Peregrinations

My engagement with the yoga sutra started more than a decade ago.   At first it was to learn the meaning as expounded by my teachers.   A few years back, it became more experiential through the medium of practice.   This was my gateway into antaranga yoga sAdhana :   P ractices where one asks questions such as: With what attitude do I look at the world in this moment / what is my location?  How do I enliven myself and my context?   What are my triggers?   How does my inner being respond to these triggers? and so on. By starting with “ atha yoga anushAsanam ” Patanjali indicates that he is compiling knowledge that has been expounded by a line of previous Seers.  For me, as a yoga and Dhrupad practitioner, it is always thrilling to reflect on the fact that these traditions have been passed down not through scholarship but praxis.  Every time I practice, I uphold this tradition and play a role in passing it forward.  These traditions a...

This year I finally made it to the Himalayas.  In April, we went on a guided climb to the kedarkanTha mountain in Uttaranchal.  There were many other families with their children and so my daughter who had good company, did not even consider climbing with me as the alternative was far more exciting. On the way to basecamp.  This is the beautiful Yamuna river flowing down from Yamunotri. One of my favourite stories of Lord Shiva is actually a story about Ganapati.  G and Kartikeya, his brother, decide to race around the universe.  Kartikeya dashes away while Ganesha orbits his parents, Parvati and Shiva, saying they are his whole universe.   I had an interesting reminder of this story through the hike.  The gift of not having cell phone range nor electronically reproduced sounds. Also the fact that I was carrying a heavy backpack, soaked up my attention on the first day on the hike. The weight on my shoulders, the chirping of the birds, hydration,...

Welcome to my blog and website , which is still under construction. Guru Poornima has always been a special day.  In my convent school, we did not really celebrate it.  However, I did have teachers who taught music and dance and we would visit them.  From 2005, when I started learning Dhrupad from Guruji , the celebrations became more grand and reflective.  Every year, we would present, our music in front of Guruji and Didi, individually.  There would be a feast afterwards, cooked by Didi (though we did try in vain, to convince her that at least on this day, the roles should be reversed, anyone who has had the privilege of eating anything cooked by Didi, will concede that all is well that ends in such delight and satisfaction).   I have performance anxiety before most recitals and this was no different.  However, I found that the spirit of the day almost always created a sacred bubble of safety, from which I could perform.  It is after all an offe...