Petals!

Bye bye 2012. I am grateful to Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba , my beloved lord, guru and best friend, for all His love and blessings throughout the year. I offer my humble pranams  to Bhagawan for His love, constant presence and protection in my life and for my family members. I am equally grateful to you, Bhagawan, for the wonderful friends you have brought into my life at the right time and the many ways in which you are taking care of me and my family. The year 2o12 also marks my 25th year at the lotus feet of Bhagawan Baba.  Bye bye 2012, Welcome 2013 Many things make 2012 one of the happiest years in my personal life. My husband's law firm Axess Legal Corp opened its second office at Lajpat Nagar in May 2012.  This is also the year I visited many new places that I hadn't visited before: Ooty, Gavi, Coonoor, Manali, Pune, Hrishikesh, Haridwar. These trips are far more precious and priceless to me because those I love and respect and revere were with ...

Six years ago, I began to blog on ‘Petals’ with no idea about what blogging was all about. My only reason for blogging was to document the little milestones, the highs and the lows of an ordinary woman’s life, in a way that perhaps decades later, my son would be able to read and understand about the person that his mother was and struggled to be. My son’s journey into my heart would probably tell him more about who his mother was as a person and as a spiritual seeker than as a mother – which is truthfully a very miniscule part of me. At some point of time, my writings would also convey to him how deeply his mother cared and loved him even when she had to leave him when he was just three months old to get back to work. It may tell him about a mother’s inner conflicts, her core beliefs and her little joys in ways that he may not have known about her directly as her son. This is the reason I began to blog – to share my world with him, to leave a trace of myself for my son and his...

Most people do not understand the importance of chanting the Gayatri mantra because they are not aware of its power. It is only when I began to read Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's teachings that I learned how sacred and powerful the chanting of the Gayatri mantra is.    The Vedas represent the breath of God. The Gayatri mantra is the very basis of the Vedas. Try not to undertake chanting the Gayatri mantra as a light endeavor or as a hobby. It has to be chanted with faith, discipline and purity of mind and body. Be steady with your sadhana if you want to reap the spiritual dividend associated with the Gayatri mantra  and never once hesitate once you decide to do it.  Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba said that the Gayatri Mantra is referred to as Pancha Mukhi, the Goddess with five faces that represent the five pranas or life forces. Here's more on it. .  Also read: The Power of OM   Chant the Gayatri Mantra correctly: Pause Five Times Here a...

The ‘Talaash’ movie reviews that I read across various sites disappointed me and discouraged me from going to watch the film. But let me share a delicious secret with you: Whenever reviews badly thrash a movie, I make it a point to watch it in the theatres. Most of the time, I actually like those movies because they are different. 2012’s best movie is not ‘Talaash’ but it is definitely one of the best and most impressive performances put forward by all of the three main leading actors namely, Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Kareena Kapoor. Credit goes to Reema Katgi’s direction and Zoya Akhtar’s script. Cheers to them – because good performances are what film goers look for when they spend their precious time in a theatre.  Talaash story: Murder on the Surface, Guilt sinks deep   The story of Talaash begins like this: Superstar Armaan Kapoor’s car nose dives into the sea in Mumbai. Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat (starring Aamir Khan) is investigating the case. Wh...