Finding Nemo

आओ खेलें होली,  रंगों से,  उमंगों से,  दिल की उन तरंगों से,  जो अनंत रंग देखतीं हैं और अंतरंग भी।   त्यौहार है यह रंगों का,  रंगों के एक हो जाने का,  रंग संग मन के मिल जाने का,  एक संग मिल उमंगों की पींगें बढ़ाने  का।  त्यौहार नहीं रंगों में भेदभाव का,  त्यौहार नहीं आपस में क्लेश बढ़ने का,  त्यौहार नहीं कलुषित विचारों का,  त्यौहार नहीं व्यभिचारों का।  जलाओ चिंगारी, विचारों की, कुरीतियां मिटाने की,  द्वेष दूर भागने की,  सद्भावना बढ़ाने की।   खेलो होली,  लगाओ रंग,  मचाओ हुड़दंग,  पियो भंग,  पर मत करो किसी का मान भंग।  आओ खेलें होली,  रंगों से,  उमंगों से,  दिल की उन तरंगों से , जो अनंत रंग देखतीं हैं और अंतरंग भी। 

  Just as we learned from the story of Yayati, there are a few lessons to learn from his father Nahusha too! Let me recap Nahusha’s story and then we can look at the lessons – Nahusha was a great ruler of the mankind on the earth. He had performed many yagnas and was well known for his principles and generosity. Just as fate would have it, Indra – the king of the gods had to serve a period of penance and left the throne vacant. Indra’s court and the advisors suggested to appoint Nahusha as the king of the Devas while Indra was serving the penance. Nahusha was initially surprised, thrilled but finally accepted the appointment. He did a great job of governing the court of the heaven. However, the extremities of the heaven and the powers started to catch on to Nahusha. He started to believe that he was superior to all and had all the powers in himself. He forgot how he ascended to the throne. In his pride and presumptuousness, he started to become arrogant, haughty and swell headed. H

 In the last few days of 2020, I watched the recently released Disney movie – Soul with my family. It was an amazing enriching experience. The movie had a great message – find your purpose in life, and don’t let your life be governed by the goals you set forth for yourself. The goals are stepping stones towards your purpose and not the final destination themselves. This came in just handy as we were preparing for our goals for the new year and setting our resolutions. It is always important to work towards your goals but not let the purpose of life slip away from your view and thoughts. In this regard, I would like to take a slight spin on the story of Yayati. Please indulge with me in this story and the message I looked upon for myself. A long time ago, there used to be an Asura king Vrishaparva and his main advisor as well as teacher was the rishi Shukracharya. Their daughters Sharmishtha (daughter of Vrishaparva) and Devyani(daughter of Shukracharya) were good friends. They used