spine

what is spine ?
but your lute
wholes it has seven
who can refute?

hold the breath
let me be torn
if music be,
the food of love
play on.

Funny Subhashit on doctors

O doctor, kin brother of Yamaraj ,I bow to you.
Yama takes away life, but you money too :)

exercise: Indentify all the vibhaktis

A Matter of Taste

It all started, with my association with Vishwanathan Balasubramanian. The comely tambrahm who was exiled to snowy peaks of Switzerland. Much like any Indian boy, both of us hardly knew how to cook. I was experimental and made daal on the first day, right away. With some effort and luck it was, it was, it was "A Victory". It was OK, digestible. The tambrahm however if I understand correctly was a little skeptical in taking initiative and was trying to postpone his agni pareeksha (in kitchen) by exhausting his Chennai packed puliodarai (have I spelled it correctly?). Yeah we had a girl colleague who was our “Mother of all sorts”, but both of us resisted to take cooking lessons from her. And, after all, we are, MEN of HONOUR! I, Cuba Gooding was I think trusting my failed experiments and Vishwanathan (Robert de Niro) Fate.

After a few months of independent experiments we realized that we can divide and rule this hunger- nutrition need. I cooked dal and vegetable, mostly and Vishwa rice(notice). It was easy. The Agastyar from Himalayas was already invading the Dravidian stomach. I took strange liberties, with my interest in nutrition and taste, I was dishing out Nutrela (soya nuggets), pakodas, mutter paneer etc. Things went well, my client ate with the kind of gratitude and satisfaction, South Indians show when they make a trip to Thirumala, their wishes granted. Some things which I remember found special favor with the “thayir sadam” boy were chole, rajma, palak and baingan sabzi.

I understand how much the boy must have craved for sambhar vattal kozumbu and other things that I don’t know (but want to know!) but what could I do. Anyhow, one fine day I made bhindi sabzi to which the boy responded with some visible disagreement. I said kya hua, is it not okay ? He quipped, "how does your mother make it" ? Oh, I was never Mama’s boy u see and paid little attention to “Mothers Recipes”. I said don’t know may be she cooks it the same way.

Finally the Chennai roots of the boy sprung forth, he blurted out his disapproval, how can u make bhindi daaaaa (yaar) sans coconut? This came to me as a shock, Coconut? What is this man talking about? Why would some one put coconut in bhindi ? May be he realized its bad manners to speak thus about food, he lightly said its okay, but politely added "your mother surely must be putting coconut in vegetables". Okay, I was ignorant, but not that much, I had never seen my mother using coconut anywhere except to make mithais or sweet rice.

Finally the enlightenment dawned on me, in his part of the world coconut is to vegetable what chai patti is to tea. I realized, how some things can change but some things could remain same. Daal makhani could be tolerated but it needed to admit kari patta(generously). Tandori roti could be relished, but curd rice should follow. Lassi and Jal Jeera might be "cool" but filter kaapi is also "haaat". The true national integration happens in our stomachs(mouths?) before it happens in our hearts.

Do u know now Sangeetha restaurant in Chennai serves Chettinad Paneer Kurma!

The proof of pudding, will well, still be, in the eating but to some it should be served on plantain leaf.

To Vishwanathan, and to all those memories where tongue rolled as “a matter of taste”.

PS: No offense is meant to any culture state or region. These are private emotions on private net-space.

deva devam bhaje

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eyes

the beginning:
aa piya in nainan mein jo palak dhaanp tohe lun
na main dekhun aur ko, na tohe dekhan dun
chhap tilak sab chheni ..... re tose naina milaike

-Sufi Verse from Khusro

interval:
samam kaya-siro-grivam dharayann acalam sthirah
sampreksya nasikagram svam disas canavalokayan

-gita ch 6 V13

towards the ending:

The Vedas, the Shastras and the Puranas are like prostitutes [attainable to all]. The shambhavi mudra, however, is like a chaste woman, carefully guarded.

-hath yog pradipika Ch 14 V 35

Finally:
na cha shrota jivye na cha ghraan netre
na cha vyom bhurmi na tejo na vuyuhu
chidananda rupah Shivoham Shivoham

- Atmashtakam Shankara Virachitam

hriday ka dwar

hriday ka dwar
khola hai tere liye
kya aaoge
tum aaoge
ek bar
darshan doge!

kya jeevan
yun hi jaayegaa
bina darshan
tere bhagwan!!

din aur raat prabhu
din aur raat
dekhun teri baat din aur raat.

PY-Cosmic chants

Kali

Kaun kehta hai tu kaali ?
O Ma Jagadambe
Laakhon ravi chandra teri
Kaya se hain chamakte !

-by PY (who else)

ananda-dhara

Cool in my head
Hot down there
soothing in the middle
and sweet and painful in the neck
U move in me
Is this the way
u respond to my love ?

think

I think
I think why i think ?
Then i think am just I a thought ?
To whom are these thoughts happening ?
and does that whom exist independent of these thoughts.
and is it possible to know it through thoughts ?

panch prana

It has always been a mystery to me how yogis just by "being" could have such intellectual clarity 5000 years ago, which collective human effort of "doing" has failed to achieve in thousands of years.

Most know about the categorization of prana, few know the techniques to manipulate them, even fewer have felt them and to even few are open the subtle mysteries of of prana.

This great samvaad from Prashna Upanishad is one such dialogue between those very few.

Kausalya, son of Asvala, questioned Pippalada: "O Bhagavan Pippalada:
Whence is this Prana born? How does it come into this body? How does
it abide after it has divided itself? How does it go out? How does it
support what is without? How does it support all within the body?"

He replied: "You ask questions about transcendental matters. I will
explain to thee because you are a great enquirer of Brahman.

This Prana is born of the Atman. As is this shadow in the man, so is
this Prana in the Atman. By the action of the mind this enters into
this body.

As a king commands his officers, saying to them: 'Govern these or
those villages', so does this Prana dispose the other Pranas, each
for their separate allotted work.

The Apana dwells in the organs of excretion and generation: the Prana
itself abides in the eye, ear, mouth and nose. In the middle is
Samana. It distributes the food supplied equally and the seven flames
proceed from it.

This Atman is in the heart. Here there are a hundred and one nerves
(arteries). Each of them has a hundred branches; again every one of
these has seventy-two thousand sub-branches. In these the Vyana
moves.

Again, through one other, the Udana ascending, leads us upwards to
the virtuous world by good work; to sinful worlds by sin: and to the
world of men by virtue and sin combined.

The sun verily is the external Prana. He rises and assists the Prana
in the eye. The goddess of the earth attracts Apana downwards. The
other (between the sun and the earth) is Samana. The wind is Vyana.

The external fire indeed is Udana. Therefore, he whose fire has gone
out, enters another body with his senses absorbed in the mind.

Whatever his thought (at the time of death), with that he attains
Prana: and the Prana united with Udana together with the Jivatma,
leads on to the world thought of. The learned man who knows Prana
thus-his offspring does not perish and he becomes immortal.

He who knows the origin, the entry, the seat, the fivefold
distribution of Prana and its internal state in the body, obtains
immortality, yea, obtains immortality".