मेरी छत पर

मेरी छत पर

खुशियाँ लेकर आया यह करवाचौथ का चाँद,
जनम जनम के इस गठबंधन को बाँध।
तुम से ही मेरा है जीवन बंधा हुआ,
हर साँस को तुमने है संजोया हुआ।
अपने प्रेम की माला में सनम,
हमको है तुमने डुबोया हुआ।
यह चाँद हर साल छत पर आता रहे,
छलनी से आपना चेहरा दिखाता रहे।
धरती पर मेरी इन साँसों को ,
तुम्हारी खुशबु से महकाता रहे।

letters in the letter

Let us put letters in a letter

Alas! Writing letter is now a days dying mode of communication. E-mails or electronic letters have replaced this sweet mode of communication.
Letters are best way to express one's emotion on paper. It travels from one land to another. The smell of paper and envelope tell the travelling story.
The long wait for the replies from loved ones and hidden excitement for days n days.
Looking the Streets for the postman or checking post box at the gate thousand times.
Trying to write the story of months in just two or three papers , thinking through what you want to write, and structuring the information in a consumable format is the dying art.



An SMS and E-mail has converted this art into more professional and emotion less art. SMS and E-mail only conveys the information but not the fragrance and freshness of the sender. When you open INBOX of your E-mail , the mail of your dear one is sticking between so many other mails nd junk mails. It seems your loved one is lost in the huge sea of electronic data. It nevers feels personal when you check mail.

A letter beautifully enclosed in fragrant paper with so many designs when opened ,the sweet smile on the face reflects the status of heart.
When you write a letter, the ink from the pen flows on paper with designs you can make with each letter you put on. The effort to play with letters is more fun than pressing a key and selecting one font and one style.

Poor woman

Domestic voilence - A simple tag. This tag can easily be put on any victim's face. Oh ! She is the victim of domestic voilence. But to know the exact story and the sufferings behind this tag is really very hard. Women - educated or uneducated , one way or the other way is facing such thing in our society? This question is really very serious. Our intellectual people say in the meetings, public gathering and stages " Why she is not telling the story to the sensitive World?" " Why she is mum over the issue?" " There are so many laws to protect a women. So many helplines, so many NGO's etc etc".
But the same intellectual people and sensitive people say in their personal life after hearing XXX story of XXX woman " She must be of loose character. That is why her husband or in - laws are beating up? Oh ! She is working in the office, then definately she is coming late to her house etc etc".

Definately there are so many laws , so many help lines but are these laws really helpful? Making these laws is easy but the implementation is difficult. If any woman is suffering, the next doors people know everything but no body come forward. Parents never support their daughter as they feel ashamed of the society.

If one way or other, a case is registered, a woman is 1000 times mentally harrased by the so called protection agencies than she is being harrased by her in laws.

The alive victim of the domestic voilence is getting mental torture by both her in-laws and out-laws( follow up people after case registration).

In our society, a woman killed by her in-laws gets the immediate help and the culprits gets punishment . An alive woman waits for the action for years and years

Sleep , sleep sleep my little angel!
Your dream prince will come..
and take you to the Palace
with all your charming face,
Sleep , sleep sleep my little angel!

Akbar and Birbal

Akbar and Birbal stories are very famous and popular in India among all ages of people.
There was a Mugal Emperor in India, Akbar the Great (1542-1605). His full name was Jalaludden Mohammed Akbar Padshah Ghazi and he ruled India from 1560 to 1605. He himself was illiterate, but he invited several learned people in his court. Among these people, nine were very famous and were called "Nav Ratna" (nine jewels of the Mugal Crown) of his court. Among these nine jewels, five people were more famous - Tansen, Todarmal, Abul Fazal, Maan Singh and Birbal.
One such famous story :
Once Akbar asked Birbal to bring four fools of the first order to him. He said - "It is not difficult because this world is full of fools. Birbal said - "OK" and asked some time to find them, which Akbar readily gave to him.
Now Birbal started looking for fools. He was going somewhere that he saw a man carrying a large plate on which were kept some clothes, betel leaves and sweets. He looked like a fool to Birbal, so he asked him - "Where are you going to? And to whom you are carrying this?" The man replied - "My wife has remarried. Now they have a child so I am taking this gift for them." Birbal got convinced that he was a fool, so he considered him a candidate to take to the king.
At another time he saw a man riding a buffalo carrying a bundle of grass on his head. Birbal thought he was also a fool, so he asked him - "Why are you carrying this bundle on your head?" The man replied - "In fact my buffalo is pregnant, so I thought that she should not carry too much load, that is why I have put this bundle on my own head instead of putting it on it." Birbal considered him also a candidate to take to the king.
So next morning he took those people to Akbar's court and presented them to him as the biggest fools. "But these are only two fools; where are the other two? I asked you to bring four fools." King asked. Birbal folded his hands and bending a little said - "Jehaanpanaah, The third fool are you who asked me to bring the fools; and the fourth fool is me who has brought these fools for you."
When the king heard about them, he laughed a lot on their foolishness.

Dusshera Celebrations at Remote Village (Billawar, J&K)

Thus Dussehra is not only a celebration of the victory of good over evil. It is also an occasion to pay homage of Rama.

The celebrations at Billawar(J&K). The pictures taken by me on 28-09-2009.

Vijayadashami is the day of the Saraswati or the deity of knowledge and learning. Children begin their school education, their art lessons or their career planning on this day and seek their elders blessings. For Hindus Dussera is one of the four most auspicious days of the yea

Upcoming Kumbh Mela

KUMB MELA



Kumb Mela in 1850


Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage. It occurs four times every twelve years and rotates among four locations: Allahabad (Prayag) at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna and mythical Saraswati river, Haridwar along the Ganga river, Ujjain along the Kshipra river and Nashik along the Godavari river.

The Maha Kumbh Mela ('Great' Kumbh Mela) which comes after 12 'Purna Kumbh Melas' which is after every 144 years is also held at Allahabad .The 2001, Maha Kumbh Mela was attended by around 60 million people, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world .

According to Indian astrology, it is celebrated when the planet of Brihaspati (Jupiter) moves into the zodiac sign of Aquarius or Kumbha . Each sites celebration dates are calculated in advance according to a special combination of zodiacal positions of Sun, Moon, and Jupiter.

According to Paramahansa Yogananda in his work the Autobiography of a Yogi, it was on the Kumbha Mela in January 1894 at Allahabad that his Guru Sri Yukteswar met Mahavatar Babaji for the first time

 

In 2001, Kumbhmela was held in Allahabad. It is estimated that about 16 million people took a bath in the river Ganges on the occasion. It was extraordinary in terms of arrangement and discipline

 

 

 

The basic point of the Kumbh Mela is for pilgrims to bathe at certain sacred spots on certain auspicious days. A large tented city is erected and pilgrims stay at tents owned by Pandas (religious and spiritual guides) and at various ashrams. Others will just camp on the ground or turn up for the actual bathing day. Some of these bathing days are designated "royal," and it is on these days that the naga sadhus (naked mendicants) parade and bathe. On other days there will still be people bathing and other events and random processions

 

Upcoming Kumbh Mela

 

Haridwar (the gateway to God) will host the Purna Kumbha mela in the year 2010 (March-April)

 

The Purna Kumbha Mela will again be held at Allahabad (Prayag) in the year 2013 (January 27 to February 25)

 

Nasik will host the Ardha Kumbha Mela in 2015 (August 15 to September 13)

 

Ujjan Ardha Kumbh Mela 2016 (April 22 to May 21)

Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Guru Nanak's teachings can be found in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth, a vast collection of revelatory verses recorded in Gurmukhi.
From these some common principles seem discernible. Firstly a supreme Godhead who although incomprehensible manifests in a variety of religious forms, the Singular 'Doer' and formless source of all forms. It is described as the indestructible (without death) form and in both impersonal and personal forms.
Guru Nanak describes the dangers of the self (haumai- 'I am') and calls upon devotees to engage in worship through God's name[dubious – discuss] and singing of God's qualities, discarding doubt in the process. However such worship must be selfless (sewa). God's name cleanses the individual to make such worship possible. This is related to the revelation that God is the Doer and without God there is no other. Guru Nanak warned against hypocrisy and falsehood saying that these are pervasive in humanity and that religious actions can also be in vain. However the practice of satsang is considered exalted. It may also be said that ascetic practices are disfavoured by Guru Nanak who suggests remaining inwardly detached whilst living as a householder.
Through popular tradition, Guru Nanak's teaching is understood to be practiced in three ways:

1. Chanting the Holy Name and thus remembering God at all times (ceaseless devotion to God)

2.Earning/making a living honestly, without exploitation or fraud

3. Sharing with others, helping those with less who are in need



Kalayan Das Mehta, Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s father once sent the Guru to graze buffaloes in the pastures. While grazing the buffaloes, Guru Nanak Dev ji sat under a tree and started meditating on God. Meanwhile, the herd of buffaloes went into the neighboring farmer’s field destroying his crop. The farmer saw his crops getting damaged. He became furious and lodged a complaint with Rai Bular, the officer-in-charge of that area. Rai Bular came to inspect the fields, and to his astonishment, he found no damage was done to the crops; rather, the crops were blossoming. The place, at which this miracle took place, is known as Kiara Sahib.
On another occasion, Guru Nanak Dev Ji was sent to graze the buffaloes in the pastures and he fell asleep under the shade of a tree. As the sun rose higher, the shadow moved away. The rays of the hot summer sun began to fall on his face. A big cobra came at that place and provided shadow with its hood over the face of the Divine Master. Rai Bular happened to be passing by that side with his attendants. When he saw this strange scene, he was convinced that Guru Nanak Dev Ji is not an ordinary man. God had sent him to this world. Rai Bular then touched the Guru's feet in great reverence and thus became his disciple.




Some of teachings are:-

1.Whenever people go astray God sends some great and admirable personalities to show the right path to society. India is the birth land of many famous religions- Sikhism is one of them. The word Sikh is derived from Sanskrit word shishya (disciple), so the simple meaning of Sikh is disciple.


2. As fragrance abides in the flower
As reflection is within the mirror,
So does your Lord abide within you,
Why search for him without?