Month: October 2010

An Interesting Visitor.

“It’s true that we don’t know what we’ve got until we lose it, but it’s also true that we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives.”
– Unknown Author

Many years ago, I had seen the film The Terminal with Tom Hanks in the lead role and thought that it was story-telling at its best, till I learnt that the film was based on the actual experience of an Iranian Merhan Karimi Nasseri who spent eighteen years in the Charles DeGaule Airport in Paris.

On Saturday, I had the privilege of meeting another person who symbolises human spirit in a way that few have done so far in my life. He is Mohsen Khatami, another Iranian refugee. He had to flee Iran due to fear of loss of his life or liberty for having the temerity to translate into Farsi some books written by the Indian mystic Osho.

Mohsen has been living in India on a United Nations Refugee Status document since the year 2001 when he fled Iran. He has been sustaining himself by getting his translations published in Iran and other countries. He lives as a resident in a commune at Ahmednagar, a town about a hundred kilometers from Pune. This commune was set up by another Indian mystic Meher Baba.

For a refugee, Mohsen comes across as an enigma. He is cheerful, bubbling with enthusiasm, totally without rancour about his beloved Iran’s current status and the people responsible for his exile. He appears to be totally at peace with himself and the world and love oozes out of his every pore. His recent mail to me, which gives a measure of the man, opened with this message.

“Dear RamanaJi
Best in Existence for you

“There is no Sadhana greater than love.
There is no law higher than love.
And there is no goal beyond love.
God and love are identical.”
Meher Baba”

Mohsen has no problems within India. He loves being in India and savours all the experiences that it offers. He however cannot travel out of India as he does not have a passport. He has not bothered to find ways and means of obtaining some document which will allow him to travel outside India as he says that if he can’t go, he can’t go. No disappointment, no anger, nothing, just total acceptance. He also cannot get simple things that we take for granted like a driving license, a telephone connection etc as he cannot give acceptable proof of residence. In other words, he is a nobody! In spiritual terms of course, that could be No Body! To me he symbolises a highly spiritual persona with a totally joyful approach to life and all that it has to offer. He has a purpose in life, which is to translate many spiritual books into Farsi and that makes all the difference. He has found the one purpose in life which is so elusive to most of us.

Mohsen is easily approachable. He is on Facebook.  His blog contains more information about him both in English and Farsi.

I will be delighted to be of any help to anyone wanting to know more about Mohsen’s work and other details. Please contact me via my ‘contact’ page if you do.

Wacky Ideas – Things.

Two recent inventions which won the Ig Nobel prizes.

Lady’s brassiere.

Gent’s dress shirt.

For those who are interested, there is a treasure trove of such wacky ideas in the Ig Nobel website.

The third, and I am sure that all my male readers will agree is the most useless thing in the world.

OR

I hope that you enjoyed this post of the Friday Loose Bloggers’ Consortium when we post on the same topic chosen by one of us. Today’s topic has been chosen by Magpie.

I Have Just Become A Millionaire! And In GBP Too!

I have just received this email from Mr Terry bledsoe

Attention;Beneficiary,

Secret No:089188/10
Winner Pin No:5388/10.

Microsoft Corporation EMAIL DRAW held 23rd October 2010. Your email address attach to ticket N0.089188/10 won £1000,000.00 GBP (ONE MILLION GREAT BRITISH POUNDS).
To begin your claims, kindly contact the events manager
EMAIL:mr.terrybledsoe1@live.com
——————————————————————

PHONE:+447035993438 +4470457 26276
——————————————————————
FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
OCCUPATION:
COUNTRY:
AMOUNT WON:
TELEPHONE:

Mr Terry bledsoe
(Microsoft Award Promotion Coordinator).

I hope that all the widows who have been shunning me will read this blog post.

Dogs, Leashes, My Muse And A Metaphor.

My neighbourhood is full of street dogs. Some residents, including my son Ranjan, feed them and care for them and they make for great watch dogs in the nights. Most of them occupy stilt garages which are open ground floor ones in multistory buildings.

Like dogs everywhere, they are highly territorial and object to other dogs encroaching on their marked territories. Pet dogs of local residents, after a few days of getting used to, do not cause much problems, but a new dog in the locality certainly will.

Pet dogs are usually taken around by their owners on leashes. Obviously most of such dogs have received some training and do not respond to the barking of the street dogs, but some new ones can and do cause problems for their handlers. There are also the old veterans who do not need leashes and are friendly with the locals.

I have always been amused at the hysterical goings on by the street dogs when dogs on leashes are taken for their exercise by their handlers. The leashed dogs usually could not care less and walk almost majestically alongside their handlers as if fully confident that the handlers will take care of the hysterical curs. They seem to be comforted by the leash which connects them to the handlers.

With that background, let me now come to the main story. A friend of mine has been having endless problems with his family members, so much so that he gets quite worked up and loses his composure and peace of mind often. Two particular members of his family have recently been giving him some frustrating times. He decided to let some steam off on my shoulders and told me all about the situation and asked me for advise on how to tackle this problem.

This is when my Muse kicked in and gave me some inspired ideas. I asked him if he has seen how street dogs behave when pet dogs are taken for walks in the former’s territory. On his saying yes that he has, I proceeded to give him the insight that I have gained from the behaviour of the pet dogs. I suggested that he be like the pet dog, majestic and not bothered, secure in the knowledge that the leash, which can be compared to his self assurance, and the handler, his higher power, will take care of the situation.

I doubt very much that he liked the metaphor. Do you?

Travelling In New Places.

I have just read a highly inspiring article in the New York Times. The writer could have been me or my friend Chuck.

Chuck, I am glad that I don’t have to visit China. Aren’t you?

I am still called The Laughing Buddha by some people. In India, that can be blamed on the atrocious spellings that people come up with. It should actually be The Laughing Buddhu.