The Day of She

Was it not the same day?

The day when she had come running down the stairs, laughing

and had pierced the silence in the rooms.

The day when she had flung her arms around the stillness

in expansive joy and

throughout the night had gaped wild at the moon.

Was it not the same day,

when a garb was burnt

and she was called dead?

Sharad Utsav Begins…

Today is the Mahashashti.

Another Sharad Utsav

comes round in my life and  I again find myself

wondering what it is all about Durga Puja.

Being a Bengali Durga Puja definitely means lots of

pandal hopping, wearing new clothes and having 

nothing to do with the daily chores of life.

It means offering prayers in front of the Goddess

but a sense of incompleteness pervades.

That is not all if at all it is anything.

And as I continued to wonder, God dropped in a

message through a friend, philosopher and

guide,who mailed me a beautiful lyric, which I share

with you here -

“Christmas isn't Christmas...

Till it happens in your heart...

Somewhere deep inside you...

Is where Christmas really starts...

So bring your heart to Jesus...

And remember when you do...

That its Christmas... really Christmas...

For you......”

So as I embark on my voyage to internalise the

Durga Puja,

to free myself of the anxiety of knowing what it

signifies,

and to adore with love and simplicity all that this

festival has in store for me,

my wishes for a joyful Sharadotsav are here for you.

Shubho Sharadotsav!

A Leader Dies…

How inevitable and elusive are the ways of death!

I was told by my mentor that the greatest beauty of death lies in the simple and unconditional acceptance of death  and in the attempt to die beautifully.

But how do you take a death that barges into your life most unexpectedly, knocks off all that belongs to being and just puts an end abruptly?