Experiencing the #tajmahal

Almost everyone has heard of the #Taj. It means different things to different people. I wasn't sure what the Taj was all about.

When we rode from Delhi to Agra on the new Jamuna Super-express way, my son was excited. My mother was happy to just be with us. The driver was chatty. Some of us were quiet ...watching and waiting for the #experience.

I have visited large temples in South India, many with resplendent and exquisite stone carvings. But, the Taj is different. The art and style is centered in a different philosophy and background. The beautiful calligraphy of verses from the Koran are the main embellishment to the structure. I learned that those verses can be a profound way to release the possession of a structure into the realm of the Divine.

For me, the Taj is best experienced as #space. It is carefully planned to provide the best visual experience. The majesty of the Taj comes from not just the proportions, but also by the best use of the space.

As I sat in the shade and gazed at the dome, I had the deep insight into what the space of love means. For one, it does not clutter with rules and the rights and wrongs.  The space of love embraces everything that comes in the way. The space of love is healing. The space of love is openness. The space of love is being able to experience oneness irrespective of if one is alone or in a crowd. The space of love is a space. It is open to a lot of possibilities. It is but a powerful space of possibility that can nurture anything human mind and effort can envision and create.

To hold that space in #heart, be he a king or a barber, is to be living a rich inner life. And to create that space as an experience for masses is the profound compassion of a person who has nurtured the seed of love. The space invites all of us to dream bigger, larger and to do. The space promises us no matter where we are in our lives, if we plant the seed of love and give it enough space, it will grow to be the very best it can be.

The very best is, we all carry that space. We only need to start relishing it! 

Raining Indoors!

Image courtesy: NY Dailynews


When I was in Elementary school, we lived in a home with clay-tiled roof. We shared the roof with sparrows, lizards, crow, and even some mice. We shared the floor with several other critters. Every morning, the sparrows would stir around 4 am with fabulous chirping songs. I loved it! I love it. When I need to do something that requires long hours of concentrated efforts, I play some bird chirping in the background. Our window was fortunately open. Always open for fresh air. It was a cement slab with designs and more holes than the dosa my mother made.

Every monsoon, both the birds and humans were distressed. The pitter-patter on the roof caused water to seep into the birds nest and sometimes it fell down, eggs and all. Distress for both of us. 

During rains, all our books were covered with our raincoats and anything plastic we could find. Now, my books are all over the house. The rolled-up beds was stacked on top of the bench covered with stitched plastic sheets from several rice bags by my resourceful mom. All our buckets were used, as were all the empty vessels from the kitchen, down to the tumbler. Sometimes the water was up to our ankles. Nobody was exempt from work. I remember how our red-oxide floor shone at the end of the washing and mopping. The streaks of rain left their mark on the walls and the soaked tiles took a long time to dry causing some mold to grow on the wood. We have seen mushroom grow on the wood. After one particularly heavy downpour, not a single room in the house was free of dripping. We were out of vessels to hold water. All rags were wet. The thunderstorm continued unabated all through the night. We went to sleep standing.

Next morning, my father went house hunting.

All this came back to me in rush this week when we encountered a similar situation at work. Our roof literally caved in! Water poured. We moved boxes in amazing speed. Mopped floor. Threw the collected water out. And gave a collective sigh of relief when the rain abated...

Will my supervisor go office hunting?

Any guesses there?