Cloud Messenger

Image courtesy: Varun Iyer 2014

"Mom," said my son pointing to the clouds as we watched the evening sun, "Do you notice how big and dark the clouds are getting every evening?"

"Hmm...," I said, not wanting to miss a teaching moment, "what do you think is happening?"

"Global warming. Clouds are getting bigger. Rain is pelting us daily. Yet, we have drought. Water is a big mystery."

"And why is it a mystery?"

"What happened to our snow in winter? And why does it hail now in summer?"

"Climate change," I agreed.

I chose teaching moment instead of an experience moment. That moment would have included the wonderful work of Kalidasa on the cloud messenger. You can read the English summary of the poem here, but it is certainly not the same. Not close.

And it would have been a good moment to talk about music- ragas associated with rain...Tansen's soaking success...the folk predictions associated with cloud watching...and many more...In a class it is easy to teach. You need to work only on the teaching moment. At home, I need to stretch time to encapsulate both. I am learning. I am trying.

All tips are welcome!

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?
   

Daily Double

Image courtesy: Wiki Commons


Rainfall everyday is fantastic. I love the #sunshine in the day. No complaints at all.  The #rainfall at night is a wonderful closure to the day. I can stand by the #window and watch the rain for hours. I watch the light display with a grin. So much grandeur on display for everyone! Nature is always happening. It is always displaying. When the rolling thunder rattles the roof and possibly the Earth under me, I wonder if the Earth is shaking too.

One thought lingers...it is a brain thing, a pattern that you recognize with more awareness. It is hot during the day...cold during the night...no snow in winter...thunderstorm in the evening..water, brown and swirling, and rushing down the drain, into culverts, creeks and rivers...right into the sea...water no more...

Spring is just here and the State of Washington has already declared #Drought

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/drought/

Kind people, please put your hands together in prayer for our forests, wildlife, waters, crops, and people. While we do everything that is humanly possible, we still need a bit of cosmic help to keep us going until next year. 

Thank you! 

Rainfall to rejoice!

Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

#Monsoon is my favorite season. #Snowfall too. In fact, I am fascinated with all aspects of #watercycle. I think it should be taught to kids of all ages to understand that our water cycle is #locked. 

Locked?

This is it. We have no "other" water to save us. Our water cycle is a global unifier. Water from Florida can collect into the clouds, sail all the way to flow into waters of the #Nile. Water from Caribbean can travel to North America. Water has no boundaries. It is dynamic force that follows only itself.

Every time it rains, I wonder...Where did these clouds travel from? May be it has the molecules from the sacred Ganga or the mighty Niagara...It probably has molecules from ancient past that sages meditated and offered for peace to reign on Earth...Endless possibilities...Eternal wonder...

 #Seasons come and seasons go, but #rainfall and #monsoon has always been my favorite one.

How about you?

Light....

There are all kinds of doomsday predictions about Earth and the natural habitat. I believe that a part of us, conditioned by fear, wants to use the fear to force people into fear filled submission. The other part that does not fear, acts like a child. It is filled with innocence, caring, love and belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In my case, I believe that there is green at the end of this journey. It is a long journey. A kind of journey that is fueled with curiosity. Being curious opens up wondrous dimensions in me. 

Happy Earth day!

What drives you on your journey?
 

For mystery and innocence

Image courtesy: Varun Iyer 2014

Nature is a wonderful space. It is expansive, ever extending, and inviting everyone. Studies have reported that spending time in nature gives people a cognitive advantage. Nature is filled with splendid things in every nook and corner.


Natural world is also filled with fantastic mysteries. These could be deep philosophical questions that drive each one of us to ask the purpose of life, or may be to navigate a current situation without hurting anyone in the process. If we turn around and look around, we will see millions of creatures, living in harmony. That to me has always been a mystery. Today, we say #diversebooks #diversity, but diversity has always been the slogan for #stability in nature. It is just the way of life.


Immersing oneself in nature and interacting more with the natural world in the thoughts also provides a deep kind of innocence. Many people who spend long time in nature are so humble, so ready for expansion and open to examination of an idea.

As I reflect on my human interactions, I realize that it has sucked away a lot more in terms of time and resources, often without replenishing me. This is so totally opposite with all my interactions in the natural world. Every minute that I was out in the open, with the sky above my head and feet on ground has always given me hope, given me opportunities to be honest, truthful and expand in a deeply personal manner that it left me inspired and replenished. To this day, I carry some effervesce of the fulfilling interactions.

This Earth Day, I pledge to reclaim my time and space by increasing the frequency and intensity of natural interactions. I want to spend more time with nature, to rediscover the mystery and innocence of life in the voiceless vibrations that will expand and fine tune my mind out of impossibilities and poverty gathered by human interactions. The minimum I can do, with gratitude, for the wonderful space that Earth has provided me is to interact respectfully and positively with her.

How do you plan to recapture the possibility and cause your expansion?

Searching for home

Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/1EhRe7r


On this warm, sunny, spring afternoon, while on a walk with my son, he remarked that he would love to be a bird and fly up in the sky. The sky, he said, feels more like home.

Home!

What a conundrum that word is!

My home, my special home, my best home, my eternal home... which home to choose? Having lived on the plentiful planet (albeit with poverty consciousness) for more than 14,500 days, I need to bring in more awareness into my life on this special place. 

Everyday, as I toss the plastic bags into garbage, I am filled with regret. I think of life without plastic. Several upgrades have been within my reach. This year, I began to use ghee instead or bees wax instead of chap stick made with petroleum jelly for my lips. I switched over to almost plastic-less house hold. We are not there yet, there is too much to toss.

The pictures of the newest pacific gyre is difficult to see... am I better of holding on the plastic until they discover or create some bacteria to eat the plastic?

Here are some good ways to reduce the problem but we have no large-scale solution for alternatives. We do have some alternatives for reducing plastic and eliminating plastic.  We may not clean up all the plastic in this lifetime. If we can avoid adding more, we can leave less for the next generation to clean up. 

This Earth Day week, I pledge to reduce plastic and to stop adding to the plastic pollution of my home. 

What about you?