Y3S+

The third YES+ course in Abu Dhabi concluded today amidst much celebration and silence. Conducted at our center, the YES+ had an interesting mix of working professionals and students on the first day. At the end of the 6 days, there was just one big group of joyous, wiser and more peaceful human beings – empowered, as the course promises.

 

We had keen volunteers, who made all arrangements and were keenly present throughout the course. The participants changed from being a little hesitant on Day1, to blooming and free by the time the course ended. The satsangs were fun, the kriya deep, and the games and activities were totally charged up.

So many blessings, so much love and appreciation flowing on the last day, and so many new wonderful friends. Where else on the planet can you get even a shadow of this joy?

 

Blissed out remembering the last 6 days and reading the feedback. Love, JGD!

New happenings

Has been an interesting last week at Abu Dhabi, a mixture of seva and fun all coming together. Played some Grand Theft Auto 4 on the PS3. Rockstar games have cleverly redefined and rendered New York City as Liberty City in the game. This is the first time that I am playing a game of this franchise, and the open-world, sandbox game, comprising elements of driving, shooting and puzzles is good fun. Unfortunately, it is too long and i am afraid i would not be able to finish it due to other priorities. Besides, i am desperately trying to clean up my act by shifting from FPS games/solo adventures to more mature, complex strategy games (think Age of Empires). The thing about these games is that there is a high learning curve, so the thought of starting a new game can be quite intimidating. I have played AOE, and Warcraft 3 earlier. I remember how other activities would suddenly start seeming important when i would play these games :) I pushed myself into Warcraft purely because i loved the plot, so reminiscent of LOTR, one of my favorite reads. Once the tough learning curve was crossed though, i found the gameplay very engaging and rewarding. Strategy games have this positive effect in making you a better planner and allowing you to better organize, and execute, your activities. So i had bought Civilization Revolutions, one of the very few strategy games for the PS3, and have been diligently reading the internet guides to understand how to play! 

Have also been re-reading Ramesh Menon's brilliant rewritng of Ramayana, the highest selling English translation on Amazon.com. I just loooovvveee grand fantasies (though Ramayana is not one).

Had an inspiring meeting with Aban aunty in Bangalore and have donated towards the VISTA project, Pitaji's initiative to empower rural women in north Karnataka. Met Bau and took his blessings for further seva. I enquired if I would see him in the US, to which he responded "This (the ashram) is the best place to vacation. Come back here only." 

Got a multiple entry Canada visa yesterday. We had a couple of great intro talks and two wonderful satsangs over the last week, with electronic dholaks and an elec guitar. We seem set for our third YES+ in Abu Dhabi from the 22nd.

To my Bengali friends

Thanks to Bambi.

The Bengali Babumoshoi 

With all due regards and profound respects to all and sundry Bengali 

A  is for Awpheesh (as in Office). This is where the average  Kolkakattan 
goes and spends a day hard at work.  And if he works for the 'West Bengal 
 Gawrment'  he will arrive at 10, wipe his forehead till 11, have a  tea 
break at 12, throw around a few files at 12.30, break  for lunch at 1, smoke 
an unfiltered cigarette at 2,  break for tea at 3, sleep sitting down at 4 
 and go home  at 4:30. It's a hard life! 
  
B is for Bhision. For some reason  many Bengalis don't have  good bhision. 
In fact in Kolkata most people are wearing  spectacles all the time. 
  
C is for Chappell (as in Greg).  Currently, this is the Bengali word for the 
 Devil, for the worst form of  evil. In the night  mothers put their kids to 
sleep saying, 'Na ghumaley  Chappell eshey dhorey niye jabe.' (If you don't 
sleep, Chappel will come and take you away!!) 
  
D is for Debashish or any  other name starting with Deb. By an ancient law 
every fourth Bengali  Child has to  be named Debashish. So you have a 
Debashish everywhere  and trying to get creative they are also called  Deb, 
 Debu, Deba with variations like Debanik, Deboprotim,  Debojyoti, etc.. thrown 
in at times. 
  
E is for Eeesh. This is a  very common Bengali exclamation  made famous by 
Aishwarya Rai in the movie Devdas.  It is estimated that on an average a 
 Bengali, especially  Bengali women, use eeesh 10,089 times every year.  'Ei 
Morechhey' is a close second to Eeesh. 
  
F is for Feeesh.  These are creatures that swim in rivers  and seas and are 
a favourite food of the  Bengalis.  Despite the fact that a fish market has 
 such strong smells, with one  sniff a Bengali knows if a fish  is all right. If 
not he will say 'eeesh what feeesh  is theesh!' 
  
G is for Good name. Every Bengali boy will have a  good name like Debashish 
 or Deboprotim and a pet name like Motka,  Bhombol, Thobla, etc. While every 
Bengali girls will  have pet names like Tia, Tuktuki, Mishti, Khuku, etc. 
  
H  is for Harmonium. This the Bengali equivalent of a rock guitar. Take 
 four Bengalis and a Harmonium and you  have the successors to The Bheatles! 
  
I is for lleesh. This is  a feeesh with 10,000 bones which  would kill any 
ordinary person, but which the Bengalis  eat with releeesh! 
  
J is for Jhola. No self respecting Bengali  is complete without  his Jhola. 
It is a shapeless cloth bag where he  keeps all his belongings and he fits 
an amazing number  of things in. Even as you read this there are 2 million 
 jholas bobbling  around Kolkata- and they all look  exactly the same! Note 
that 'Jhol' as in Maachher Jhol  is a close second 
  
K is for Kee Kaando !. It used to be the  favourite Bengali  exclamation 
 till eeesh took over because of Aishwarya Rai (now Kee Kando's agent is 
trying to hire Bipasha  Basu). 
  
L is for Lungi - the dress for all occasions.  People in  Kolkata manage to 
play football and cricket wearing it  not to mention the daily trip in the 
 morning to the local bajaar. Now  there is talk of a lungi expedition to 
Mt. Everest . 
  
M is for Minibus. These are dangerous half  buses whose antics  would 
effortlessly frighten the living daylights  out of all James Bond stuntmen 
 as well as Formula  1 race car drivers. M  is also for Maunkey Cap and 
Maaphler!! 

N is for Nangto. This is  the Bengali word for Naked. It  is the most 
interesting naked word in any language! 
  
O is for  Oil. The Bengalis believe that a touch of mustard oil will cure 
 anything  from cold (oil in the nose),  to earache (oil in the ear), to 
cough (oil on the  throat) to piles (oil you know where!) 
  
P is for Phootball.  This is always a phavourite phassion  of the Kolkattan. 
 Every Bengali is born an expert  in this game. The two biggest clubs there 
are Mohunbagan and East  Bengal and when they play the city comes  to a stop. 
  
Q is for Queen. This really has nothing to do  with the Bengalis or Kolkata, 
 but it's the only Q word one  can think  of. There's also Quilt but they 
never  use them in Kolkata. 
  
R is for Robi Thakur. Many many years ago Rabindranath got  the Nobel 
Prize. This has given the right to all Bengalis  no matter where they are to 
 frame their acceptance  speeches as if they were directly related to  the 
great poet and walk with their head held high. This  also gives Bengalis the 
birthright to look down at  Delhi and Mumbai and of course 'all 
 non-Bengawlees'  ! Note that 'Rawshogolla' comes a close second  ! 
  
S is for Shourav. Now that they finally produced a genuine  cricketer and a 
captain, Bengalis think that he  should be allowed to play until he is 70 
 years old. Of  course they will see to it that he stays in good form  by 
doing a little bit of 'joggo' and 'maanot'. 
  
T is for  Trams. Hundred years later there are still trams  in Kolkata. Of 
 course if you are in a hurry it's faster  to walk. 
  
U is for Aambrela.. When a Bengali baby is born he  is handed one. 
  
V is for Bhaayolence. Bengalis are the  most non-violent  violent people 
 around. When an accident happens  they will fold up their sleeves, shout and 
scream and curse and  abuse, "Chherey De Bolchhi" but the last time someone 
actually hit  someone was in 1947. 
  
W  is for Water. For three months of the year the city is  underwater and 
 every year for the last 200 years the  authorities are taken by surprise by 
this! 
  
X is for X'mas.  It's very big in Kolkata, with ParkStreet fully lit up and 
all Bengalis agreeing  that they  must eat cake that day. 
  
Y is for Yesshtaarday. Which is  always better than today  for a Bengali 
(see R for Robi Thakur). 
  
Z is for Jebra, Joo, Jipper and Jylophone.. 
  
!!!! 

 

An amazing Advance Course!

Waves of silent joy and contentment washed over the 49 participants at the advance course concluded at the ashram today. By personal choice, i feel that the advance course is the most beautiful program we have, with techniques cleansing the farthest reaches of the mind and beyond. My 11th course was special, with Joshi ji wonderfully guiding us through the enchanting, energizing journey. In a short spell of 4 days, difficult emotional blocks were confronted and transcended, for us to experience higher and higher energy and purity. The pearls of creation in the program were all polished punah punah. Even the pics are so white without any flash employed :)

Prior to that was my cousin's wedding in Mumbai which was a traditional Bangalorean one (the groom is bangalorean). Will update pics soon. Am too awash with Advance course bliss at present :)

US F1 visa interview

Have just completed my visa formalities in mumbai today. Am unable to post pictures simply because photography is not permitted even near the premises :)

So i had prepared my dossier of documents before leaving abu dhabi - the I20 form, the DS forms, the financial proofs, the education certificates, the MRV fee proof, etc. When i landed in mumbai on saturday, i travelled to mahalaxmi to see the US consulate which is at breach candy. I also went through a few typical questions for the interview on the internet, only to realize that the questions are fairly straightforward - why are you going to the US? where will you study? who will pay for the trip. I remembered prashant's advise on being prepared with questions on funding. That was helpful.

I also remember him sharing horror stories of people queuing up outside the consulate 3-4 hours in advance of the interview time. That was not very helpful. Turns out it was not required either (fortunately).

I left kandivli around 7 am and it took me 45 mins (nice) and 500 bucks (not nice) in a cab to the consulate. People were queued outside the consulate. The security guards were quite good at handling the crowd. Of course, since it is the american consulate, i did'nt expect very polite security, so probably that helped me adjust to the way crowds were handled there. At around 8.45 all those for an 8.30 am appointemnt were called to form a new queue, we were told to bundle our I20, passport, and the pink slip from HDFC together. A little ahead another security guy instructed us in chaste bihari english to not carry any medhicines, any mobhile phone, any drinking bhater, etc. Bhatches bhere allowed, i bhas instructed. So bhere accessories, much to the delight of the style bhai standing behind me.

The entrance of the consulate is like a small airport check in counter, where we were frisked, our documents rearranged and walked through a metal detector. The inteview lounge is like a railway ticketing counter, we were issued tokens and waited for one of the interviewers to beckon us to any of the 20 odd counters. Mumbai consulate covers the states of maharashtra and gujarat and inteviews are conducted in english, marathi and gujarati. so for every "Token numbers 704, 705, 707, 709, please come to counter number 7 with your pink tokens" there would be a "Kisanbhai rajubhai patel and family, counter solah avedu chhu" announcement. There were plnety and plenty of patels there, by the way.

I finally heard my token number 963 being called. The counter is like a confession chamber. The interviewer sits on one side, and you stand, sweating, on the other. My interviewer was an indian american who was joined by an american american (?) consular officer midway through my first question - "What are you going to study?" They started chatting with each other with me listening to how so and so candidate should be given higher priority than the other. Then he started explaining to his compatriot about how "IIT is a very famous school in India. Plus he has worked for all these top companies." She said "And he is an Art of Living instructor too." To which he told her "Yes he is a golden boy" and then both turned to me and said "Congratulations you have got your visa. It shall be mailed to you at your address within two days" So that was that, and i headed out to the Bandra station, where i celebrated my american visa in true indian style - having a couple of wada paos and a mango lassi.

Anniversary Party!

It was mum and dad's anniversary yesterday and our YES+ group got together for a fabulous party. Sudha brought over all the stuff for the arrangements and khyati, chetan, vishwan ji, soumen, prasoon, swati all chipped in to arrange the hall and food. We had nice scented candles, confetti filled balloons and a big pineapple cake for the occassion, and it was graced by many of our part 1 teachers including ramdas ji, vijaya ji, dr veena and pramod ji, anil and bindu ji, ragini. With a couple of family friends and our YES+ group thrown in, we had a rocking group of both the young and the young at heart. The cake cutting was fun with mum and dad having to simultaneously blow out two different candles on the cake. 

Saroja conducted a fun session where mum and dad got to speak about how they first met. We had an antakshari and a couple of songs on the guitar. Dinner was nice - traditional khana plus some good homemade gulabjamuns and dahi bhallas from tripti aunty. This was followed by a superb mimicry session with Rebecca, who was brilliant alternately as a philipina, an arab, an aussie, a scotsman, and of course, as a malayali. Once the dancing started it went on for hours. The best thing was mum and dad's total happiness with the party. 

Looking forward to our next get together.

YES+ @ AD...Once more!

The YES+ deuxieme concluded with glowing smiles, flowing hearts and growing minds. Each day, starting from the 10^th, brought forth a blossoming of the participants’ hearts. We played, we danced, we sang, we shared wisdom and ,naturally, we breathed to celebrate His priceless gift to humanity – the YES+ program. From the eventful first day at the India Social Center, to the next 5 days at our Abu Dhabi AOL center, and the finale at our home, I had the honor of guiding 25 loved ones to His light. 

Day 1 was fun. The riddle nearly started a riot. On Day 2 all of us unlocked secrets of unending enthusiasm and had our first peek into infinity. The experience of 

vastness deepened on Day 3 while tough insights were had to discover what holds us back in life. Day 4 was our picnic where even at the end of a whole day of discovery and fun, the participants wanted more and more. Day 5 was marked with colourful (or rather dimly lit) skits symbolizing the different groups. The group presentations on vegetarianism were very insightful, and reiterated the crying need for all of us to turn vegetarian to save our bodies, our planet and our wallets. When we parted on day 6, our hearts were full and our heads light and clear, and we committed to making life a celebration for more people.

There were many snapshots in the course - Saroja proposing to the whole group on Valentine’s day with roses; the Suryanamaskar relay races which brought out the best (or worst?) of the different groups; Avanish ji’s enthusiasm and belongingness belying his age; the long and amazing yoga sessions; the games and the games and more games; Suraj’s “YESmobile” delivering people safely after the course, and so many more. Swati, saroja, vishwan ji and soumein showed fabulous commitment in the way they were at the venue every day, making all the arrangements happen, so that the course was a seamless, smooth experience for all the participants. The satsangs were divine, and Guruji’s blessings flowed so abundantly. 

For me, the experience of conducting the program was as stunning as organizing it. Congrats to all of us who had worked towards it – Swati, Saroja, Bimlesh, Soumein, Vishwan ji, Apporva, Khyati, Sumal, Jitesh, Ranjan. Heading to the malls, our team would randomly meet up people and inform them about the program, and by doing that we feel so much more a part of the city and the community, so many insecurities have vanished, and fears of other people’s judgement diminished. At the same time, the mind feels sharper and more creative, and our communication has improved tremendously. It is amazing that though I have been actively meeting new people  and speaking to them about the course for the last 10 years, yet every time, some awkwardness falls away and I feel much more connected to the World around. It is so much easier to see Guruji's wisdom on how the mind works. All the dullness and false concepts start dropping away when doing seva.

In all, a wonderful journey ended and another amazing one begins now, with all of us fervently praying

 and working towards making our dream a reality – of having Bawa here in the first week of April.