Guru

Guru…..

                                                                                        By: Dechamma B.C

“Guru brahma, Guru Vishnu….Guru devo maheswara….Guru saksthat Para brahma thashmay shri Guruve namah”…..like the way the symphony of words flow in the guru mantra….we can realize how powerful is the guru’s position in one’s life……the above mantra compare’s guru to Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara (3 supreme powers according to Hindu mythology who represent the embodiment of creation of the world, preservation of the world and destruction of evil respectively)..And also it says adherence to guru would bring bliss and enlightenment to an individual….such is the place of a “Guru”….

The first guru of any individual is the “Mother”. We being in modern era tend to forget this universal truth and think we are great; we think that we are more knowledgeable than our mothers….but the truth is we aren’t …..we can never reach the mark and standards set by our mother’s…….just for a minute reflect upon varies things what our mother’s did for us….when we were very small around 9 months or so and were learning to walk …..it was our mothers who held our hand and guided us…when we fell and lost our interest in putting effort…they would pacify us and boost our self-confidence and taught us to walk……..similarly she taught us to speak….she not only created a unshakable base on which any size of edifice could be built, but also taught us etiquettes, discipline and moral values……if it was not for our mothers, I cannot imagine what would have become of us. A mother plays a very important role as a teacher than anyone else……because she is the one who plants the seed of life whose direction of growth depends on the nurturing done by the mother.

When the mother is convinced that her child has learnt the basic intellect necessities…..she sends her child under the wings of a guru……in ancient times…it was called Gurukul and in present day it is called school…but the motive of both the gurus of different era is the same….”make the children responsible and caring citizens”.in ancient times the guru’s were revered a lot and their orders were respected by their disciples till the last word…..and education imparted to them were not mere bookish knowledge but also spiritual knowledge and knowledge gained by experience of the guru…….and their education would not be completed until the guru said so….

Now with time the concept of Gurukul, Guru and disciples have changed drastically….like I said previously….it has changed to school, teacher and student…….no more a student has respect for the teacher…..and the teachers don’t teach spirituality or from their experiences any more….they just teach mere bookish knowledge…..life has changed a lot……as a result, lot of catastrophic events take place due to the reason that the children are not guided in the right path. Along with this, education has become a business in recent times….Nowadays people weigh education and fix a rate to impart one……just imagine if Maa Saraswathi(Goddess of knowledge) would do the same….what would we be left with……..

Not only this in personal life also we need guru…..here guru is a person who is the eldest in the family. We need a guru to guide us in our decisions and bring us on the right path when we go wayward and support us in all our endeavors.

  

 To conclude……I would like to pen that “A life without Guru, is like a ship without a beacon”.

Trip to ‘City of Palaces’……..

------Dechamma B.C

Before sharing my pleasant experience of the trip, I would like to thank my dear friend  Ashish who inspired me to keep my work of writing articles alive……..Thanks buddy for that….

I know it’s been quite long since I haven’t written an article…. I think this one’s worth waiting for………

         This article speaks about my experience or say our experience of going to Mysore or ‘City of Palaces’ like I would call it. On 2 June 2012 we (Bunch of 5 friends) were all set to explore the city of palaces….We got ready around 6.30 in the morning and were fully packed with curiosity of exploration….psst..i know that’s not enough, but we had plans of eating our breakfast on the way :P:P.  we freshened ourselves  and hurried to our rendezvous .Initially 4 of us started from a point with the intention to pick up the other friend from the person’s house, likewise commenced our tremendously interesting journey…..you will get to know more about it as you keep going…

        Two of our friends knew how to drive a car (actually 3..that’s me ;)) ..I was in no condition to drive as I had not touched a vehicle for 6 long months….wasn’t feeling that confident about it  also)as the protocol goes—‘a backup is always good’ there were 2 of them who knew to drive..so let’s come back to our story….we reached our friend’s place finally after encountering several traffic signal and negotiating several turns and curves along with potholes in narrow lanes .After picking up our friend we headed towards the outskirts of the city with no one onboard actually knowing the way out, but relying on just a piece of software called GPS……( What would we do without it :P:P…..)….I think, it was a blessing at the moment…as we started relying on it after we realized that we were commuting on a wrong route.

         At this moment something funny happened…..one of our friends who was driving the vehicle was a apprentice  then, because of which we were a bit scared to sit in the vehicle due to strife going in our brains about the novice’s flight ,though he was a good defensive driver. We were sitting like living dead, holding our breath…Someone at that moment realized that we to supposed to take a U-turn..wherein the driver was driving straight…suddenly all of us started shouting …some of us said ‘u-turn’ and some of us ’left –turn’ leaving the driver confused and stopping the vehicle in the middle of the road….next a phase of silence for a minute and then a decision was made to take a U-turn from the person who was taking care of directions from the GPS. Finally after a lot of hocus-pocus we reached the NH to Mysore.

          Pleasant weather accompanied by cool breeze with music in the air was a perfect combination with smooth roads of highway. Boulder started rumbling in our stomach alerting us that it was time we filled our stomachs….the time was somewhere around 10.00 a.m. We stopped in a hotel along the highway called ‘Kamath’….we had a very heavy breakfast…..mostly brunch I can say...we spent a lot of time here and it was around 11.30a.m-12.00p.m by the time we left.

Breakfast at 'Kamath'

           We reached Srirangapatna around 1.00 p.m as one of our friends wanted to go to a temple there…..till then I never knew about it…it was a pretty old temple with exquisite architecture of Shikara style… we spent some time there and set off…on our way, one of our friends told us about the existence of Tippu Sultan’s ruined fort somewhere around there….and we set off trying to explore the place…but did not get to see much of it as it was “Ruined”.

Temple at Srirangapatna

    We then resumed our journey to Mysore with the thought of seeing more beautiful places. Around 2 we reached Mysore and we headed straight to St Philomena’s church. It is one of the Gothic marvel and a very old church. I was dumbstruck looking at the building. It is a beauty of times. We were allowed near the alter and we could see the body of the saint kept in the coffin…it was a kind of basement chamber … it reminded me of Sherlock Holmes movies :P:P….it was overall a new experience altogether….we took lot of snaps out there..A beauty which I can never forget till date… 

St Philomena's church

           After this we started off to Jagmohan palace…the place I admired the most. This palace belongs to the Rajas of Mysore which is now converted into a museum. The beauty of this museum is that it consists of paintings done by various artists, both British and Indian. It also consists of paintings of Raja Ravi Varma who was renowned for this life-like painting which he had learnt from his exposure to the west. After taking a stroll through the past in the museum we were immersed in a mode of ecstasy.

          Our silence was broken by the rumbling noises made by our tummy….by then it was 4 p.m. and still few places were remaining to be visited. So we made up minds to go and fill our stomachs first and then continue our journey. We approached a hotel, where lunch was over as we were very late. We had go to the ‘Modern Annapurna’ which is none other than Pizza Hut-Food anytime. We had a gala time over there.

After filling our stomachs we went to a place which is known to be the greatest marvel of Mysore, it is the beautiful Mysore Palace. It is just wow!! I get no other words more convincing than this .By the time we reached here it was already around 5.30 p.m. We roamed around the place till 7 p.m. We wanted to go to Nandi hills but dropped the idea due to time constraints as we had to return to Bangalore by the end of the day. With lot of memories to cherish we headed back to Bangalore.

Mysore Palace

                  It was getting dark as we headed our way back home galloping the highway. On our way, one of our friends suggested that we eat in a Dhaba on the roadside as the food would be very good. As we went further we happened to see a Dhaba and stopped by it to have our dinner. We went to the Dhaba and sat by a table outside…….but it looked quite unsafe and creepy …so we decided to leave the place and move on….hence we continued our drive. We finally landed in a restaurant which was secure and the food there tasted very good.

We reached home around 10.30 p.m. with memories of beauty, friendship, and togetherness and not to forget adventure…It was a memorable trip…..Miss you Guys….

‘All that Starts Well Ends Well’

Miss you Guys.............

Hey guys, if any of you are reading this article let me know if I have missed anything…..

Loneliness………

A curse or a blessing…?????????

                           --------Dechamma B.C

As the lines of the song goes…..Lonely... I am so lonely! …. I have nobody…. I am on my own………      depicts melody in silence but the depth of this song reaches the abyss and beyond…

This subject though looks tangential but is highly debatable. When the word “lonely “is used it gives a strong feeling of “only you”…. Or “lone only”. Usually this word is used in exhibiting negative emotions as if a person has lost everything in this world. But a deep inquiry into this word reveals a very amazing concept. The concept what I think about is ‘lone only” or “only you  “or only u can do it. It glorifies the strength within. Everything in this world has two sides of view, the brighter side and the darker side. It depends on us as to which side we want to see. The brighter side is always positive. Power lies in positivity; vision paves way for the thoughts of a person. But we should also be literate about the darker side of things as it helps us to be aware of the loopholes while moving forward in life.

Here I would like to highlight upon the positive side of this ‘loneliness’. Loneliness teaches life. Whom to believe, who is truly yours, whom you can trust and the most important of all it help you realize and understand yourself. It makes you strong, independent and formulates you to confront any situation bravely in life. It truly helps in coming in terms with someone called “you”. You will begin to understand your strengths, weakness and your hidden talents.

Initially loneliness can be very depressing, but as days pass-by you will realize the importance of it….and will also understand the reason why loneliness has crept into your life. It comes into one’s life only for two reasons; either to teach u something or to realize something in life. It is just that it teaches life in a hard way. It makes you strong at the Armageddon.

If you ask me about loneliness I would say it is a gift and the best teacher ever a person can have, but we have to be strong enough to take it, as it teaches us the hard way and the straightway…which says something like life is not a bed of roses…….so it is a blessing in disguise..

A person who has conquered loneliness can conquer anything in this world.

An individual’s biggest strengths are discovered in loneliness…..Believe it or not!!

Thoughts……………………………….that never end……

                                                                                                       ------- Dechamma B.C

W

ith mild breeze tossing my hair and heavy thoughts heaving my head I cracked through my infinite slumber by the soothing sound of the alarm…..as a matter of fact soothing in the negative sense which is nothing better than a fire alarm. As soon as I got up my hands reached the day’s first routine gadget…..”The Chatter Box”….sorry!. It’s the way I call it…..It’s the cell phone. I saw that there was a message waiting for me to be read……….i was so fascinated by it ,as this was one of the very few times when I get to see a message in the early morning. With lots and lots of thoughts leafing through my mind, I opened the message; it read like this  

“I asked God y do v fall in a relationship with sum 1 wen v know that it will end after sometime. God told me I ll ans u but 1^s tell me y u live when u know dat u have 2 die 1 day “

This was like adding flare to fire….my thoughts just went extravagant .This message made me realize lot of things.

The first question which rose in my mind was why do we fall for that ‘special one’ only, though we meet a thousand and odd people in the journey called life?

Secondly, the metaphor in the sentence was very fascinating, which compares the end of the relationship to end of life.

By reading this message one thing was very clear; the whole world is sustained by Hope and Faith only. A Hope which says tomorrow will be better than today and a Faith that tomorrow will surely come.

With this huge amalgam of thoughts hording my brains, I set out to office by boarding a bus. I reached the gate of my office building, after which I had to take a stroll to reach my office. On the way one more though engulfed me, it was the realization which said that…. ‘The eyes see what the mind wants it to see’. It so happened that while I was walking towards my office, I observed for the first time ever that there were no plants on the left side of the thoroughfare, though I had walked the same path over a million times.

I reached the office….. Seriously speaking it was another bugging day of my life……….nobody around me to nag with…and was feeling lonely and bored, so decided to browse to squander time. As I was surfing different sites, I came across a site which had Quotes of famous people. The one which interested me the most was the quote by Albert Einstein in which he says “I would like to thank all people who refused to help me, if it was not for them I wouldn’t have done it myself”

I found this Quote to be a very inspirational one as it represents the individuality of a person and it also paves way for being independent.

With all these thoughts debating in my mind and trying to gain superiority over each other, the day went along in a very thoughtful mode….it was more like a transition mode ….to be more specific it was a transition from “Machines to Meditation” as I like to put it.

It was indeed a marvelous thoughtful day.

Togetherness

Togetherness is the warmth of life……………

                                                    

As the sun of 19^th August was descending down the building clad Garden city, we had set our gaze on our wrist-watches with heart pounding fast in anticipation of the long awaited Team outing. Some of us had planned to start from the Office venue itself, while others opted to be picked up by the shuttle. The entire team was on Cloud nine and started building castles in the air as the time for departure was approaching.

Around 8.15 P.M we had a light meal, as we knew that we will have to cross a Ghats section which was coiled like a snake in motion. With fuel tanks completely filled, we set out for our endeavour around 10.30 at night. As we proceeded further, we picked-up our Team-mates who were waiting for us at the pavement of the pre-agreed location. The scene was worth seeing as it appeared as if tributaries are joining the ultimate river course.

All set to go...

After picking-up everyone the shuttle gradually picked up speed and started racing through the smooth thoroughfare. Then started the fun-time which lasted almost till the morning which included various fun activities such as antakshari, tapping of feet for various tunes, etc…..it was a picture perfect scenario of a party of youngsters.

At the dawn of 20^th August we found ourselves amidst dense foliage with a wide variety of soaring trees with Coffee plants covering a majority area. The coffee plants had very beautiful berries which reminded of cherries. Alas! We realised that we had reached Chikamagalur, which is also well known for coffee plantations apart from Kodagu. With zeal in our hearts and inquisitive expression on our faces we moved forward. Finally we reached the place where arrangement for our accommodation was made. This place was no less than cradle of nature. It was a very beautiful place with the perfect blend of fog clad mountains and lavishing green country – side. We were just dumbfounded by the vision of the scenic beauty surrounding us.

(Left) Scenic Beauty (Right) Dense Foliage

We were accommodated in a tree house which was very well maintained and some of our team mates were put up in tents which were also very good. Now I would like to list out the activities which was conducted there for us by our managers. We were taken by total surprise when we heard that there will be some interesting activities for us. But I got to say, those were the most interesting of all times. They completely helped us to know ourselves and our team. As soon as we reached our accommodation we had our morning tea and after some time we had a breakfast fit for a king.

Accommodation..

Our surprise activities started soon after our stomach filling breakfast. Our first activity was an interesting one in which the team was divided into 2 groups and there was one lead to each team. According to this activity each team had to find maximum number of flags (green, yellow and red ones) with time constraints set up for the search of flag of different colours. It was a total fun-time for all of us as we were running around holus-bolus forming a total juggernaut in the first round. Before the second round started the conditions of the game was changed, so we had to be more cautious in order to sustain the game. This made us more organised. For the third round there were few more changes to be adapted because of which we became organised to the highest level. This activity taught us a lot and we realised this as we retrospect it. The main learning what we got from this is related to trusting your fellow team member, along with planning which is the most crucial part of the team. It was a eye-opener for us as it made us realise as to every single aspect of it was related to our Project work which is our daily routine and our team members with whom we trust our life daily with.

Let me tell about the second activity, this was more interesting than the first one as it required a lot of concentration and team support. This activity was related to passing the marble from one team mate to another via pipe piece without letting it down. Both the teams were constantly striving to achieve the target of placing the marble in the cup and they succeeded also. There was a very big lesson we had to learn from it. Firstly it was as to how important it was to strategize things in life, secondly as to how important was trust in life as we had to trust the ability of our team mates in order to win the game. It was also shown to us how we encounter such instances in our day to day routine.

(Left) Activity 1(Right) Activity 2 (Team building)

After these activities, we decided to take some recreation time; we decided to go to a water fall by name Kalathgiri. It was one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen. It depicted chivalrous beauty with elegance with water which appeared like the foam of milk. The waterfall was a feast for eyes. We played in the water for a long time and finally decided to come back. The trust in the Team was projected when the entire Team had to wade through the rocky terrain. The whole Team was very co-operative in helping each other to surpass the difficult terrain. That moment was very redeeming as I was very proud of my Team.

Kalathgiri falls(Left) Veerabhadra Temple at Kalathgiri Falls(Right)

We reached our accommodation somewhere around 6.30 P.M.  We set a campfire in the space available. We had very gala time dancing out there. It was one of the most nostalgic moments of our outing….not to forget the yummy barbeque chicken. After a festive mood and an extremely active day we retreated to our cosy beds with the intention to get prepared to our next day’s advent. 

The dawn of 21^st August spread its scintillating hue with the fragrance of coffee beans all over the place. With the intention to get “picture perfect” shot we started our morning walk through the deserted forest clad thoroughfare and of course we could capture lot of picture close to perfection. We came back from our morning walk and had our breakfast and prepared ourselves for the next challenge. It appeared to be a perfect scene of regiment ready for warfare.

Activity 3(Trust building)

The last activity of our outing was the most challenging of all and very educative in one way. In this activity the entire team had to carry one of its members in a stretcher considering that person to be sick and unable to walk. This enlightened us as to how the person who is helpless in the team completely places his trust on the team as he strongly believes in his team members and the everlasting hope that the Team would never let him fall down. The Team members strongly believed that the person on the stretcher completely trusted them blindly and that they should never let him down. Likewise both the teams performed this activity extremely well. These activities were the stepping stone for Team Bonding and trusting each other for their lives.

Discussion...

After this activity each one in the team briefed about their ultimate goal in their life, which made me think that we are an amalgam of apogees.

With nostalgic memories bundled in our hearts, and sweet stories to tell others, we packed our backpack and started back to the commencing point. On our way back we visited the Belur Temple, which was very enthralling by its mystic beauty. The workmanship of the engravings is worth getting applauded.

Belur Temple

With all these fruitful experiences and sweet memories to cherish, we realised the importance of trust building and bonding with the Team. This is the only way to reach great heights in life.

The Team

----Dechamma B.C

Social cause 2

“Nava Jeevana Nilaya”

----Dechamma B.C

                Whenever I think of ‘Nava Jeevana Nilaya’, brings to me the memory of our journey to this place. I would like to brief you all about the various instances which led us to this place.

                Initially we didn’t even know that such a place existed. Then one of our colleagues told us about a place called ‘Karunashraya’. We asked another colleague to go and visit the place. There came a twist in the story, as this colleague of others mistook the place ‘Nava Jeevana Nilaya’ for ‘Karunashraya’. He came back and reported the plight of this place, and then some more colleagues went to that place and brought a complete description of the place. Hence we decided to take up the initiative of helping them.

This was a perfect example of ‘Everything happens for good in Life’    

                The sunset of 22^nd July was very memorable as we had spent our time fruitfully. We reached the place which needed us the most. It was ‘Nava Jeevana Nilaya’ or ‘A Home for Leprosy Cured Patients’. This is a place which serves a home to many Leprosy cured people who are either isolated by their families or do not want go back to their homes. We had seen this place a many times, while we would travel via the thoroughfare .I strongly believe things start happening right at the right time, we never reach a place where we want to before the time comes. This was something similar which happened here.

  Picture 1. Board at the Entrance of Nava Jeevana Nilaya

On the sunset of 22^nd July our team was all set to reach our next endeavor on social cause after the school one. Around 4.30 PM we left our office with zeal to make a change in the lives of the people in need. We reached the place around 5 PM.

We went around the place to enquire the condition and understand the lifestyle of the inmates. After this we clearly realized one thing in certain that they were very lonely people, constantly searching some way to live life.

Picture 2. Dining Hall (Left) Kitchen (Right)

The people there were mostly were either middle aged or old aged.

Picture 3. Inmates

We made up our minds to bring a smile on their saddened faces. We assembled everyone in a room and warmly welcomed everyone with biscuits and tea. We began our program with a prayer dance which was mystically enthralling. The inmates enjoyed it a lot. After this we had organized a small activity for them which made them laugh loudly…and their laughter echoed everywhere. We had a comic skit for them which was the most amusing of all. They enjoyed it a lot. We had one more activity for them which related to meditation. They were very dedicated in performing this act of peace. We concluded this program with a Group song wherein even those people participated in the song.

               Picture 4. Prayer Dance (1) SKIT Team (2) Inmates Participating in Meditation (3-4)

We ended the event by offering them some fruits and we gave them groceries in the form of rice grains and dhal. Their happiness had no bound so was our satisfaction.

Picture 5. The Team

Love life, for it has always given the best you deserve

G.L.P.S. Cleanliness Awareness Activities

“A Radiant Smile is the Most Beautiful Jewel on the Face”. I realized this fact on 2^nd of April 2011. Now you may be thinking what was so special that day as to I realized the value of a smile, so here comes as to what was so special that day.

                In the early morning around 7 a.m. we left our homes with zeal in our hearts to make a difference and make a memorable day to relish upon. Like the river joining an ocean, the volunteers started from their respective homes and reached the school called G.L.P.S in Jakkasandra where we had planned to conduct few cleanliness awareness activities.

                We were welcomed warmly by the students and the teachers. We had brought with us few things such as soaps, handkerchiefs and dustbins to be distributed amongst the students as a mark of cleanliness awareness, and of course not to forget, chocolates which every kid likes the most.

                The grace of the Almighty is very important for any program to be successful; likewise we commenced our activities with the help of a Prayer song which was beautifully sung by the students. It was a very heart soothing moment for all of us.

                One of the volunteers took up the initiative to teach the students a new Prayer which they were ready to accept it and then accomplished it fruitfully. Once we were done with the Prayer we proceeded to the Ice-Breaker session wherein each student had to introduce themselves. It included students from class 1 to class 5. There were a total of 28 students. The students enthusiastically introduced themselves.

Preparation on the Progress

               

We then made small groups out of the students and then allotted each volunteer to take care of the groups. Each group was assigned different cleanliness activities to enact like getting up in the morning and brushing the teeth, having bath, dressing up neatly to school and so on…….All the students were very excited to do it and their also performed their part very well. I have to say that they “won our hearts”.

                After some entertaining hours we focused our view on educating the students the importance of cleanliness. We had made some charts which had do’s and don’ts related to the cleanliness. We had one more activity for the students on cleaning their school surroundings in which the students happily took up the initiative and cleaned the entire place.

Explaining Importance of Cleanliness

                We then distributed soap and a handkerchief to each student and asked them to wash and wipe their hands regularly before eating food. They were a bunch of obedient students. We then distributed chocolates to the students and their joy had no bounds and then we waved them goodbye.

                We might have waved them goodbye……but we would always cherish the memories of the time we spent with them and made them smile. Indeed I have to say “A Smile speaks more than words”.

“THE SATISFACTION WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU MAKE OTHERS SMILE IS INFINITE”

Location:

Government Lower Primary School, Jakkasandra

Kanakpur Main Road, Bangalore

Visited On:

2^nd April 2011