Himalayan Memoirs: Baethi Nanda devi-Atkuni-Gothu

From Baethi, we started walking on the forest path. Occasionally the canopy of endless greenery would clear up and reveal small settlements. One such settlement was Atkuni: a small hamlet which had an ancient Bhairav temple. After some time the forest path ended and we came into a small town. We had to descend a mountain whose entire valley was under paddy cultivation. It was quite tricky. The greenery of the endless paddy was almost blinding. After the endless paddy fields we came across an auxiliary road which will take us to where we intend to stay the night: Gothu. Once we reached Gothu, Maamaji told everyone that tomorrow’s trek would the most difficult one so we better get some good sleep. Nevertheless, I decided to join maamaji for the sathsang that he was supposed to convene at the nearby temple. He openly admired and approved my peity. Sathsang was fun with the now familiar Garhwali tunes and impromptu dances by 70 year olds. Gothu was also incidentally the last place where I could keep up my asana practices.

Comments

Hotel California

I was dropping off S for one of her meetings. The conversation meandered into how some of our volunteer friends were talking about me leaving IYC. S was observing that we would have never got married if I was not a Isha teacher at that time. She also observed how my deciding to move to Blore was kind of thrust upon her. It was a fair observation yet painful for me to hear it. At some point, I felt the need to justify/explain/clarify that i am a seeker. Still a seeker. After I said it, I felt a moment of pause within me. Am I a seeker? I felt embarrassed that I have to claim me being a seeker in so many words. Am I really a seeker? What does being a seeker mean? Does it mean that I should be living in an ashram? Does it mean that I need to work 100% and more towards a larger-than-life goal? Does it mean that I am checking out of "Hotel California" ? i.e. I am done with the world and ready for something else? Does it mean to live a constant affirmation that I may not know every...

Shringeri

You are my baby sister that I never had. You are my daughter that I will never father.. You are my mother that I had lost forever… Let the throes of my folly remind.. Let the rapture of your embrace sustain… The scheming vagabond that I am, For all my incessant intellection, You are the perfect foil… The cool breeze that sweetens the long toil. How did you smite me? I know not. The unruly curls of your tresses – a part of your plot? What happens now… Now that I have decided to partake in this little game? Your bewitching mane.. Will I ever tame? How long will I be absorbed in the uncharted crevices of your body? Comfortably numb, Will I fall on my face? Let the throes of my folly remind.. ...

Himalayan Memoirs: Anbe Sivam

Prelude: The following was written almost 5 months into my self-imposed exile. It was written while I was staying in an ashram in a small village called Ganeshpur somewhere in the upper reaches of Tehri Garhwal . I spent my time working in the kitchen as a self-appointed cook. ------------------------------------------------------------------ It was a rare moment. Rare indeed is a moment when you clearly realize that you have lost it. It was almost 5 months since I have been off the grid. The first 4 months were really good. I had fun. I had very little money and hence for the first time in my life, I am constantly thinking about money and rationing it. But I liked it as a novelty. Physically also, it was very difficult but I liked to push myself more and more. But most importantly, my sadhana was really good. I meditated like never before. But a variety of circumstances made me impatient and eventually pissed me off. I was no longer fine with just living not knowin...

Ananth's Blog

Search This Blog