Beloo Mehra's Blog, page 14

Reading Political Speeches – 2

CONTINUED FROM PART 1

Sri Aurobindo, 1909 (Alipore jail)

I became more at ease when I accepted a partly-colonized, partly-decolonized consciousness as part of the modern day educated Indian experience. I felt mentally calm enough to accept that it is part of how I interpret my experience and that of others. But I also realized that this was not the only way to make sense of my own limited understanding. And that there can be a whole other way to understand all of this.

I remembered that som...

Reading Political Speeches – 1

Last week, in honour of the Indian Independence Day, a special article onSri Aurobindo, the revolutionary was shared on our sister blog, Matriwords. This two-part reflective post may be seen as a continuation of that theme. Sri Aurobindo (seated at the centre) presiding a meeting of Nationalists after the Surat Congress (1907). Bal Gangadhar Tilak is also seen in the picture.

May 2006. At my suburban home in the Midwestern United States.

I was stuck in bed with a bad knee injury. For severa...

Of Knots and Freedom

A special post for the special occasion of August 15, the birthday of Sri Aurobindo (15 August, 1872- 5 December, 1950) as well asthe Indian Independence day. A day meant to celebrate the spirit of freedom. The truer, inner freedom.

A post that hopes to remindus of the various knots we tie around and within ourselves. A reminder via some profoundaphoristic words of Sri Aurobindo, and some iconic artworks from several world-renowned modern Indian painters. A reminder to seek our solutions to t...

Being Human (Guest Post)

I am very pleased to share today some of the photographic work of a talented, not-yet-18 young man, who happens to be my nephew. Pranav is a sensitive, introvert and quieter-than-his-(teen)age type of fellow, who sometimes uses poetry and prose to give an expression to his pondering, questioning and reflecting. On other occasions he relies on his camera.

Small animals,oceanand nature are someof Pranav’sfavourite subjects to capture on camera. The photographs selected for this guest post tel...

The Gateway

We both stood still. For a few minutes, we just stood there.

As the evening aarti at the temple was about to begin, we just stood there. Struck.In awe. In silence. At the entrance of this magnificent–no that’s not the right word for it but can’t think of anything else –temple.

This was no ordinary temple. This was something else. That something else whichmade us stop there, right at the entrance of it, could it have been only the externals? No, it can’t be.

It’s notthat the temple isn’t agr...

And So I Wait…

I have nothing to write today. Actually, it has been days since I have written anything. I mean anything that means something. I mean, that which really means something to me, first of all. Yes I have written a few things on the net here and there, a comment on someone’s blog or an article, or a message or two on some online group. But that doesn’t really count as writing. Not to me, at least. It is just a fleeting thought, mostly arisingin the form of a reaction or response to something...

Weeding

Today is World Environment Day. Pretty much everyone who is active on social media – from ordinary folks to politicians, from activists to spiritual leaders – has been busy posting some appropriate picture or message or quote about it. Why we must take care of the environment, how we can do our bit for the environment, etc etc. Plant more trees, respect the rivers, save electricity, consume less, launcha community cleanup drive, etc etc.

All that made me think if I did anything specific today...

Undo

This is the 300th post for this blog.

No celebratory or self-congratulatory words, no ‘looking back’ type of thing, nochalking out ofsomething new for the next hundred.

Only a reminder to un-do somethings. Things that Icarry within, things that becomeunwantedveils inside giving mea murky reflection of my many selves. Things that end up becoming burdens, whose weight Imust let go if Ihave to un-wind.

This postis alsoabout a feeling of gratitude for the inspiration to do a post about ‘un-doing....

Silent Travels

Be a traveler, not a tourist. That’s the latest fad, I hear. Of course, like many other things touted as part of the contemporary lifestyle, this travel bugis also mostlylimited to the urban middle- and upper-middle classes. [Aside: These are mostly sections ofmedia-fed, westernised, modernised India and strangely most of our popular culture is built on the idea of mass-selling their lifestyle choices, because rest of the India perhaps has no ‘lifestyle,’ only life!]

Everybody and everybody’s...

Quit Wallowing in the Mud

Anytime anything goes wrong with our petty little lives, our immediatereaction is to blame someone else. That person didn’t do what he or she should have done. He or she did this wrong toward me. They are the ones who did this to me.

Or we blame something. Circumstances. Life. God.

We begin to question life itself. We start wondering why is lifeso unfair,why is god so unjust, the world is simply unbearable. In our worse moments we even begin to wonder ifsomehow the whole universe has conspir...