Why do we shout in anger?

WHY DO WE SHOUT AT ONE ANOTHER?
A saint asked his disciples, 'Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?'
Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout for that.' 'But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?' asked the saint. 'Isn't it possible to speak to him or her in a normal voice? Why do you need to shout when you're angry?'
Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint. Finally he explained, 'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be heard to each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout! Then the saint asked, 'What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small...' The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only have to look at each other!! That is how two close people are, when they love each other.'

The story reminds me of an exercise with the 5th graders at Bal Vihar. The teacher asks them to talk to the friends sitting next to them. She then asks them to talk to friends sitting across the room. Then she asks them to talk to God. The first experiment is a small whisper, the second is louder, while the third is silent. The beautiful revelation behind this is when the teacher explains how God is so close to us that we dont have to talk loudly or in whispers, but silently and He hears us :)

My world, my father!

Those memorable days - some 25-30 years ago, in a small town called Madurai in India, where we used to live – a sweet family - my father (appa), mother(amma) and my cute li’l sister! I spent the first 17 years of my life in that town. My mom was a very dedicated, excellent, efficient home maker, who stayed at home to bring up my sister and myself, and take care of the family (There is a lot to write about Amma, my role model.. I will post the blog in next few days..). My father was a para-medical man, who worked for a pharmaceutical company. He would travel almost 20 days in a month. My father is extremely intelligent, very honest person, very sincere, hardworking, and god-fearing. He is a jack of all arts – may it be plumbing, or electrical, or electronic or gardening. More than anything, he is a very noble person. During the early years in his career, though he didn't make a lot of money, (in fact, what he earned earned was just enough to meet the day-to-day needs), my parents never compromised on the quality of our life and good education for me and my sister. Simple, contented, happy life. In summer every year, my parents would plan a vacation for a week, and we went to places like Kodaikanal, Yercaud, Thekkadi etc.. That was so much fun! After about 18 years in Madurai, his company transferred him to various states in India (Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai..), and it was very challenging for us in the beginning. But, we soon got adjusted. Whenever we moved to a new place, the first month or two was hard. But, then we took it to our stride and settled down with ease.

He has come a long way... went through a lot of challenges and hardship, and all the his hard work paid off.. he came up very well in his career. It we was his positive spirits, cheerful mind and strong will power that he achieved all the success- both in his personal and as well as in his career path...Quite often people from our family and friends circle talk a lot of great things about him. As we were growing up, we always felt a surging pride for our father.

I feel the same pride to this day. During those early growing years, I think we shared the regular father-daughter relationship. He was a very strict disciplinarian, and a perfectionist. Time passed by... And it was not until I was in my college did I realise what a great person I had for a father. And, today, due to his noble deeds he has a huge fantail behind him wherever he went! And in his native place, Pattamadai, he is hero of worship!! He is a great source of inspiration for us. I owe my father a lot more than just my education. He taught me to be independent, he taught me to be receptive to opinions and views of others, he taught me the power of being positive, and more than anything- he taught us to be contented and happy, and at the same time, to be focused and achieve success with a steady mind, overcoming the barriers. He's 60 years old now, and he is still young at heart! And today, he is a great source of inspiration not just for me and my sister, but also for his sons(-in-law). And to his loving treasures – his grand children- they are the great fans of their grandfather!

Live the present moment!

Past is always glorious.. But we can never retrace back to the past... even though we think we lived everyday to the fullest, each new day opens up a new chapter, a new story, and it continues to the next day in our life... Though we go through the challenges and problems everyday, the moment we enter the next day, the past becomes glorious, deosn't matter if it was just the day before, or a week before- it is a glorious past! So, one should have this in mind, and always remember to live the wonderful present moment, knowing that this present moment is going to become the glorious past, when the dawn of tomorrow arrives!

In this context, I would like to share with everyone, the following article:
Chakravyhuham is the circular maze made of human warriors, elephants, chariots and horses. It is a military strategy used by Kauravaas during Mahabharatha Yuddha to bring the Pandavaas on their knees. The story is that as an unborn child in his mother's womb, Abhimanyu learnt how to enter into the Chakravyuham. (Abhimanyu was the son of Arjunan and Subhadra. Subhadra is the daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini. So she is Krishna's sister and Abhimanyu is Krishna's nephew.) Before Krishna could explain the tricks of getting out of the Chakravyuha, Subhadra fell asleep and so Krishna stopped his explanation. So Abhimanyu did not learn the trick of escaping from the puzzle Chakravyhuha. On the 13th day of the Mahabharatha war, both Krishna and Arjuna who knew how to get out of the Chakravhyuha were distracted and Abhimanyu entered the vyuha. Nobody could help him and he was trapped and killed by the Kauravaas. Once he entered, he could not go back and he moved deeper and deeper into the maze and was completely lost never to return. He was only 16.

Ravindranatha Tagore says that each one of us is an Abhimanyu. We get in to the flow of time and we only know how to go into the future living through the present. But we can never go back to the past living through the present. Only our thoughts can go back to the past but we cannot. We are travellers on the time line and what ever point of time we have crossed is lost for ever, never to return to that same point of time. We are all Abhimanyus who are walking every moment through the path of time facing the uncertain, unknown future around the corner, unable to retrace our steps or to stop our journey.

For those who believe in God, the only power that can help them to solve the puzzle is HIM. He is the personification of kindness and will guide us as long as we trust and surrender to Him. Sri Ramakrishna says: "He is behind you, in front of you, he is on your right side, He is on your left side and He is above you and He is in you. Either close your eyes and look inward or open your eyes and see his reflection in everything! That is the only way to solve the big puzzle of Maya."