Tillitonse - A Transformational Journey Together

I grew up in an environment where rituals related to anything smelling remotely religious were scoffed at as ‘Mumbo Jumbo’. In fact, we kind off ridiculed those who practiced them!   Further, I am still uncomfortable with rituals in public places which have a Hindu slant as I am uncomfortable with the tag (both self imposed as well as from an external perspective) of being insensitive to those who follow other faiths. So, when I found myself energized after the ‘havan’ (‘homum’) at 136 (my yoga studio), I started wondering why and how this transformation happened. This note captures why the havans at 136 resonate so strongly with me. As a prelude to the chanting of the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra, Shantanu (who led the havan) asked us to do two things. First, to think of someone who needs positive energies (being ill, etc) and second to cast off all our negative energies one at a time each time we chanted ‘Om’ between the repititions of the mantra. I found myself following...

The 3 M Karmic Konnections (Mumbai, Madras and the Maldives - Jan 2014) So, there he sat alone. Waiting patiently. As soon as he saw us, his face lit up in a smile that combined joy and relief. He was a kid and looked even younger. “Welcome to Bombay” was the first words he uttered. This was way back in June 2001 at the Lobby of the Taj President Hotel. Lata and I had just landed from Delhi into what was going to be our city for the next five years. Waiting for us was the tall, thin, V boy! He too like us had just got to Bombay to begin a new journey – life at Xaviers and living away from his twin homes – Colombo and Chennai. While I had interacted with V boy many many times before that, it was really in Bombay that I got to spend real time with him. So, over the next five years, it was great to see his metamorphosis. He took to Bombay like a fish to water and was immediately at ease with the buses, trains, traffic and the sounds that are quintessential Bombay! I...