Gudipadwa & Ramnavratri

New Year begins with Gudipadwa . Its Chaitra shukla pratipada . I woke up early,took bath and dashed out towards the Lord Hanuman Temple down the Hill. I saw the rising Sun . The crimson and soothing. Chanted the Gayetri Mantra. Men and women flocked the temple. With renewed fervor prayed to the Almighty.

Every day, i make it a point to take my lords darshan and then climb up the hill. We reside on the hill top area. Its peaceful and less crowded . With the padwa, beings the Ramnavratri too. On the ninth day of chaitra Shukla navmi ,Lord Ram was born. We read Ramayan all these nine days and celebrate the ninth day with gusto.

I have invited few family friends to relish prasad . The nine days of chanting lords name ,lighting akhand jyot(lamp) reciting shloks Ramraksha etc. and path . The imbibing the religious thoughts from the epic Ramayan . Remembering the sages Valmiki and Tulsidas. Valmiki , was the first poet to tell the story of Shri Rama,in his 'Ramayana'. Later, Tulsidas composed Rama-charita-manas. He was a great vedic scholar philosoper. Devotee Hanuman helped him to attain darshan of Prabhu Shri Ram . Tulsidas declared: 'Bhakti is the only way leading to God's Grace.' People in North India recite his verses,which are sweet couplets in beautiful rhyme. These sanskars we got from our parents are very nicely nurtured.

Its the beginning of the Chaitra month , the ladies celebrate haldi kumkum and distribute sweets and prepare snacks from newly harvested gram pulse, the new season of raw mangoes (kairi) is in abundance in the market. Preparing sharbat from the raw mangoes (sharbat/ called panha) is savoured in homes by all young and old. It acts as cooling agent .

Its the advent of summers. The Neem tree is blooming . Its fragrance beats the costliest scent in the world. I walk the path, both the pathways are surrounded with houses . The blooming colorful bougainvilleas catches my eye. The much awaited mogra unveils its grandeur. The perfect time the Lord is born. Lord Vishnu is worshipped in his human incarnation as Rama, the divine ruler of Ayodhya.....

Its the ninth day(Navmi) i hurriedly come home from my morning walk . Prepare breakfast and cook prasad . Then gods(images) are beautifully garlanded and sprayed with gulabjal. The whole atmosphere is charged. I and my family & my neighbour sing praise for our beloved Lord Rama. We sing and blow conch after the arti.

I distribute prasads to everyone. In the afternoon the delicious meals is served to the invited guests. 'Atithi dev bhava.' Then the family members maids and servants too eat .

In the evening ours friends and relatives too visit each other. The doors are opened to all. We do not have to take appointment to meet on such occasion. Huge chariot processions(Rathyatra) of Shri Ram Sita Laxman Bharat and devotee Hanuman are taken out.. Scenes depicting from Ramayan are skilfully decorated. People get mesmerised and transferred to the epic age. Its a good message for starting and wishing each other on the beginning of our New Year.

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous new year!

नौमी तिथि मधु मास पुनीता । सुकल पच्छ अभिजित हरिप्रीता ॥
मध्यदिवस अति सीत न घामा । पावन काल लोक बिश्रामा ॥

भए प्रगट कृपाला दीनदयाला कौसल्या हितकारी ।
हर्षित महतारी मुनि मन हारी अद्भुत रूप बिचारी ॥
लोचन अभिरामा तनु घनस्यामा निज आयुध भुज चारी ।
....तुलसीदास

The Safari

My young daughter was coming home from London. I was very much excited. We had planned a day out to the Jungle. All these days she had desperately missed her country ,her home town, the climate, seasons and the natural habitat.

“The winters in London were too severe this year”, she remarked. "The excessive snow hindered the day to day life. The weather there gave you a morose feeling. Our country is blessed with sunlight and colorful seasons. The mere darshan of sun god is rare there,” she added

People want to settle in foreign countries like USA Australia and England etc for the sake of money ,cleanliness and beauty.

But something is missing there. Of course the spirits of Indians the warmth of the Indian people the lovely blooming spring the scented summers the rainfall and of all, the winters are quite pleasant. The homely sparrow building its nests the sheep the goats and cows grazing in the open fields ,the village women decked in colorful ghagras carrying rotis for the peasant husbands, all a lively landscape for the naked eye. We were going in the jeep to the Jungle. We were given a guide who looked more of a boy in teens. He literally jumped in our jeep to escort us. I looked nervous, how on earth he is going to guide us in this deep forest. We were not allowed any weapons etc to protect us from the savages of the jungle. (This even made me more nervous!) Face is your index. “Cheer up mom,” remarked my kin who was decked up with smart jeans and cap, holding the binoculars for spotting any avian.

A fleet of parakeets crossed us, birds of same feathers flock together i mumbled, wow!there were the orioles and kingfishers etc. The guide narrated the history like a parrot. Well read uhh. I wish I had studied ornithology seriously, I could have conducted their(birds) knowledge with ease. Anyway the sight made me feel good and healthy cause I had fast recovered from a prolonged illness. The smell of the different trees and environment made me forget totally about my illness, which otherwise crept like a parasite in my mind.
We came across of different species of deers antelopes and wolves.
I grabbed my camera and took pictures & video. My blog will be rich with these pictures I dreamt. And there will be tales to tell to my dear friends. But somehow the thought of seeing a Tiger was not pleasant. I have never liked the ferocious wild cat! I muster courage to see him on discovery channel only. Sensing my thoughts - telepathy or so the guide went on.-“ the tiger kills its pray by first and foremost breaking his windpipe.” He went on... how poaching is going on, how their numbers has come to few hundreds only. Soon they(tigers) will be extinct if proper measures are not taken etc etc They are the most endangered species he boasted with confidence. The poachers gather huge sum of money by selling tiger skins even their nails fetch lot of money. Who would like to risk their lives to earn money in such fashion I thought. Stupid people! I murmured.

There was no site of the beast in the deep forest. What if our jeep got stuck I wondered-no sooner the thought flashed in my mind the engine of our jeep started giving trouble. SOS-another vehicle was to be ordered but no communication was possible. In the core of my heart I prayed the almighty so sincerely never before. We halted near a pond where all sorts of animals come to quench their thirst.“The tiger was spotted here at this lake day before yesterday. See this video,” the guide remarked. All enjoyed his video clip except me. My god, what if the tiger comes at this moment. I visualised another video clip in my mind. The growling face appeared on the imaginary screen it was so live that I was about to scream.!

The guide's words resounded, “at this moment when we spot the tiger we must stay silent, no noise. Even the engine of the jeep is stopped at such moment. When he(tiger) moves away then only we must proceed further.” I gulped. What next. I desperately wanted to move away from the pond. The cool breeze was relaxing to some extent only, not much. Surprisingly our jeep started. Soon we were returning, a long time had elapsed.. on the way we saw the huge elephant and its baby . Come on, I did remember the tune of Hatari Movie in my good old days . It was a hit film and a hit Tune. Gosh! was it not a real good experience altogether? I pondered on return to our cottage.
The above article was published in The Hitvada Dt 25/3/2010

holi celebration

Safari