actor/model, a student, a management professional who recently quit his job, a homemaker and me. Soon the room was buzzing with all kinds of stories from meditation experiences to life stories to kindness experiments around the world. As the participants left, 3 out of 5 wanted to host the next Wednesday at their homes! The room was energized. I could feel the energy and I could feel all of you close to me!

My deep gratitude to all you amazing Wednesday people (in over 24 cities around the world!) for inspiring me,  supporting me and being a part of my journey. I am so so grateful to everyone in every Wednesday I have attended in California, and the folks who have knowingly or unknowingly touched my life and continue to help me grow and learn from all the wonderful experiences we share. The joy of hosting a Wednesday is truly unbelievable and a real blessing. Thank you all for giving me and my family this beautiful opportunity. My heart is full of gratitude to all the people who continue supporting the work of stillness and to to my CharityFocus family. I love you all!

Once again,  I am left with the feeling of having received more than what we gave.

Oh, and if you are in Mumbai, we’re having anotherWednesday meditation — next week, Sept 1.

Thank you :)

Today, while I was sunk deep in work trying to finish my assignments, I received this super amazing box of goodies. Imagine receiving a glass of lemonade when you are super thirsty, in the middle of a dessert. That’s exactly how I felt receiving this huge box filled with my favorite food packets: theples, khakras, butterbiscuits, laddus, bhusu and what not …. so what if  I am not in a desert but in the United states.. Guess, its the same when it comes to Mom’s home cooked food

Last week, I had a brief chat with Anjali, one of my favorite and most inspiring rockstar  ! I sent her my address to write me a letter and here is what I get ! My heart is flooded with love and Gratitude. Thank you Aunty and Anjali  :)

Once again, I am reminded how blessed I am to be  surrounded by such angelic people. Unbelievably true! Wonder if  deserve so much love …  I get my smiles, energy and inspiration from these amazing friends I have

Love and Gratitude to all my friends

In smiling disbelief!

P.S. Anjali, I will have to be careful as to what information I pass onto you in the future.

Embrace shoot – Recce in Rajasthan !

In February  we at Global Rickshaw were on a roll ! Apart from filming the inspiring video diaries for GOAL we were making an AD film for Embrace.

Twenty million pre-mature babies are born every year of which 4 million die annually  mainly because of hypothermia. Those that do survive often develop life-long health problems. In a country like ours, many deliveries in the rural areas take place at home, hospitals are hard to reach and the treatment is expensive. A traditonal incubator costs $20,000 and requires electricity. Inspired by these facts the team at Embrace developed an infant warmer that  is portable, works without electricity and can be made available locally. Know more about embrace here.

For almost a month, Aparna and I went back and forth on the location for the Embrace shoot. We wanted to depict a really harsh living condition and Aparna’s references were a few mud houses in the middle of Thar desert. Phew ! While a studio shoot would have been easy and there would have been a compromise on the desert feel, we decided to opt out and go real ! I went viral on my needs and called up friends and acquaintances in Rajasthan, Gujrat and in the Himalayas! Absolute serendipity! A month ago I was connected to Gitanjali a Gandhi fellow working in Rajgarh, Churu district Rajasthan. Without the the support of the Gandhi fellows we would not have been able to shoot this film ! Thank you guys !

On March 2oth, after shopping for White clothing and wandering in the Delhi heat for a few hours, Aparna and I had a terrible heat stroke! However, We decided to keep moving as per plan and take a train to Sadulpur JN the next day! KILLER HEAT!! what do you expect in the middle of a desert!

Gitanjali and Vaibhav came to pick us up on their bikes. Gitanjali had planned a visit to Seaua, a village 30 kms from where we were. Wearing kurta pyjamas and covered fully in our brand new white dupattas,  we rode 30 freaking KMS at 2.30 pm !

An unending straight road with beautiful landscapes and bare trees!! My heart wanted to sing aloud : “Banjar hai sab banjar hai” Atlast we reached the village. Even in this dry land, everything was soo picturesque ! the houses and the colours and the clothing ! Wherever you place your camera, there is a frame ! A-MA-ZING!

We were welcomed by a bunch of shy kids who later sang for us some Rajasthani folk songs. We now set out hunting for the perfect location! One house after other…. We were offered tea, chaas, lassi and more ! Indian hospitality rocks ! After an hour of wandering just when we were about to give up declaring that this village is not it, Aparna spotted this absolutely perfect house with mud walls for our first scene !

I went inside and spoke to the women there and asked for permission to shoot. She could understand a little bit of my hindi and I picked up on a few rajasthani words when she spoke … her smile through the dupatta was very calming ! The women said she had no problems but she lived with her husband who was a drunkard and when he is drunk one can say nothing !! Well at that point, Aparna and I could only sympathize with her! To see the strength of that lady was something ! The village school master helped us sort this out ! He asked us not to worry about the husband and if he created a scene to just give him some money for his alcohol!

Once the location was locked we had to lock the cast ! Imagine getting villagers to act ! We were in a village where women would cover their face with a duppata when the elders were around them and in THIS very village we were looking for a women, a less than one year old baby, a couple and two girls to act in our film ! Surely we were going bonkers !  Unbelievable but with the support of the primary school principle we were able to fix that too ! Although everything looked settled, we were never 100%confident. Everything was sooo unpredictable!

The next day, we visited Jaswantpura with Manish. This was the easy part of our adventure. The principle was a happy old man. He took us on a village tour. We fixed our location and now we were looking for our star baby! house after house ! I think that day we must have had 4 cups of tea and 2 glasses of lassi in a span of 4 hours !

This was it ! The heat had got to us and we reached home and collapsed ! I couldn’t wait any longer and decided to take a bus the very next day and go back to Delhi ! Well, travelling in a Rajasthan ST bus for 8 hours straight, without food, sitting on the last seat next to two policemen and a handcuffed prisoner  was no less an adventure than wandering in the middle of no where !

We were now hoping to cool down and be back with a bang to shoot in Rajgarh the following week !

Ram-Hari!

Today, while I was walking home I remembered my early morning walk with Sathya didi – daughter of Gandhian Krishnammal Jagannathan(Amma).

In Jan 2010, I got the blessed opportunity to spend a day with Amma and Sathya didi. Sathya didi invited me to join her on her walking meditation. She taught me a technique which Amma had learnt from Vinoba Ji.

She said “Every morning Vinoba ji would practice walking meditation for an hour or so. He would walk in silence at a fast pace yet very graceful. Every step he would take he would thank mother earth, universe and nature for their infinite offerings. When he took a step with his right foot he would take a deep breath and chant Ram and when he put his left foot ahead he would exhale and chant Hari. Following this rhythm he walked miles after miles chanting Ram – Hari – Ram – Hari !”

A simple way to walk to peace. Chanting Ram-Hari. Breathing In – Breathing Out and with every breath inhaling the purities of nature and exhaling the impurities within !  Thanking Mother earth and the universe for making this very moment possible

Ram-Hari-Ram-Hari!