Hair Rising Experiences

These days I am trying to find answers to a few questions that I have always had since the time I started to appreciate music (esp Classical). When I listen to certain Raagas, even though it might just be a plain Raaga(aalaap) w/o any wordings(saahithya), I feel some lightening or uplifting kind of a feeling in my heart. Sometimes I feel a knot in the pit of my stomach. I wonder why!? I asked my Guruji this & he said don't think of the "why", just enjoy it. Today while I was returning from one of my client meets with another of my friend cum mentor, I was just pondering aloud on the same subject & my mentor said well "it is because the body just not remember things in the brain alone or the mind alone. It stores images, sounds, smells etc in different locations of the body. The no 7 is a wonderful no. There are 7 'Swaras' or basic notes in classical music & there are 7 'Chakras' or energy centres in the human body. Why don't you think about this?" was all he said. When I thought about this, the hair on my arms started bristling & those on my head were trying to stand up but were held in place only by the gel I had on. So I am now wondering what is it with the number 7? I hope you the reader can enlighten me. What is it with the number 7???

Rogues at BSNL

I have been a BSNL customer for as long as I have had a telephone connection. Recently, in March I also subscribed for the highly acclaimed Data One services offered by this company. I got the connection after a slight delay of about a week. I opted for purchase of the Type II Wi-Fi router. I was accordingly billed as well. Now, 2 months after the connection has been established, the router has not been working.

I was last online on the 24th of April 2006. I was not given any telephone no, to contact in case of any technical difficulties. Hence I got the technical support no, 080-25514444 from Just Dial services. I spoke with the technical support team on the 25th of April 2006. The lady was kind enough to run me through a lot of trouble shooting steps & she finally diagnosed the router to be faulty. So, she said I had to contact the telephone exchange dealing with this area after assuring me sufficiently that it would be immediately replaced. I went to the JP Nagar exchange & was asked to contact the Jayanagar Exchange. On going there, the person asked me to get the complete set that was installed for me.

So I came back the next day with all the equipments there & Siddaiah the man incharge there said that “Sir naavu yenu maadokke aagalla. Yaakandre adanna naavu alla haakirodu, namma franchisee haakirodu. Neevu avaranne contact maadi”. So I again went back home & tried to contact the technical support no, they said: “Sir illa, adu haagalla sir. Exchange navaru adanna definite replace maadale beku”. I was annoyed & so I told them that they are not helping me & the lady said, “Illa sir. Naavu maadokke aagalla. Dayawittu avaranne contact maadi”.

So I again ran back to the exchange & Siddaiah gave me the phone no of the man who was responsible for dealing with broadband. I tried contacting that man Mr. Manju on 9845203421 about 15-20 times on two consecutive days. The phone was ALWAYS not reachable. I cam back to the exchange & tried to again speak with Mr. Siddaiah around 11 in the morning. He bluntly refused to even talk to me & rudely asked me to come back after 3 PM. So I again came back around 3:30 PM & told him that the no was always not reachable. So he contacted the man some how & that man Mr Manju assured me that he would have it sorted out on the same day. I waited at home the whole of next day & no one came.

So again the following day, I was back at the exchange & Siddaiah asked me what happened. I told him that no one had come in. He again acted like he was doing me a favour & spoke to Mr. Manju again. He again assured me that he would have the man sent over again & when I asked him for his actual contact no. he said that he would not be able to give me that no. I again waited at home the next day & again like I suspected, still no one came. I was back at the exchange & this time Siddaiah gave me Mr. Manju’s personal phone no (9845359510) as well, saying that Mr. Manju would answer this no very quickly. That is precisely what happened. I spoke to him angrily & asked him why no one was able to sort out the matter. He again handed the phone to his technician & I angrily asked that man if he would EVER attend to my complaint. He said “Yenri sariyaage maathaadtheera swalpa? Naavu sariyaage maathaadthilva? Yaake hangaadtheeri”, I said I was fed up with them for their false promises & said if he did not turn up that day, I would contact the Area Manager & complain to him. He said “aaithu adu yenu maadtheero maadkoli” & hung up. I have been trying to reach Mr. Manju on his personal no ever since & he has not picked up my call & as usual the 9845204321 no. is still out of reach.

In the mean time some one suggested that I call 1500 & complain. I did that & was asked to carry my router & its accessories to the DE’s office & he said that this would immediately be replaced.

What appalls me is that in a country where we say “Athithi Devo Bhava” what kind of crap are those “people” in BSNL up to???

I read about myself !!!

The Zahir. What can I say about it? Well, it is a wonderful book, no doubt about it. I must really thank my Guru (Teacher) for having recommended that book to me. What is that book about really? Well I was reading all about myself in that book (!!!) Although, the author may not even know that there is a guy by name Ashvin Bharadwaj he has actually written about what Ashvin Bharadwaj’s thought process is like & stuff. Even now, as I am writing this, it is not like I have thought of what exactly is to be written, I am just sitting in front of my computer & am typing out the words as they are coming out of my mouth.
As I was reading that book, I felt that I was reading about my own life through the author’s words. However as I was reading through the book, I realized that I there is a Zahir in my life too. With every page that I covered, I felt that I was on a journey into my own life. The hero is passionate about writing which is a form of art. I am passionate about music which is another form of art. I have just started listening to poetry & also want to be able to write poems like the author some time soon.
However, the book threw open to me a lot of questions which I have not been able to answer them to my satisfaction. I have attempted to answer some of them & have penned down my understanding of it. I hope you the esteemed reader will be able to tell me if I am on the right track (this is assuming that you have read the “The Zahir” by Paulo Coelho!!)

1) What is the voice?
I am sure, all of us at some time or the other while on a task have felt “something within” tell us to do that task in a particular way, or to do it differently or not do it & so on….. Is this the same voice? If yes then is this was Intuition is? If yes again, then when intuition is telling us of something negative then is that what premonitions are?

2) The universal love energy. What exactly is this?
Is this the bonding that any two humans feel for each other? If you see a person in trouble while you are going about your own business, you may want to stop for a moment & do what you can to help that person. Is this what the Universal Love Energy is all about?

3) Personal history.
Each of us has a lot of baggage that we lug around without even realizing its existence (??), is this what it is? Or, is it simply the story of our lives?

4) How does repeating a problem take it farther away from us?
Well the age old saying goes, “repeat a lie a hundred times& it becomes the truth”. Is the age old saying wrong? Well, technically it is not the fact of the lie actually becoming the truth. But when 3 or 4 generations of people have been conditioned to one kind of thinking (even if it is a lie), the subsequent generations definitely do all they can to protect, propagate & guard the “truth” w/o actually knowing that they are guarding a lie & are actually running away from the truth. Coming back to the question itself, if you repeat a story or a problem, with every repetition, it sits more & more strongly in your mind.



5) The other author’s views on Love & Marriage.
Sometime during the middle of the book, the author is looking for a magazine article on relationships & he comes across another author’s views on Love. She says something about love not being permanent & that marriage not being fulfilling. Now, when you marry a person you truly marry & truly love the person that you are married to, isn’t that feeling so complete?

6) Where does the tribe fit in?
The author goes with a few young people dressed as rock fans & stuff. Where exactly do they come into place in our journeys? Are they an indication that there will be in our journeys a lot of people wanting to embark on this journey with us but not exactly knowing the right direction to take?

7) What are interrupted stories?
All of us in our lives take a particular path & realize that, that is not the best path for us at one point of time or the other. Meaning that story although begun has no proper ending. Is this what it means?

8) Concept of choosing a name
Dos asks the author to choose a name, what is the significance of this? Is it that since you are being reborn as a person, it is best not to have any reminders of your previous way of living?

9) Dos says that Esther might move away………..
When the author expresses his disappointment over the fact that Esther might move away if she is not yet ready to meet him, Dos says that she is not obliged to stay there. Well what is the point? Distance increases the amount of love between two people. Here is the author coming searching for his wife who he love (& who loves him) after she has disappeared for a few years without telling him anything. So does she not really want to meet her man?

10) What is the presence?
All through this book there is a reference to this “presence”, what exactly is this? Why doesn’t everyone experience this?

11) The story of the dog & the doe.
Well usually the doe is always looked at as a symbol of gentleness (which is a feminine quality generally, which a male is not). The dog is a picture of aggression (which is a masculine quality & not generally a feminine quality), so why in this story is the comparison so & what is it’s significance.

These are some of the doubts that have come to me as I read that book. Also, I must mention a few reactions from my own side as I was reading the book. A lot of times I would feel my cheeks all warm & kind of flushed. Sometimes I would experience a slight pain in my head, (the same kind that I used to experience, while sitting & talking with my teacher or while watching the Matrix) As I was reading the book, with every page that I read, I would feel some kind of a fear beginning to form in the pit of my stomach. I don’t know what is happening to me here, I am all psyched out. I hope my Guru has a remedy for this.
As I was reading this I also started wondering:
Why am I doing this? Obviously to discover myself. But then why am I trying to discover myself??? Who am I???

Teacher I hope you will help me……….