Those Matchmakers

One of the Bollywood song says……

Chudiyan banti hai dukano mein
Jodiyan upar aasamano mein

(चूड़ियाँ बनती हैं दुकानों में
जोड़ियाँ ऊपर आसमानों में )

But, there are some places where matchmaking is done. In the Mithilanchal region of Bihar, the 'Saurath Sabha', that is, the fair of brides, has grown from ancient times. This tradition continues even today. The debate over its importance in the modern era has definitely increased.

Saurath Sabha is located on 22 bighas of land in Saurath, Madhubani district. It is also known as 'Sabhagachhi'. Saurath is a name similar to Saurashtra in Gujarat. Like Saurashtra in Gujarat, there is a Somnath temple here, but not so big. The similarity in Saurath and Saurashtra is the subject of research.

In the Mithilanchal region, this fair of Mathil Brahmin grooms takes place for seven to eleven days every year in the month of ashadh , in which the fathers of the daughters pick up the worthy groom and take them with them.

In this meeting, the qualified groom comes with his father and other relatives. The people of the girl side interact with the elders and their families and gather all the information about each other's family and decide the relationship when the groom likes it.

There had been good crowd in the Saurath Assembly till about two decades ago, but now its charm seems to be decaying. Highly qualified grooms do not like to sit in this Saurath Sabha. Today's youth section seems not ready to follow this tradition.

The role of traditional registrars(Panjikars) in Saurath Sabha is important. The relationship that is settled here gives recognition to the registrar. The role of the registrars(Panjikars) is the same that the Magistrate in the Court Marriage

The registrar keeps the genealogy of the groom and the bride side. They match up to the seven generations of the records of marriage of both sides. On seeing the record of both sides, it is confirmed that no marriage has been done in the past seven generations between the two families, then the registrar says, "Get the right!" That is, there is no blood connection before, so there is no harm in establishing a relationship.

Maithil Brahmins started this practice in about 1310 AD about 700 years ago, so that marriage relations can be settled between good clans. About 1.5 lakh people visited in Saurath Sabha in 1971. In 1991, nearly fifty thousand people had come, but now the number of visitors has decreased significantly.

There are some scientific reasons behind this kind of fair. Doctors also advise not to marry in the same blood group. Perhaps this is the reason why Maithil Brahmins do not marry in the same clan and origin. They believe that the best of the offspring is to marry children in different clans.

Finding a suitable groom for daughter was a difficult task earlier, so all the Brahmins of Mithilanchal came to Saurath Sabha to find a groom.

Now, the people are also living in different states and they get suitable grooms there too. If the boys and girls are well educated, they make a decision by own, they do not have to come Saurath Sabha. Yet, there are people who come here to verify the record and registering the marriage.

In Mithilanchal, since the ancient times, an annual meeting of the bride-groom's parents and relatives has been put in place during the auspicious time for proper settlement of marital relations. The aim of the Saurath Sabha was to stop marriage of celibacy, to eradicate dowry and provide confirmation of marriage keeping various aspects of both the sides of the bride and groom.

The positive outcome of this tradition is that the marriage institution in Mithila has always been in a strong position and the intensity of social relations remains intact. Nowadays, considering the rising cases of divorce, its significance can be understood.

It is true that people are becoming disillusioned with this meeting now. Its main reason may be changing social lives, values, latest education and loosing importance of their customs and traditions.

Animals predict death

It is widely believed that Dogs can sense death beforehand. The famous novelist Thomas Hardy had a pet dog Wessex.The dog was very fond of Hardy’s friend William Watkins. 

One evening when Watkins appeared Wessex, instead of greeting him with his usual enthusiasm greeted him with whines. The dog followed the man to Hardy’s study where Wessex kept up a continuous whining. Several times, 

Wessex put his paw on Watkin’s hand only to withdraw it.

Both the man were puzzled. They examined him fully to find any possible injury.The dog was physically fine.The next morning Hardy got the news of Watkin’s death.

Dogs’ premonitions have saved many a life. Redsey, a bitch loved to go fishing on a boat with her master Mr. Montgomery. One morning in 1938 her master prepared a boat for a fishing trip.When called Redsey refused to get in. Ignoring all his persuations and even his commands she stood on the deck and barked continuously. 

Mr. Montgomery gave up the trip though the sky was clear. Soon he thanked Redesy. Within a hour a great hurricane stuck the area and hundreds of people lost their lives.

It is a common belief that telepathy is easy between two beings who have deep emotional tie. The author of ‘Your pet’s Secret Language’ John Robbins reports a case of a women who while at work suddenly thought of her dog.

Simultaneously she experienced an intense fear.She left whatever she was doing and rushed home. She found her dog entangled in a rope and slowly choking to death.

It has been seen that very often Pigs run away and hide just a day before they are to be caught for slaughtering. They return only after the pig catchers have given up the search.

Amazing animals2

Lobsang Rampa was the pen name of an author Cyril Henery Hoskin who wrote as many as 18 books on paranormal and occult themes. He claimed that his body hosted the spirit of a Tibetan lama going by the name of Tuesday Lobsang Rampa,who is purported to have authored the books.The name relates to a claim according to  his famous book “The Third Eye” that the Tibetans are named after the day of the week on which they were born.

He dedicated one of his book “Living with the Lama” to his pet Siamese Cat,Mrs. Fifi Greywhiskers. He says, ’Cleopatra and Tedalinka,the most intelleligent Siamese cats have shown great understanding and sympathy. Don’t ever say her ’dumb animals’. Thaese are intelligent and civilized.

Once one of his cat was banished to their local bazaar. The cat used to visit their neighbours one by one till she could steal atleast one fish,coocked or uncoocked. She would never come home with the loot. Punishing animals several hours after the event was of no use.So she always went scot-free.

Fed up with complaints, he decided to leave her in a local fish market which was mile away.The cat was placed in a cloth bag and the bag’s mouth was tied.A neighbourhood boy with a cycle was summoned and was asked to deport the mewing cat,which he did.

Four nights later, the cat was back. There were more surprises. The cat no longer stole fish or other items to eat. When other cats snatched away her food she just looked on in a benign manner.

Our own home can be a laboratory to study animals, especially domestic. We can observe them easily. Only if we humans learnt to treat animals as our equal we could learn much, not only about them but about ourselves too.

Amazing animals

Like human being all animals have psychic powers. In some it is developed and in some it is dormant. Domestic animals being closest to us are easier to observe. Famous controversial writer Lobsang Rampa has illustrated some examples.

Frau Moekel was a German housewife.One evening she was helping her child with mathematics. The child could not add 122 and 2.To put her to shame Frau Moekel asked Rolf, their dog how much is two plus two. When Rolf tapped his paw four times, Fau was flabbergasted. Recovering, she asked again how much is five plus five and got the correct answer.

Soon Rolf was extracting square roots. His mistress taught him German alphabets. Within a short time he could communicate by signaling the letters of alphabets with his paw. Rolf and Frau Moekel travelled widely giving public demonstrations. He was tested by top scientists. Rolf could identify flowers in a bouquet presented to him.

Once when asked the meaning of autumn he answered, ”Time for apples”.He could be naughty too. When asked by a lady secretary of a psychologist if there was anything that she could do for him Rolf answered, ”Wag your tail.”

Rolf’s abilities were passed on to his daughter Lola was owned by a lady named Henny Kindermann. Initially Lola was slow to learn but later turned out to be a superb scholar. She learnt to signal numbers using her paws. She used the decimal system by tapping with her left paw to indicate tens and right paw to show units. Lola even learnt to read.

Once Lola disappeared for some time. When asked about it she said she went to the “woods to “marry”. She even correctly predicted how many puppies she would have. She began to refer to herself as “I” rather than “Lola” as before. When asked if she would like to become a human being she replied in the negative. Her reason – people worked too hard. When asked by her mistress “Do you belong to me Lola?” she answered “No”, that belonged to myself.

The Old Banyan Tree

The old Banyan Tree

In my village

Fell with a thundering noise.

People ran helter-shelter

many made a profit

And to many it saved

a month’s fuel

that was all.

The greatest Banyan tree

Of the country

The Mahatma

fell or rather was felled

it was 1948

that was not at all.

Till date

 his burnt-up limbs

are used and reused as fuel

 in all our politician’s career

to keep alive their cooking flame

A proverb comes here :

“Dead or alive

An elephant is worth

A thousand gold sovereigns.”

My Vision

The obscure sky shadows 

My reckless efforts 

And  I stumble again 

Hitting against the 

Hard rock of fate 

The wound is raw

The heart broken 

Yet I gather each fragment 

with much care and solicitude

in case a tear may block my vision 

Winter Sky

Not a leaf stirred

winter sky standing still

in an unbearable silence

like the burdened soul.

Distant thunder

threatening to unleash

the torrential 

downpour,any moment.

How will  I face you

after years of placidity,desolation

I am so used to

my limits of solitude

your domain

spreading to eternity

so much freedom,so much space.

I feel lost

like desperate hands grappling

with uncontrollable waves

of the vast turbulant ocean

and time stood still 

like the overcast winter sky.

Books and Me

When I fell in love with books

fell madly, passionately in love,

you didn’t tell me that

I can’t live without books.

When you made the introductions

that I was committed

to the little kitchen set

in my toy trunk

that it was only

a matter of our

growing up.

Now that I blame you,

but it’s just that

bookcases don’t fit in kitchens

and

it’s a long walk to the library.

Besides,

who doesn’t know that

love and loyalty

can be tiring,

tearing,

when they are different.

A Childish Desire

Often a childish desire

Comes to my mind

Alas! It may be  

much  pleasant

If we could delay childhood

for some  years!

Parents rather think

 their children

 grow up

and take some breath

of their responsibilities.

I remember of

my twin nieces

Whenever I visit her

Fell asleep

After, a tired journey

They, played with my hairs 
putting rubber in it
extend their imagination
to the next gen arts

I rather try to hide my face.

Imagination

where comes

to these kids

why not to the elders

I surprise often.

Had god given wings

to the kids

Flying in the distant sky

they rather realize
Sky is not limit.

Thinking

                                                                 The more I think

The less I act,

thinking is coeval with action

and coterminous with inaction.

I always think, but never

consistently,

for  consistency is the fruit of

clearsightedness.

I know thought engenders thought,

but can I fathom my mind

which is a well of thought,

a bottomless pit?

I always overthink –

A streak of Hamlet, perhaps.

The more I learn to think,

I forget what I thought.

It is a vortex from which

Perhaps no traveller returned.

Pebble and Life

As I walking on the
Beach one day,

I looked down,

A pebble was staring 
back at me.

It was lying on the beach

Amidst a group,

Yet all alone,

Not knowing,

Where its destiny lay.

Not knowing

Whether it would be

picked up,

Or trodden upon

So uncertain.

And I suddenly

thought to myself,

 Isn’t that exactly

What the life is?

Tell me a story

Story telling is an art-whether it’s the sort of tale you tell your wife when you come creeping in the morning, or the kind that puts junior to sleep at night. If you can spin a yarn that hold the attention of your audience , regardless of age and bent of mind, you may count yourself among the chosen few.

Those parents who are endowed with the art of telling enthralling tales to their children, find it an invaluable sugarcoating with pleasant tasks, such as putting junior to bed or washing his hair. And telling the story provides an even stronger link between parents and child than just reading a story can forge.

The habit of story-telling, in particular has grown into a nightly bed-time custom. Once young sunny  is tucked in, his father stretches out on the bed beside him, turns out the light, and out of thin air concocts his story about the imaginary people he has created for his child’s benefit.

Telling a story also gives the father a chance to impart some actual knowledge ,as well as nonsense. And, above all, the father feels that his innocent tales are a relief from the horror tales in comics, and, actually, even in some of our well known fairy tales.

Story-telling is an old art. In ancient times we find the Greeks and Romans with their great amphitheaters. At these large gatherings were professional story-tellers, whose words were more vividly impressed upon the minds of the listeners by means of actors in pantomime.

“When reading a story, you are tied down to the author’s words and thus are attempting to assume his personality. You are really not ‘feeling’ the story. You are unable to watch the facial expressions of the audience”.

By telling the story you can adapt the same story to many different types of audience and to suit their moods. You have the writer’s thought and ideas in your mind, but you are able to give the author’s main ideas plus convey in part something of your own personality.

There are a few little ticks of technique that a good story- teller uses whether consciously or unconsciously. A pause, judiciously employed, is one of the most important .It gives the mind time to grasp a new idea, allows the  listener to assimilate what has gone before, gives emphasis and arouses suspense.

Gestures are good , but be careful not to overdo it. Mimicry, if you are capable of it ,is very good especially with younger children. To secure the attention of your audience ,use a striking beginning, which will enlist their interest right from the start.

Stories have both educational and emotional value. Stories are childhood’s form of expressions and it is through stories that the child’s mind is developed.

Stories give a child a better insight into human emotion. Stories stimulate and direct literary pursuits. A good instance of their emotional value is the development of sympathy towards animals. Stories may also be used to encourage respect for, and care of, elderly people.

Precocity and Genius

Genius is often precocious. Precocious originality is one of the characteristics of genius, many philosophers affirm that genius consists in an exaggerated development of one faculty at the expense of others.

Dante, when nine years old, wrote a sonnet to Beatrice, Tasso wrote verses at Ten. Pascal and Comte were great thinkers at the age of 13,Fornier at 15,Niebubr at seven. Goethe wrote a story in seven languages when was only at ten.

Victor Hugo composed at 15.Moore translated Anacreon at 13.Mayerbeer,at 5,played on the piano.

Delay in the development of genius may be explained by the absence of circumstances favourable to its bloosming, and by the ignorance of teachers and parents who see mental obtuisity, even idiocy, where there is only the distraction of genius.

Many children who became great men have been regarded at school as bad, but their intelligence soon manifested itself. Gustav Flaubert was the very opposite of a phenomenal child. It was with extreme difficulty that he succeeded in learning to read.

Many eminent men who were acclaimed in later life for their genius were backward in their scholastic career. Einstein himself was considered a poor student in school and failed in the entrance examination for the polytechnicum in Zurich. 

Maharshi  Aurobindo,the spiritual giant could not speak fluent English at the age of 12.

Education, however indispensable in a cultivated age, produces nothing on the side of genius. Where education ends, genius often begins. Gray was asked if he recollected when he first felt that the strong predilection to poetry. He replied that “he believed it was when he began to read Virgil for his own amusement and not in school hours as a task”.

Nevertheless, going through the life span of many eminent persons, who influenced the world, it was rightly said that that the child is the father of man, nothing could be truer than in the case of the genius.

My Longings

I write my longings

on the river every noon

When I bathe

And they snake to the sea

only to be tossed about

and broken by

the shattering waves

Every morning as I stroll

I write my longings

on the clear blue of the sky

but soon the blanket of darkness

hides them

And with the break of dawn

the letters melt and drip down

in the sun’s heat

But I don’t write my longings

on the walls of the mind

in the night

in a moment’s drama of dreams

enacted on the mind’s walls

I see my fulfillments

all celebrities

of a king

attend on me.

Long spring is over

Yes, summer has come without

The apology of a tomorrow

The summer has torn out

The remnants of my mind.

Bitter youth is

The bitterest wine ever

How can I forget that

The long spring is over?

I had named you spring and

Serenity

Like a new faith you had come and

Eased

The old bitterness out of me.

In my tomorrows I had planned

A little bit of you

In my yesterdays I had hoped

To drape a veil over

The sadness of youth in exile.

When the birds wing joyfully across

The skies

And trees move their leaves

To the rhythm of the breeze

And children go out to play early

Most afternoons

I will remember

I will remember that

The long spring is over

And you won’t be here to share

another

With me.

Hopes and Expectations

Faith is one of the most significant aspects of human existence, both when it is given and when it is received. The knowledge that someone expects the best from us works wonders in our lives.

We give our best when the best is expected of us. When we realize that someone has high hopes in us and the faith that we are capable of high performance, we tend to fulfill their hopes.

If the high expectations others have in us to realize them, it is also true in the case of negative behavior. The undesirable behavior of many children may be the result of the expectations by parents, teachers and class mates that they will behave in that manner.

The expectations of people significant to us is communicated to us in diverse ways, often quite unwittingly through a smile, a nod, their tone of voice, posture, facial expressions and so on. These tend to change our belief in ourselves and encourage us to do better.

If someone expects to behave in a friendly manner towards him, we do not become hostile. We do not behave harshly towards someone who believes we are kind and gentle. We tend to be helpful towards someone who we know expects our help and counts on our helpfulness.

We make our lives successful because there are people who believe in us and set us on the road to confident achievement. They often do that even before we are capable of consciously believing in ourselves. If we esteem ourselves, it is because others have esteemed us first. The great gift a person who loves us can give to us is to have faith in us.

From early childhood we grow because of the love we receive from others at a time we are only capable of receiving. Whether we like or not, we are dependent on other people who are important in our lives and who make us grow by the faith they response in us. We are trusting and trustworthy because others have trusted us first. We become lovable because others have loved us and made us lovable.

It is a common experience that those who love us bring out the best in us. We respond to their love in ways that promote our own growth. Our splendid dreams in life, our hidden talents and noble aspirations blossom in the sunshine of the warmth and acceptance that others offer us.

The love and acceptance given to people who need it for their growth, is not wasted. There are so many us in whose lives there is at least one person to whom we attribute a key role in our success drama. We can tell them that we are successful because they thought that we could be.

The Gushing Fountain

I walked up to the park

To see the reality that was stark

With a beautiful scenery

And a hallucinating perfume

I saw the birds flying in the sky

The sky was reddish white

And the sun was overpowered

By the dark clouds

The sun’s light faded out

It was the reign of

The black king

I saw the ants working

Slowly and steadily

I felt a wave of triumph

I had a way to success

I saw the fountain gushing

I felt a new one gushing

In my heart.

Someone waits for you

The feeling that someone is waiting for us can work miracles in our lives. We all need someone to wait for us. When you return home from a long and difficult journey, you are happy at the thought your family and your friends will be waiting for your arrival. You want to share your experiences of pain, hardships and exhilaration with someone who stayed home and awaiting your return.

The soldier who is posted in difficult boarder areas and in constant danger, keeps his mental and physical health intact in spite of serious threats to both because, he knows his wife and children and all his friends are waiting for him.

One spouse wait for the other to return home after a long span of time engaged in his duties.An elderly father and mother wait for their son to come from a faraway place before they give up the struggle and die. Their waiting gives them life and hope.

We are fortunate if there is at least one person waiting for us. That awareness gives joy in living and a fresh lease of life when there seems to be no other reason to carry on.

Thousands of people give up hope and commit suicide or just fade away and die because there is no one to light up their lives. They do not know of anyone waiting for them. So then it hardly matters if they have a tomorrow or not.

Waiting, of course is not limited to a brief period of time. It may span many years of one’s life. It may be for someone to change his ways and grow. Perhaps the most beautiful example of waiting is parents waiting hopefully for their children to grow.

They watch them as they grow, confident that the little ones will one day become big. They know they can trust their children to grow in their own ways and that they need not be overprotected and insured against all insecurities. They know that their children’s lives and their hope in them will blossom to their fullness and their waiting will not be futile.

If our waiting for others can produce dramatic and lasting results, we have considerable power for good in the lives of others. We can make gratitude to those who have loved us and waited for us that we in turn can wait for others and promote their growth and well-being.

In Search of

I saw two men

scanning a garbage tin

Listless

they seemed

like aimless wanderers

exploring

a mad dream.

Enquired one,

“What do you search?”

Replied the other

“Nothing…..

just looked for

half-burnt slices of life”.

“And you?”

“Me……

The man was hesitant

but then

he mumbled slowly,

“Friend…..

I am in search

of my identity.

Elusive Peace

Here you will find

the elusive peace

your mind wanders

your spirit is restful

Take the cue

count your 
worry beads

a statue

a case of roses

the hollow sound

of song and ceremony

mere echoes of

forgotten memories

when prayer was heard

Remember again

cross your breast

make a pray
you will find
extreme peace