Hi Jasjit,

the great ganga in front of your eyes, Shiva in your mind...wow...what a rich experience.

amidst the dense foliage of silence you must have encountered the sound of the infinite beautiful.

thanks for an absolutely beautiful post.

and welcome back :)

Enchanting experience it must have been Jasjit. We can sense it from the beautiful poem that flowed out of you ..... just like Ganga herself :-)

Hi Aachi and thanks

The spot is like home base now where I return to realize each time that indeed it is not just the 'river which is never the same as you step into it' but also it is you who are never the same. Just a wonderous corner to reflect on flow.

Shubzee
Enchanting it was especially with the intensity of Shiva 'in the air'.

Dear Jasjit

What a fascinating dialogue that was !! and someone as evolved as you could have only engaged in it.
It was sheer bliss to read about it.

Love
Shubho

Good Morning Prasun

Glad you felt the bliss I found in such abundance there. :-)

Jasjit, few years back I had gone river rafting with a couple of my friends. We stayed in one of the camps which was situated an hour ahead of Rishikesh. We arrived there at night so I could only hear the sound of her flowing and the light of the moon gleaming on her.

The sound of her flowing was soundless. It was so calm and peaceful.I couldn't wait for it be morning so that I could see this mysterious lady.

I was the first one to get up in the morning. And when I came out of the tent the site that I saw was so beautiful. I was used to seeing Ganga in her muddy colour (in Kolkata, which is again an awsome sight because of her massive form there) but up here she was green and blue and white in places where the sun shone on her.

When I touched her she was so warm and gentle.

I had such a wonderful stay with her. Your poem brought back all the memories that had got lost in life's chaos. And now I'm longing to met her again.

Dear Jasjit,

an excerpt from a poem I wrote about the great River when I saw her after a gap of 17 years last year in Kolkata.

"...The answer of Bhagiratha’s pleads
Dancing down the great heavens above
Touching Mahadeva’s locks divine, you
Have suffused the earth with love sublime.

Flow on, Mother, flow on till be
The impurities of thought washed in Thee
The karma of action finds not a bad fruit
in one who has bathed in Thy tears tonight..."

Why do I describe the Ganges as filled with tears? It is not because of the innumerable sins it cleans...

Ever wonder why the great River is revered so much?

For it has touched Shiva! and it yearns to touch Him again...

Much Love to everyone.:)

here is another excerpt .... :) from an unfinished book that I am taking very long to write....about the River Ganga....

scene describes my vision of her from the taxi when I landed in Howrah last year.

""and thats the ganga" said my fellow passenger as our taxi raced on the howrah bridge towards calcutta.

i turned to look from watching mesmerised the great pillars of steel making up the world famous suspension bridge. as i looked sideways i felt a pang of regret of having broken my spectacles in the train. all i could see now was something dark.something black. it was 2 in the morning and the train had run 7 hours late. my world was of a mixed blur of light and dark in the early morning of the calcutta winter.

but as i gazed on a sea of blackness beyond the railing of the bridge and felt the cool breeze of nearby water my hands automatically assumed the position of namaskar and my head bowed low in mute surrender.

the silent witness of billion sins everyday,washing the dirt and squalid of the great indian mind since the beginning of thought and civilization,

the great ganga! the mother ganges, the eternal river.

it had taken me 17 years to feast my devotion on her feet, i had last seen her when i was in 10th year of my life in kashi.

having met a delightful couple from janbad , jharkand,in the train ,who told me the intricasies and techniques of agriculture and a district forest officer from vizag who told me of the various forest conservation projects undertaken by india, i was wondering as to what my first experience of calcutta would be.

the ganga was like a prayer unthought but answered..."

Good Morning Buddy

Thank You for sharing your wonderful poems and thoughts on my favourite river.
"the ganga was like a prayer unthought but answered..." what an apt line, exactly my experience. When I first encountered her in awareness of her power and potency it was she who set off my journey to the miraculous. The experiences at her banks , what seems like many moons ago, make for a great story which perhaps I too will pen one day.

But I want you to visit my little retreat beyond Rishikesh for something very special lies there and perhaps your journey with the book will take another turn at that spot. I found the place unwittingly and was struck by an unimaginable force. It then became the spot where many miracles of my life converged only to discover that there the Ganga flows backwards and is hence considered one of the holiest spots. There are apparently only 3 such places (where she flows backwards for a bit)in India and this is one of them. The legend is that all these spots are where MA Anandamayi's Ashram is located. And voila as I search around in the area -there it was, a tiny innocuous little space where Ma Anandmayi had meditated and set up a small ashram. I then discover Rishi Vashist's cave closeby (hardly known to many) and found my fantasy spot for sadhna. I also 'accidentally' met Deepak there for the first time and he offered to 'open the door'. Ifsha too was born in that very same spot. All events fortuitous, unplanned and unforseen by me.

You can imagine the blessing that it has been in my life. And then as I perused the texts for the many, myriad interpretations of Ganga in discover that in Kali Yuga (ours)Ganga is considered the highest pilgrimage there is. For me indeed it became the most powerful blessing!

Dear Jasjit

Beautiful and subtle yet powerful, just like the Ganga. Only you could have captured it quite like this.

Aachi, thanks for sharing the excerpt from the book.....I would love to read it when you're done. Some books I guess just become a personal journey (the best books) and yours too is therefore taking its own time, meandering through the many hills and valleys of life till it returns to its source:)

lots of love

Hey Aachi,

It felt so nice reading your posts. A soothing rendition. Thanks :-)

Would love to read the rest of that book someday!

dear Aachi,
nice post ....

dear Jasjit,
ur poem is wonderful!!!!

dear Aachi,
nice post ....

dear Jasjit,
ur poem is wonderful!!!!

Jasjit "The Queen of this Blog" - For a brief moment - felt like I was right there, deeply immersed in those thoughts.
And some signature thoughts by Aachi (still don't know how you manage all this and now a book too !!???!! - Gosh!).

"know her as your Self - Child heart, Mind alight, Mystique in flow" ... so inspiring - doesn't seem like an ending - instead inspires to begin yet again - feel like continuing ...

... "as our soul deep within - still a new-born - yearning to be somewhere,
learning & growing with turns & tides of time,
an unknown journey back to where it belongs,
to submerge into the eternal calmness,
carrying along the remembrance of each moment, each turn,
playing with itself, inspiring to be pure,
running high & low, towards the eternal bliss, the infinite - nothingness"
Really inspired - to open up & flow,
Thanks Jasjit & Aachi :-)
Thankyou all :-)
Drive on guys. I'm right beside you.

Good Morning everyone! :-)

Surya, you are quite a poet yourself. Beautiful words there!

Flow on ....

Hi Surya

Lovely lines ...King of Song, maybe!!!!

:-)

Dear Jasjit & Shubhosree :-)

Thanks to YOU guys & this place. Will never be short of praise for you people & this place.

But I did feel happy to be able to express all of that and I Love you guys & this place for that. :-)

Actually, those were the feelings that also come to me often when I go to Ganga Ghat whenever I go to Rishikesh. I like to sit close to her trying to look for peace sometimes just spontaneously stroking my hand against the flow looking at the ripples / a little tide that is created.
Always makes me happy & light. Don't know why - maybe I need to check on that feeling sometime during my next visit. And also hope to see that divine location if I'm lucky enough :-)

Love All,
Surya

Dear Surya,

Thats Ganga for you! Purges and cleanses you. And a sense of lightness is bound to follow such purification. :-)

Shubhosree, that's quite possible. May be its our daily life; maybe its some leftovers of the routine life that find an outlet there; a feeling of Surrender to the sheer strength - unstoppable, powerful, yet so calm.

In fact whenever I go to a river bank (or ghat), I would also blankly look at its surfaces - ever-changing, ever-flowing, a constant symbol of strength. At that moment my mind goes blank, calm - still. Maybe that's what peace is.

I never thought I'd express this anywhere. But feels great to be able to share all this.

Love,
Surya :-)

Good Morning Surya

To share something interesting. As a metaphysical reality, the Ganga has been eulogized at so many levels of sacredness. Her waters have stood the enquiry of science and her waters defy the principles of pollution, refusing to degenerate over years of keeping them stagnant etc. And it all then feeds into the scared myth.

However here's another interesting fact. Sceintists have now discovered that water has tremendous 'memory'. It's 'cells' retain information much like any memory bank and there is even talk of using it as a motherboard to see if it can function as the hard drive of a computer.

What then it means for the Ganga is that the land it starts over (Rishikesh) and the environment of its source is bursting with sound energy of chants over thousands of years. Even today it flows for miles along banks where 'spiritual' energy is constantly being created/invoked and circulated. The absorbtion and retention of that timeless power creates an awesome memory bank in the Ganga. Sitting at its banks you are doused in that powerful energy field automatically which is why the 'stillness' and inexplicable feeling of 'infinity' swamps our energy field. When you bathe/drink in it, that in effect is what you absorb.

Isn't that amazing? Finally science explains what poeple have intuitively known and gravitated to for years.

A very Good Morning to

Surya, Madhavi, Prasun, Aachi, Annie, Shalini, Preethi, Venkat, Radhika, Karthik, Alka, Vinod, Raj, Ramlath, Aditya, Sangeeta, Sunrise, Buas, North, Rudra and everyone else!

:-)

What an incredible (but then again, not quite) piece of scientific info that one Jasjit! :-)

Thanks!

Surya, Jasjit,

Do you think that lot of the feelings that you go through when you guys are with Ganga is becuase of the symbolic connotation that the river has in Hindu religion and the messages that you have received about her from childhood?

This is just an innocent question and perhaps I need to personally go and experience it. But just thought I might ask you guys to 'quench' my thirst :)

Hi Annie,

You may be right on the symbolic connotation that Ganga has in Hindu religion. Yes it does have a lot of messages about her since the ages of Puranas. But personally, (as I also added later in a comment above) to me the feelings are similar towards a water body in general - for 'still' waters I like to sit and watch its calmness and not disturb it. And for 'flowing' waters I like to engage with it in some way. Perhaps its active nature also seems to be inviting apart from the interesting depths & sounds it makes - Love the saying "Sound of running water". :-)
Seem to relate to why people seem to be keen for white water rafting.

And Jasjit, doesn't that somehow coincide with the concepts of Potential (of the
still') & Kinetic (of the 'flowing') Energies of Water?

I don't know about the depths but all this is just what I can think of. :-)

Love,
Surya.

Thanks 'Jasjit'
[meaning - Winner of World - 'Jas' + 'Jit']

Indeed science is beautiful and is loved for its numerous ways to knit 'so many' threads (deliberately not using the word 'every' to remain realistic ;-) ) of our thoughts & things that surround & shape our 'selves'.

Yes, I've read a lot about the use of Water as another powerful resource in many fields (Computers!? - is a surprise). I only felt like using Ganga Jal to splash onto my comp when it feels sleepy/dead-like (aka - hangs often) to bring it to life ;-)

On another note: Even the relation between Lord Shiva & Mother Ganga seems so interesting.
I don't know how correct it is but in school I came to know that GOD is 'Generator Operator Destroyer' referring to 'Brahma Vishnu Mahesh' together. Which in turn refers to Shiva as Destroyer (of sins maybe). And Ganga is known to be a Life-giver as well as the remover of sins.

Another relation between Lord Shiva & Ganga (I like this one) - Both are bearers / creators of great Music/Sounds. Lord Shiva is known to be the perfect Musician - a source of music and of course Ganga's sounds can be most soothing too.

Just seemed to be flowing again, trying to link a few of my pre-kept (rather kept-for-long) thoughts. :-)

Dear Jasjit

Beautiful poem. Especially loved the last line. Mystique in flow indeed!

When I was a couple of months old my mother took me to the Ganga and as she put me in the water I apparently slipped out of her hands and disappeared underwater. Ofcourse there was panic. I resurfaced a little distance away gurgling and happy. A priest there said that was a blessed sign. He said I was the daughter of Ganga.

After reading your poem, the memory returned and perhaps I'll go visit my river mother soon. Thanks again for the beautiful reminder.

Hi Radhika

Good to see you back. What a fascinating experience. I'm sure it has a deeper significance for your life and the blessing is unarguable. I'm sure when you revisit something interesting will happen. :-)

Hi All
Surya, Aachi, Jasjit, Prasun, Anusheh, Shubhosre, Chaitali, North, Sukanya, Sundar & Annie. Missed you guys! Though the sights of Almora kill the mind and memory in soothing ways! :-]

Had a great break! Jasjit wish I could pen an immaculate eulogy like you. You are stupendous!

Good to be back on the blog bus

Dear Anusheh, Shubhosree,

I gues the book will never be finished...for I stopped writing it a year ago.:)

lots of love

Welcome back Radhika & Venkat :-) Good to see you.

Surya.

Hey Aachi,

Sad to hear that you stopped writing that book!?

But hey, you can continue writing on this blog! ;-)

Best Wishes.

Dear Aachi

the book is to be written through you how can it have stopped? It awaits another turn, an unseen corner and it will flow again as its meant to, through you as your heart sings her eternity.

One night on the banks I looked up and gasped at the starry night. Brilliant bejewelled sky, so vibrant that it seemed an arm's length away. Thought of you instantly, or perhaps saw you flying in their midst, wistfully gathering some in your hand and hurling them to the millions below as starlight.

Perhaps we are meant to go together to that coveted spot one day soon and she will unlock another door within. :-)

Dear Aachi,

Second Jasjit on that! I am sure the book is going to blossom when it is supposed to. Its ok, we can wait :-)

Hi Surya

Enjoyed reading your 'long-kept-thoughts' about Shiva and Ganga. I met up with 'both' a few years ago in a strange 'twist' of events and both came in quite flamboyantly to kick-start my process. As neither had featured much in my life before that, all I can say is that their presence was overwhelming' and quite startling for a few years. Now of course I can wax eloquent on why they came as my twin messiahs and how powerful their blessing can be. Exuberant friends I call them now! :-)

Hey Aachi,

I would like to believe whatever happens about the book will be for good. :-).
My wishes!

Hi Jasjit,

All your explanations seem to make me wanna go there and feel it. But I can be patient knowing may things have their own time.

So nice to know how things / friends / angels come into lives & make their presence felt in such subtle ways to stay with us or leave an imprint in our minds & hearts forever. Isn't it?

:-)

Hi Surya

Dunno why felt like sharing my favourite, priceless lines from Bulleh Shah

'Mein Shahbaz karan parvazan
Vich Aflak karam dey hu
Zuban tey meri kunn barabar
moda kam kalam dey hu
Aflatoon Arast vargey
Mein kis kam dey agay hu
Hatim vargey lakh karodan
Dar Bahu dey mangdey hu'

"Like a falcon I soar
in the skies of Grace
My tongue is but a speck
Worthy merely to be turned as Your pen
Hot shots like Aristotle reign on human grandeur
I a mere nobody,
With Plato and his ilk in thousands,
All mere beggars at the door of the Enlightened Mind."

So do we all flock to the gateways of Shiva and his immortal Ganga, seeking Grace, infinity and the Great Play

love

Dear Jasjit,

make that a defnite yes for now you have totally got my attention. :)

ur trip sounda more and more amazing...himalayas, ganga and the stars....an awesome experience...

Dear Shubhosree, Surya,

I feel inspired again. thanks. :)

Dear Jasjit,

Your night song brought me a whiff of that fragrance, the rhythm of her mystery, a caress of the gentle mists and the beauty of her eternal, immortal flow, that feeling of being enveloped in the embrace of the Infinite... Shivoham, Shivoham, Shivasya rupam...

In Bhubaneshwar that night, I watched the "mahadeep" go up the enchanted spires of Lingaraj to the throb of the mahamrityunjaya... and all of you were with me, as we stayed awake on His night to be with him, in the flickering lights of thousands of lamps.. "jagar ratri"... the night of consciousness and awakening.. lighting a tiny lamp and tending to it in the darkness of the inner world..

I share a poem by Prof. P. Lal that has stayed with me awhile...

Shiva

Question shaped
Fire ringed Dancer
Suggests
the Ultimate Answer

Choreography,
Announce:
Be free -
Renounce! Renounce!

No Fire,
No drums, no stance,
No movement,
No dance.

What remains
of passion
of pain
is ascetic ash..

Aachi

Checked out your Ganga painting. Awesome! My first impression was Amarnath, though I've never been there and have no idea what it looks like. You are a man of many gifts. :-]

Hi Sukanaya

Beautiful poem!

Hi Buddy

have to second Radhika on that. Awesome it is and reminds me of Amarnath too though I have never been there. Were you thinking of Amarnath?
Also the other term that came to my mind was Devlok.

Perhaps one day when we build our healing centre in the mountains we can commission you to paint us a mural of the Ganga! I think that will be wonderful!!

And yes one day soon perhaps you and I will visit my halcyon spot.
love and hugs

Dear Jasjit,

That was a beautiful poem. I wish to share a few lines that I wrote sometime back, also on the banks of the Holy river...

The shimmering sparks of lights reflection on the fast flowing waters,
The piercing sharp cries of darting birds,
The fragrance of freshly bloomed flowers.
The magnificence of tall trees
That has stood the test of time.
All this and more amazes me
As I watch the night turn into morn.
How powerful is the language of nature,
Silent, resilient and omnipresent.
You smell it, feel it and can,
If you wish relish the true –
Ingenuity of its power.

The last week of this month I will be river rafting at the Ganges. I hope to gain more experiences again - cherish them and write some.

Love,
Chipmunk

Dear Jasjit, Aachi:

You guys are ever-flowing - truly in sync with how the Ganga is.

Cheers - Winner of Worlds (J) & the Arch of Universe (& A) :-)

I see this place as the landscape free for everyone to wonder around,
To voice his inner silence, silence his outer voice
To live each moment and grow up & out of himself.

Thanks Jasjit for the lines from the great Bullay Shah. Deep & humble.

Nice share Sukanya :-)

And Aachi, I'm more than Glad to know your thoughts on the book.

Wishing for the Best for all of you always :-)

Dear Chipmunk

wonderful lines, write on so you can hear the music of your own soul and the lyrics of its immense treasures.

love

Good Morning Surya

Just felt like giving you a big warm hug.

Love
Jasjit

Hey Jasjit :-)

A hug ten-folds warmer to you :-).
I'm all there :-). Even as I spk I'm filled with your warmth (buddy, teacher, guide, ... ) = Friend

Lots of love.

Dear Chipmunk,

Good to see you! Such beautiful expression! Loved those lines :-)

hi jasjit, anusheh and all!

jasjit, i had been thinking for the last some time of living for a few months at some secluded place. the added consideration was to escape from the heat of the plains and even more than that from the dust of the wheat season which will be there aplenty in our area of grain market muktsar during the months of april/may/june. then a few days back your above article came to my notice. i think some place around the area you have described could be one such interesting place in this regard. so, could you pleae tell me the folloing about that place?

1. where exactly it is and how to go there.
2. how far one can go by car, and where then one can park the car...even for a few month?
3. where to live...are their cottages on rent..if yes...cost etc.
4. what could be the arrangments for food.
5. is there electricity, phone/net connection...drinkable water.
6. is the place safe/secure from unwanted people/animals...
7. can one live there all alone. what difficulties are one likely to encounter.
8. what other advices if any you think you should give.

i have been to hardwar/rishikesh a couple of times already but have not ventured beyond.

you may write by email if you deem fit.

and thank you for the information on dictionary, i have today asked one of my nephews who lives at amritsar to actually go to the shop and buy one.

love, harb.

Hi Harb

Will send you an e-mail with details.

love

Hi Harb:-)

admire your sensitivity anusheh... so kind of you!

Cant understand that poem a single word, nor the comments that came in its reference. I tried many a times to understand but i guess am jus too dopey in mind..lol..anyways i was smiling nevertheless. Nityana