Events over the past few weeks…

I know I have been off the blogging circuit for a while now. Well, life has been moving super-fast, I have been daunted by some of the tasks that I have taken up, been bubbly and squashed in turns… and everything goes on, as it always does. When there is any seemingly big change/happening in our lives, it takes precedence over everything (and everyone). When we’re over it, we realize that nothing much was affected when we were gone. No one actually missed us… it is a humbling realization – that we are not indidpensible at all. After that sobering thought, let me tell you guys – what’s up?

I joined a new job (did I mention that earlier?) and the workplace is MUCH farther than the old one. The work is really interesting and I find a great scope for learning here. Well, the scope for learning exists everywhere but what matters is if you would like to learn or not. I find that, in this place, I REALLY want to learn more… and that is a beautiful thing for me since I have long struggled to find that desire in me when it comes to work. On to workplace commute woes – there is no sight sadder than miles and miles of cars moving between 0-10 miles an hour.. and what is saddest is that each car has a single occupant. I call this a colossal waste of gas. A 14-mile commute takes more than 40 minutes for me – and nearly the same or more on the way back home. Millions of people curse the Atlanta public transport system (or the lack of it, more precisely) but scant has been done with regard to it. People still spend hours cooped up in their sedans and coupes, on interstate highways, inner city roads, what have you. Atlanta has the busiest interstate in all of USA – the famed I-75 that has 11 lanes – phew! But all of them get jammed and when that happens, the traffic spills on to the inner roads… and the sad cycle continues.

I battled this situation for a long time by rising at unearthly hours and getting to work in darkness – just to beat the office traffic. Bah, I could hardly carry that on for more than 2 weeks and exhaustion hit me… falling asleep at work, missing my morning Kriya plus breakfast, fatigue – I accepted the situation and am now rising at a less unearthly hour, getting some breakfast before I leave… and getting home a bit later. Ah, the pains of commuting to work but I have barely anything to complain about. My li’l sister spends double the time (or more) getting to work and back and she has none of the luxuries that I have -an air-conditioned car, good roads, fast moving traffic (at most times except some awful patches). Well, enough griping about workplace commute!

Art of Living is growing by leaps and bounds in the USA. Huge courses are being conducted in many cities, senior teachers are coming from India to teach courses, the volunteer base is expanding. So, what are you waiting for? Do the course and join the most exciting, dynamic and fun-filled journey you’ll ever undertake ever… 🙂 The fellow passengers are the brightest of the breed, there are constant opportunities for growth, learning, meeting new people… and most importantly, here is the chance to meet Gurudev His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. A spiritual master of such brilliance and wisdom that the world has not seen in a very long time… words fail to describe Him. Suffices to say that there is none like Him today… and that I have never met anyone as WONDERFUL as Him… 🙂

I’ll sign off with one of my favourite pictures from this India trip. It is one of Pinch walking into the sea at Pondicherry.