Gita Mahotsav by Swami Udit Chaitanya

I've been attending Swami Udit Chaitanya's gita classes which happens for around two weeks in the month of Nov in Bangalore for two years and as every year passes by,I'm just amazed by the clarity I'm receiving from our guru who is roaring out the message of Gita and how we can understand and apply the techniques that Gita has to offer. The classes happen in malayalam, but I can't stop sharing the message given to us,the audience in the hall of Indiranagar Sangeeta Sabha.
   Firstly,I would like to thank all the people who have sponsered for the event and in making this knowledge available for the common crowd for absolutely zero cost. I have also been interacting with the team who has  been planning and organizing this event,months in advance to make it so perfect,a huge Thank you to them. :) Lastly but not the least, I would like to thank our guru Swami Udit Chaitanya who is ever so enthusiastic to spread the knowledge that has been eluding the common crowd for many many centuries.
    Nov 1st to 15th from 6pm to 8:30pm, you never know how the time flies,every time when he says I would like to conclude now as we have crossed the time limit, I would wonder,"What it's time?" this year he's taking up the 13th chapter of Bhagavat Gita.I've made no notes but would love to spill out few thoughts.
    In our day to day life we use a lot of gadgets, when something is new to us and we have absolutely no idea how to use it, we look for it's user manual in order to guide us on how to use the device. Likewise we have been living with a device or more appropriate an equipment for almost all our lives and no one has ever taught us how to use it, few of us are no even aware that is there an equipment in us, any guesses?
   No it's not the brain, but it's our mind. Bhagavat Gita is a user manual on how to best apply our mind in our day to day activities and how to harness our mind's potential even in our spiritual progress.
   Just like how we have terms to study in various subjects in our schools and colleges likewise the Rishis of Yore as Swami Chinmayananda would like to address our great ancestors who have researched about the essence of a man and presented the world with facts in the form of Vedanta scriptures, we need to understand the terms used in order to get the message which has been handed down in the form guru parampara.
   The terms we are trying to understand in the 13th chapter are Prakiti and Purusha. The cause and the effect. What do you mean by Ignorance, can it only be not aware of something or not having the complete knowledge or having the wrong knowledge about something,think again. If we say that gold is the cause and the effect is jewellery (bangles,chains etc) can we say that the cause is far away from the effect? If we say, that the clay is the cause for the earthen vessels can we say that the clay is far away or different from vessel? So if we say that god is the cause and all that we perceive through our senses, feel with our hearts and think through our minds the effect,is god far away or different from us?
   I leave you with this thought,until next time,adios amigos!!

     
   

Avelabetta Ride

     Once you start to ride to ITPL to office on a daily basis,you might end up saying," That's it! I'm done! I'm retiring from riding life!!!" Meeting maniacs on road each day and watching traffic in front of you,is like standing on the shore an seeing the vast ocean,water everywhere,as far as the eye can see,Outer Ring road!,here seeing vehicles as far as the eye can see. The only way to enjoy morning traffic, would be to think of yourself as one of the characters of a famous old cartoon "The Adams Family!". "Ahh! The sound of endless vehicles horns,the smell of  black smoke of adulterated gasoline and the sight of people fighting early morning,isn't this a splendid morning!!"
   "Fester,can you take the kids to school today,they would love to see their uncle run over by Bangalore taxis and not to mention the Red Volvo buses who overtake from left without a sound and if your lucky might give our car some scratches too."

     Around 1 in the night I get a missed call and a message from Ditty,
" You coming for a trip tomorrow?
,only me and Ed on our bike,
if your free join us,
thinking of starting around 10 am.
Reply asap
Try to come
Love you bye"
 Around 1am, reply as soon as possible :P

Thanks to office for my abrupt sleep patterns, got up around 2am,super happy to see that message and replied," I'm coming!!! " :) end of story.

We decided on Avalabetta,since Edwin and Ditty were fine with any place. The 10 am ride finally started at 12 noon,Yes,I admit I was the culprit,even though I got before these guys in the morning. The best part was,they were ok :) :)

Both, my bike and I were relieved to ride out side Bangalore. Happy to see empty roads through the rear view mirror and happy to see empty roads in front of me,country roads take me home kinda feeling. :P

Had lunch at Kamat and resumed the ride through the highway. The GPS gave the exact location to the hill. Doubled checked with Rossi Madam,Thanks Roshni! :) The weather was perfect when we reached the top of the hill :)  Fell in love with the place. Really nothing much to say,beautiful scenery all around. After a long time I was surrounded by silence.There's a temple on top of the hill called Lakshmi Narashimha temple. There are a few spots next to the temple where one can explore.At around 6:30 pm with a heavy heart left to Bangalore. Finally was back home by 9pm.

I leave the pics do the talking... :)

  

Short ride in Kerala

      To ride,feels like the most natural thing to do. I'm glad that my heart yearns to pick up a bike and ride no matter where I am. And that was this short ride in Kerala was all about.
     I refused to take the medicine and I paid the prize,even before the bus left Bangalore limits,my tummy stopped cooperating .The suffocating feeling inside the bus,the suspensions of the volvo!!! By the time I reached kerala I had enough.
   Reached my granny's place Kannur around 5:30am and in few hours my friend would reach Kannur and we would again travel to attend our friend's engagement.And that got me thinking,it's just 30-40 kms(one way) of travelling and daydreaming of riding along the seaside gave me enough reasons to convince my uncle to take his Activa. And my uncle agreed :) Even for my Friend Mumthaz,it was a sign of relief as she too dreaded to travel in bus. With My perfect companions,Mumthaz & Activa,I took on the roads of Kerala. After hearing a lot about Kerala roads and the rash driving of Bus drivers,it took some time to adjust to the Kerala roads.
    I took the route Kannur->Thalassery->Kuthparamba->Nirmalagiri. Even though there is a bypass route from Kannur to Kuthparamba,I opted the Thalassery route,only to enjoy the view of the sea while riding. :) On the way,was the famous Muzhappilangad beach,but had to keep that for another time,since we were running out of time.
   Climate is pleasant in Kerala during Feburary,so riding is enjoyable.The views while riding through the country side of Kerala is beautiful :) At different time of the day,the sun rays making its way through the trees,giving it a heavenly feel.To cross bridges and to see the rivers join the sea. At some places,a glimpse of the vast Arabian Sea.Fishing boats,coconut trees,rocks by the sea.I was soaking in every moment I could get.
    Had a nice time at my Friend's engagement and took the same route back home to take some pics.We stopped at Thalassery to take a break,mostly to sit in the park and take in the view of the sea.

   On Sunday evening,I again took to the roads.This time with my cousin,we rode to Azikode,around 15 kms from Kannur town.I just love when the roads finally end up at sea. :) There you have the Chala beach and a harbour point.More than the beach, my memory asked to me to visit a place just before the beach were the road winds up at the sea,with only rocks separating the road and the sea.  

    On our way back,my cousin Kavya suggested,why not head to Chalad beach with is the extension of the famous Pyyambalam Beach of Kannur,only thing lesser crowd,which is a good thing.I must admit I missed the sound of the sea.One can spend hours just sitting and listening to the sound of the waves. Looking a families come down to the beach in the evening and teasing the waves to rush in and wet their feet.

   The waves,the wind,the sand,the vast openness.... and the fading sunlight...I still want a little more of that :)