A lovely girl and her dog

A narrow path up a small hillock

Trees on both sides , tall and green.

A small riverlet flowing on one side

The water is cold and sparkling clean

On reaching the top , we come to a small house

With lovely plants in its garden

Bearing colourful flowers dancing to the wind

Is there anyone inside, we wonder.

We go further the pathway leading to the house

There is no door, whats the use of bell ?

We knock on the wall thinking it should bring the owner

And wait for some time , being well mannered

We are still waiting , while there is a cry from inside

A small girl , we think, she might have seen us

But still no one comes out, that makes us curious

Waiting no more , we venture inside

The house smells of an enchanting fragrance

Once inside , we feel we are in a Bliss

There is a small girl all curly and cute

A small dog by her side, stares at us mute

I ask her whats her name ?

She smiles and says "Dont know".

The dog looks at us, but doesn't bark

I then woke up - it was still dark.

-prashanth rajarao

Who is He ?

Why is He making all the leaves to fall?

Only to make the trees grow them all ?

Who is He,who makes the earth go around the Sun?

He, who creates the many stars, and plays with them all.

 

Who put the colour in the Parrots feather?

Who is the Master, who controls the weather?

Who is the one who provides shelter to a bird?

During winds and storm , who takes care of His herd ?




Who puts the smile on the childs face ?
Who teaches her just to embrace?
Who is He , who takes care of all
Without discrimination , he feeds all


Who is He who is beyond time and space
Am nothing, and also everything - is feeling His grace
Who is the one , who makes a rainbow
Outside my window , to Him I bow


 

- prashanth rajarao

Beach Trek in Uttara Kannada

On Feb 11th and 12th ,2012 , YHAI , Bangalore had organised a trek in Uttara Kannada district. The first day was a trek for 10 kms near a place called "Sirsi". From here we went to the Unchalli Water Falls which is 5 kms from the nearest bus place called "Heggarini". The water falls is majestic and a climb down of 2 kms in rough moutain terrain brought us to the river. 

On Feb 12th , from Sunrise to Sunset , the trek took us from Bada beach to Gokarna beach, On the way , we passed through many beaches. We took a boat ride from Agnyashini to Thadadi. Near Thadadi is the Belekana beach which was our starting point for the 14 kms beach trek.  

The order of the beaches we passed enroute our trek programme are : 

• Belekana beach- Start of trek 
• Paradise Beach 
• Half moon beach : We stopped over for lunch at this place 
• Om beach 
• Kudla beach 
• Gokarna beach- End of trek

From Gokarna beach , we took a bus to Ankola from where we boarded our bus back to Bangalore.

The experince was wonderful. Two days in the midst of nature. First day , encountering the challenges of the forest trek , Second day was more exhaustive as the sun was hot on the beaches and was a rocky climb across the beaches. The experience was thrilling and awesome. The places were very scenic and the terrain was rocky near the beaches.Adding to that , a simply wonderful group of people made the trek program really interesting and memorable.



Benefits of trekking

Am listing below some of the benefits of trekking. Of course this is a partial list and more to be experienced : 

• Recreational - both for body and mind.
• See new places
• Great stress buster
• Meet like minded people 
• Face unknown challenges en-route and overcome them- gives a mental high !
• Good exercise - burns fat 
• Increases energy levels ( and also hunger levels ) 
• Fights insomnia - you fall asleep in seconds after a days trek 
• Learn to love Nature and be with nature 
• If trekking is near a water-hole , you can enjoy a dip or swim 
• Feels great to walk/climb on mother earth in natural surroundings
• Scope for developing hobbies - Great for photography , bird watching , travelling , etc

And the list goes on ....



Sun rise near Kumta



Experience trekking to Enjoy life !

Of Memory

Searching the word "Memory" in the internet would give the reader many stuff to improve memory , many tricks to help the storage and retrieval problem. I also stumbled upon an audio book which i sometimes listen "How to improve your memory". The author ( or speaker as its audio book ) suggest many tricks including breaking the the words or names you want to remember into smaller words , linking them to an object , etc ,etc .. Go and hear it .. its interesting.

While many time we brood over the past events , sometime we also enjoy living in the past. This is all good and makes my memory sharp. Also my dad used to say , remembering good things does make me happy. Yes, indeed , it makes me happy when I remember the good time spent spent with old friends and family members. All that is good to some extent.What if I try to remember some past event which was painful ? Doing this would make me relive the painful moments also.Then , am i any better remembering them ? I think we should take the lessons from that and move on in life forgetting some of the past. Come to think of it , maybe thats why God gave us memory problems :-)

Lyrics of Pillangoviya

pillangoviya chelva krishnana elli nodidiri l


rangana elli nodidiri l

elli nodidaralli tanilla dillavendu balla janare ll


nandagopana mandirangala sandu gondinali l

chanda chandada gopa balara vrunda vrundadali l

sundarangada sundariyara hindu mundinali l

andadakala kanda karugala mande mandeyali ll


Sri gurukta sada sumangala yoga yogadali l

Agamartha dolage maduva yaga yagadali l

Srige bhagyanagi vartipa boga bogadali l

bhagavataru sada hadi paduva raga ragadali ll



i chara charadolage janangala ache icheyali l

kecharendrana sutana rathada achcha pithadali l

nachade madhava keshava emba vacha kangalali l

pichukondada purandara vittalana lochanagradali ll

The four goals of Life

With four arms , HE shows us
A Gadha , A Chakra , A Shanku and A Padma

 Each having its own meaning
Gadha denotes constraint of desires

 Chakra is the Dharma Chakra
Removing Adharma and maintaining Dharma


Shanku is the symbol of Prosperity
Its Lakshmi , who is the first devotee


Padma is the lotus
Which denotes peace and non attachment


These four also stand for the four goals
Dharma , Artha , Kama and Moksha


Choose any or all of them,
Shri Hari bestows to the sincere seeker


You may not get it all at once
It may take years or many lives


Strange are the ways of Divine
These four goals are for the mundane


For His greatest devotee , Shri Hanuman
None of these, desired the mighty Pavamana


He said "I dont want any of these four,
All I want is you , Shri Ram!"

- prashanth rajarao