Reflections and Resolutions

Now that we are in the end of 2010 , when my junior asked me "so what are your resolutions for new year? " my thinking process as to what were my reflections and resolutions for this year kick start.

It was very easy to tell my resolutions.. I have only one resolution for years now , "Never do anything that you will have to hide from anybody else ,most importantly you own self! Do Everything that you have passion for , and learn from anything and everything that comes your way",Although this resolution is never altered , my understanding of it has!. When i was thinking of this , as though my smart ipod understood it started playing a Bollywood song from roja "Dil hai chota sa .. choti si aasha! masti bari mann ki.. bholi si aasha! exactly my resolution :) .


Now reflections were a little hard to think of ,rather to put to words .Had i been with the same mind set as that of 09 considering only the success rate , then i suppose i would have claimed that this is one of the worst possible years and cribbed about it for days, But today as i sit and write this blog there are very few things that I regret about rather I would like to put it as , if I am asked to repeat this year there are very few things I would have done differently.

So When i was wondering what changed ? There was a spider trying to climb up the wall in my room and fell , which reminded me of a story i had read in primary , Which goes like this .. " There was a king who was defeated by his enemy and was betrayed by his friends , he after losing all hopes goes and hides in a cave , where he sees a spider which was trying to weave the web and go up. It tries once and failes, it then moves a little up but still fails.. This repeats 17 times and then it succeeds and reaches the top, This incident moved the king and he then vows to get back his throne and fights and finally wins! So yes this was my outlook this year , I might have faltered but have learnt how not to take faltering steps again , although there are certain things beyond my control which i would still brood about , i have learnt to fore go of things i cannot change but accept and move on , wh ile still striving to achieve the best. Probably I started off my year well ,with atlas shrugged and fountain head from ayn rand to now ending it with a book on chanakya , This has helped me to change my outlook towards a lot of things around me for good, Now i don't want to bore any one reading this with free advice but happy to share that I had a great year.

Actually in a recent trip there was scene which moved me, there was an elephant that was chained sadly looking(appeared to me) at some tiny chirpy bird gaily, freely sitting on a rock.. This reminded me of the smile of a tribal girl living on limited means. It is up to the interpretation of a reader to understand what my point is in here and why it appeared in my reflections.

All excited to embrace a new decade with 2011 :) . Happy new year !

Belur A Masterpiece

Each time i go any historical architectural sites in India i get a altogether different perspective of the place , similarly although I had visited Belur thrice before , my fourth visit this weekend gave altogether a new perspective of the place and Indian heritage.

Let me put down my findings of my recent visit to Belur also some facts known but that got re-enforced .As i had innumerable clicks from my earlier visits i decided to put down my camera and just look through my eyes.

Firstly i was asked a question by my friend , do you know why every temple has a garuda kamba? I was actually surprised i didnt know! He then told that it supposedly acts like an antenna and resonates all the bhajan's or mantra's that are chanted inside the temple.That was
cool ,Then my rusted brain remembered that in Hampi one another explanation was they would light the tip of garuda kamba with fire and thus enitre village would know of the occasion.

Thankfully we hired a guide[I still feel guilty for having given a wrong info before hiring a guide though] . It started off bland with same old things that I had heard before. He then mentioned makara animal with trunk of an elephant (for its strength ), ear of a cow(for its sensitivity) , tail of a peacock (beauty), and many more but i was already admiring , how beautifully the best of all in one was captured was amazing. Just imagine makara as a society !! best of everything!

Our guide then moved on to statue of vishnu with four hands each holding different ayudha/weapon and he mentioned that there were 24 different forms of vishnus ! suddenly there was something itching in my brain.. OMG he was talking of permutation!! 4!! I wonder why the hell had i not realized this in my earlier visit! But then there were other bustling bubbles four weapon;s would also indicate 4 purushartha's(dharma artha kama and moksha).

But then my thoughts were curtailed when I realized he had moved on to 42 shilabalika's , For all those who think it is just statues of beautiful young women , No it is not , You cannot but admire the intricacy in each carving , expression in each one. But beyond all!! statues there are not just dancing poses but there are statues of huntress and other professions as well , one that caught my attention when he told that was the statue of a woman who appeared to be proud because she knew how beautiful was , but i didnt think that was the reason, probably that scultoror who had created that great a masterpiece would not have cared .. she must have known/loved herself so well to be that proud!

There were many many such beauties like a statue representing ecological balance / jeevo jivasya jeevanam [ reminded me of aja putram balim dadyat devaha durbala ghatakaha]
Also one amazing thing reminded me of open source development model was there was a small block which was empty.. among all the sculptures , it apparently was because the scultor with humilty left it to someone who could fill that space with something that would give more justice than what he would do to that space.

Let me complete this writing by mentioning this last important point , there are layers of miniature sculpturing as a base with elephant at the bottom to indicate strenght , then comes lion representing power , above which is horse that shows speed and then flowers with the significance of beauty.Also above layers are adored with simple daily life of humans , ramayana , mahabharatha and then sculputre if gods and godesses indicating a blending demarcation of jeevatma and paramatma.

This ended my visit to belur with darshan of chennakeshava in mohini alankaara, sayonara...