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sakhiya hain jaise jheel main khilta hua kamal..

Jul 22 2008 | Views 149 | Comments (20)

MU and Namita have started this beautiful series on flowers. Some fragrant blogs have been ad... Expand

MU and Namita have started this beautiful series on flowers. Some fragrant blogs have been added to enhance the essence of this series.

So here I go and dedicate this blog to two of the most wonderful, vibrant, intellectual , sensitive, beautiful friends, My Utterance and Namita; I have had pleasure to meet in Sulekha

So fulo ke rang se dil ki kalam se main jo yeh likh paati

My love for flowers started an early age when the sight of flowers in any garden would hold me to ground and mum would have to come physically and drag me away from them. Fortunately for mum such occasions were rare being in a metroplolitan city.

My real adventure for thirst of flower got me into a deep trouble when I was 9 years old. We had gone to our village for summer vacation with daadi and dada. When our dhobi came to return clothes he asked my daadi if she would like some kamal for pooja as gaon kaa talaab had lots of them. Till then I had only seen Kamal in photographs and I was feeling on seveth heaven when I heard that I could actually see it in real in talaab. I started cajoling my cousins to visit the pond. It was bit far off on periphery of village and we were strictly told it was out of limit. The urge to see them in real overdrove all the warnings.

One afternoon when both our grandparents were sleeping two of my cousins and me pestered dhobi’s son to take us to talaab.We offered him a bribe of 5 star bar. He was really scared but tempted with the bar so he said he will show us the way and go. We like brave little soldiers agreed.

After taking couple of wrong turns we finally reached the talaaab.There was not a soul in sight due to the summer afternoon heat. I stood there waching the talaab blossoming with kamal flowers. Onc I had seen them the urge to feel and touch them overpowered me. Being typical me I said I am going in to pluck couple of flowers but we will not take them home to avoid any bashing. I was warned by my cousins that talaqab looks real dirty and what if it is deep. But the thirst to reach the flower was so strong that I did not heed any of their warnings. I started prodding in with my eyes only on Kamal. Suddenly my leg slipped and I had to hold onto nearby rock to steady myself. My cousins screamed and asked me to come back. But like a Eklavya my eyes were only on Kamal and I was switched off to the world around me. Without realising I was in chest deep water soaked with mud and all sorts of funny smell plucking first kamal. Suddenly I found my leg caught up in something. I could not move an inch either forward or backward. My leg was caught in one of the nets spread down which had now entrapped my foot. I struggled for five minutes and tears started filling the pond as I could not move an inch. My cousins got real scared and started screaming. I yelled back I can’t move and something has caught my leg and now in few minutes it will swallow me. We had just heard the sheshnaag story of Krishna the night before and I fervently started praying that if it is sheshnaag Krishna should come to my rescue. Rescue did come but in form of gao sarpanch who was passing by and stopped hearing the screams of my cousins. It took them an hour to detangle me and bring me all mud soaked home. By this time our grandparents were really worried as it was almost 6 in the evening. Well I had full on firing and punishment of doing my tables 100 times for a week. (No wonder now I can count them in middle of night also).Also as I had lost my slippers in the pond I was not bought a new pair for a week and had the experience of going around barefooted in summer heat if at all I wanted to go anywhere.

But you know what? I think it was worth all that when I could really touch Kamal….

Kamal has a special place in my life and as I grew older the spiritual association of this flower made it more dearer to me.

Few lines on Lotus

Embedded in dark and surrounded in mud

Mystic white or pink in its colour

Unfolding the divinity and spreading the fragrance

A rare beauty which also has soul

Now little information on kamal(Lotus)

Lotus flowers are beautiful in both appearance and smell. Lotus is symbol of purity. Starting life as a seed, it grows in the muddy darkness at the bottom of a pond. The darkness is like our ignorance - we can't clearly see the truth about life. The seed grows toward the warmth and light of the sun just as humans naturally grow toward the warmth of love and compassion, and toward the light of truth. The mature flower floats on the surface, bathing in the full light of the sun, well 'anchored' but moving freely according to the flow of the water - the changing current of any situation.

The Indian Lotus flower symbolizes divinity, fertility, wealth, knowledge and enlightenment. It is associated with the goddess of wealth, Maha Lakshmi, who brings prosperity, purity and generosity. She sits on a fully blossomed lotus flower, symbolizing purity, beauty and
everything that is good.

Lotus flower: Symbol of Spiritual Unfoldment
By Swami Kriyananda

"We were talking - about the space between us all and the people -
Who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion never glimpsing the truth
Then it's far too late when they pass away.

We were talking - about the love we all could share
When we find it - to try our best to hold it there - with our love
With our love we could save the world - if they only knew

Try to realize it's all within yourself - no-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you.

We were talking - about the love that's gone so cold
And the people who gain the world and lose their soul
They don't know, they can't see - are you one of them?

When you've seen beyond yourself
Then you may find peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see we are all one
And life flows on within you and without you."