Sunday, 25 March 2018

“Period” to the mistaken interpretations of Hindu practices.



We are living in an era where ‘Feminism’ has become new cool! Somewhere in the process of making her realise her strengths, the world has built such theories with respect to specifically menstruation forgetting to revisit the cause behind many of the practices that were once the strengths of our Hindu culture. Girls, nowadays, haughtily stamp these rituals to be nothing but superstition and blind-belief!

In India, there are various practices and traditions followed by women during menstruation cycle. In different parts of India these practices vary and with increase in number of questioning minds there is a huge confusion as to whether these rituals are valid or only some restrictions put on women for unknown reason. Due to not receiving the satisfactory answers to the questions raised by young girls, many of them refuse to follow such practices.
(For today’s young educated mind, any statement without a scientific proof, is a myth and a baseless theory! That’s the education system we have built today.. but this is discussed in another article..!)

In this article, I have tried to summarise certain facts around the topic.

1.      Human body and menstruation – The Ayurveda view
Ayurveda – Ayuh: Life, Vedaha: Knowledge

Human body is made of three Doshas.. Kapha, Pitta and Vata. Vata is of five types – Prana, Apana, Udana, Vyana, Samana (Pancha-Prana).
Of the five Vata, ‘Apana Vata’ is responsible for downward movement (waste-management) in the body. Defecation, Menstruation etc., are regulated by Apana Vata.

One of the names of menstrual cycle in Sanskrit is ‘Rajasraava’. Meaning: Raja - Blood, movement, passion, energy.  Sraav – Flow.

Thus, for the physical body, menstruation is menstrual blood being thrown out of the body. In the spirited body, menstruation represents the flow of excess energy - Apana vayu. In the emotional body, the thoughts and emotions that are uneasy or unnecessary are thrown out.

2.     Why not participate in the spiritual rituals?


  • Spiritual activities including Meditation, Yoga, worshiping, or going to temple, cause upward movement of Apana Vayu. Thus, during such spiritual ceremonies and in the temple the flow of energies is the exact opposite of the energy flow of women who is menstruating which may cause emotional upheaval to the women or a physical discomfort in certain areas of body.
  • During the menstruation process, women are more likely to absorb other energies in the environment. Temple is a place where a huge exchange of energy takes place at all the times. To protect herself from such environment which might severely impact her energy levels, she may avoid going to the temple.
  • For all spiritual activities, a balance and calm mind is must
  • Not that the above would happen every time a woman goes to the temple. But no harm in taking precautionary measures.




3.      But then can women still touch the idol at home?

They may if they choose to.. They may end up absorbing the energies out of the idol too. So technically, when it is said that women cannot ‘touch’, it’s not because they are impure but it’s exactly opposite of that!

4.     Why not cook during menstruation.
We say home food is the best food as it’s made with a lot of love. One of the main ingredients in the food cooked at home is the energies of the one who cooks. Thus, a consumption of food that carries and transfers such Rajasic energies as mentioned in Point – 1, may cause certain imbalance though it may not be very prominent even in the long term. Thus, the Bramhins who routinely carried out spiritual rituals followed this strictly.

5.     Why take complete rest and stay outside the house?
Probably the primary basis of this practice would be the same that women have tendency to absorb the environmental energies including the foreign entities in their environment. Also, Ayurveda says, excess physical activity might lead to Dosha imbalance, which may have adverse effect on the health of the woman.
Also, as the emotions are floating at the surface during this phase, this is a period when women must use this time to introspect and cleanse their minds of any stress and negativity.
One more reasons in past for women to stay secluded, could be a practical difficulty during menstruation due to no availability of sanitary napkins. The women in the past lead a lot more different life than what today’s women live. Cooking and household chores required a lot of physical activity. Sometimes they even worked at farms and did more of the work like flour milling etc. at home.
Today, in almost all the urban families the groceries are one click away and modular kitchens are full of gadgets that make life easy.

They western community may have conflicted relationship with menstrual cycle but eastern vedic knowledge always treated menstrual cycle as a period of women’s mental and physical purification. So to conclude, not all the rituals are valid considering today’s scenarios and change in lifestyle, but Indian Ancient Sciences such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Astrology etc. were in fact evolved and even the modern science fails at times to establish a concrete evidence to prove that. Period!

Thursday, 28 January 2016

River?

The ball of snow,
Rolled down the sky
It melted to the warmth,
To keep her alive
Hidden in the spring
Yet she was naïve
Young she was, she was rapid
She fell so often off the cliffs

She saw within
In the muddy stream
The world saw deep within
In water that was clean
And how did she know
At the same time
To reflect the world

The heat of season
Took away a bit
But one never stopped
Giving back what it took

She froze for a while
To the cold waves
But the days passed by
She took her hold

Once upon a time
Artist came on the shore
He bent down to see
What is deep inside of her
He saw himself there
A bit more clear

Sunday, 3 May 2015

I am the source!

I am the source, I am the cause, I am the mean and I am the end..
I am the love, I am the hate, I am the god and I am his reflection..

When he was walking around the space, looking for a place to meditate, he came across something that was beyond just beautiful. As if it was his illusion dipped in the divine meditation. The place was full of solid energy that felt indestructible. Serenity of the place hypnotized him at once. He had found out a perfect place to build his home. He was certain that he will create a thing bigger than him.
God knew he had found the earth and his search was finally over..
He rushed back home and told his father that he needs some resources because he now wants to move out and have his own life. Father was certain of his son’s ability and blessed him saying, “My dearest, may you be blessed. But I have nothing to give you. You must build your home on your own.”
God was blindly in love with the earth. He was not afraid to go beyond any limitations to build his own house. He had no resources. He decided he will borrow some from his friend, Mitra. Mitra was a gem of a person. Only dharma he believed in was of giving unconditionally. Mitra promised God abundance of everything.
God happily started designing his home. He started decorating every corner of it. One evening when he was standing in the window, looking at the sky, enjoying a cool breeze, he thought, about his life... Some part of him was always glorious but the other half remained in the dark always. He had a sudden realization that he was more than dependent on Mitra. Mitra was almost controlling everything. He almost felt powerless.
For many days after that he felt depressed. He wanted to feel the power that Mitra felt and be at par with him. He concluded, he must create something that he can control. He had taken a big decision that day. He was to create something that he could control. He created animal. He was overjoyed. Unfortunately, his joy did not last beyond few days as the animal did not mind being controlled. There is no joy of dominating when there is no resistance to the dominance.
He decided he will create something else that will fulfill his desire of being in control. He borrowed some beauty from nature which was untouchable. He created a woman. But he also wanted her to be liberated and clever so that the game would be fun. He took a bit of will from the ocean and a little strength and cleverness from the peak of mountain and gave it to the woman.  God worked the whole night and finally created something he would enjoy claiming his powers on.
Next day he invited Mitra to see his creation. He expected Mitra to be jealous but Mitra at once fell in love with her. However, God had already claimed her. As a token of love Mitra gifted her a bit of his glory and flamboyance. She too was blinded by Mitra’s irresistible glow and aggressive confidence.
When the Mitra was gone, God looked at his creation. He was feeling satisfied after a long time. The feeling of contentment gave him the power he was looking for. He was the controller now.
She moved around as if she always belonged to that place. She wondered to every place that she could. One day God tried stopping so as to feel the power, forgetting that he gave her the will of the ocean and strength of the mountain. He failed. She started claiming the whole house of God. God felt helpless. It was becoming very difficult for him to control her and that made him angry. He couldn't accept that and decided to create one more weapon to gain control over the situation. Again.
He did not sleep the whole night. In the morning he invited Mitra to his house. Mitra understood the situation. Mitra offered God a bit of his energy and told him to create an opposite of what was created. God loved the idea. He thought, if the opposite of woman can’t control woman, at lease it shall be able to kill her. That night, he created a man.
Mitra came to see the new creation of God. After all, it was a product of his own energy. God ordered the man to go out and bring back the wandering woman. God described her to him. When he met her, he had no idea that she is the one God had asked him to find because she was much better than God’s description of her. The moment he saw her he fell in love with her. He forgot the whole purpose of his mission and never returned back to the place where he came from. She still knew who she was.
God realized power of love and how powerless the love is!
For a long time after that he remained hidden in the dark. He could not bear to see that he had created something bigger than him. He forgot it was his only vision to create what he had created. He didn't know how to destroy them.
One day Mitra came to visit him. Mitra, who always played his role well, said, “Deva, this is your home, your creation. You have no right to claim any power on them. Remember what your father did? He just let you go and find your own happiness. Have a home of your dreams. All he gave you was his blessings and nothing else. Be that father.”

Since then, God is finding his happiness in this home, which he created out of love. Finally he has accepted that in front of his creation, he is powerless!

Friday, 1 May 2015

Mumbai!

Yes.. So much is already spoken about this place. So many books have been written and movies have been made already. And now what is left for me to write!?

Never mind! I am going to add just one more word to it. Because gratitude cannot be expressed in only two words..

This Maximum city is just perfect in its imperfection! She is so mesmerizingly beautiful that she attracts anything. I mean it when I say.. Anything!

She has all that she needs to live and survive through it all. She will stand for herself when the time is not right.

At times people attack straight in her face. But who cares!? She knows how to make smartass comebacks!

And when they take away her freedom to be herself she fights back!

She is modern and glamourous! And the tradition says she has always been like that!

She is not just glamorous but she is also rich! But she is hard working!! She is quick!

But then some part of her always feels miserable. She thinks about it when she is tired at night and sits at the seashore quietly.

But she does not have a luxury to stop working, because she has many more dreams to fulfill!



 “I do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses”



-E. E. Cummins

Saturday, 25 April 2015

Let Go Stress!

Nowadays life has become super-fast. We want everything NOW! Right Now! We want to learn things as soon as possible. The work needs to be done right now. Some events and meetings expect our presence just now. We have deadlines to meet. We have preset targets to achieve. In personal as well as professional life..
Everyone just seems to be running and the race just does not get over. Even when it seems difficult we follow the herd because the basic philosophy that most of our parents have taught is “Go with the flow”. So far that philosophy has never been my motivation. I don’t ever wish to take the path that everyone has taken. And I will not teach my children that philosophy either.
In my first post I have written about our constant urge of becoming something. And this exact feeling keeps us moving in the direction that goes right to the infinity.
But today I don’t want to get into the philosophy of life or anything that will make me think much about the world.. It’s a Saturday night and I am restoring myself to be a normal girl who hates Monday mornings and loves lot of chocolates!
SO .. I have a list of things that I do to restore myself. I hope you find it helpful on some Saturday night when Vodka has refused to work!
But there is a challenge here.. you must first turn the TV off and keep your phone away.. people who really have some urgency will make sure to find out your address!

1.       Meditation! 
I know it is difficult for those who don’t meditate regularly to concentrate and get into a meditative state. But that is ok.. you may just want to sit or lie down comfortably and think about all the stuff you can. And then slowly start concentrating on your breath. If nothing it at least helps me to assess my thought and introspect. I somehow feel more organized and a bit more sorted within.

2.      Read..
 If you belong to the category that hates reading and considers it to be a taboo, just use the magic tool called Google! There are amazing people out there who are really thinking great thoughts and putting them in words for everyone who is in need. I like reading books and affirmations by Louise Hay and many other spiritual gurus. Also I love reading random extracts from Paulo Coelho books. Goodread.com is a good site to read random quotes written by many great authors. I just find a random site that talks about the stuff that I am interested in and spend hours reading!

Smart advice: DO NOT READ A NEWSPAPER!

3.      YouTube!
 This baby was born a decade ago and has seen things that are even century old! So much of information and entertaining stuff is stored here! I don’t think I need to tell you all that! YouTubers are the new cool! That itself shows how powerful it is!
I follow many comedians there, right from the superhit AIB to The Viral Fever, Mania ki Duniya etc. etc. etc.

4.      Yoga..
Do it only for half an hour if more than that makes you feel overwhelmed! But yes, best way to just relax and let out all the stress! I feel Yoga helps me restore my physical presence while giving me more confidence to move around the world easily.

5.      Dance!
 Draw all the curtains on the windows and shut the door of your room. Now, nobody is looking at you unless you have spirits moving around your house! Dance your way! Don’t stop. Even without music. Just dance and feel your body making absurd movements at times. Don’t worry. This is how you vent out all the fatigue in your body that has been there for a while now. When you make random gestures while dancing you slowly leave baggage behind! So, dance till you can’t!

6.      Take a bath!
 This always feels good and feels right thing to do anytime! I believe, there is no right time to take a bath.. just that there is no wrong time to do so! Take a bath with your favorite bodywash and a shampoo that smells just perfect! It just feels like the stress is being cleansed making my thoughts clearer than ever!

7.      Write!
You need not be freaking good at it. Writing is no rocket science. All you need to do is take a pen and a paper or just open a word doc. and write down all your thoughts and feelings. Writing makes me feel balanced about everything. When we write our thoughts and place them on a paper they become more organized even in our head. They either chose to become concrete or just fade away.

Smart tip: Tweeting and updating Facebook status is not counted as writing!

I would love to add few and many more things to the list! So guys please share how rejuvenate yourself!

Thank you for reading!
Love
Mitali

Sunday, 12 April 2015

TECH TALK ON THE INTERNET!

It amazes me to see a leap the technology has taken. A speed, at which the technology has been growing currently, visibly shows that the entire mankind is evolving rapidity. As we evolve the processes of manifestation becomes faster. And thus, technology has a direct relationship with evolution of human kind.

Internet is a key element in technological evolution. Man has again found out a way to do away with the limitations of time and space. Our mind has been already hijacked by this tool to bring out our thoughts to paint them on the canvas of everybody else’s mind making it one big universal mind. The truth is revealed to people in an instance. The lies don’t remain hidden for long. Justice happens quicker. The world is making sure that everyone digs deep inside to make sure that all of that is hidden comes out to be showcased to those who need to know. We have been given a lot more freedom at its own cost.

We have come up with new devices and such evolutionary features attached to them, which are making the whole of existence be one with itself.

But seriously… Do we really know everything that we really need to know about the technology?! Do all the product reviews and sites presenting features of the products talk about what is exactly being used by the people and the purpose behind it? Do we really know that the best blessing that allows us grow beyond limits of time and place can turn into a huge monster who can swallow the whole world in a moment! Do we know that freedom comes with a great responsibility to treat it with reverence?


Every aspect of life has two sides.. Good and Bad.. One is white the other is dark!

Technology too has two facets and we are aware of the both! One only needs to be conscious of how we are being pushed faster to reach the destination. One only needs to be conscious that the time is moving faster and only now is the time to do it all! Use it not to spend the time but to speed up the process of life! And at the end of the day what one needs to know is behind the veil of the material things that we see there is something more that we all need to know and understand.


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Saturday, 21 March 2015

BlogAdda!

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