Friday 26 September 2014

BlogAdda Game of Blogs; Team ByLines: chapter 14

Team 'By Lines' - Chapter 13
Find the Previous Chapter Here


“And now, the Earth too is on the verge of being demolished,” said the familiar voice again. This time, his calmness met a subtle current of worry.

 The room, unlike the previous one where the kundalini meditation was taught, was fully lighted.
But the man was undoubtedly the same.  The yellow tinge from the green lights made the hall look cryptic. He addressed more than a hundred straight faces and slouchy bodies. With black suits covering every inch of their body in the greenish-yellow hued hall, their snow-white masked faces remained their only identity. The numerous black figures merged perfectly with the black seats and black walls of the hall. The man addressing them too wore a shiny black suit and was wearing a mask. His young, amateurish looks contradicted with his heavy voice. He stood in front of them on a raised surface which resembled a stage. He did not use a mike. He spoke gently, swiftly and yet the person sitting at the farthest corner could hear him perfectly.

“I think history is about to be repeated. It happened to Phaester Osiris, the planet we all came from. It is no more habitable. We had unjustly used our powers. The mob was going crazy that evening. I still have memories of that night. Everybody wanted to get on the ship to Earth. We destroyed each other through our powers. That chaos, those screaming voices, mothers calling out to their children, lovers being separated. I can still hear them sometimes. It had rained tears and blood that day,” He looked up and he shivered from the remembered pain.

“Master, we need you to be strong. We cannot afford to lose you. Those memories will only keep killing you,” said a voice from the audience.

The master took a deep breath. “When Phaester Osiris, our home, was destroyed, creatures from that hot and dusky planet made Earth their home. We molded ourselves to look like humans. Gradually, our population increased as we inter-bred with the humans who were almost like us. We forgot about Phaester Osiris”, he continued.

A hand from the crowd rose and the figure stood up from his seat. “From what I know, Phaester Osiris crumpled down to pieces. Each piece gave birth to another habitat,” he almost whispered.
“Right, chief. And those who were still living there, they all got separated. Started living on different pieces of Phaester Osiris. Never met each other again. Some of them even died due to the agony they suffered,” Said the master, “We cannot let the same happen again. Throughout the history of its development, humanity has travelled a long road. From the primitive and limited, it graduated to the discovery of innumerable laws of nature, of social life and the achievements of modern technology.”

“Those people were done with their powers. They had seen the adverse use of it and swore to never use it again. The involvement of man in building a powerful world to suit its physical needs has gradually faded the memories of our inner power. He has forgotten the origin of his being.” The master continued.

“But do we not have another way? To remind them of their powers is a great risk we are taking. They might as well use it adversely again.” The chiefs spoke again.

“They will destroy the Earth if we do not show them another way. They will keep on depleting the Earth, ” answered the master.

“I agree. And we could always teach them the right way of using the power. We have the power and but remember not to use it in the wrong way. Why? Because we know the effects. Because we have been awakened. We shall awake them the right way.” Spoke up another chief.

“The risk shall still remain. Not everyone of them will have the positive quality lingering for long. Other ordinary humans might influence them. Worsening conditions might have an effect on their positive side,” spoke another.

Deluged with new discoveries, man is in the process of destroying his home, the Earth. We have to help them. The risk will always be there. We can only sublimate it by strengthening the powers of the right souls. The master is the most powerful, he knows everything,” said the first chief.

“Silence everyone. I know what I’m doing, where I’m leading you. We haven’t gone wrong until now and we shall not in future too. You are my strength. Now you must have faith in me. The cognition of reality has to be stirred,” said the master, “Only when the human race realizes their true self, their powers, will they stop depleting their planet and put their knowledge to practical application.”

He closed his eyes and looked around. He raised his hands wide, parallel to the ground with clenched his fists. When he opened them, two shiny strays of blue coloured light arose from his palms. It kept rising until it grew around a metre long. Then the two blue rods started fading and sent a deep transparent sheet towards each other. The sheet had the entire map of the Earth drawn on it. The master then opened his eyes.

“This. This is the location of most of the hidden powers.” He pointed at a red line blinking on the map. “As they are in close affinity with each other, it will not be very difficult to awaken them. But we must be very careful while giving them the information about their past. Only positive sides need to be stirred, remember. Do not touch their negative powers. Once they re-awaken themselves, the negativity will automatically die.”

“Master, we need Clariota. We have you, the most powerful of all. Your powers will keep dying if you do not have the support of another powerful soul. And you know none of us can handle your strengths. Only Clariota can do that. You have to reach to her,” said a chief.

“I will. You are right. We all need her. Her people need her,” The master paused, “We shall meet again. Until then, you, the chiefs must keep up with your work. Get more members in our team. Choose them correctly. And remember, I have chosen you all for a reason. Believe in yourselves. Come on, let’s go back to our own countries again and carry on.”

“Let the blaze free, We shall honour our Master!” All the chiefs cried in unison.



“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

Find the next chapter here



Wednesday 24 September 2014

Blogadda Game of blogs- Team ByLines: Chapter 12


Find the previous part of the story here


Away from the swarm and the throng, from the mundane routines and the toxic carnal, there was a place hiding all the answers.  The clandestine was covered with lush green surroundings. To the eastward the main valley lay outspread. On the opposite side the land fell away in gullies into the sea. Small as the piece of land was, it had in it a quality of awakening majesty. The rich green thickets lying in the splendour of the westerning sun, added to the solemnity. The brick red wall hid everything from view, but ofcourse the people knew where they were. The place they had leased was a charming little brick house, with a neat flight of marble. Far edged steps lead up to its wide-arched door, leading to a dark room; the kind of darkness you experience before the enlightening.

The peaceful surroundings only contradicted the internal turmoil of the people as their inner wars were stirred. The high amount of energy suspended in the air could not be endured by a naive person. All looked still inside the room, only a figure moved, to and fro. It seemed to be demonstrating knowledge to the herd sitting on the floor, using simple hand gestures sometimes or enacting a process at other times- involving the entire body in it.

The nervous system is our detector system and monitors how we interface with the world”, said a familiar voice. The calmness of the tone could soothe all your conflicts and tumults, and yet arouse a different restlessness in you. “This is not any normal meditation technique. If your normal meditation is Toyota Corolla, then, Kundalini Meditation is your Aston Martin, on no gas tanks! It takes you on a ride of your life. Kundalini is the awakening of the charka, soul, mind and body. It is a pathway into a different world, as some call it dimension.”

The seated individuals had their entire body concentrated in grasping every word that the man uttered. They let those words penetrate in them, deeper with every breath.

“Take a deep breath. Ooooooommmmm. Feel it in your entire body. Yes. Now slowly release. Shhhaaaaannnntttiiiiiiiiii. Feel the venoms moving out through your nostrils with the air. Repeat.”

He took a long pause.

“As yogic tradition describes it, Kundalini awakening is complex physio-psycho-spiritual transformative process. We activate with the star circling the Kundalini energy and then meditate on the light within us.” He then brought his palms together in front of his chest and breathing again, slowly moved them upwards. The others followed.

“Don't force things. The Kundalini is a great power, which leads us to enlightenment. But it comes by grace. The purpose is to divert the sexual energy to the brain. This is the Secret of Life — plain and simple. Only by sublimating sexual energy, can one reach the very heights of illumination.”

Allow me to take you back in time. The true origins of Kundalini are severely misunderstood. Many people, especially Hindus say that it began with the sages around 5000-10,000 years ago. But where did these sages gather the knowledge of the true origin? The science of Kundalini Energy was in fact given to Hindu sages by the 'Manas', or better known as Annunaki and Pleiades, you know, the ones who come from the Heaven. The sages of such ancient time thought these beings were Gods, and it was God who gave them the blessing of such powers by touching their forehead. But they were no Gods. They were the ones who organized our DNA. They transformed us and our minds in the 3rd stage of humans. They made us who we are today. They protected us and guarded with their life for centuries. It is the arrogance of man, their culture and establishments which have failed to acknowledge them, shamelessly. Fulfilling my duty to present these ideas of the source which began the spiritual marathon on our planet, I am standing here in front of you.”

All the while that he spoke, he kept gesturing with his hands different positions of relaxing the mind and stirring the kundalini within. The others kept following.

“Now sit still and close your eyes. Put your right palm over your left everybody.” He turned on a soothing music which people recognized as a version of raag Bhopali. With the music on, he kept talking to them in between.

“Now the question is, how can one awaken his Kundalini? For some, we can talk about involuntary activation, like what happened to one of my disciples. These Kundalini experiences can happen anytime, anywhere, in any set of circumstances and cannot, therefore, be the result of a method. Because he was more in contact with his inner being than any of you have been in your entire life, the Kundalini within him would keep fighting to get awakened every now and then. It rushed up his spinal cord and hit the outer curve of his head hard. On reaching the middle of his head, he suddenly was one with the cosmos. He felt supreme bliss. Some hours after this experience, he was very restless, but things slowly began to calm down on their own.  The energy he experienced on those times was tremendous. He could punch a wall to pieces. Through the assistance of a guru, you can guide this inner energy in the right direction.”

“The touch of an awakened person or simply looking into his eyes can help rouse similar feelings in you. You will feel a certain familiarity looking in those eyes. But for completing the process, you must be willing to let the Kundalini awaken. Mind you, it can also lead to very disastrous results if you try to hold back for too long.”

His voice almost synced with the silent music in the background. The two together produced mystical feelings!

“The vision one gets in Kundalini meditation is simply a true manifestation of the unseen past or the unseen future. I cannot describe to you what the world of Kundalini looks like. You have to experience it on your own.” He continued.


Seeing that most people were already going to experience an initial stage of bliss via the meditation, he stopped the music abruptly. “You are not ready yet. You do not know how to control your powers hence you cannot receive them yet. When you learn to take control of your life, then and only then shall you be ready to learn the truth of origin. When that happens, you shall be ready to enter this other world.” Saying these words, he brought everybody back to their absolute senses. He couldn’t afford to let them penetrate any deeper into themselves. Kundalini meditation can prove to be as harmful as it can be fruitful.


This was now a normal routine for him. For him and for many other trainers around the world. Their hidden identity made it easier for them to control their powers and survive in the crowd. 

“They have all done too much harm to themselves, drifted too far from their originality. It is only going to get difficult by the day to awaken them. We have to find an alternative out.” He murmured to himself and rose to leave.

***

While secretly many such sessions were being held world-wide, Tara found solace under a cold water shower, absolutely unaware. 




Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com.
#CelebrateBlogging with us.

Find the next part of the story here- Chapter 13

Monday 15 September 2014

BlogAdda Game of Blogs- Team ByLines: Chapter 4


Team: By Lines


Find the previous part of the story here


Chapter 4

The resolutely crisp yet gloomy voice brought Tara back from her thoughts. Her lips curled upwards flashing an involuntarily bright smile. She brought her hands close to his and the moment they brushed together, she felt an electrifying shudder piercing through her palm and finally igniting her soul. Her mind felt lighter, somehow.

“Oh, Cy-Cyrus! Hi, welcome”, she barely managed to speak up. Cyrus smiled back, satisfied. Tara made way for him asking him to come inside. He picked up the two suitcases he had brought along and stepped in. Closing the door behind him, she turned around and guided him inside the house. She could not help but marvel at the way he walked swiftly and calmly at the same time.

“Shekhar, this is Cyrus. I texted you in the afternoon about a student from Delhi coming to live with us, remember?”

“Well, yes! Hello Cyrus, Shekhar here.” Shekhar walked towards him and the two shook hands. “I thought you were coming tomorrow. That’s what Tara had informed.” He tilted his neck to look at Tara, who stood hidden behind the tall and robust Cyrus.

“Yes, I was supposed to be here tomorrow morning, Mr. Dutta. But my morning flight got cancelled, so I just decided to surprise you with my presence early” he said with a smirk.
“I really hope I’m not disturbing any plans, though!” Cyrus answered for Tara. He had a certain pull in his voice, something that separated him in a crowd of hundreds, and even Shekhar could make out the resonance.

Roohi, who was busy solving her math problem, looked up from the notebook upon hearing his voice. She saw the innocent-face nestling under the mop of curly dark hair and instantly connected with it. She ran up to him and hugged his knees.

“Looks like somebody likes you already” Shekhar grinned and picked up Roohi in his arms. But he was still a little confounded by the unexpected connection his daughter had established with Cyrus.

“Hi! I’m Roohi, pleased to meet you. You could stay here forever, with us” Roohi stated in a breath. She sounded excited and her eyes twinkled pleasingly. The three of them burst into a hearty laughter.

“This is our daughter, Roohi. As you already know, she’s glad to have you with us and so are we. We were just about to settle down for dinner.  You might want to freshen up. We’ll be waiting till you are ready to accompany us at the table” Shekhar showed him the way to the restroom with Cyrus following him.

Five minutes later, the four were seated at the dinner table. Roohi sat beside Cyrus facing Shekhar. Cyrus offered a big box of Ferrero Rochers to Roohi. “You can have one chocolate right now and one after the dinner, every day. But only two a day, okay?”

“Okay” nodded Roohi, instantly. Tara noticed that the sage green T-shirt Cyrus wore had enhanced his whitish complexion. Fair, he was extremely fair. His lustrous skin and Roman nose completed his delicately sculptured face. But it wasn’t his looks which were appealing to Tara, it was the way he looked with his deep eyes, the way he threw positivity around himself gave him an edge above any eminent personality Tara could imagine. And she had seen many, WHICH was her job.

“So Cyrus, your professor told me you’re interning here in a law firm. Where is this firm?” Tara asked him.

“It’s near Churchgate. That is the reason I chose to stay with you guys, I’d hate to spend two crucial hours of the day travelling from one part of the city to another.” replied Cyrus, taking in a piece of fish. He looked at Tara with cold eyes in which were blended affection, mockery, pity and confidence. His sparkling black eyes had an intense depth in them, like they were asking Tara to find the lost pieces of an inevitable puzzle in them. She could feel a liberating aura surrounding her as she transfixed her eyes on his. She wanted him to look away. Just then, as if he heard her thoughts, he released her eyes from his’ and took another bite of the roti. Tara was mystified. She did not utter another word that evening and kept eating her food in silence.

“Which year are you in, Cyrus, in the law school? I’ve heard law students generally intern in every year of their course.” Shekhar asked Cyrus.

“Yes, most of us do. This is my fourth year. One more year to go before I graduate.” Cyrus said, raising one eyebrow.

“And which field of law are you interested in?”

“I’m basically interested in research work. I will be working with a team in USA soon, measuring the prospects of extraterrestrial laws throughout the world. It is only prevalent in the States at present, and astonishingly, people are not even aware of them. The fact rather amuses me.” Cyrus said, caressing his goatee scornfully. He caught Shekhar’s attention with his words and he looked at him with suspicion. “What do you do Mr. Dutta?” Cyrus continued, leaving no scope for Shekhar to ask a dozen questions that swirled in his head right then.

“Well, I’m a freelance writer, working on a dream project currently. And my beautiful wife Tara, is a media professional.”

“And you, miss Roohi?” Cyrus looked at Roohi curving his lips into a calculated smile.

“I study in std 4 in the Model International School. Tomorrow I have a Math test in school.”

“Well you must hurry to bed then. You’d need to wake up feeling fresh and revived.” suggested Cyrus.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve finished dinner. My second chocolate for today please?” Roohi stretched her hand out in front of Cyrus and raised both her eyebrows. Cyrus smiled and handed her another chocolate. “Thank you. You’re a nice guy and I like you. Cyrus, do you want to sleep in my room tonight?” She asked Cyrus, and then looked at Tara for her approval. “Mommy I promise I’ll not talk and let him sleep.”

“Why will I ever mind sleeping in the princess’ room? Come on, let’s get you to bed little Einstein.” She began to giggle and ran ahead of him. The three others rose from the table and Tara began clearing the plates. “I hope she doesn’t disturb your very the first night here. Good night Cyrus. Call me if you need anything at night.” Tara looked at him for the last time that evening, and marched towards the kitchen with the soiled plates.

“Good night young boy. And welcome to the family!” Shekhar patted Cyrus on the back.

“Thank you so much. I’m most humbled. You guys are so warm and inviting. Good night!” replied Cyrus and turned to leave in the direction Roohi had ran into. After two steps, he turned back to look at Shekhar, “Mr. Dutta, what is the project you’re working on. You didn’t mention that at the table.”

Shekhar looked at Cyrus, words failing him. He did not how to answer that question. “Just a book, you know”, he hoped there wouldn’t be any further questions.

Cyrus guessed the hesitation in his voice. Not wanting to probe any further, he simply wished Shekhar luck and made his way to Roohi's room.



Shekhar wanted to begin with his work immediately but decided to march into the kitchen first. Tara was doing the dishes as he walked towards her without allowing his footsteps to suggest his arrival. He wrapped his arms around Tara from behind leaving Tara surprised.

“What are you doing Shekhar, we have a guest in our house”, she said smiling sheepishly.
“Why should that stop me from cuddling my beautiful wife?” He planted a gentle kiss on the back of her neck.
She squirmed in his arms. She turned towards him closing the tap. “What are you up to Mr. Dutta?” she asked tentatively while putting her arms around his neck. “Are you trying to skip your work for tonight?”
“A man should never leave his work for the worldly charms that might deviate him from his righteous path”, he quoted from one of his own work and kissed his wife on the forehead.
She felt complete at that moment.

They did the dishes together and Shekhar walked Tara to their room. He tucked her in the bed and wished her goodnight kissing her cheek. 

***

Just as Shekhar reached his typewriter that night, his phone rang. There was a message from Jennifer. She better have some good news tonight. He went on to open that message, finding a photo that Jennifer sent him. His eyes popped out when he saw the photo on his screen. It left him stunned.

He rushed through the part he had written the previous night and went on to write today’s, carefully choosing each word he entered. He had to do justice to the information provided by Jennifer.  He decided to sleep in the same room that night. I’ll explain it to Tara tomorrowHecouldn’t let anyone, or anything, destroy his piece today. He must keep writing; keep his ultimate goal in mind. He would create a ruckus in the world after releasing this book. He was writing something legendary, he should do all he can to protect it….

Soon,Shekhar dozed off in the same room, hoping he would be able to protect what he had written from turning to ashes again. But he was unaware of the power he was dealing with.



Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com.
#CelebrateBlogging with us.

Read the next chapter here

Sunday 7 September 2014

Book review- The Seller of Beliefs by Trishala D. Shah



"Seller of beliefs", the title had my eyes turn back to the book. I judged the book by it's cover and philosophy being my area of keen interest, I had to read it.

Summary

The entire book states the happenings of one single day. It's a short 112 pages' book about how a bubbly, talkitive girl living a superficial life, like more people today do than not, finds the path to her inner self. The girl is forced by her parents to attend a course she's not enthusiastic is the least about. The second day of the two day course requires the students to attend a fair, where they're each given a guide. Througout the day, using various metaphors, the girl realises different aspects of a happy life. The course infact helps her (and the reader) to penetrate a layer deeper in her own self. When the day ends, marking the end of the course as well, she experiences the sense of a richer self, and ofcourse, the true identity of her teacher and the guide.

Review- 

According to one class of division, there are three kinds of books- one in which you are not quite getting a hang of the plot but the author's descriptions keep you hooked to the book; the second where the author's descriptions do not go well with you but you are enthralled by the plot; and a third where along with a great plot, the rich language has you drooling over the book. This book would fall in the second category.

I really like some of the ideas of rides in the fair that develop out of the author's imagination, for example 'the mirror of gospel truth' which makes the girl wonder what her real purpose in life is, or the 'sale tent'. But there are some other chapters which I wish the author had put more effort into creating a better idea than only penning down what first crossed her mind. The brilliant idea of the story that the author has come up with, could end up making a brilliant read too if she had used better explanations and not catered to amateur readers. Use of words like 'dumbo' and 'smarty' were a turn off for me, but then probably the author has not targeted an audience like me.

I liked the ending parts of the book more than the initial stages. As you read further in the book, you will realise the growth of the author's writing. But again, which part of the book you like (or even the entire book) will more naturally depend on what your weak point in life is. Having an inclination towards debates on the existence of God and universe and love and practice, I will give the latter part of the book a better rating. I seconded the guide's perception for who God was and I fell in love with Trishala's thoughts, how she used Shahrukh Khan as an illustrator to explain the principle of God being in everyone. Formidable!

However, I do believe another thorough and careful editing of the book could have polished it for the readers. This one gave a rather raw impression, which did need some finishing. There were, if you read closely, some instances where the author self contradicts to suit the situation and aid stereotypes. I found this more prominent in dealing with the character of the girl.

The book, as a whole, was more of the author's realisations of life, I gather, some of which she was absolutely successful in passing on to me. She was the seller of her beliefs and I did buy some on my way. The reason why I did not buy some other beliefs is because I either had my own strong conceptions of those beliefs which the author failed to break or because the others were far too clichéd for me. I say that having read a lot of life's philosophies. You could have some very different views, specially if this is the first philosophical fiction you'll be reading. In that case, the story might stay with you for some time and you may connect to your inner self whike reading it.

Philosophical fictions always make atleast one aspect of life clearer to you. This book, profused my belief in what the author prefers to call a 'stark raving madness', ie, " situations where mind and logic are not applied, where you take leave of all your senses- they go on to yield the beay moments of laughter. But you ought to drive out your fear of people. You ought to let innocence, openness and self-consciousness take over you", to quote the author.

I will not recommend the book to someone who reads a lot of philosophical fiction. But anyone who wishes to venture out in this genre must read the book once. It will help you to know yourself better. You see an author in the making and I will definitely pick up more titles by the author when they come out, for she did manage to prick my skin, if not pierce through it.

More than liking the book, I have liked author for the person she is, that is reflected from her ideas and imaginations put into the book, in a way that I'd enjoy a meet with her over a cup of coffee for a personal exchange of philosophies and learnings. (Trishala, take note! )

Find the facebook page of the book here-
https://www.facebook.com/TrishalaDShah