Prayers just reminders

September 23, 2016 By Gaurav Rastogi

PC: http://www.boomsbeat.com/articles/116/20140118/tianzi-mountains-china.htm Some pray to forget. Some pray to remember. Stories help us remember for long. Sometimes for many many generations. — The storyteller’s craft is to bring the audience into the story. To take sides. To fear the enemy, and to rise above that fear into action. To be frustrated by the many persistent obstacles. To fill hearts with love and sacrifice. The storyteller’s job is to transport us into other lives, and to make us bigger than we are.... Read more

Turning inwards

February 9, 2016 By Gaurav Rastogi

Photo Credit: Flickr Metanoia. “Metanoia”…the word came to mind silently one morning in that period between sleep and wakefulness, and stayed around after one was awake. What does this word mean, and why was it ringing in the ear? The dictionary says it means a change in one’s way of life resulting from penitence or a spiritual conversion. The word is Greek, and the English versions of the Christian Bible’s New Testament often translated this Greek word as “repentance”, and a whole... Read more

A Modern Vyasa

July 25, 2015 By Gaurav Rastogi

Infinity Lights. Source: link I’d like you to read, as plainly as possible, the following sentence, “I heard that you’re settled down, That you found a girl and you’re married now. I heard that your dreams came true. Guess she gave you things I didn’t give to you”. If you hadn’t heard these sentences before, and you were successful in reproducing a flat tone while reading, you would find the text interesting, as a snippet of a letter from a jilted... Read more

Atheism and Yoga

May 11, 2015 By Gaurav Rastogi

Credit: Flickr (link) Atheists come in all shapes and sizes. The only thing conforming about being an atheist really is the lack of conformity with any established belief system. Through the ages, and in every age, there are people who don’t believe in supernatural beings or gods. This dis-belief system may sometimes be a response to the prevalent religious dogma of the time, like, for instance, a belief in modern times that there is a bearded gentleman out there in... Read more

Yoga by Ganga

May 11, 2015 By Gaurav Rastogi

photo credit: photopin (license) Legend tells of a magic carpet that would transport its Prince to places far and wide in the wink of an eye. Just close your eyes, imagine, and lo!, you’re there when the eyes open. No baggage fees, no shoes to remove for security, no in-flight food. Imagine, if you could imagine, where you would go if only you had that magic carpet! Some place exotic, surely? But not us yogis. Yes, we’re into travel, but... Read more

A question of Identity

May 11, 2015 By Gaurav Rastogi

Anonymous. Photo Credit (link) At a party the other day, while mingling with old and new faces, a friendly looking chap walks up and says, “So, who’re you?”. Very infrequently does one get an in-person friend request, in this age of social media, and so I habitually rattled off my name and enough biographical details for him to place me in terms of history, geography and economics. The sort you might find in my byline below. But this time it... Read more

Life, Interrupted

May 11, 2015 By Gaurav Rastogi

Three perspectives on a truncated life! — Religious beliefs come in different packages. In most cases, a belief in the nature of “After Life” drives a lot of the mythology, rituals and practices. These specific set of beliefs in the nature of afterlife can drive daily decisions around how to live life, and even how to end it. Three flavors of afterlife: Belief in afterlife also comes in three flavors. Read the Wikipedia entry for more details, but given below is... Read more

The Reluctant Spokesman (a short story)

May 11, 2015 By Gaurav Rastogi

I made this logo, I really did! a fictional short story by Gaurav Rastogi The Restless Sannyasi Deva Ananda Mishtiqiya was distraught. Late January in southern India is as pleasant a time as you can get on the plateau. Nights are nippy, slightly cold, and the days smell of Valentine roses, “First Class Export Quality” as they say here. Deva Ananda had been sleeping fitfully for the last three nights, and had been restless and sweaty all day. He couldn’t think of anything... Read more

The bluebird carries the sky on his back

May 11, 2015 By Gaurav Rastogi

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The bluebird carries the sky on his back”. What did he mean? Photo Credit (link) A small little creature, free and beautiful, blue above and brown below, and living between heaven and earth. Above it, the sky is open to infinite adventure; below, the solid earth offers nourishment and company. A wee, small bird it is, and yet it can explore the blue expanse above, descending ever so often to the brown earth to purchase a ticket for... Read more

Here’s to the Crazy Ones

May 9, 2015 By Gaurav Rastogi

Hope and dreams are the dollars and change of Silicon Valley. ‘Unicorns’ was the name derisively given to startup companies with a Billion Dollar valuation, because they are all too rare and mostly fictional, but not a day goes by these days before someone sights another Unicorn, and the sightings of ‘Deca’horns (companies with $10Bn+ valuation) now considered a common as the corner Starbucks. Mass produced miracles. (This note first appeared in print on India Currents). — In the Yoga system,... Read more