I was reading the latest Outlook magazine and came across this article on our women ambassadors--26 of them now apparently. The article was all about the yeoman service these women are doing and.....I started tearing up. I felt so proud of my fellow countrywomen and what they're achieving and the fact that all this is so much more possible now, and the tears just kept rolling down my face. I was looking at myself and thinking 'For heaven;s sake, why cry!' but I couldn't help myself.

"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."
(Rabindranath Tagore)

This poem is in the new song book at school and when I was re-reading this much loved poem, it made all the more heart-rending, all that has happened in India in the past few days--beginning from the 'Tamasha' in Parliament to the sadness of the bomb blasts. Tagore was against the idea of even Nationalism, believing truly in a world without borders. But oh oh, what our world has become, where intolerance for others who are different in thought (which comprises religion, politics, point of view) or speak a different language or look different, has increased.
But I do see a new hope dawning. Somehow, with the whole problem with climate change and how it is really affecting ALL of us, maybe the people of the world will be forced to accept that we are all one and truly need each other for our individual survival.

An allegorical Tale

The Great Spirit was busy this morning.  It was the time of the filling of the bottles.Rows of bottles lay on the grass at the stream's side ready to be filled with the cool, sweet waters from the Mighty River's source.  The bottles were of many shapes and sizes and in myriad hues.  Some of the bottles were of the finest crystal, while others were just plain glass.  Some once held perfume and still held a slight remembrance of them.  Once the bottles were all filled (and lightly stoppered), the Great Spirit gently lowered them into the stream, to float downriver towards the Great Sea.
The bottles all bobbed and floated downstream.  The crystal bottles sparkled and shone in the sunlight; the coloured bottles diffused colour into the surrounding water, the bottles that once held sweet perfumes emanated a slight scent.  Some of the bottles thought they were wonderful, some felt thy were plain and ugly and the Great Spirit saw this and smiled because they had all been filled from the same sweet water source.
As they all rushed along on their journey, some of the bottles smashed against rocks early into the journey, the water inside joining with that of the river.   Some of the bottles got pulled down by weeds and plant roots; some got stuck on mud shoals, of which some got nudges from passing frogs and fishes or even other bottles and so managed to get back into the stream.  Some went on far ahead, carried along by currents and some spun round and round, caught in whirlpools.  All gave up the water inside, back into the Mighty River.
Of the many bottles that had started the journey together up in the hills, at the River's source, only some made it to the Great Sea, their sweet water mingling with the salt of the Sea.  Only a very few realised that in reality they were all the same, because they had all been filled from the same source and made the same essential journey, with the essential purpose of giving back to the Great River the water they carried in them.  Whatever the outer shape and colour, whether long or short the journey, whether the giving back to the River was sudden and catastrophic or gradually ebbing out, they were all of the same essence and the purpose of the journey was the same, to carry the sweet water, keeping it sweet as long as possible, and then giving it back to the River.

May we all realise our purpose before the end of our journeys.

My last post was about getting rid of one's ego. This is something I have been trying to do as part of my personal growth. When I read about Mahatma Gandhi's attempt to do that and some little bit of Buddhist philosophy, it has been a goal of mine. I feel that when one's ego is no longer important, one is truly able to see the Godliness in all human beings and in all creation.

Why do I need to feel appreciated?
Why do I feel the need to be valued?
Why do I feel the need to be validated?
Why do I feel the need to be thought of highly?
It is my ego, my ego that doesn't let go.


May I learn the lesson of egolessness in this life.

Another Tag

Hiphop Grandmom tagged me.

I had already seen this tag a while back on somebody else’s blog, before I was tagged with it and thought it looked interesting.

Here are some of my favourite literary characters…

Jo or Josephine from Louisa M Alcott’s ‘Little Women’ series, particularly in 'Little Men'. She is my all time favourite I think, I identified so much with her and so wanted to be like her too.

Anne from the ‘Anne of Green Gable’ series by L.M. Montgomery,

Jane from Jane Eyre,

Pollyanna, though she’s got bad press in the US now—too goody-goody,

Heidi—how I loved Heidi;

The witches from the Discworld series

Just too many characters from the Harry Potter series,

Frodo and Gandalf—Tolkien

Jane Austen’s sensible heroines (I’m an absolute sucker for sensible heroines)

Gerald Durrell—he’s not a fictional hero of course, but was a person I truly admired and along with him I add James Herriot.

As you can see, most of my favourite characters are women! I always loved strong women, who didn’t let circumstances get them down and whose characters grew and expanded through their experiences.
I forgot to add Kunti Devi from Mahabharatha.
This tag I want Beks to do as also Geeta A J.

More pictures

These are pictures of chillies that grow in the backyard. They are very small-less than an inch long-but very hot. They are called 'kandari' in Malayalam. These chillies are the ones that grow easiest.
Incidentally, we rarely use the ripe ones.

Ok, at last, as my very own computer is back in action, here are some pictures that I took....

This guy came into school, when we were going to start singing! He was a beautiful green and as we watched his tail started turning colour. But we had to chase him out before he completely turned colour.

This beautiful spider is just outside our mosquito netting and I don't have the heart to kill it, because it's so beautiful--a brilliant yellow, with black stripes--and makes a really intricate web. It's position just outside the netting is a terrific hunting ground--all those insects and mosquitoes trying to fly in!

Summer was beautiful and fun-filled for me. Some pictures here.....

It's strange, posts I expected views on like the one about Mr. Beattie and the more recent post, where I expected some views, got no comments but the tag about some aspects of me, got so many comments. I truly found that strange.
On another note, I had got some pictures on my phone particularly of a lovely green chameleon; but I am unable to post because my regular computer is not working and to upload pictures on another computer means I have to go through the hassle of installing my phone and so on on another computer. Will post that picture as soon as I can.