Guru and I

A bilingual poem written a while ago.  

Guru and I

The other day on the train

I shared my coupe with a man unnamed

He was a Guru of Vedas and Gyan

I was the Guru of Gross and Vigyan

He sat there chanting his mantras, meditating

I lay reading Eleven minutes, fantasizing.

He radiated peace and I was serenity’s disgrace.

'Mann bhatakta hai?', 'my mind wanders'

I posed to him seeking repose

'Bhatakney do. Saath mein tum mat bhatko'

'Let it wander. Just don’t you wander with it. '

His words a jewel to my heart it became

He continues his path; I mine

Translation for those who dont Hindi :)  Gyan is wisdom or knowledge, Vigyan is science 

Best Thing to Happen to Your Skin

This Apana Talks  goes out to all my wonderful girlfriends

Many are born with great skin. I did not have that luxury. Of recent many have been asking me, what did I do to change my skin from dry, dead, dull, lifeless to what it is now. While pranayama, yoga has played its role. The real help came from the kitchen.

Quarter cup oats
Quarter cup of cucumber
Handful of parsley/ cilantro or coriander leaves
A dash of full cream milk/yogurt/ skimmed milk
One strawberry (optional)
Go on blend, keep aside for the oats to set. Apply. Wash when dry.

Oats is awesome for dry skin, sun damaged skin… and those lil wrinkles we all want to banish!!! It also moisturizes
Cucumber is a toner, refresher, hydrates like none other
Cilantro or coriander leaf- anti acne, works on acne marks and dark spots, leaves you with a healthy glow
Milk – cleanses, moisturizes. If you have oily skin go for skimmed.
Strawberry is rich in anti oxidants, vitamin C.

This single mask can cleanse, moisturize, hydrate, undo a lot of the sun damage, anti aging, brightening. Should I add more? For the first time I am in love my skin.I am off soaps, creams and all those other bottles I needed before (even in winter!). Since I use it daily, I leave it on just for a few minutes.

It takes about 5 minutes to make, while it can last 5 days, stick to 3 day expiry.

Would really love to hear what this lil mask does to you.

Apana Talks: Lies and Truth about Truth

Apana Talks: Lies and Truth about Truth: "Some lie and their lies may tell you more about them than their truths. Their truth is a fiction because their reality may not be of any int..."

Lies and Truth about Truth

Some lie and their lies may tell you more about them than their truths. Their truth is a fiction because their reality may not be of any interest to anyone.

Some speak partial truth. You never know which part is true and which part is partial. I feel this is the more dangerous kind of truth as it leaves you in the company of confusion dressed as crystal clarity.

Some speak truth but leave most details in silence. Enigmatic, mysterious. Makes you dwell deeper into what is said to understand what is being unsaid.

No one speaks the entire truth. For truth to be spoken it has to be understood.

Most who speak are seekers of truth. Those who found the truth hardly speak.

But some really bare it all…that is not the truth we are discussing. I call that a fading celebrity’s last resort to fame and money.

To all the seekers out there
Keep searching
nu

Morning Showers

I stand under the shower, jets of lukewarm water needle into my nape and shoulders. “living waters flow on…take away my pain” I start singing my favorite hymn. A minute into my dawn ritual and I feel the morning tightness ease out. I find myself smiling.

“let me love once again” as I sing this verse I decide to really feel the love. I do this by increasing the heat.

Delicious. I feel the luxurious cocooning heat of the water and the way it pierces into my skin. My smile is wider and there is more emotion to my singing. I continue singing living waters, I continue showering and I continue smiling.

Each time I repeat the hymn the hot water faucet turns to indicate a tiny bit more, then a lot more and a LOT MORE. The cold water faucet also gets my attention as I turn it to NO MORE. Everyday it’s an orgy featuring me, the hymn, the shower and the hot water geyser. Soon the water is scalding hot and I am enjoying the prick on my skin.

Mist rises in the bathroom. The overhead lights seem to have a halo, the air is moist, the mirrors have fogged out, there is moisture dripping from the metal towel holders. There is steam escaping into the bedroom. I wish the moment would stay. I know it will not. I refuse to think of the torture it is going to be soon. Real Soon.

Every day I go through this ritual and each day I can’t stop myself from increasing the heat. And before I know the horror is already here. My mind can never be sufficiently prepared for the next act I would do. My body has NO CLUE.

Suddenly my right hand goes down(NO! not there, you pervert!!) … to the faucet. I reduce the heat in a quick move till it’s ALL GONE. The hot water geyser is surprised at the way I have dissed it. The shower wonders where all the love went? My body is in complete shock at the turn of events. It is hit by a stream of 5 degree Celsius water. It gasps, sputters and kicks into a primordial survival mode.

SSSShitttt I yelp…

My body reacts as if someone else had done this hideous thing. Dint it know that the cold was coming?

And then mustering as much dignity as I can, I stand under the cold water counting 5 om, 4 om , 3 om 2 om, 1 om
I shut the water completely down.

The intense heat of the water just seconds before is now a faint memory. While my mind recalls the heat, my body has completely forgotten it, it continues to shiver. I grab a towel wipe myself dry The bathroom is still fogged. I wipe the mirror to look at a shivering, goose bumped body. I pause to wonder wouldn’t the torture be less if I did not crank up the heat. My mind says, "yes dum dum."

And then the next day I stand under the lukewarm shower singing “living waters flow on…” and I increase the cocooning heat bit by bit.

Why this morning madness? To begin with, a few seconds under a cold shower increases immunity, crank up metabolism, improve kidney function, reduces aches and pains and of course it shocks you into better circulation, ….

What is not so obvious is that the exercise is reminds me of the split between the body, mind and the observing self. Who was increasing the heat? Who suffered through the change? Who controls who? Should the body be fighting the cold water or the mind? Shouldn’t the mind tell the body, “brace baby, its gonna be cold soon” And just who was it observing all this?...

To all my dear ones who I force into this cold shower ritual… you are not the only one abusing me in the morning. Shit is the least of the abuses I hurl at myself for the beloved morning showers.

Why Apana Talks

He asked, “Why Apana? Why is it talking?"
She replied, “ Why not?”
He wondered aloud, “Is that a yogic answer?”
She replied wondering, “Maybe.”
He said, “Not helping….”

She smiled and replied, “When I said why not , it was a very yogi seeming answer. If I speak more I am not sure if it is entirely yogic.”

He said, “ I am listening.”

She said, “Well, the eastern mysticism believes in vital energy. India calls it Prana, China calls it Chi and Japan calls it Ki. It is the vital force, the life giving force. It is the energy a person, place or thing possesses. It gets complicated from here…”She paused and added, “ In humans there are 5 main different types of Prana each performing different functions…Prana, Apana, Samana, Vyana and Udana”

He said, “www.. Wow! now you lost me.”

She said, “OK, let me get to the point. Apana is the energy that is linked to expelling …to let out anything from the body.”
He asked, “ Expelling?

She said, “Yes… like excretion”
He replied with disgusted look, “yuck!”
She added, “Exhaling, childbirth”
He pondered and said, “OK, but it is still uncool.”
She winked and added, “Orgasm”
WHAT?”, both in unison. His tone implied surprise, her tone mischief.

With a Eureka written on his face he stated, “so it is a blog about sex”

She replied, “Now that I have piqued your interest… sorry, this is not a porn blog. Why apana talks… the weakest of my prana is my apana….it is that force that helps you eject, expel, exhale, let go…Apana doesn’t seem to come easy to me.

There are times that I actually forget to exhale. Did you know that, my most sought after remedy is for constipation?

Dysfunction in apana could mean blocked creativity, being stuck mentally, physically and even financially stuck…So apana talks is my attempt to kindle my inexistent apana."

"I feel that when I write I am expelling words all the way from my chitta… intellect in Sanskrit… to this virtual space of my blog. I hope apana talks helps to get my apana talking to me. Crudely put I hope it helps me pee poo in the morning!”, she added with a flourish.

He said exasperated, “As always I wonder, why do I ask? I feel everything related to you has to do with shit.”
She replied with mock menace, “ Am gonna cork your butt up for a few days. Let’s see, what you think of apana talks after that.”

She whispered, “ By the way that phase, when you couldn’t get it off and that other phase, when you couldn’t hold it long enough… that was apana dysfunction too. I recall you doing tons of apana talks then. So, honey, I think there is more apana talks in this world than we realize.”

He decided it is safer to conclude and said, “ May your apana rise and talk!”
She replied correcting him, “You mean, may my apana push down”