Dancing Ganesha

DANCING GANESHA

He dances into the hearts of billions

swaying his mighty trunk to the beats

of the mridanga

His right foot gently pushes down Ego

while his left foot is suspended in the spirit of liberation,

His outstretched arms banish sorrows

Inspiring the devotee to delve within the Self

In quest for Divinity!

He never really leaves,

He reveals himself again and again

within the circle of life and death.

Dewdrops

DEWDROPS

Last night a few dewdrops settled down.

Slowly, gently on the blossoming softness of the wild spring flowers.

As if the angel was telling her tale of freedom

 under the deep, blue blackness.

The dewdrops have the freedom to choose the petals

Just as the waves have the freedom to lash the rocks

Or the eagles have the freedom to glide in the sky.

or the koyal has the freedom to croon her songs of desire

Or the child has the freedom to laugh and be happy.

Last night a few dewdrops fell on the green blades of grass too

And there's freedom in the freshly scented air

Awakening the mango buds and blossoms.

Last night!

Last night a few dewdrops fell

On the soft cheeks of the white rose too...

Spring is here.

Orange Moon

ORANGE MOON

The orange moon above,

Bare trees below

And the inky sky beyond.

A perfect harmony

of the retreating birds

strike up the music of the world.

The orange sun may hide away

for a few hours

but its restless reflections

light up the Moon.

And a new story unfolds

"once upon an 'orange moon night..."

Chhandam

O please dance in jeweled shoes in my heart,

And hurt not your feet on the rocky slopes of the Himalayas.

-       Adi Shankaracharya

Dance was the language of Shiva’s heart, the accompanying `damru’ was his very heartbeat as legends tell. His dance is significant because it symbolizes the joyous dance of the soul within oneself. In Northern India, Shiva dancing with rhythm and grace with the Veena is known as Veenadhara, As Nataraja and Dakshinamurti, he is the Lord of Dance and Knowledge respectively.

Shiva, is day, Parvati is night. Shiva is time in eternity and Shakti is energy in cosmic space. Shiva is Purush, Parvati his Prakriti. He, is Tandava, she is Lasya. The two are actually one – different aspects of one reality. Shiva and Shakti represent the polar aspects of the one essence of life – The Ardhanarishwara. The great Sanskrit poet and playwright, Kalidas described them as an inseparable union of Vak and arth, word and meaning. Chhandam is my blog to the beating heart that resides within the Eternal Man and Woman.

Chhandam, itself is a journey to discover the inherent rhythm that controls all creation and subsequently all performing arts.

There is rhythm in our breath, in our heartbeats,  rhythm in the way we move, rhythm in the swaying of the palm fronds and in the ebb and fall of waves, rhythm in sunrise and sunset, rhythm in life and death, rhythm in take-off and landing – that’s Chhandam!

Metamorphosis

Being born is not a major event,

 Metamorphosis is!!

 Borrowing the green of the leaves

 Flourishing and falling in love.

 Fall? The butterfly would rather fly in love

 And in the process ensure

 more flowering , more blossoming.

 I sense the intense desire in the fluttering of wings

 As if it wishes to make sense of its being.

 I stand and stare

 Fascinated

 At life unfolding...

 I reach out to touch

 but the wings proclaim their freedom!

 -SG