Blue

Blue, blue, blue
Vast, infinite, mesmerising
No beginning, no end
Here, there and everywhere.
All embracing, all encompassing
Ever so inviting, deliciously cool.
Love pours forth in every way
Drenched in his love, I swoon, I sway
The smile on my face, gives me away.
Shades of blue, dark and bright
Lighter, at times almost white
So inviting, I cannot fight.
I soar up high, oh so high
Lighter than cotton, no effort required.
To merge and be one is my heart’s desire.

The twinkling eyes, the dazzling smile
Features so fine, face shining bright
The curls dance framing the face
Long shapely fingers beckon me ahead.
The swish of the silk, the gurgling laugh
Silent footsteps falling so soft.
Lost in the moment, no mind to confuse
One single thought, “It is you.”
A long wait, painful and tough
Shedding tears, yearning for your touch
Worth it after all, for you have come
To take me along...
Where no more will there be a you and I.
Just blue, blue, blue… vast, infinite.

- Rukma

On Labels & Tags

It amazes me how labels and tags are so important to us. So much so that we forget the basic oneness… that of us being humans. Castes, communities, regions, countries, areas, gender, family, school/college community, religion…the list is endless. These tags and many more bind us, they bring us together, and they also tear us apart.

Over time these labels become bigger than the person and we judge, accept, reject based on them. But what about that basic similarity - that we are all human beings?

I’m yet to come across a single religion that does not talk about humanity. Yet, the preachers of these very religions divide us into them and us, believers and non-believers, we and them. But peel away the mask, and there stands in all its glory, our common entity: humanity. Underneath it all we’re nothing but humans and that is the core. With a heart and a mind, a brain and an intellect, hands and legs, eyes and ears, mouth and tongue, nose and teeth; with fears and joys, pleasures and pain, feelings of elation and dejection, losses and gains.

Alas! This visible truth has over time come to be hidden under a pile of labels, tags and names, reeking of division, stinking of differences, marauded by our own creations. Where did we go wrong?

Why do we reject, offend, repel, kill, repulse and not accept another one of our own, based on nothing but man-made tags? Forgetting the truth that GOD himself has made us in the same cast. Why do we forget that we are equal in all ways, born alike, live life alike, grow up alike and die the same way too; the same cells, the same atoms, the same bone constitution and body organs. Yet, we point fingers, give names and tags, divide ourselves into groups, live life in strife and despair.

I know I will be called a fool to dream of a world by the one single reality of Oneness in all, the one single reality of the highest Dharma of humanity. What does it matter what name you give God, whether you believe or shun him for that matter? ‘Vasudaiva kutumbakam; the universal family screams the holy scriptures, but who’s got time to look into that, we’re busy practicing religion!!

Anything and everything goes, in the name of God. It just doesn’t make sense to me how there can be two manufacturers for the very same entity. My God, your God, his God and her’s, why can’t we instead just let God be God?! And live and let live in love and peace and above all acceptance? Total acceptance of each other without rejecting on the basis of man made labels.

Call me a fool if you like, but I look forward to that day…the day of oneness.
(Well, I'm doing my bit and it certainly doesn't hurt to try. Hope you'll join me too!)

A Lifetime Plan

People come into our life for a reason, a season or lifetime...says a popular email fwd. Come to think of it, it sure does make a lot of sense. How else would you explain the discontinuance of close friendships and the disappreaing of people we're close to, for no apparent reason. Like the mail says some people come into our lives for a reason and when that reason no longer exists they go away. Some people stay on for a season, a little longer while. Once that season is over, they're gone. And then there are those few who come into our life to last a lifetime. Their entry may be sudden and out of the blue, but they come and simply stay on. There is a reason that brings them into our life, but they continue to be a part of our life for a lifetime.

At every stage in life we experience this. People come, people go. Some people come and never go. They form an important part of our life and leave an indelible mark on every page of the book of our life. We cannot imagine life without them. We cannot see beyond them. Their absence is frightening and painful. Their company delightful. Ofcourse, there is also the other breed of lifetime people who add excitement to our life with the troubles they cause. My thanks to them too. Life would be boring without them.

But this blog was mainly for the people in my life who are on a lifetime plan. The one's who add colour to my life. The one's who make each day special. The one's who stand by me through the ups & downs of life.

Talking about reasons reminds me of one of my favourite poems called 'There is a reason', composed by Pujya Swami Chinmayanandaji or Gurudev as we lovingly call him. It goes like this...

There is a Reason

There is a Reason
For every pain that we must bear,
For every burden, every care
There is a Reason.

For every grief that crushes our heart
For every scalding tear we shed,
There is a Reason.

For every hurt, for every plight,
For every lonely, painful night,
There is a Reason.

Yet, if we trust God, as we all must,
It can all turn out to be for our good, as
He knows the Reason.

- Swami Chinmayananda