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iFaith

Dear Reader: Today I felt like writing about what religion, faith and belief means to me. Being born in a family which is not particularly religious - we had only 3 festivals that we celebrated: Vinayaka chavati and Diwali & Sankranti. It usually involved quick prayers (for Vinayaka Chaviti) and lots of good food. We used to visit temples once in a while, but for me it was more like submitting my wish list to God for his approval and due action. Morning prayers (Hindu ones) were usually said only before exams (especially those that I was ill prepared for - so mostly all exams) & just before results were due. Attending Timpany school which was started by Canadian Baptist Missionaries ensured that we would have a daily morning sermon followed by a long prayer - emphasizing our spiritual learning for the day followed by the Lord's prayer. I have to admit, I absolutely enjoyed the prayers and kind of missed having that simple connect in the religion that I was born i...
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Psychology behind Why we LIKE the people we do

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Disclaimer:   Despite the lofty title, this article contains the ramblings of an amateur Psychology Enthusiast . Hence please discount those portions of nonsense which might   be unacceptable to you J   I woke up this morning with a simple and interesting (to me) question: Why do we like the people we do? Now,   while I brushed my teeth, there was a swirl of ideas floating in my head: A)      Is it because of their physical appearance? Could we take refuge in the Freudian concept that due to the similarity of their appearance or mannerisms to our primary (parents, favorite nanny or relatives) or secondary care givers (favorite teachers), that we might be pre disposed to liking them? B)       Is it a happy coincidence that their attributes (profession/likes/dislikes/activities) coincide with ours? Do we like people because they are more like us? By the time I was having my masala tea, I was mentally making a ...
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Silence & Solitude

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As   I got up this morning,at the Wipro Guest House in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, I was a very happy woman. I was thrilled to go to a classical concert by Bombay Jaysree this evening (at Ravindra Bharati). Then I had a thought: why dont I use the wine-taster’s technique to enjoy this concert better? For the sake of my tee totaller friends,   this is how the technique works:   the wine taster keeps his palate fairly un diltuted by overpowering tastes so as to be able to fully appreciate the wine that he is tasting. I decided to spend the rest of the day in refreshing silence – no TV, no cell phone, no radio, nothing. Just sheer undiluted Silence interspersed with sounds of birds chirping or the occasional car whizzing past. For those who know me (as friends/acquaintances/family), I am known for my episodes of loquaciousness followed by longer intermittent periods of absolute silence. When I started trying Mounam/Silence as a spiritual practice, few years back...
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