Learning is so continuous...

A humbling, yet uplifting story right from my kitchen.

Diksha walked in for her lunch and found me toasting bread on the tavva. She noticed the plate with bowls of milk and sugar, and asked "you not well, ma?" (that's our staple unwell time spread).

I was like, "No, it's not for me, it's for Faizan, she's feeling unwell".

I saw the look in Diksha's eyes.....but before I could feel good about it (appreciative one...for doing the exact same thing I'd do for her or me, when unwell), I heard something that grounded me well and proper.

Diksha was eating by then, and I'd given Faizan the plate of 'wellness' and said "चेयर लेलो या मोड़ा लेलो , जो भी" (take a chair, or moda, whichever), and Diksha, very gently, says "why moda or chair ma, why not at the table?". 

Deech, humbled, and proud, in the same moment.

A 2nd Metro Ride

A second metro ride, because mom had not been able to join us on our first ride. Plus dad was full enthu to check out the other line. 

So this time we did Ameerpet to Miyapur, and back. 

The touristy crowd has thinned, and it's now more to regular life for the metro. We went at odd time so it was fairly empty, no queues or mad rush for seats and stuff. That said, you can still see the sense of curiosity and wonder in most folks. Plus the pride in the city's first metro.

Mom preferred standing - better view both sides she said :)

Some crazy tall towers, which were looming over the Malaysian Township. Didn't even know Hyderabad had such tall towers :)

At Miyapur station, the train goes further down, does a U turn and comes back in.

At the Miyapur station, where we need to get off, exit and buy tickets back.

Both of them keenly taking in the sights around. I believe I was happier watching them, and to see how much they can chat up on life's little and big details :)

Miyapur station has a nice smart cycle stand that lets out cycles...nice

A welcome cup of chai

Waiting for the train back

 And there it comes

On the way back

 At Ameerpet, both of them so seriously searching for their house. And we actually found it, (couldn't on the way out) and that made it even more exciting !

And there it is...that's their beloved balcony too, visible in the zoomed in picture :)

That's a view of the station from that balcony. 

And there's reason why it's become part of life. They've watched the station come up over the years, the trial runs of the trains, and now the regular movement of the trains...they can even see the passengers embark and disembark, that's how close the connection is. Dad even uses his binoculars for closer views :)

And there used to be days during the period when dad would wonder aloud as to whether the metro would come up in his lifetime. So this ride is almost like a consummation of that relationship. Made all of us that much happier for it.

Ma and daddy, it's so wonderful to see the interest and enthusiasm you both still have for the world around, so beautifully symbolized through the metro experience.  Sooo inspiring !!

The Inner Landscape - John O'Donohue

Irish Poet and Philosopher, late John O'Donahue in conversation hosted by Krista Tippet, from a podcast on 'On Being' 

I tried synopsis, but found I was losing flow. Tried excerpts, was way too long. Settled for a few lines that seemed interesting, and I guess resonated at some level.

John O’Donohue entered seminary at a young age and was a Catholic priest for 19 years. But in the 1980s, he went to Germany to study the philosophy of Hegel. He eventually left the priesthood and devoted himself full-time to meditating and writing on beauty, friendship, and how the visible and the invisible, the material and the spiritual, intertwine in human experience. He is well known for his book 'Anam Cara'

John O’Donohue considered 'beauty as a human calling'

He says:

"Beauty isn’t all about just nice loveliness. Beauty is about more rounded, substantial becoming. So I think beauty, in that sense, is about an emerging fullness, a greater sense of grace and elegance, a deeper sense of depth, and also a kind of homecoming for the enriched memory of your unfolding life"

He had a very Celtic, lifelong fascination with the inner human landscape and what he called “the invisible world,” constantly intertwining with the external ... and said that landscape wasn’t just matter, but that it was actually alive. and if you go towards it with an open heart and a real, watchful reverence, that you will be absolutely amazed at what it will reveal to you. 

"I think that connecting to the elemental can be a way of coming into rhythm with the universe"

“Possibility is the secret heart of time. On its outer surface, time is vulnerable to transience. In its deeper heart, time is transfiguration. I always think that that’s the secret of change — that there are huge gestations and fermentations going on in us that we are not even aware of. And then, sometimes, when we come to a threshold, crossing over, which we need to become different, that we’ll be able to be different, because secret work has been done in us, of which we’ve had no inkling

And, when we cross a new threshold, that if we cross worthily, what we do is we heal the patterns of repetition that were in us that had us caught somewhere. And in our crossing, then, we cross onto new ground, where we just don’t repeat what we’ve been through in the last place we were. And I think there are huge thresholds in every life."

"And I think it’s a critical question, always, for somebody who wants to have a mature, adult, open-ended, good-hearted, critical faith, to conduct the most vigorous and relentless conversation that you can with your own tradition and your own memory"

Ms. Tippett: It was actually in your book that I first realized, and I had never thought about this, that the root — the Greek root for the word “beauty” is related to the word for “calling,” to “kalon” and “kalein.”, how do we pursue that calling, given the limitations, given that a lot of what is around us is not visibly, objectively beautiful and may not be?

Donohue: Now how do we do it? One way, and I think this is a really lovely way, and I think it’s an interesting question to ask oneself too, and the question is, when is the last time that you had a great conversation, a conversation which wasn’t just two intersecting monologues, which is what passes for conversation a lot in this culture?

But when had you last a great conversation in which you overheard yourself saying things that you never knew you knew, that you heard yourself receiving from somebody words that absolutely found places within you that you thought you had lost and a sense of an event of a conversation that brought the two of you onto a different plane, and then, fourthly, a conversation that continued to sing in your mind for weeks afterwards?

And I’ve had some of them recently, and it’s just absolutely amazing. They’re like, as we would say at home, they are food and drink for the soul.

Second thing, I think, a question to always ask oneself — who are you reading? Who are you reading? And where are you stretching your own boundaries? Are you repetitive in that?

And you could be surprised what an exciting adventure and homecoming it could become.

For those who might want to listen: https://onbeing.org/programs/john-odonohue-the-inner-landscape-of-beauty-aug2017/

Writing from Podcasts - A First Shot

I've been listening to podcasts on an almost daily basis, for over six months now. I can't begin to say how enriched I feel for the experience.

Been wanting to share the experience, (and yes, consolidate for self too).

Since I started, I've been meaning to pick my favorites and write about them. Six months. And I haven't gotten there yet.

It's over whelming. They're so beautiful, and evocative. It's a one hour conversation, and as I listen on my walk I have no notes. And therein I found excuses to procrastinate..... I need to listen again, maybe research some more, find the perfect right one to start, and so on and so forth.

Today I decided, this was it. If I didn't start, I just wouldn't. I owed it to myself to put some of those brilliant pieces here. I'm taking my first shot at it. No notes, no research, no perfect first one.... going with the one I heard today.

It's a talk called 'The Inner Landscape of Beauty' with Irish Poet, ( I have an unexplainable love for Ireland :) late John O'Donohue. A conversation that actually moved me to tears.

It's from 'On Being', one of my favorite sources. 

'On Being' is a podcast, hosted by Krista Tippett. It's been in existence for over seven years, and opens up some animated questions at the center of human life:

What does it mean to be human?  how do we want to live? ......taking up the big questions on meaning......an enquiry into the mystery and art of living

Krista avoids easy answers, embracing complexity and inviting people from varying background ranging from poets to physicists, doctors to historians, artists to activists to join her conversations.

She's had people like the Dalai Lama, Seth Godin, Daniel Kahneman, Martin Sheen, David Whyte, Sheryl Sandberg, Paulo Coelho, Thich Nhat Hanh, Brene Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, Mary Angelou....and that list goes on. The ones I've listed are the ones I know. There are some amazing conversations with physicists and neuro scientists which are equally mind blowing.

There are days that just listening to those conversations has made me feel "wow, it's made my day"

It's not as much their thoughts or experience or expertise, as also how the thoughts get evoked, the subtlety of process, the articulation, the shifts in thinking, the nuances.........it's a whole process.

Well, that was long introduction. First one tomorrow, inshallah :)

Super Blue Blood Moon Total Eclipse

That's a lot of adjectives attached to one noun (or one moon )

That's why it's supposed to have been a once in 150 years event. ......what's been called a triple whammy !

The 'Blue' is because it's the second of two full moons within the month  - what's called a blue moon

Total because it was a total eclipse, with the moon passing through the umbral region of the earth's shadow

Super because it's a Supermoon, which is the moon being closest to the earth on a full moon

And Blood, no points for guessing...it's just the way it looked...as red as it ever did

The eclipse sighting from Hyd was spectacular, as we had a clear sky and visibility was great through the one and quarter hour period.

My personal bonus was that I wasn't even aware of how big a cosmic event it was, until a friend mentioned it almost when it started, and I could just step onto my terrace. What a treat. Glad and grateful for the moment !

My favouritest moment of the eclipse was when the shadow started to clear, and we saw this startling sliver of light and glow from beneath......... and you know that the shadow will now recede to give us back our dear moon. It beheld much for me.

As it receded

Thanks much for the pictures Ananth. Confession....when they came in last night soon after the eclipse, I didn't open (not a photos or forwards enthusiast). It was an all the more wonderful surprise to see later, and especially to have been privy to the unedited versions. The pluses of having a photographer friend...also just to know I can use a friends pictures rather than search Google...feels good :)

Great job on the pictures Ananth !!

The Hours

The film, while based on Virginia Woolf, is really a story of three women, set in different periods of time, each trying to recognize, and find an identity beyond role.....understand and define herself as individual.

Virginia, (Nicole Kidman) in 1920 is writing her novel "Mrs. Dalloway", (a story of one day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, who has what on the surface appears a well ordered life, and she realizes it to be a life built around meaningless trivialities)

Laura (Juliana Moore) is reading and identifying with the novel in 1950, and Clarissa (Meryl Streep) is actually living the role in New York of 2001.

Nicole Kidman gives a powerfully passive and controlled performance, nothing on the surface, hardly any dialogue, but the cauldron of seething emotions within clearly visible. Julian Moore does the same, underplaying her emotions, trying to hide her true feelings, while clearly getting suffocated by them. Meryl Streep, on the other hand, is more explicit and expressive in her emoting, likely as it represents the woman of today.

What's beautiful is how the three stories intertwine through three different time periods, bound together in experience and emotion.

An interesting point to note was that Nicole Kidman had a prosthetic nose for the movie, giving her an amazingly close resemblance to Virginia Woolf.

There is an inescapable strength in the women, and I guess an irony; each has a child in the house tuning into their emotions, while the adults around seem either unaware or incapable of understanding. Was an interesting and curious point.

It's a movie about choices, and the struggle that comes with making difficult choices in the search for fulfillment. Adding to the complexity of the usual, is each of their lives being touched by bisexuality and suicide.

Put together like that, it might sound like a depressing movie. It's not. Just the artistry, beauty and depth make it into near poetry.......an honest and incisive look at some complex facets of life.

That said, it's not an easy film to watch. I'd say watch if you're fine with it staying in your mind for  a long while after the watching.

Virginia Woolf

This was the Google doodle a couple days back.

It's Virginia Woolf. Guess I even clicked on it, because it sparked something. I've read and heard references to her quite a bit......she's known for her strong opinions, independent thinking, intense writing....... an equally intense life, ending with a tragic suicide..... plus she's so stunningly beautiful.

I read on captivated.

Virginia Woolf is regarded as one of Britain's greatest novelists, whose influence on the literary world continues to this day, over a hundred years later.

Her own life is as fascinating. She was born into a highly literate household, and started writing from an early age, and was a prolific and much respected writer of her times, with nine novels to her credit.

She was known to suffer from nervous breakdowns, or what today would be recognized as depression or maybe even schizophrenia.

She drowned herself in a river next to her house when she was 59, leaving a heartbreaking suicide note to her husband which began with "dearest, I feel certain that I am going mad again, and this time I shan't recover.....the happiest times I've known have been what you gave me...".

Some of her well known quotes:

"Though we see the same world, we see it through different eyes."
"Never pretend that the things you haven't got are not worth having."
"Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners." 

"If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people."

In the same write up I saw that Nicole Kidman had won an Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia in 'The Hours'. Well, I searched, found and watched right away......... one of the most intense, complex and deeply moving films I've watched.