In this result oriented world it is easy to get caught in the current and start looking for definable markers of success. I was returning from yet another shopping spree today to bring home necessary sundries and found a flare of white&pink flowers where I expected none. On close inspection it turned out to be the new peach tree (remember the twig!) that had burst into bloom. I dragged reluctant Suraj, who could not be convinced that this was an occasion of immense proportions, and clicked a picture for all of you.
Coming inside I found another sight equalling the blooms outside. Sachi was sitting at the dinette table, sorting out part of the mail that has collected over the past two months while we were at the Mayo clinic. It cheered me immensely to see him sitting so straight, going through his papers, like he has always done . He has started paying attention to the world around him in between his tube feeds and long naps. He likes to slice an apple and offer it as a snack to Suraj when Suraj comes home from work. We usually take a short walk daily outside the house in our yard. It is not long enough to start a heart to heart conversation but is potent enough to energise both of us with the promise of future.
Having seen life at slower pace we are reluctant to speed it up; yet markers that take us closer to it are seductive and very satisfying. We are grateful to have the luxury of this tension between our two opposing desires. It almost slipped out of our hands.
We will be going back to Mayo clinic for Sachi's first check-up on May ninteenth. It is strange but I am looking forward to it. We saw Minnesota in peak winter, now we will get to see its beauty in summer colors.
It is always a pleasure to open the blog and read your messages.
Each one unique; worth many reads.
In your debt. . . .Ambi.
11 comments:
Dearest Ambi Main,
Pranam.Main..It is always a pleasure to read your beautifully written mails..Thanks again for your cheerful and beautiful update and the picture of the full bloomed Peach tree..it looks really beautiful..can't believe it's blossomed so soon..guess it's Gods signal to you to announce the beginning of good times and happier days ahead.. :)
We both are so glad to know that Sati Mamu is slowly but steadily resuming his normal life..sorting out his mail, taking short walks with you and even a small jesture of cutting an apple and offering it to Suraj as a snack..all indications of the return of the Titan..He is back! :)
Take care and Keep Smiling!
Pranam & Prayers,
Love always,
Leema & Achintya
Reading your update this time is like taking a leisurely walk through the awe inspiring lanes of Mother Nature....unfathomable but incomparable..... mysterious but mesmerizing.....living in exuberance but silent in expression. The spontaneous rhythm with which you have drawn a comparison between Nature and Life, between the ebullience of your garden's constantly changing faces and the slow but sure progress demonstrated by Sanabhai's little gestures of involvement.....indeed illustrates the artist in you finding the colors of life in every little twig...every small act....every tiny detail. Life after all is not about the big events that happen once in a lifetime or far and few between,....it is instead about the millions of beautiful things happening, growing, blossoming and manifesting all around us that we tend to overlook in our mad race to achieve and accomplish, acquire and accumulate, succeed and prosper....
Both of you, in your own inimitable ways, are expressing your feelings without pressure or persuasion...., as one finds solace in the bosom of nature and active participation, the other rediscovers joy in performing small acts of care..... while one takes refuge in art and artistic pursuits, the other takes shelter in his prayers and personal struggle to emerge repaired and unscathed....
Together both of you, after decades of struggle to build and nurture a home and family, are now writing another story of pain and perseverance, despair and hope, love and sacrifice and above all of worship and surrender, which will conclude at your fast approaching destination of triumph and Divine grace....
God bless you all...
Pranams & Prayers
Babi
thank you for the donation ;) i just processed it... so you're heading back over on may 19th? be sure to hit up the indian restaurant, altho i'm not sure that bododa can enjoy it right now, can he? hope all's well! take care and be in touch!
lots of love :)
pranams,
vivek
Dr. Mahapatra, seeing your yard should make everyone feel that spring has sprung, without us knowing it almost, for it is Nebraska. It could snow next week. I doubt that, but one never knows. There are so many metaphors I could go over with what your wife writes, so eloquently I might add. Reading the blog makes me smile, as I'm sure it does everyone else. You look good amongst flowers. Take care and be more well.
Kevin Weeks
Hello Ambi:
I was so moved to read the blog. Since I just heard, you have been in my prayers. I know my mother, Dolly granny always blessed you and she is watching over your family.
God is great and all will be well.
Cancer.....a word that evokes images of unbearable pain, insurmountable mountains and irreversible pessimism....a disease that drains every drop of energy from the ailing....a handicap that slows down the progress of the patient to a minimal trickle.....
But, why is it that countless millions that have fallen victim to a much deadlier disease do not realize that the debility they have is far more serious in nature and wider in scope? What makes the world still survive and breathe life into the innocent offshoots that spring from its inhabitants at a speed more alarming than Global warming? Is it because there is no outward physical manifestation of the disease, no symptoms that precede the onset or follow the infliction? It grieves indeed to realize what Man has made of Man....What we actually suffer from is Cancer of the Soul.....Cancer of character....Cancer of humanity.....
How else do you explain the inexplicable violence that is perpetrated by the scheming few on the unsuspecting many? How do you wash the stain of blood from the hands of a brother who has killed his own kin? In our meaningless pursuits of material supremacy we relegate human goodness to the background and race ahead with our eyes closed and our hearts stoned. Little do we realize that the seeds of destruction we sow now shall bear fruits of disharmony that we ourselves would have to harvest later, either in this very birth or in a future one.
If mankind is still existing and we hear about divine acts of sacrifice till now, if a stranger on the streets goes out of his way to rescue an innocent victim of violence, if good still triumphs over evil.....it is because His invisible spark in our Soul still reigns supreme....because the highest sanctum of worship is not in a distant heaven or in a faraway temple....it is instead located in the holy chamber of our own Soul.....
“Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it. Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many there be which go in there at.” ( New Testament- The Gospel according to St.Mathew)
Pranams & Prayers
Babi
dearest bhaiya n bhabi,
It was so wonderful to hear your voice dear brother, though for only few mins.,.. n more wonderful to know
that your pain is lessening...Bhaiyaji, after reading the lovely blogs
,when i sit to write...numerous thoughts rush to my mind at one time
and i fail to put all of them into words.I just feel like opening my heart and show to both of u ...how much place u have occupied...all the time i am thinking of busy in my daily chourse of life...
our hearts n souls r constantly with u , bhaiya.NOw we all r missing u too much...why did u stay so far away from us (only in miles)??WE want to see you...now that babi is going to see you...i am
feeling all the more sad n 'J'..how lucky babi is ...he ia able to make it...tears well up in
my eyes when i think...it will be months when i can see your dear loving face.
MY dear TARZAN BROTHER, u cant imagine how nice i felt when i read the blog of 24th...knowing about your progress...very nice..keep it up bhaiya..slowly u r starting to do everything normally...how nice..THE ALMIGHTY LORD
HAS AT LASTPAID A HEED TO OUR HEARTY PRAYERS. THANKS A TON LORD !
MY SERVER WAS DOWN FOR FEW DAYS...hence the delay..
my love n prayers for u both
sini n sanju
Dearest Sanabhai&Nuabou,
Pranam-
Sanabhai,Congrats on your first day`s desk job.By God`s grace you are improving and steadily progressing towards a healthy life.It is such a great relief! A little good news about you make our day.Although so far away,we really share the joys and sorrows of your family.
Nuabou, you compared Sanabhai`s picture with Swamiji, who said"Strength is life"-"Arise,Awake and stop not till the goal is reached".Now our dear brother has arisen and we are sure he will not stop he reaches his goal of complete recovery.He is a determined man and our Supreme Lord is with him- so everything fine.
Spring has come-and with it all the blooming flowers-now is the time to enjoy.We can almost hear the music of happiness all round your house.
Nuabou- your picture of Suraj with blooming flowers and the Peach tree looks really beautiful.It seems Suraj is merging with Nature.Leema used to spend hours in our garden talking to flowers and trees and composing poems on her own.Sanabhai had taken a lovely photoghaph of both Seema&Leema in our garden in AIIMS-they were standing on a Champa tree looking up as if talking to God.Those were carefree happy days.Our happiest memories have both of you sharing and caring about us.Hence the blooming Spring at Lincoln is reminding us about both of you in Delhi -down the memory lane.
Please continue walking hand in hand in your lovely garden and send us more good news.
Love to you all-God bless you all-Bye-
Nandini &Swarup
PS.Meditation of the Day-
"Painful as the present time may be,you will one day see the reason for it.You will see that it was not only testing, but also a preparation for the life-work which you are to do.Have faith in your prayers and aspirations will someday be answered.Answered in a way that perhaps seems painful to you but is the only right way....."A.A.July 7-
Prayer of the day-
"I pray that I may be willing to go through a time of testing.I pray that I may trust God fot the outcome."---
Dr.Mahapatra: Found your blog through my daughter in law ,Kim, who used to work for you. I am almost exactly one year ahead of you through this experience and can assure you that as time passes the positive effect upon your life greatly outweighs the negative.
Ambi,
Thanks for updating Sachi's recovery efforts and Nebraska spring everyday. Looks like spring in Lincoln and Sachi's recovery are on a parallel course. By the time spring gives way to summer, Sachi will be fully recovered and ready to go to his workaholic mode. My advice to Sachi to take it easy when he gets back to work. I think as all of us have grown older and wiser (Gurjeet disagrees in my case!); we should devote more time to enjoy little things we missed, when we busy raising kids.
Good to know that Sachi is slowly getting back in to his normal routine.
By time Sachi is fully recovered and you are ready to write last blog declaring full recovery, you will ready to write a best seller!
Avtar-Gurjeet
My dear Amrita and Sachi,
Ambi has done well to correct the authorship of “Deh Shiva var…” Nevertheless guru Nanak has also expressed .identical thoughts in “Jou tou prem khelan ka chou….” a literal translation of which is given herewith:-
For love’s sake if you wish to take a stand
Place your head on the palm of your hand
If you put your foot on this path to tread
Then do not hesitate to sacrifice your head
‘Love’ in the above lines stands for a mission or a goal. While creating ‘Khalsa’ guru Gobind Singh so literally put this saying into practice that many people mistake it to be his work.
In one of my earlier entries I had given guru Teg Bahadur’s deliberations on ‘sukh’ and ‘dukh’. For ‘sukh’ We have a corresponding word ‘comfort’ in English but for ‘dukh’ there is no separate word to express the meaning of this vernacular word in all its nuances: ‘Discomfort ‘ is a very poor substitute. So I translated them as .’pleasure’ and ‘pain’: ‘Pain here does not merely stand for physical suffering but in its larger context of great care or trouble taken to perform a task. Similarly ‘pleasure’ does not merely mean a feeling of elation but a state of satisfaction and bliss resulting from an achievement or a work or job well done.
The opening lines,”Dukh daru sukh rog bhaya” are from a better known ‘shabda’ (poem) of guru Nanak in ‘aasa ki vaar. An English rendering of the full poem is as below.
Pain is blessing, pleasure a malady
Inertia of pleasure has no remedy
Thou is the doer, nothing is in my hand
All of my efforts into nothingness land
In wondrous ways Thou pervade in nature
None can measure expanse of Thy stature
The creatures of conscience, Thy own part
Thou have filled them with wisdom and art
Those that acclaim Thy virtue and beauty
Attain their goals performing that duty
Thus speaks Nanak God’s works and ways
“Whatever needs doing, He does it always”
And one of the things needing to be done, as per our supplication, is a speedy recovery of Sachi from his temporary ailment. We are closely watching the state of his health from the blog. His pictures are perfect: Greatly reassuring is the intact tuft of hair on his head that testifies to excellence of treatment received by him. .
With best of wishes,
Yours Daddy.
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