D WOMEN WAY~an empowering experience

It was a real wonderful experience to be a part (as an awardee) of the World Women Leadership Awards which is hosted by the World Women Leadership Congress (WWLC) annually to identify and celebrate the outstanding leadership and achievements demonstrated by Women leaders that are reflected by the distinct innovations and initiatives brought by them in various private and public sectors. The award ceremony was followed by panel discussions on various topics like ‘Wonder Women –Power and Quest for perfection’, ‘Women in Leadership-Investing in others/investing in yourself’, ‘Saying Yes to You, the courage to play big’ etc. The panel discussions were the most interesting and enlightening part of the event and brought into focus a lot of issues related to working women, the challenges we face in the male dominated industries, advantages at work, work life balance, how we deal with our achievements and failures, the courage to play big, the chains that bind us, and the expectations we try to meet etc.

Some women achievers shared their life experiences on stage that are worth reckoning. They spoke about how they had a tough time balancing home and work fronts and how at many times they returned from a point when they wanted to throw in the towel. Also there was an inspiring story of one of the awardees where she narrated how her family supported her to build up the career of her choice. She was encouraged by her husband who turned into a full time home maker, so that she could achieve her dreams. There were discussions about the compromises women make for the home and family, and how we strive to strike a balance between the two. We commonly agreed that women cannot be Wonder Women and the term ‘Wonder Women’ is in fact a myth as there are continuous challenges that women face and that they need to deal with them all the time. Rightly said. Women should make their choices clearly and go ahead consciously and with awareness as regards their priorities and the choices they make. Women can multitask but it is not humanly possible to excel in everything they do. So the best possible way out is to outsource stuff we cannot do (like cooking and cleaning etc.) to others in order to have a peaceful atmosphere at home and work place.

I believe that women should also stop competing among themselves, pull each other down and instead help each other grow. We should not be in denial of our innate talents and capabilities and should foster the strength and determination to pursue our goals with confidence. There was a story of one woman who was expected to compromise in her work place in order to climb up the ladder of success. She stuck to her guns and today she is proud to see where she stands, on the basis of her merit and without compromising on her ethics. She hence broke the glass ceiling with sheer determination. I strongly feel that in a male dominated work place one needs to find out ways to excel and also to keep up her dignity and never ask for favours in the job she does. I think, women should not shy away from the word ‘Feminism’ (the advocacy of women’s right on the ground of the equality of the sexes) and instead use it more often to feel empowered. Women, as mothers, should teach their boys to respect women, for what they are and value what they do. A lady who heads an NGO called ‘He For She’ spoke about how we should partner with men instead of treating them as competitors, in achieving our career goals. The need of support from our male counterparts cannot be ruled out. It’s the need of the hour to teach the boys to respect women and the girls to understand that they should not play second fiddle to anyone. We talked about the loneliness one faces ‘AT the TOP’ and ways to remain grounded in spite of the soaring careers. At the end of the day, we go back home to our families who are our real support and hence it is important to maintain a balance between the two and not compromise on either. The keynote speaker, Padmashree, Mr. Alayque Padamsee, spoke about the need to address the spirit of universal ‘Personhood’, wherein everyone helps each other grow, join hands irrespective of gender, colour, community differences. The basis of all growth is Nurturing…if we nurture with care, we can create Magic. This was a brilliant platform where we got a chance to interact and share our views with women achievers who have been very successful in their career pursuits, yet have displayed high moral values, integrity and did not compromise on their family life, relationships to climb the ladder UP. We need such role models to inspire our girls who are ready to leap over the threshold in search of their career goals.

When I look back upon this day, I feel a sense of pride in being a woman. It has been one of the most wonderful days of my life and I am convinced yet again that women have the power to achieve what they want, irrespective of all the challenges they meet on the way. Kudos to the Spirit of Womanhood….

 “Everyone believes the world’s greatest lie…”says the mysterious old man. “What is the world’s greatest lie?”the little boy asks. The old man replies’ “It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie”. ~Alchemist.

Vasavi Acharya 

(vasavi2005@yahoo.com)

This write up was published in The Assam Tribune, Sunday Reading on 6.3.16.

Shakti...the Feminine Energy

Durga, as perceived by me (when I was a child) was an enchantress Goddess, the one I admired, for beauty, adornments, the gorgeous dress up and above all her stature as the slayer of the all powerful demon, Mahisasura. I come from/of a family, in which Durga Puja has been celebrated for over 100 years and remember my grandmother telling us about the times, when she used to celebrate the family puja, as a young girl. Trying to keep our family traditions alive, I make an attempt to narrate the story of the enchantress Goddess to my little son. He was very excited to hear the tale which was punctuated with many questions from his end. Sensing his enthusiasm, I stressed a bit more about the feminine power and the need to respect women. Being a boy his little male ego being hurt (I suppose) he told me that although Durga was a Goddess, she was after all invoked and given a form and her powers by the male Gods. This observation came to me as a surprise, first because he is too young to make such a comment and second because I being a mother have paid little attention to this very important part of his growing up---to develop, love and respect for ‘Shakti’, as the mother Goddess as well as in her human form ‘women’. Being a Shakta at heart and an upholder of feminine energy, I wanted to gather more information about ‘Shakti’ and the Shakta philosophy. The Sanskrit word ‘Shakti’ can be translated as meaning power or energy. This power is witnessed in all the various phenomena of life- the brilliance of the sun, water, wind and the other life forces. It also represents intelligence, compassion and divine love. Most significantly, Shakti is an exclusive feminine principle. There is mention of many Goddesses in the Rig Veda, the Epics and the Puranas. It is very difficult to find Hindu literature without the mention of feminine power. The respect of Shakti in Hinduism, is also seen in the various schools of Indian Philosophy like the Vedanta School, Samkhya School , Mimamsakas. Samkhya teaches the dualistic doctrine of Prakriti (Matter) and Purush (Spirit) representing the female and the male respectively. The idea of Prakriti and Purusha is seen in the concept of Divine Consort also. It is seen that Vishnu has Lakshmi, Shiva has Parvati, Krishna has Radha as their eternal companion(Sakha) . So integral is the relationship between Prakriti and Pususha that one cannot exist without the other. This philosophy is also imbibed in the concept of Ardhanarishvara- the representation of God being half man and half woman. They are two aspects of the same being and complement each other. In Hinduism, every woman is said to be manifestation of the Divine Shakti. The feminine principle is believed to be directly present in creation in the form of our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives. If our age old Hindu philosophy gives so much respect to women, why do we see so many incidents of injustice being committed against women daily in our society? Why are our women not safe in a country, where ‘Shakti’ is revered as the great Mother Goddess? I strongly believe that this is because of our inability to impart the knowledge of our ancient Scriptures to our upcoming generations, who are our future nation builders. It is our prime responsibility as parents or teachers to inculcate these values in our younger generations. A woman, as a mother can be the best teacher as she is guided by love and compassion while delivering knowledge. Today’s women need to act as torch bearers and enlighten everyone about their real place in their house and in the society. Till the day the position/ status of woman is not revered in every household; if she is not respected and cared for, there is no significance of the grand pujas we celebrate every year.

THE GHATS OF BANARAS

Varanasi more popularly known as Benaras, located at Uttar Pradesh, is a city famous for its ghats (in the bank of the Ganga river), the Kashi Vishwanath temple (which is one of the 12 jyotirlingams in India) and its University (Beneras Hindu University). It is undoubtedly a ‘punya bhumi’ which gives one peace of mind and enables one’s soul to connect to the supernatural energy - GOD. A trip to Varanasi was planned by me and my mother long ago but it never happened, until one day, I decided that we buy the tickets and chalk out our itinerary. And this is how our trip materialized last October, during the period of SHRADH (a Hindu ritual performed for one’s ancestors, deceased parents and relatives).

We reached Varanasi airport in the afternoon and proceeded towards the hotel we had booked. As it was a hot afternoon (it looked like winter was nowhere near the corner) we first checked in at the hotel and decided to visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple (Shrine of Lord Shiva) in the evening. The weather in the evening turned somewhat pleasant and we ventured out. Through the crowded streets our car steered in the direction of the Vishwanath Temple, which is located at the heart of the city,in a crowded locality. The streets we walked through were so narrow that not even two motorcycles could cross at a time. After depositing our sandals, camera and belongings in a locker in one of the shops near the temple, we queued for Darshan. In our hands we held a small basket containing earthen lamps, incense sticks, packet of white sweets (prasadam) flowers and garlands to offer in the temple. We entered the temple premises and took the help of a local priest to guide us and show us around. The priest told us about the temple complex which consists of a series of shrines, located in the Vishwanath Gali. The main deity is linga Vishwanath which is surrounded by other temples like the Dundi Ganesh, Annapurna devi, Vinayaka etc. There is a well known as the Jnana Vapi (well of wisdom), where it is believe that the linga was hidden at the time of invasion by Aurangzeb. We visited each shrine and took blessings of the Gods. After that we went to the bank of the river Ganga for the Ganga aarti, which thousands of pilgrims gather to. We took a boat from the Dashashwamedh Ghat (a ghat is basically stairs that lead to the river Ganga where pilgrims take bath in the holy river to attain Moksha and offer prayers) to view the aarti performed by priests, for about half an hour. It was an ethereal experience; with the resonance of chants, lit lamps and priests dancing to the tune of the chants with the lamps in hand. After the aarti we took a boat ride along the ghats and stopped our boat at the Manikarnika Ghat. This ghat is most known for being a place of Hindu cremation. We saw pyres burning and there was a beeline of dead bodies coming in to be cremated. It was an unnerving yet enlightening experience. After the evening boat ride we retired for the day. The next morning before sunrise we reached the ghats again for a morning boat ride. It was indeed a spectacular sight, the sun rising, people bathing and chanting, some people performing puja, some in other boats soaking in the experience. We bought some earthen lamps from a vendor, lit them and left in the river to float. Dipping my feet in the holy water was a heavenly. During the boat ride we stopped the boat near the Kedar Ghat, alighted and climbed up the steps to the Kedar temple for darshan. Some other ghats we saw were Raj Ghat, Assi Ghat, Harishchandra Ghat Munshi ghat to name a few. After the boat ride we had our breakfast and went to the Kaal Bhairav temple (Shiva shrine). It is a fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva and is accompanied by a dog. After the temple visit we went to the Assi Ghat by car, stopped there for a while and on our way back peeked into Baba Kinaram Sthal, the epicenter of Aghor traditions. Later in the day we went shopping for sarees, tasted delicacies like chaat, Kachori, thandai, lassi, khoya malai rabri, Benarasi paan. We also visited the Ramnagar Fort located on the opposite side of the Ganga Ghats. The fort houses a museum which has unique artifacts.

From Varanasi we proceeded to Lucknow via Allahabad,(formerly known as Prayag). At Allahabad we visited the Ananda Bhavan, built by the Indian leader Motilal Nehru as the Nehru family residence. After that we went to see the Triveni Sangam, which is the confluence of three rivers the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. The place is considered as one of the sites of the Kumbh mela that happens every 12 years. By evening we reached Lucknow and stayed there for another day.

This was an incredible journey. While we boarded our flight for Guwahati, all I could think of was to plan another visit to these sacred places.

Vasavi Acharya Bora

Feedback may be given at:

vasavi2005@yahoo.com

This write up was published in the Assam Tribune on 29 th July 2016.

  http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/at.asp?id=jul2916/Page20          

Pure bliss

Waking up to a trail of melody created by the chirping of birds is pure bliss….

Far away from the hubbub of city life, it was one of the most beautiful evenings we spent at Wild Grass Resort at Kaziranga National Park. A convenient halting spot for the night, on our way to Jorhat, turned into an experience worth reckoning.

We entered the gates of Wild Grass in the evening as we started from Guwahati in the late afternoon. We were greeted by the deserted place as I believe there were few guests in the sprawling resort. I guess visiting the national heritage site in an off season has its own advantages. I love quiet evenings spent doing nothing, far away from the maddening crowd.

The refreshing cup of milk tea energized me a little and we decided to spend the evening relaxing at the veranda of the sitting area outside the dinning hall. It was a quiet evening and I could feel the night and its serenity and hear the calling of the cicadas and other nocturnal creatures. A small little pussy cat was our company for the evening, meowing at times, vanishing and reappearing. It was as if he was playing some games with us. After some light snacks and a few games of cards we thought of calling it a day. It was a long day of work and travel. Soon after dinner we retired to our room and hit the bed.

Well…

Waking up to a trail of melody created by the chirping of birds, I swear is pure bliss….That’s exactly what I woke up to, one fine morning, and I sensed a deep seating feeling of happiness. I ran out to the veranda, and sat down with my eyes closed, trying to absorb every bit of it. The chirping of different birds weaved a beautiful melody, of its own. The beauty of nature is immeasurable and indescribable. The joy of the heart cannot be expressed in words…

How much we miss all this, in our city lives…amidst the city lights. And how beautiful it feels to experience such melody, once in a while…

WHY I love SHILLONG ...so completely

Why I love Shillong so Completely….

Well it’s like an everyday call for me, from a small city nestled in its midst the hills of our neighboring State ~Meghalaya…

And yes, I answer the call whenever I get an opportunity to hit the road…not for any other reason, but for my own peace, to fill up the overwhelming need of my soul. And every time I am in the midst of the misty fog, chill air, the greens, little yellow flowers blooming along the pavements, carpet of purple petals formed of fallen flowers, I actually feel that I am relieved, as if I find an answer to my soul’s yearnings.

This monsoon visit was unique, yet again. The conversations with mom over cups of piping hot tea, overlooking the hills at the horizon, were so enlightening. The winding drive up to the Shillong Peak… time spent sitting ideally, clicking selfies, talking, looking at the never ending  flow of tourists, tasting the mouthwatering eatables displayed at small stalls… was brilliant.

A walk along the garden of full bloom roses and forget me nots’ at Lady Hydari Park was a soothing balm, to a tired soul, that’s mine.  Maybe that’s why I always find a reason to be there all four seasons in a year.

Police bazaar on a Sunday is all about small roadside stalls selling an assortment of ‘Kwai’ , 'butta' (corn), movie C.D. ‘s , orchids, umbrellas, 100 buck sandals, woolens  etc. etc. etc. and a crowd from all over. The famous jelebi’s at ‘Delhi Mistan bhandar’ an age old sweet shop, is something I never miss out on.

And the sit out at a lovely Guest house overlooking the hills, small houses, bougainvilleas and orchids blooming on tall trees, a small kitchen garden, a well manicured lawn…and real warm welcoming hosts, what more could I ask of life.

Ah it’s bliss…

No wonder…

I love Shillong so Completely…..

Apple of someone's eye

A silhouette against the rapidly darkening evening sky, on two black pipes, almost parallel to the Ghy Stadium Fly over, suddenly attracted my attention. When I closely looked at the figure, I saw a little boy, making an effort to take bath from the water oozing out of a break in a pipe. In a fleeting moment my mind replaced the little boy with the image of my son…..and my heart missed a beat. My son, apple of my eye… the little boy, apple of someone’s eye… I couldn't imagine my little one taking such a risk (a mere slip from the pipe would lead to a fatal accident) for a simple daily routine. The mother of the child may have the same fears…. I couldn't help the child…. as I drove down the fly over, I uttered a silent prayer for his well being. ~ the little apple of someone’s eye. Amen!

Fleeting Thoughts

Sitting alone on a side stair of the Navagraha Temple (the temple of the Nine Planets), some fleeting thoughts knocked the doors of my mind. Today the temple was almost empty, with very few people, no monkeys were monkeying around. There were only a few yellow robed pujaris loitering about, in laze. They too seemed to be in bliss—their faces did not wear the anxious look. (Competing for clients). As a child, a young girl, a teenager and then a woman I’ve travelled up the hill to this temple umpteenth number of times….but always in haste… to finish fast and leave. I felt peace was missing at the place, maybe coz everybody left back a piece of their bad luck back there. But today was different……I found a lot of peace and tranquility in there. It is truly said, that your eyes sees only what you want to see, your heart feels only what you want to feel. I had no worries, no obligations, no deadlines---just had to wait, to be, to feel….the zephyr, people moving about, the general hubbub(by now some more devotees had come).I tried to just flow with the flow, did not analyse anyone, anything. Just accepted every moment as it came. Acceptance is a unique quality. It makes you one with the universe. Everybody has a bit everyone in them. I have a bit of everyone in me…….a daughter, a mother, a wife, a lover, a virgin, a vamp, a caring woman, a cranky nut, a giver, an extractor, a protector, a saint , a sinner, a seeker…………then why should we judge others. We are all one. Once I read a line that gave a lot of insight into who we really are….it read, ‘ I am a soul, with a visible part called the body’. So true…… If one goes inward one finds the soul…YOU are nothing but a soul…carrying past life experiences and gathering more knowledge in this life, preparing for the next and the next. In every life the soul is endowed with a new body….its house. It is immaterial what kind of body we are in. It may look good, ugly, nice and alluring, repulsive…….it is just a house, but what actually matters is the Soul. The body changes...the eternal soul is what we are. Every lifetime is a learning experience for a Soul. It is our duty to enlighten ‘It’.