कविता - "कहाँ हो कृष्ण"

कमल सों पुलकित तुम्हरे नैना,

मन को इन नैनं में चैना।

मुरली से जब स्वर रस निकले,

कृष्णं-वन्दम सृष्टि करे तब।

जग-जग माटी, पग-पग पाथर,

कैसे निकलूं चक्र से बाहर?

जो तुम अपनी दृष्टि बिखेरो,

द्वार खुलें सब, जागे ये मन।

धर्म से कर्म के पुल हैं गिरधर,

मानस पे अंकित मुरलीधर।

प्रेम से तत्व का ज्ञान दिलाते,

कृष्ण सभी को राह दिखाते।

युग-युग आकर, कण-कण छूकर,

कृष कर दो मन के सब अंतर।

सब रंग तुमसे, सब रस तुमसे,

स्वयं से निर्मल, तुम्हीं हो भगवन।

कहाँ हो कृष्ण, कहाँ हो गिरधर ?

Rant-ology (Chapter 2: Root or Route? )

Big Bang Theory. 
A widely accepted scientific theory about the age of Universe and its being. I don't want to delve into the nitty-gritty of it. I assume most of us have a common knowledge of this idea and anyways I am not an expert on it by any means. Basically, the bang refers to an explosion from a very hot dense state into the known universe today. It is still expanding. Galaxies are moving farther away from each other - they used to be closer - may be in a cluster near the beginning. Much like human families in the beginning.
What are my roots? Or should I ask what was my route? Or which one matters the most? The root I belong to or the route I took? My grandfather wrote a book. It was a compilation of family tree records of the clan I belong to. He may be back tracked the family tree 200 years - may be 300 - I can't be sure. He couldn't find any specific information past a certain point which directly relates to my caste. I wonder if he would have  been able to go past that point - where would it lead him to? Also, at the same time if someone else was doing the same thing somewhere else - backtracking the family history - if he or she would go past a certain point - would they coincide with my grandfather's search somewhere? Like the picture shown above? That means - at some point - both the individuals are searching for a common ancestor - a humanoid. Its not that simple however. You see,  we just ignore this scale of time and just live in our little bubble of existence and the history of our making. We are unable to extend our vision further to that point, where no concoction of our own musings about ourselves mattered. Whatever roots I belong to does not change the fact that I am human and my species came into existence some 2.3 million years ago in the form of a homo habilis.
I've heard this statement many times - "go back to your roots" - which suggests that I must know where I have come from. I respect that - but how far should I go back? Technically, my quest towards my roots will matter only until the point it is related to my current age, belief system, rituals and family ties. Any further beyond that point is a moot point. Is that a fair quest though? What is the need of such a quest which just re-confirms my present? The only real need is to tell the story of the route my family took. The question shouldn't be, "from where?" - it should be: "through where?". The route is the interesting point and we should keep on telling that story. Incidentally, the most interesting part of my grandfather's book was towards the end - past all the various family trees - where he laid out the different rituals, remedies, festivals and other stories about our caste. Those stories gives us an idea of the changes we have gone through in past ages. It tells us what our belief system used to be and how much of that is still applicable or obsolete. Based upon that we can somewhat determine what we will be in the future - by using the information of the route we took and our reactions and behavior towards it.

Bird's View: Universe is expanding - its reaching newer distances and finding newer realities. It never looks back - just keeps on going forward - in a quest of something new. New - which is present - and real.

Rant-ology (Chapter 1 - Universe)

This is Jupiter. The biggest planet of our solar system. I remember this image of Jupiter since my childhood. I remember the big red dot of Jupiter. My new-found love of astronomy has led me to the knowledge that the red dot showing on Jupiter is a storm that has been brewing since 300 years now. Now, I don't know how  300 years feel like. I don't even know how a 100 or even 50 years feel like. I will shortly experience 30 years though.

However, this gives me some perspective about time and its scale. For me, my childhood feels like millions of years ago and my youth slipping from my fingers - this is how I perceive time. This does not change the fact about Jupiter and its eternal storm. I am nothing but a split second when marked on Jupiter's scale of time, although, I still have time - may be another split second on Jupiter's scale. While Jupiter laughs at my puny existence - there are much bigger beasts in the visible universe which belittle its own scale of time and size. There are bigger and much humongous events taking place in this Universe while we cry, laugh, fight and enjoy our split seconds - and worse - don't live them completely.

One of the nearest galaxy to our Milky way is Andromeda. It is approximately 2.5 million light years away from our galaxy. A light year being the distance traveled by light in a year. Light whose speed is 186, 000 miles per second. The farthest I have been away from my home is Canada - where I live right now, which is a mere distance of 6924 miles. I feel light years away from home-on my scale of distance. People get home sick very easily and very quickly. What is the definition of home though? Is it my country? My province? My city? My colony or my actual home of brick and mortar? Or is it this planet? Or the solar system? Or our galaxy? In my remaining life - or the split second that I am living - even if by some miracle I happen to become an astronaut - I am pretty sure I won't be able to go to Mars. My scale of time won't allow it because it lacks in size when compared to the scale of time of human advancements in astronomy and inter planetary travel. I will die for sure before we are able to send a human to another planet. At the least I will be very old - old enough to fancy that kind of travel. However, it will be a shame if by the end of my existence, I am not able to travel the planet I live in.

Bird's view: Anything that we do and achieve - or we are not able to do or achieve is not worth losing the perspective. The perspective that gives us a better understanding of reality and control over action. It lets us have the rendezvous with truth. 

Truth - the ultimate god.

Project "Pant Chronicles"

Barber's Shop next to a French Restaurant 


As I opened the door with the sign of 'Him' - the wind chimes ringed and alarmed the barber that a customer has arrived. It was a neat and clean premise with a subtle European feel to it. A man dressed in white chef like dress greeted me and offered the chair. As I sat down, he quickly tied a white string of napkin around my neck and then the cover (or whatever they call it). While he was analyzing the length of my hair, I asked him if he takes Debit or Credit cards. He politely said, 'only cash sir', adding that Credit Card machines are expensive for his small business. I have almost lost the touch with Cash money since I have arrived in Canada, almost everywhere you can use plastic money. I excused myself due to the lack of Cash and took his directions on where the nearest ATM was. It was down the road at the port place mall, he said he will be open till 4 and I am more than welcome to visit again.


Erwin, the barber, had an accent which I almost thought with most certainty, belonged to Russia. At one point  I was almost certain that his name will be Andre or Ivan. However, to my surprise, he was born in Canada and raised in north America, Mexico and Australia. He had the most interesting stories to tell. His father migrated from Austria during world war II. Erwin told me that his father saved many Jews during that time. His father also wrote a book about that period which was quite a tome as per his hand suggestion, nobody published that, probably because most of it was naked truth. His parent's ran a business of antiques on the very border of U.S.A and Mexico. When his mother was about to give birth to Erwin, his father had her fly to Canada. After his birth, they were both back in U.S. Erwin lost his mother when he was only 2 year's old in a Car accident. While he started snipping my hair off my head slowly, he told me that he has been a chef for most of his life and he also did plumbing for good 6 years. I was petrified all of a sudden as my immediate thought was : is my neck under the scissor of a jack of all trades? He told me that he has lived most of his life in California and also how he despised the money mongering drive of that place. When he was a few years old, his father visited Mexico after the death of his mother  - there he encountered a  nice lady who instantly fell in love with his father and Erwin. They got married and Erwin spent 15 years of his childhood in Mexico - his father and foster mother still live there.  Erwin himself pointed out that most people get boggled by the sound of his accent, but he said that his accent is a mix of all the accents he heard during his lifetime with a base tone of Spanish. So, his accent is from nowhere or from everywhere. 
After getting fed up with the competitive life of California, Erwin came to Canada - fell in love with Vancouver  Island and especially with Nanaimo. He stayed at Dorchester hotel for a week and then applied for a job in Wendy's. While he was working as a chef at Wendy's, he got another job with a Call center. Everything was going fine, until his boss promoted someone else to the post which was promised to Erwin. He left the call center job and started looking for another engagement. Meanwhile, during the call center job, he found a perfect lady for himself and got married. Till now, I was getting an idea that this man is a multipurpose tool or an all-rounder to be precise. He exceeded my expectations when he told me that as VIU is the only college in Canada which has a hairdressing course, he enrolled in it because he felt that a barber's job is honest and balanced. He did his course from there and then opened this barber's shop in downtown (I was relieved as now I knew that my head is in a trained and certified hand). I couldn't believe how somebody can make a transition from being a plumber to a chef to a call center rep to finally being a barber. There is no relation and no logical sequence in this chain of professions, yet somehow he was good in each one of them if not prodigious. Life can be so random sometime - and I thought that I am the only weird guy who made a transition from being a musician to being an MBA. In fact, the chain of my profession have a link - management - as a band we always lacked of a good manager and while studying MBA I learned so many things which I could have applied into our profession.


Recently Erwin's wife met with an accident and in the process they lost their only Car, wife was safe. Now Erwin is teaching his wife - how to ride a bus, how to understand the bus schedule - and if he can make it - his wife might use the insurance money to go to a cruise instead of buying another car - which he never drives anyways - he takes a bus.


I got a decent haircut, paid him $15.00 and promised him that I will be back for another haircut and some more stories.


Sometimes, a simple small talk by a barber takes the shape of a panoramic view of a life time of experiences which gives us knowledge about finding balance - following your true calling - and accepting life as a random turn of events in which you can play your role by giving your best  to it instead of competing it for worldly possessions. 


Cheers everybody....will come back with some more.
Thanks for reading.
Adios!

Project "Pant Chronicles"

Hi there...
again....after a long time....I got time and motivation to write something on my blog.
The fact is....my life is not very happening...or....I don't see it as happening...that is why I don't have stories to tell on a regular basis.
But believe me...I don't stop....I never stop in reinventing my self...I come back...and I will keep coming back no matter how many times I have a loss of stories.

Today, however, I have few things to say.
Life is good....I am working...learning new stuff...continuously interacting with new people and experiencing a lot.
Some other things are secretly cooking in my life which would be too early to reveal...but there is  a successful progress going on.

I once posted a status message on Facebook :

I hate the fact that I was born in the rubbish era of 80's.... If only it

was possible to go back and re-born in 50's, 60's or early 70's...I 

want to scream while looking at Beatles...I wanna sway in the tunes 

of Simon and Garfunkel...and wanna cry when Peter, Paul and Mary 

sing "...a dragon lives forever, but not so little boys"....and feel 

elated when Pundit Ravi Shankar plays in the Monterey Pop 

festival...

September 30, 2010 at 8:14am

It is very very true that those 3 decades were the most beautiful decades last century has seen. I absolutely adore movies from that era or movies about that era. I mean...what can ever match movie Dr. Zhivago's cinematography....Lara's Theme....Yesterday...the song by Beatles...beautiful vintage cars...cobbled streets of Europe...Manna Dey...Kishore Kumar...Mhd. Rafi...Wednesday Morning 3 A.M by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel...I mean I can keep on counting...

I got so fascinated by Simon & Garfunkel once in 2005 that I thought of making a pencil sketch of them (which is my childhood hobby...I rarely exercise it)......so....I went ahead and made it:

Copyright: Vibhor Pant

I mean to say....there are so many wonderful things about that era...related to art...music...poetry..cinema.. people...events....that I can keep on discussing which makes me utterly blissful!

When I was playing with Talaash in India...we used to sing many old songs...we were totally in love with that era's music. Frankly speaking...without being rude....people who don't understand these classics or the beauty of it...are tone deaf... color blind...gastronomically challenged....and don't have a taste...I will be honest here.

At that point of time...the universe was somehow making people do totally phenomenal work in their fields...and there is a spiritual similarity found in lots of masterpieces.. in very subtle aspects...the way V Shantaram highlighted his eyes in Do aankhein baarah haath...is very similar to Omar Sharif's highlighted eyes in Dr. Zhivago...There is a poetic similarity in 'I started a Joke..' by Bee gees and 'Fool on the hill' by Paul McCartney...etc.

The work that was produced in that era had a longevity in it that can't be matched...and it certainly doesn't mean that people are not producing good work today or were not producing good work in 80's and 90's..but it is and was seldom and rare. I can never stop praising Vishal Bhardwaj for what he has done in Indian Cinema...his movies induce honesty in storytelling. I can safely say that Indian Cinema is truly turning into a new leaf in the decade of 2011.

But, it will take a fortunate mix of people, atmosphere, world events and sensibilities in creating the magic of 50's, 60's and 70's again.

In the end, Japan is facing a great tragedy. Please do what you can and pray for people over there...that piece of land has been hit by too many calamities despite of the high level of progression it has seen. May god bless all the souls who lost their lives in the wake of this Godzillian earthquake.

Finally, I will rest my case here me-lord....yes..I truly believe that I was born in the worst decade ever..that was 80's...but I thank god that he gave me an eye to appreciate the glorious time I missed by a decade!

Cheers people....if anyone is reading this!

Peace.

Project : "Pant Chronicles"

Long time since my last blog...
thats how life keeps you busy sometimes...
A lot happened during the break-from-blog (i know nobody is reading it so it doesn't matter)..
However, I got hired by a very good telecommunications company...which is good.
I am definitely happy...because of a lot of good things happening...
My eating schedule is right on time...(with some ups and downs here and there)...
My tooth aches badly...I will go to the Dr. very soon.. ;-)
and yes...I got a 3 years long work permit!!! Yay!! big tension solved...and congrats to all my friends who got the same...(others must not get disheartened...god has funny ways)
I had a very good time working at Best Buy...learned a lot of good things (apart from the fact that Canada's cellular industry is ripping people over here).
I am starting a completely new tenure at Shaw from 25th Jan, 2011....and I'm excited about it.
Today I completely updated my finance records..(which was a pain too). Funny thing...as soon as you start saving ...there is this overwhelming feeling of counting your pebbles...again...and again...and again....human nature I guess.

There is no point in trying to satisfy everybody....because in the end there will be someone...trying to dilute your small wins...by calling them 'small'. I like winning in small proportions...it keeps me balanced...and somehow helps in appreciating and being thankful about whatever I have achieved. I believe that success is the only difference between action and inaction...and humility is the element which is instrumental in maintaining the action-induced success.
This year is going to be very important for me....there is a lot to do.
I don't worry about the results...or failures...I only hope and pray...that every time I fail...I am able to stand back again.....and that is what matters in the end.

Peace.

Project : "Pant Chronicles"

Days 4, 5 & 6

I am writing this post combining 3 days at once. This is because...not much happened in these 3 days. However, few important things happened.
Let me start with the 4th day, the day after my important interview. Nothing special happened on this day, except I was at my friends' place for the whole day as I always do whenever I am free and they are too kind to have me all the time. In the evening, the meeting with the trainer went well (that reminds me that I need to reschedule my next meeting with him). I also refilled my grocery stock with some important items.

The 5th day was a bit tiring and stress-full. I was at my present job and the first bad-day at job happened. I learned and revised some important things. Training is an important aspect of HR....and HR is 'the' most important aspect of any business. I have read that...but now I am experiencing that. Lack of training at your job can end up in serious displeasure with your self. It is not a conducive state for a better performance. Let's say the 'self-confidence' is the first bicycle in the queue of bicycles, a single kick onto that can result in the fall of the whole stack. Training insures that the first bicycle can take all the kicks and still stays upright. In the end Rajma Chawal (Kidney beans with rice) came to my rescue. Felt good after cooking it.

The 6th day, today, brings me to a very simple yet great realization. We all talk about God, some from a believer's perspective, some non-believers and some from agnostic's. In the end it seems difficult to agree upon a single perspective. For believers, God is always a tool...a savior against all their difficulties. I don't know about non-believers and agnostics but I am sure that if we isolate God from all the surrounding beliefs around him created by man, for example religion....he cannot be too bad for non-believers and agnostics too.
Let's just say...God is a great idea....all the beautiful and great things in life created by man started with an idea. A great invention, a beautiful piece of art...a splendid movie...they all live in the form of an idea before they take the shape of reality. May be God is not a reality for everybody, but he surely can be a great idea for anyone, with a possibility of blooming into reality with time.
And the most beautiful thing is.....your reality will be unique...may be in the form of success...may be love...may be peace.....but unique from others!

Cheers!