Finding Nemo

I am sure many of us would have played the game of Snakes and Ladders while growing up. It is a multiplayer game where each player takes turns and throws in the dice and moves the number of squares as indicated on the face of the dice. The first player to reach the finish line wins and the last one to have been left behind is the loser. When I was a kid, the fun was not just the winning  but also  watching how many times and when a player gets bitten by the snake. Though we all played to get the ladder for the easy escape, we knew that getting bitten is inevitable as well.  This is an ancient Indian game which was brought to UK in late 1800s from where it got its world wide acceptance and variations! In one of the Ancient Indian variation, the game had the ladders displaying the virtues that one must aspire to lead a righteous life - Generosity, Faith, Reliability,  Humility, Knowledge  and Asceticism. While the snakes represented the vicious vices that are always ready to cloud one

चिता  यह कैसी आग है ? सभी तरफ फैली हुयी, ऊँची लाल तपती लपटें , सब कुछ जलाती हुयी ?                                   बढ़ती उफनती यह ज्वाला ,                                    मेरी तरफ ही आ रही है।                                     और वो मोहल्ले के बाबा,                                    देखो तो कहाँ जा रहे हैं ? और यह पड़ोस की नानी ? सुनती थी रोज कहानी, आज किधर जाती हो ? मुझे दूर कहाँ जाती हो ?                                    देखो तो बालसखा मेरे ,                                    जाते हैं कहाँ मुझसे मुंह फेरे ?                                    बचाओ मुझे इस आग से ,                                    क्यों भागे जाते हो अपने इस मित्र से ? अब यह चिल्लाना कैसा ? कौन कराहा ? क्या चरमराया ? आज यह आग क्या जलायेगी ? किस किस की चिता सजायेगी ?                                    बचाओ यह तो मेरा ही घर है ,                                    अंदर मेरे सपने हैं, मेरा संसार है।                                     घर में मेरी खुशियां हैं ,                                    संजो संजो कर रखी जी

 We just concluded our Govardhan Pooja 2023 or Annakoot for this year. We displayed Sri Krishna in 4 different forms as he is worshipped in different parts of India and elsewhere. This was an eye opening for many as some of us didn’t realize that these were forms of Krishna! One of the most interesting form amongst all was the Lord Jagannatha! Lord or Bhagwan Jagannatha is any form is depicted as an incomplete form but with big rather huge eyes for its form. The question is why? The Lord has big eyes because he sees it all. He sees you, me and all of us. He sees all of our issues and our problems. He sees and watches each of the hardships we go through and supports us along the same.  But really what does he see? You me, others or our acts, wants, needs, stories and thoughts? Sri Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison. But he was transported to Gokul and was celebrated by a doting mother and a father –Yashoda and Nandbaba. He was always surrounded by the people of Gokul, V