PARINAAMA

        One day an Alien came to Earth Expecting to find it full of joy & mirth But the scene that met its eyes Was worse than the shrill screeching of mice Everywhere it saw, men And women were fighting As to which one was greater Neither giving any logical evidence for citing Man said " I'm the greater one For I'm physically strong" Woman said " I'm the one who bears babies And therefore you are wrong" Man said  "I'm more courageous And that's a point for reckoning" Woman said " I'm your better half Without me you're nothing" Man said " I can do many things That you can never imagine to do" Woman said " I can too And hence, the same back at you" At this the alien wondered aloud "What's happening in this planet?! This is different from what my mom said In a childhood sonnet!" "I was told in school too That Earth was inhabited by humans Never did I know that there existed Two ...

As I type this article, the calendar shows today’s date to be the 30th of December…..of 2020. I sit still, in contemplation, thinking how this year has dragged on and has yet flown by so quickly, just like a normal year usually does.  But we know very well that this year was not normal for us. Dalgona Coffee, Banana Bread, Only Netflix and No Chill, Isolation, Quarantine, Shelter-From-Home, Lockdown, Last-time-This-Year-Travel posts and so many other unimaginable things became the cliché for 2020, the year which was the scapegoat that accepted (without a choice), the entire blame for ruining literally everything for almost everyone. Lost your job? Blame 2020 Lost your dog? Blame 2020 Lost your mind? Blame 2020 Lost your keys? Blame 2020  (just kidding - blame someone else who you expected to remind you to keep your keys safe) And I definitely agree that, jokes apart, this year has taken a toll on all of us, in a very dark, dreary way. Uncertainty being a new feeling, makes our...

He was born with a mirror held in his hand peeping inside it he saw the most beautiful baby in the land The baby was cared for by a widower a man lacking joy a heart filled with sorrow eyes yearning to cry The man was scared to view his image To see his own face in his mirror for he had been molded into a mirage of should's, should-nots, fears & shivers This man saw the baby everyday enjoying its face in its mirror laughing and smiling curiously admiring  its own pretty reflection A yearning so deep to be like the happy baby stirred the man into a fit the yearning turned to anger anger to hatred because to him, this felt unfair He tore the mirror from its hands smashing it onto the floor bits and pieces flew away alas, it couldn't be restored the baby was shocked the baby squirmed the baby began to cry wailing and wallowing in a language inexpressible begging to see itself one last time the man felt scared at the baby's wails and wanted to suppress it soon So he showed ...

Wow its been a month (almost) from the last time I posted...!  I humbly apologize for my inconsistency in posting articles. Jumping into today's article, I'm here to share my experience with Mantra Meditation, which is so much more simpler than it sounds. for representational purposes only The basics, to my knowledge, is that one chooses a mantra/affirmation/prayer/verse that they believe strongly in (or are trying to believe in) and meditate on that by simply focusing all their energy in the process of chanting. The beauty is, this method is so simple and easy, requiring very little effort and can even be done purely by listening  to the chanting (though actually chanting it gives a much better feel). Now this chanting can be done by oneself or in a sangha (a community) and I highly recommend community chanting because: 1) It gives you motivation to repeat the process and make it an integral part of your routine 2) It gives you a sense of accountability because you feel obl...

Being a self proclaimed spiritual enthusiast, it didn’t take me much time to delve into the world of meditation. And by delve, I mean going through various articles, how to’s and videos where people described what meditation meant to them, the various methods of meditation, the miracles they had experienced after a mere day of meditation, its overall health benefits and of course the overall increase in focus and mental clarity, etc. Notice I didn’t tell you anything about me practicing a full on actual meditation?  Well that’s because I didn’t, at that time at least. To me, meditation was the most uncomfortable thing anyone could ask me to do (literally) It meant I had to silence the distractions I loved, ignore the distractions I hated and basically focus on something as boring as my breath or worse, a mantra in sanskrit, whose meaning I had no idea about and felt no form of devotion to.  I couldn’t day dream of what an amazing meditation expert I would soon become (or even ...