The MindSalsa

  The cheerful roly-poly Tony Had but one trouble, not very tiny. A huge sphere- his rotund belly- Bulging from the chest, they called it chelly. With a small head sticking up Northside, And tiny limbs protruding Southside, Poor Tony had a tough time staying upright. His friends were tempted with an idea bright: To put a sticker on his head, saying, ‘This side up”. Once, while relieving himself on the roadside, A little boy clapped in glee and announced, “I seen it! I seen it!” Tony of good cheer tossed him a coin, Said , “Good thing, boy- haven’t seen it myself for many a day now.”

The boys and girls came reluctantly for the semester examination, like lambs to the slaughter. The dhoti- clad, strict examiner looked even more menacing with his soda bottle glasses. “No copying!” he declared solemnly. The exam was in its fifteenth minute when the examiner went to relieve himself. A sudden gust of wind from an open window blew a boy’s answer paper on to the desk behind him. Thereafter two things happened simultaneously: The back bench girl rose to return the answer paper to the boy. Same instant, the examiner- who was paid to be suspicious, came in from the wash. “Ha!” He said. “Sir, it was the wind!” “Ho ho, the wind eh! Very funny indeed!” the examiner said, and made as if to snatch away the poor girl’s paper. At that moment, another gust of wind, stronger than the previous one, blew his dhoti away.                               

               Clad in dirty torn knickers                And reeking of cheap liquors,                The man in charge of the pyre                Let loose on me his drunken ire.                              “Where wast thou all these days?               So busy couldn’t reach even for the blaze?               And now that he is merely ashes,               What good are your wet lashes?”                              As the wind blew up the dust,               The undertaker spat out in disgust,               “His sons were at each other’s throats,               To decide who would pay my efforts.              The daughters were splitting the spoils,              Without a look at father’s mortal coils.              And the village folk’s concern very simple-             - Dispose the carcass and re-open the temple.”              Seeing my eyes moist, he softened in a flash,              Handed me gently a fistful of the hot ash;    

Being a great force, thought carries tremendous power. It becomes a matter of great moment to know how to use this power in the highest possible way and to the greatest possible effect. This can best be done by the practice of meditation. Careful reflection will show you that the entire universe is in reality a projection of the human mind. Purification and control of the mind is the central aim of all yogas. The mind in itself is but a record of impressions that keep expressing ceaselessly as impulses and thoughts. Thought impels you to action; activity creates fresh impressions in the mind. Yoga strikes at the very root of this vicious circle by effectively checking, controlling and stopping the root function of the mind i.e. thought. When thought is transcended, intuition functions and self-knowledge supervenes.

He is the last word in strength and courage, for he is the immortal Bajrang Bali Hanuman, With arms strong as Indra’s vajra- Vajr-ang or Bajrang is unmatched in strength by any man. Born to mother Anjana- a monkey Apsara and the wind God,Vayu Bhagwan - he can also fly. Once, Hanuman, mistaking the Sun for a fruit, even attempted to grab him in the sky! Life changed forever for Hanuman when he met Sri Rama,searching for wife Sita in the forest; Instant devotion to the noble Rama and his brother Laxmana impelled Hanuman to join in their quest; Motivated by devotion and encouraged by the powerful Jamabavan, he made a giant leap, A towering giant leap, right across the ocean, in his search, that made even the Gods in joy weep.   Flying now across the ocean, Lanka was now Hanuman’s destination to locate gentle Sita; On the way, he had to, in deference to her boon, enter and exit the mouth of a sea demoness by name Sursa . To fulfill the boon, the clever Hanu

One day, I happened to see a group of teenagers in our local club. Seeing one or two familiar faces, I casually walked up to them to see what they were up to. “Hi uncle!” said familiar face.  I hi..ed back and asked him what was supposed to be going on. “A get together, uncle,” said another slightly familiar teen with a bored look and promptly lost interest in me.  One of the boys seemed to be hitched or connected at the ear, head etc to many contraptions. I was alarmed as he appeared totally motionless. “Is he er… breathing? “ I asked one of them. “He is listening to music, uncle!” answered one among them, in exasperation. The others looked at me wonderingly as if I was an inmate just escaped from Jurassic park. “You said it is a get together!” I pointed out. “Yes it is, uncle, are you not seeing?” What I was seeing was another teen, a girl, typing something feverishly on her ‘smart’ phone. She was ‘what’s apping’, I was coldly informed. A third one was ch