Obsession! To Lie?

A colleague of mine resigned from the job and the reason she gave was that she was pregnant and her husband was moving to US so she would be going to her in laws place to make sure she is well taken care of. We would have believed her only if we had not known how much she liked lying. And to add on to that she booked tickets for herself and her husband for Dubai after a couple of days of giving that reason to all of us. The trip was supposed to happen after 2 months. Huh!

Obsession is a compulsive disorder which makes us to do something repetitively. I have seen people obsessed with checking time in their watches, washing hands, checking for messages on their phones or mail boxes. I am myself obsessed with cleaning. If I see dirt somewhere in my house, I won't relax until I clean that. But, can someone be obsessed with telling a lie? My observation says YES.

Now, this colleague of mine went to Dubai, had a nice time there and uploaded her pictures on facebook (the culprit :D ) and some of us saw those pictures. Not all can remain silent after catching a funny lie like this so another colleague of mine asked her why her husband has not gone to US and why she is still not looking like a mom-to-be (She meant the absence of swollen belly :D ). People with weak lungs please don't read further as your lungs might get exhausted due to continuous laugh.

Now this dear colleague of ours said that she had a miscarriage and so she was very upset. To bring her out of that depression, her husband planned a trip to Dubai and so they went there!!! Oh my god! We wanted to tell her - we would have believed you my friend only if you would have not booked those tickets to Dubai in front of us!!!!  May be she already knew she would have a miscarriage! :P

Now, if we look at these incidents, we will realize that there was no need to lie. All of us change jobs and we are not answerable to anyone for it, so why give lame excuses? But she did! And the only reason I can find for it is the OBSESSION to lie. 

This is just one of the several incidents I have come across with her and many others. People lie even if there is no need to do so and what they don't realize is that; one day or the other, they would be caught! Even if they don't come to know of it.

My Experience at The Art of Living International Center

I went for a YES+ course in Art of Living Ashram, Bangalore, India in August 2013. It was a 3 days course where in participants were supposed to stay in the ashram and do the course. It was fun and a good experience but it had its own loop holes as well. Its difficult to describe it in just "Good" or "Bad". Hence, I am sharing my experience here with as much details as possible.

I am a 29 year old who is living a content life. I have everything which one needs to live a comfortable life. I am an owner of high self esteem. Like anyone else on this earth, I have my share of problems but I am doing just fine.

Now, one of my friends who is a big fan of Shri Shri Ravi Shankar and has been with Art of Living since last few years suggested that I too take their course. Initially I was reluctant but when I heard about the benefits of it from my friend, I thought I might be interested. I searched about it on internet and read experiences of people who had taken their courses. The reviews were amazing! By reading them, I concluded that people changed their lives by this course. But I didn't have much to complain in my life. I wasn't looking for any change as such. So why should I be doing this course?

Now, my friend suggested me to take up the YES+ course which is meant for people of 18-30 years. It was meant to be a course for stress management, better performance, better concentration, more energy and much more. After giving it a thought for a few days, I decided to give it a go and enrolled for the course in the ashram. After hearing and reading so many things about it, I was super excited about it and was looking forward to it with lots of expectations.

Finally, the big day arrived and I reached the ashram at around 7:00 PM on Thursday as we were supposed to report a day before the course began. I submitted my registration slip, took my id/course card and left for my hostel from the reception. It was a bit scary in the night as it was too dark. The ashram was huge with several buildings and lots of greenery. It had its own peace and aura. It was good to stay there for a couple of days. The hostel was okay and the rooms were comfortable enough. It was a four seater room with attached bathroom. I had 3 great room mates who proved to be very nice companions for the rest of my stay there.

Aparna Hall for girls' stay in Ashram

After changing, we went for dinner in the kitchen. I was asked to serve food and I started serving rice. I served around 200-300 people and it was a really nice feeling. I thought the course has started with a good thing so may be it was a good omen :) .  After serving, I had my dinner. Food served in ashram is satvik without any spices, oil and all. It was a good break from all the junk food in those three days. We went to the room after dinner and as usual the girl-gossiping started and continued till 1 in the night. Next day we were supposed to report at 9:30 AM at the designated place for the session. Just like me, rest of my room mates were also very curious about what we were going to experience the next day. They were also asked by their friends to attend this course and had come on their insistence and had no idea about the content of the course. I don't know why followers of art of living never give any details of the courses and this is something which was mysterious. What was there in this course after all that no one was able to explain it!! With this thought, we forced ourselves to sleep.

Next morning, we had breakfast and reached the Krishna hall for the session. By now, our anxiety was at its peek. Finally the curtain was about to be raised! Two very sweet looking ladies were supposed to be our teachers for this course. The course started and so did my disappointment. We just did some introductory activities and were asked to go to the Vishalakshi Mantap as some pooja was being held there in guruji's (Shir Shri Ravi Shankar) presence. I thought, may be now I will feel something magical in his presence. We went for the pooja, took our seats and I was amazed to see the crowd there. It was huge.

Devi Pooja at Ashram

I saw people so engrossed in the pooja that I felt I was not normal. Why was I not feeling anything when other people were so involved in it! I tried to involve myself but I just could not and finally, I gave up. I waited for it to get over and went to have lunch. Over lunch, we discussed this and it was not only me who was feeling disappointed with the proceedings till now. There were more people who had come with different expectations and were now feeling lost. Finally we thought that only half a day has passed and the real thing is yet to come.

After lunch we went to the Krishna hall again. We again had some activities which taught us that we should not waste time, we should utilize it properly, we should maintain good relations with parents and friends and all. But I already knew this. Was there someone who didn't already know this!! Finally the day was over and we were asked to go and attend the satsang. And we thought, yes, now we will know why we have come here! Satsang was supposed to happen in Vishalakshi Mantap. It looked beautiful when we reached there and it looked even more beautiful when we left it.

Vishalakshi Mantap 

Vishalakshi Mantap at Night

During the satsang

The satsang started, some melodious, religious songs were played and then gururji answered a few questions asked to him. It got over with nothing extra ordinary for us. We went to have the dinner and got back to our rooms. I called up my friend who had suggested me to do this course and told her about my disappointment. She told me that the course has just started and there were two more days for many more things to happen.  I felt relieved and again me and my room mates consoled ourselves that it was still not over and started looking forward to the next day.

Next day wasn't much different. We started at 6:30 AM with some warm up exercises and yoga which was refreshing. Then we did some activities which again taught us something I already knew like we should not procrastinate things, we should cheer people even when they fail, we should do team work, we should not eat non veg food and all.

One thing which I had never done and knew was Sudarshan Kriya. This was something which I really learnt from this course. It looked like a combination of meditation and breathing technique. It was a good experience doing it and I felt refreshed after it. May be because I actually meditated or may be because I slept while doing it . We had hardly slept in the last two nights because of the gossiping of course, so many of us made use of this opportunity to get rid of our sleep-deprived status.

We did Sudarshan Kriya three times in those three days and it was really good. It has lots of health benefits when practiced continuously. This is something I plan to do regularly. Apart from this we did some more yoga and some more activities at the last day.

Our meeting with Guruji was planned twice but got cancelled due to some inevitable reasons. Finally our batch met him on the last day in the evening around 8:00 PM. I could not meet him as I had to leave the ashram at 6:00 PM.

The three days spent in the ashram were relaxing, comfortable, refreshing and fun. I made a lot of friends and had a really great time. Even now, I feel like going back to ashram to spend a few days to enjoy the peace there. We enjoyed the activities we did and the time we spent there. But if you are going with the expectation to learn something you never knew, then you would be disappointed.  But again, it also depends on the person. There were few people who were really disappointed and many who were delighted for different reasons. People who learn things when they are explicitly told about it, would find it beneficial.

I am aware that there are many Art of Living followers out there and I do not intend to hurt anyone's sentiments. This is my personal experience and opinion and you have the right to have a conflict with me :)

Shailendra Singh

I am a proud sister and love to flaunt my brother's achievements. Here are a few :D

Indian Express published : http://newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/article1449888.ece

Another article was published in Dainik Jagran. The link is here:  http://epaper.jagran.com/epaper/10-feb-2013-86-Buxer-Page-9.html

Our Love Towards Stress

From what I have observed in the last few years, I have come to the conclusion that Homo Sapiens(human beings) have a tendency to stress themselves no matter what they have. Let’s have a look at some of the most common reasons we like to stress ourselves about:


• We are stressed because we don’t have a learning job. If it is a learning one we don’t have an envious salary. If we have an envious salary the workplace is too far away. If it is not far away then the work timings are not good. And if, by the grace of god, none of these conditions are applicable in one’s case then the job is too boring. Huh!!

• We are stressed because we are obese and not losing weight. If we are not obese then we are too thin. If we are not thin too then we don’t have an envious body. And if this wasn’t enough we stress ourselves about the fairness cream not doing wonders on our skin, the latest hair fall treatment shampoo not working for our hair and the footwear is not matching the attire. Gosh!

• We are stressed because we couldn’t pass the exam. If we passed, we are stressed because we didn’t score first division. If we scored first division, we are stressed because we didn’t get 80% and if we get 80%, we are still stressed because we didn’t stood first in the class. Can you imagine?!!!

• We are stressed because we don’t have a four wheeler and it’s too risky and hot out there to travel anymore on a two wheeler. If we have a four wheeler, then we are stressed because we don’t have a luxury one. If we have a luxury one, then we are stressed because we don’t have a Mercedes and alas, the neighbour has it! You got to get it right now.



So if you agree to the above stressful points and acknowledge that STRESS is an important part of our lives then please share your views so that I realize that I should not stress myself thinking that I stress myself too much. :P

I wonder why

It was 26 April 2011, 6:15 AM. I was going through Times of India front page while having my morning tea. At the bottom of the page I saw an article which caught my attention. The article was about Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse who was strangled and raped by a sweeper of the same hospital on 27 November 1973 after which she was left in a vegetative state till now. To be very specific, she is in a vegetative state since last 38 years. Sounds terrible? It does.

I learnt that an appeal was made for mercy killing for her by her friend, a journalist Pinky Virani. The appeal was rejected on the Women's Day 8 March 2011.

The article ends here and there starts my curiosity.

I couldn't resist and searched as much as I could about Aruna Shanbaug on google. The more I learnt, the more curious I became. Finally I couldn't stop myself from placing an online order for the book 'Aruna's Story' written by Pinky Virani.

After I was done with this book, I was forced to ask myself 'Does god really exist?'. One can see the height of life's unpredictibility by reading this book. A girl who was as happy as she could be turned out to be the most unfortunate one in the next 30 mins. 10 mins to be very specific, changed her life forever and changed for the worst.

She was happy that she came out of her village and got a decent job in Bombay (now Mumbai). She was happy that she was going to get married to a doctor who was also a good human being. She was happy that her fiance was about to finish his MD and going to start his own clinic. She was happy about everything which was happening to her.

She left her hostel and started staying with her sister to save money for his fiance clinic. She had already applied leaves from 1 Dec (just 3 days after the incident) to get married. Everything was planned for her and who knew none of these was actually going to be executed!
Not only was she one of the most beautiful nurses of the hospital but also was a quick learner and very sharp minded. She came to work as usual that day and little did she know what the destiny had in store for her. The book mentiones that she had consulted a couple of astrologers and they all told her that she had a one in thousand horoscope. She indeed had.

She paid for being true. Sohanlal, the person who is responsible for turning her life to hell had better plans than her because he got them executed. He not only raped her but also left her in a state which is worse than being dead. If you read the book, you will find that she had asked a fellow nurse to accompany her in the evening when she was supposed to go to change her uniform in the basement where later she was raped the same day. Aruna had gone  to the basement alone. Only if some one could accompany her that day, her life wouldnt have turned so miserable.
I am disturbed whenever I think about her. She was having a life as normal as mine, yours or anyone's. And it changed. I wonder why did this happen to her. I wonder why didn't she die instead of going in a vegetative state for ever. I wonder how unpredictable life can be. I wonder why I am struggling today for everything, for better job, better pay, better lifestyle, better savings, better future; when life is actually so unpredictable!

I just couldnt keep my thoughts to myself so kindly bear with this piece of life's bitter truth.