The Vedas provide a very important role for water. “As per Vedas, water dwells where gods dwell. Rain God and Sun God are his companions. He keeps an eye on the good and evil deeds of men”. Its availability and purity reflects human life. It is the “Pratibimba” (reflections) of life.
Here are a few of my “reflections” during my recent visit to Hamptons.
Merriam Webster provides the meaning of the term from a biology perspective: a weed as : a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth specially the one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants. In other words weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, “a plant in the wrong place”. During my visit to the Hamptons, I did notice weeds in well manicured gardens. But are they in the wrong place?
Photos Courtesy – Laxman Mohansundaram
After a week’s stay at the Southampton Village it was time to move to Wainscott in the Hamptons for the Memorial Day week end. Wainscott didn’t disappoint us at all. It matched Southampton “leaf by leaf”, “hedge by hedge” and “green by green”. My iPhone popped out of my pocket and started the job even without I realizing it !
The background music is by Dr. Jayanthi Kumaresh in the Raga “Dharmavathi”. Of course, the little birds and the waters of Wainscott added beauty to the BGM score by lending their voices too. Here is a glimpse of that in under 5 minutes in my You Tube channel prabhu53. Pl visit.
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These are strange and testing times. For many across the world, what next is a big question now. Anxiety and stress appears to be the key question that is lingering.
The answer to this question is not simple. For example, the answer by a Professional need not be applicable to the Retired; the Urban may have a completely different perspective to this question as compared to the Rural. It is a fact that the answer needs to be found out by everyone in their own way and at their own pace.
I am confined for nearly 3 months to the glass, metal & wood partitioned tiny space surrounded by “concrete jungle” in Manhattan. I was no exception to the universal phenomenon of “stress” stated above. Thanks to God and Blessings from elders, in life I am very lucky in several ways; one of them being “having access to a wonderful accommodation at a village in the Suffolk County” post retirement. Riding on my luck, I decided to go in for a heady cocktail of “HPK” (Hamptons and Poorvi Kalyani) twice a day for a week to bust the accumulated stress.
Wondering what is this cocktail about!
“Poorvikalyani” is one of my favourite “Raga (the melodic structure) in Carnatic Music. It is a Pleasant and Popular Raga and has six notes on the ascent and seven notes in the descent. The raga has a profound effect on reducing anxiety and abdominal pain.
“Hamptons” is the near equivalent of Heaven for many upscale Newyorkers with beaches, sprawling bungalows and extensive greenery.
Combine these two. Wow! What a relief: what a magic this cocktail has done to rejuvenate me.
See for yourselves in this video
Music Courtesy: The Legendary Carnatic Music Flutist Dr N Ramani
30 March 2020
Mmmm. Oh no. Across the world we all are locked down thanks to “Corona”. From a tiny village in the remote corner of India to the the Commercial Capital of the World – New York City there is a near total shut down.
Quite often I have been asked by friends and relatives across the world “How are you spending your time in Newyork City when you are locked down at 150 feet above ground in a confined space of 1000 Sq.ft area? You are so used to be with many people in a busy area where vehicles buzz around, vendors move around, densely packed shops and establishments. Hope you haven’t become mad.”
I was wondering as to what should be my response to these queries. Living in an apartment in one of those high rise property behind the Empire State Building, watching that impressive building is the only visual outside entertainment available during the lockdown. The Empire also reflected the eerie emptiness by covering itself most of the days with clouds and didn’t want to dress up colourfully in the evenings.
Hardly any traffic around compared to the “pre lockdown”. What should I do? Time to ponder.
Peeping out of the window on one early morning, I did get the answer. There was a single light coming out of one of the adjacent property. Wow! There is after all light even in darkness if we look for it. I got it.
That prompted me to go back in my memory and bring out the Colorful Empire that I know. I pulled out all the photographs (some of them taken by my son) from my folder, listened to the bits of music that my 7 year old grandson attempted at the keyboard and here is the link to the “Colorful Empire”.
Who will get into this neural net first – Rain or Sun or Spring and who will know about it ?
The full moon day of the Tamil month of Masi (Feb 13 to March 13th for the year 2020) in Magha Nakshtra ( associate star Rebulus) is considered auspicious. It is believed that during this period,divine beings descend to purify the karma of the human race. As Magha is ruled by ancestors, benefits from blessings of departed souls is expected on this day.It is an important festival celebrated by Tamils. The makam star in this month usually falls on the full moon day and is considered highly auspicious in many temples across South India, especially in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala. For this year 2020 this was on 08th March.
Sitting thousands of miles away from my home in India, despite the winter, I could manage to get a clear view of the Moon. My 7 year old grandson was practising in his Key Board. I could definitely link the two and I couldn’t help naming my video as Melody in Moon.
Here is the YouTube link
Mid Feb to end Feb 2020 – The “Empire” at Manhattan was at its best displaying a wide variety of moods – bright, colourful, cloudy, invisible, towering. Watching it from the 17th floor from an apartment three blocks away, I was able to get a glimpse thanks to my iPhone. The background music by my 7 year old grandson on his keyboard adds to that splendour.
Prabhu's Ponder 