Friday, March 03, 2006

A man left his house

A man left his house
With a cane and a sack,
Set off
Down the road
And never looked back.

He walked ever onward,
He walked ever straight,
Never slept,
Never drank,
Never drank, slept, or ate.

He came to a forest
As dark as the night.
He walked
Right in
And vanished from sight.

But if ever you chance
To meet up with this man
Oh please
Let us know
As quick as you can.

-----Daniil Kharms

Tao-12

The five colours blind the eye.
The five tones deafen the ear.
The five flavours dull the taste.
Racing and hunting madden the mind.
Precious things lead one astray.
Therefore the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees.
He lets go of that and chooses this.

Raga of the day---Amritavarshini

Aarohana:S G3 M2 P N3 S
Avarohana:S N3 P M2 G3 S

Enai Nee Maravade----M.M.Dandapani Deshikar
Anandamirthakarshini---Muthuswami Dikshitar
Anni Mantramulu---Annamayya
Sarasiruha Nayanei---Tyagaraja

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Tao-11

Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub;
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore profit comes from what is there;
Usefulness from what is not there.

Bush in India: Just Not Welcome

From the Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060313/roy
Bush in India: Just Not Welcome
Arundhati Roy

On his triumphalist tour of India and Pakistan, where he hopes to wave imperiously at people he considers potential subjects, President Bush has an itinerary that's getting curiouser and curiouser.

For Bush's March 2 pit stop in New Delhi, the Indian government tried very hard to have him address our parliament. A not inconsequential number of MPs threatened to heckle him, so Plan One was hastily shelved. Plan Two was to have Bush address the masses from the ramparts of the magnificent Red Fort, where the Indian prime minister traditionally delivers his Independence Day address. But the Red Fort, surrounded as it is by the predominantly Muslim population of Old Delhi, was considered a security nightmare. So now we're into Plan Three: President George Bush speaks from Purana Qila, the Old Fort.

Ironic, isn't it, that the only safe public space for a man who has recently been so enthusiastic about India's modernity should be a crumbling medieval fort?

Since the Purana Qila also houses the Delhi zoo, George Bush's audience will be a few hundred caged animals and an approved list of caged human beings, who in India go under the category of "eminent persons." They're mostly rich folk who live in our poor country like captive animals, incarcerated by their own wealth, locked and barred in their gilded cages, protecting themselves from the threat of the vulgar and unruly multitudes whom they have systematically dispossessed over the centuries.

So what's going to happen to George W. Bush? Will the gorillas cheer him on? Will the gibbons curl their lips? Will the brow-antlered deer sneer? Will the chimps make rude noises? Will the owls hoot? Will the lions yawn and the giraffes bat their beautiful eyelashes? Will the crocs
recognize a kindred soul? Will the quails give thanks that Bush isn't traveling with Dick Cheney, his hunting partner with the notoriously bad aim? Will the CEOs agree?

Oh, and on March 2, Bush will be taken to visit Gandhi's memorial in Rajghat. He's by no means the only war criminal who has been invited by the Indian government to lay flowers at Rajghat. (Only recently we had the Burmese dictator General Than Shwe, no shrinking violet himself.) But when Bush places flowers on that famous slab of highly polished stone, millions of Indians will wince. It will be as though he has poured a pint of blood on the memory of Gandhi. We really would prefer that he didn't.

It is not in our power to stop Bush's visit. It is in our power to protest it, and we will. The government, the police and the corporate press will do everything they can to minimize the extent of our outrage. Nothing the happy newspapers say can change the fact that all over India, from the biggest cities to the smallest villages, in public places and private homes, George W. Bush, the President of the United States of America, world nightmare incarnate, is just not welcome.

Raga of the day---anandabhairavi

aarohana:S G1 R2 G1 M1 P D1 P S
avarohana:S N1 D2 P M1 G1 R2 S

Neeke Teliyaka ---Tyagaraja
Himachala Tanaya---Syama Sastry
Singaravelavan---Papansam Sivan
Thyagarajayoga ---Muthuswami Dikshitar
Ksheera Sagara---Tyagaraja
Maanasa Guruguha---Muthuswami Dikshitar
Marivere Gathi Evaramma---Syama Sastry
Paluke Bangaramayena---Bhadrachala Ramadas
Rama Rama Nivaramu---Tyagaraja

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Rumi

I swear, since seeing Your face,
the whole world is fraud and fantasy
The garden is bewildered as to what is leaf
or blossom. The distracted birds
can't distinguish the birdseed from the snare.

A house of love with no limits,
a presence more beautiful than venus or the moon,
a beauty whose image fills the mirror of the heart.

Tao-10

Carrying body and soul and embracing the one, can you avoid separation?
Attending fully and becoming supple, can you be as a newborn babe?
Washing and cleansing the primal vision, can you be without stain?
Loving all men and ruling the country, can you be without cleverness?
Opening and closing the gates of heaven, can you play the role of woman?
Understanding and being open to all things, are you able to do nothing?
Giving birth and nourishing, bearing but not possessing, working yet not taking credit, leading yet not dominating, this is the Primal Virtue.

Raga of the Day---Shanmukhapriya

Aarohana:S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N2 S
Avarohana:S N2 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S

Kannanai Pani Maname---Papanasam Sivan
Marivere Gathi Evaramma---Tyagarja
Parama Purusha---Annamayya
Palu Vicharamulela ---Annamayya
Siddhi Vinayakam---Dikshitar

We the living----Kira

Kira Argounova went to school in Yalta. The school dining room had many tables. at luncheon, girls sat at these tables in couples, in fours, in dozens. Kira always sat at a table in a corner-alone.
One day her class declared a boycott against a little freckled girl who had incurred the displeasure of her most popular calssmate, a loud-voiced young lady who had a smile, a handshake and a command ready for everyone.
That noon, at luncheon, the little table in the corner of the dining room was occupied by two students: Kira and the freckled girl. They were half through their bowls of buck wheat mush, when the indignant class leader approached them.

"Do you know what you're doing, Argounova?" she asked, eyes blazing.
"Eating mush," answered Kira. "Won't you sit down?"
"Do you know what this girl here has done?"
"I haven't the slightest idea."
"You haven't? Then why are you doing this for her?"
"You're mistaken. I am not doing this for her, I am doing it against twenty- eight other girls."
"So you think its smart to go against the majority?"
"I think that when in doubt about the truth of an issue,its safer and in better taste to select the least numerous of the adveraries....May I have the salt please?"

Raga of the day-Khamboji

Aarohana:S R G M P D S
Avarohana:S N D P M G R S

Sree Subrahmanyaya---Dikshitar
EavriMaata ---Tyagaraja
Kuzhaloodhi Manamellam ---Oothukad venkata kavi
Ma Janaki ---Tyagaraja
O Rangasaayi---Tyagaraja
Sarasijanabha ---Swati Tirunaal
Simha Roopanade----Purandara Dasa

Tao-9

Better stop short than fill to the brim.
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow.
Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.

Monday, February 27, 2006

he, she and god

He
“I am stupid. Am I?”

She
“I could paint the skies with it,instead I whisper, Love you as you are.”

God
“My child, she was your mother eighteen lifetimes ago.”

Raga of the day:Sahana

Aarohanam:S R G M P M D N S
Avarohanam:S N D P M G M R G R S

Kritis:
Vandanamu Raghunandana ---Tyagaraja
Chittam Irangaada ---Papanasam Sivan
Manamu Kalavanu --Muthiah Bhagavathar
Sri Kamalambikayam---Dikshtar
Rama ikanannu ---Pattnam Subramania Iyer

No god in sight


The narrative style is innovative but the writing is just ok and so are the stories
--Mostly invented. No touch of genuinity.

Tao-8

8
The supreme good is like water,
which benefits all of creation
without trying to compete with it.
It gathers in unpopular places.
Thus it is like the Tao.

The location makes the dwelling good.
Depth of understanding makes the mind good.
A kind heart makes the giving good.
Integrity makes the government good.
Accomplishments makes your labors good.
Proper timing makes a decision good.

Only when there is no competition
will we all live in peace.