Satchitananda

Billions of years ago, there was only dark matter. The Big Bang initiated a propulsion and birth of many other cosmic particles and eventually expanded to the formation of galaxies, nebulas, solar systems, stars, planets and other infinite spatial objects. Our planet Earth was created around 5 billion years ago. As time flew, life transpired in the form of microbes. Life multiplied itself and the most intelligent and rational homo sapiens were created; human beings. In the most primitive self, we humans were predominantly hunters and lived in small bands and tribes just as animals do now. Life and death was of not much significance back then and was not mourned in the dramatic way that rituals are conducted in the 21 st century. The earliest trace of religious belief was known to have originated to bring together unrelated beings together for the sake of harmony and societal development. These beliefs were also held steadfast as the explanation behind the many unkn...

The Dose :Pilot Shujaat Khan casually strolled on the dias and took controls of the Magical space ship we were about to venture into and get lost. Wow! Am i still lost ? I guess i can just say that i am still at the very center of that bliss and floating on Ragas and Alaaps. Karsh Kale on drums was great with his beat matching and did a brilliant solo. Tim Ries and Kevin, ex rolling stones were fab on sax and piano respectively. ' This is what i call music ', thus spake Ustaad Shujaat Khan when Tim Ries matched him on the sax for a song they had not prepared together. The Setting : It almost looked like a magical hinterland with a backdrop of Calcutta Turf Club, Victoria memorial peeking in with white shimmer augmented by the full moon with just the perfect chill in the air. The Set : Needless to say, I was kicked about this concert since the time i heard about it. I wanted this to be an endless concert. So far, it has proved me right.

'This indeed is my masterpiece' finishes off Raines as he brands the Nazi symbol of a swastika on the forehead of Franz Lamda. I couldn't agree with him more. This indeed is a masterpiece Mr Tarantino. With this cinematic Mona Lisa, Quentin has just raised the bar of movie making that much higher. For some strange reason, i'm compelled to draw a parallel with not only legendary creators such as De Sica, Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergman, Satyajit Ray and many others but also with a mixed bag of artists such as Dickens, Tolstoy, Tolkien, Da Vinci, Monet and other greats. One might ask, ' What am i shooting for ? ' I'd say, the only difference in all the above is the medium with which they chose to tell their respective stories. I must confess though that i'm not a big fan of playing around with historical facts such as the killing of the Fuhrer. Also, i had great expectations from Franz Lamda and would have loved to see a pitched battle between Lamda and th...

It struck me while i was sleeping, far away dreaming of distant lands, cosmos and the edge of the universe. Aren't we all mere caricatures of our imaginations ? Are we all here for the larger good of mankind ? The power of human mind is a bane and a boon in many ways. We preach love and yet we fight with our parents, siblings, partners. Aren't we then hypocrites ? Oh wait! The disconnect between the mind and the heart is where the problem lies. How do we bridge it ? constant self-exploration and advaita!

I was recently visited by a stranger. Initially, my mind rebelled and i wasn't entirely comfortable with this particular visit.  However, the stranger was very subtle, gentle and non-intrusive. The stranger only seemed to care about me.  This unique stranger and i soon became best of friends. We would quarrel every now and then but in no time we would be friends again. I have recently started becoming fond of my new friend. The stranger of the past and a friend of the present is the voice of my own consciousness.

I am reading this book by Eckhart Tolle called A New Earth. The book has become my new found addiction and a massive turning point in the way i think about life in general and the great human drama. A story about a Zen Master Haikun is etched in my memory. The Zen master was falsely accused by a neighbor's teenage daughter to have impregnated her. The master replied " Is that so ? " The baby was born and brought to the master and asked to take care of the baby. After a few years, the mother of the child confessed that the actual father was the butcher's son. The parents went to the Zen Master and profusely apoplogised to him and said " Our daughter confessed that you are not the father ". The master replied " Is that so ? " The turn of events , good or bad does not influence or bother the Master who is at absolute peace with himself. The events of the world does bot dictate his emotion. I realized that i could be the master of my own happiness if I...

It's a long road ahead or so it looks like. What am i to do with that, isn't it the same for everyone ? We are constantly at a fight that is much more intrinsic than we can even imagine. Some people have succumbed to it and some are still at it. I'd like to believe that i am part of the latter. Something within me is blurring my sight and not allowing me to do what i should rightfully be doing.  I must derive strength from somewhere. I must charter my own path. I must lead my own life. I must be strong enough to do what i rightfully want to do. Or atleast, I must be able to try my best at following my heart unbeknown the result. I must at once forge alliance with my heart and my mind. So the insatiable mind must be fed.