It doesn’t take much, really. Doesn’t take much to find happiness or joy or God in everyday life. Just caught the daughter’s eyes: she’s watching Keeping up with the Kardashians on her laptop on the sofa, and she looks up at me just as I look up from mine. My eyes are full of love, … More God at home
The gate to the driveway of my home is designed to slide open on metal channels. For the past many months, however, the ball bearings that support its weight have broken off and fallen away, and to add insult to injury, rain has rusted the metal channels on the floor. And so one has to … More Gate to heaven
“If you had to choose between courage and patience, I’d say, choose courage. With courage, the patience will come too but with just patience, you’ll never have the courage to live your life your own way and be happy.” Wise words from a 26-year-old firebrand of a masseuse I’ve recently been associated with. We meet … More Choosing courage
Our challenges, in retrospect—even a day later—turn out to be interesting opportunities, don’t they? My new job requires me to drive approximately 30 km every day, but I’ve made the most of it by listening to motivational talks on the USB drive on my journeys. Yesterday, the speaker asked us to press ‘pause’ and list … More Drive-through motivation
It was a crazy morning. We’d had no water for nearly 18 hours, and at 4.30 am, a little voice woke me up to go check. When I realised that there was not a drop for even flushing the toilet or washing hands, I woke up the kids and told them we’d have to go … More Stop, take a breath, respond
Today morning, I chanced upon an endearing sight, once again from my laundry area that overlooks the service lane behind our building. A young woman (in her late teens, and most likely the wife of a labourer working at the new construction there) had laid out a charpoy in the winter sun, right there in … More The God in grooming
A couple of days ago, my elder daughter M, age 16, borrowed a formal churidaar-kurta ensemble from me to wear to a Diwali party with other teens. After trying it on, she busied herself with hair and makeup, until it was almost time to leave. Then, she asked me, “Where’s the dupatta? I had it just … More Believing is receiving
I see You in the start of winter I see You in the trembling sneeze I see You in the scarves and sweaters Lying in the balcony, soaking up the breeze. I see You in the morning chill I see You in the dogs sniffing for a treat I see You in the smell of … More Path 7-9: Winter
Dear God, I see what You’re doing. I see how You’ve scrubbed away, layer by layer, years of grime and stress. How You’ve gradually helped me unlearn the frenetic lessons of the past few years. How You’ve taken me back in time to an earlier, more sordid remembrance of who I used to be, and … More Scrubbed clean
She was turning into her own mother. Every day, chore by chore, her life began to resemble her mother’s at the same age. Brought up in the deserts of Dubai before the dunes of sand were processed into towers of glass, she’d watched her mother slave it out in the home, scrubbing dishes, vacuuming the … More God at home
I’ve been working from home the past couple of weeks, managing a magazine from 2,160 km away (thank God for technology). Instead of a stuffy, airless cubicle, I now look out at an expansive manicured garden as I work from my younger one’s bedroom (and it’s grinning lush green in the rain today). Instead of … More The presence of love
Yesterday I spent the better half of the morning at the passport office, in line to get my daughter’s passport renewed. Having been through my own passport renewal process late last year, I was familiar with the long wait and had taken along a book — my new copy of the ‘Mother’ Mirra Alfassa’s life, … More Beginner’s luck
What is the difference between your experience of Existence and that of a Saint? The saint knows that the spiritual path is a sublime chess game with God and that the Beloved has just made a fantastic move that the saint is now continually tripping over joy and bursting out in Laughter and saying, “I … More Tripping Over Joy
Fitting into a new house is like settling into a new marriage. You adjust to certain ways of the house. The house changes itself for you in others. The bedroom door that doesn’t close properly — you learn to pull it in just the right way so as to solve your purpose with the least … More Home and heart
Today this song from the old film The Great Gambler was playing on the radio on my way home from work: Do lavson ki yeh dil ki kahaani / Ya hai mohobbat, ya hai jawani (The story of this heart has only two words / Either it’s [romantic] love or it’s [lusty] youth) I love … More Dil ki kahaani
100 Paths 