Shivratri

The natural 'shivlinga' that formed several years ago in Amarnath.



Once in a while, we have days which are less significant than the night. This is one of those days and the night is known as 'Shivratri'. For the readers that may not be aware of this event, this is a night celebrated by most Hindus. This night has a story that is connected very deeply.

Firstly, let me explain the name of the night. The term 'Shivratri' can be broken down further to two words in Sanskrit, 'Shiv' and 'ratri'. Shiv is the name of a god that we, Hindus believe in. As for the term 'ratri', it interprets to mean night.

Therefore, shivratri is an event celebrated for the duration of the entire night by worshipping the lord. Now, for the legend, the legend revolves around a character who goes through a transformation. Before I begin the story, I'd like to say that I do not know all ends and details about this story and I do not know a lot about it because it IS only a legend and the specific details of the story have been scattered among various people who have told this story and as it has passed on through time.

There is a Hindu man who is unemployed and wants to have a source of income to feed his family or at least his children whom he has not been able to feed for several days. The man decides to become a hunter or a poacher and gain some money to feed his family. He visits a forest in the evening and searches for an animal that he can hunt. The forest becomes darker as time passes by, the foliage filters out the light as well. So, the man decides to climb a tree and search for an animal from the high point where he can spot an animal from a long distance as well. (It was almost as if he were in a sniping point as we may understand with newer technologies and strategies.)

He stayed up on the tree for the whole night and he didn't notice that when he was waiting, he was picking leaves of 'bili'. A specific type of leaves that are associated with Lord Shiva and offered during and after every time we pray the lord. He was picking them and dropping them... He kept repeating the action, he did it unintentionally but he continued to carry out the act to keep himself awake and ready for his strike! When he had climbed up, he had not noticed what was beside the foot of the tree, he had not even realized what tree it was.

He had climbed a tree of the 'bili' leaves, and the villagers living around the forest used this tree as their religious gathering location to pray to Lord Shiva. The reason to this was because, naturally there was a 'shivlinga' that had formed over the years under this specific tree. The 'pardhi', a term in Gujarati for hunters or poachers was unaware of the shivlinga and fortuitously the leaves that he had offered to the ground had all landed upon the shivlinga.

The man was a Hindu as we mentioned earlier and had strong faith in Lord Shiva and especially now that the night had grown darker and he prayed to Lord Shiva in his mind, to keep him safe so he could help his wife and children. The activity lasted for the duration of the entire night and the man had fallen asleep on the tree branch and he ended up just sitting there until in the near morning, when he woke up, he thought he was dreaming, but he was not. He saw a source of bright light, force, energy, positive aura approaching him. It was Lord Shiva himself, he was pleased with the worshipping that the man had done. Lord Shiva granted him his wishes and helped his poor family as well. Lord Shiva helped him at such extent that during the night, he diverted the man's thoughts and he did not kill any innocent animal that did not deserve its death to be enforced onto it. He diverted his thoughts and allowed him to concentrate. Concentrate to help himself and humans around him.

I do not know how others percieve this story, but all I can and have derived from this story is about the character of Lord Shiva. Many believe that this night is very auspicious and we should pray to Him today and gain 'ashish' or 'aashirwad' from him, but I do not know if that is the case here. I believe if you really feel strong faith about anything, do not wait for an auspicious day, start working for it. There is a saying, "Time and Tide waits for no man". So, why shall we wait for the 'right' time? You can conduct the religious practice any day you want, any night if you prefer? God does not lay out ways to reach the destination, I believe he shows you a glimpse of your destination, when you are ready and worthy, and he leaves the rest in your hands.

Another perception of this story is the how some think that they know the nature of Lord Shiva. This lord has well over a thousand names and I must say all of them are applicable to Him. The names of Hindu gods are given upon their qualities. If they are graceful, centre of brilliance, intellect, wealth, e.t.c. Shivji is known for his quality of being very kind, he gets impressed upon the feelings you show for Him. He is what we call 'bhole' which fairly means naive or innocent.

To all my Hindu friends, I would like to say, take some time and worship today with an excuse to help our own and other's futures.
Love and regards,

Devarsh Pandya

Resistance Day

Waking up early once again to a wonderful new day and found myself a fresh new sheet of snow, glowing with the incandescent street lights and giving a majestic night feel even in the early morning when most expect to see a sunrise with a blinding golden glare and inconsiderable amount of activity on the streets as people and cars slowly stir the image and daylight becomes dominant and takes over darkness.

The day at school started with a late start as our school has a tradition of a late start on Wednesdays. This allowed me to spare some time and complete my work with greater efficiency and better quality. However, the day looked more to be grim and overfolwing with grief around me. Many friends were raged and furious about things that they were discontent with. Some teachers were at reason and some students for teachers.

The time seemed to speed away with swiftness and haste, the afternoon rolled by and we were back in English class for our daily dose of critical thinking and we analysed some articles from the 'Toronto Star'. We were advised to take home yesterday's volume and find an article from any page or section and write something about the article as to what it was written about? What was the message the author attempted to convey to the readers? Why was it so significant to us? Why should others be interested in this issue?

I chose an article targeted on the war in Afghanistan. The war against the Taliban, or the war against terror as many believe. The article was interesting and it raised many points as to was it a real cause that they were fighting? Or is it some sort of investement that the superpowers are making to silence them. In the world's eyes, portray them as rebels and in the progression, win their consent over important issues that need resolving. The resolutions may not be in their interest but they would be subjugated and would be reason to manipulated history that would be unfolding.

I believed that everyone should be intrigued by this issue and/or subject. We are all connected to it, indirectly. We have very little say in the final decisions but our acts will defy that. If you feel something that is being carried out is unjust towards someone/thing/group, you may express yourself with speech that is defiant to authority. However, the issue at hand is very sensitive and quite volatile. The issue must be handled carefully, thinking of all possible outcomes as well. I believe no country should be in a position to declare 'war'. Many have learned this bit of bitter truth the hard way involving blood, money and humiliation of not just one leader or group but the entire country must suffer the repercussions and will be judged for the future.

The day wasn't one of the brightest, but the resistance and rage that I felt during the day teaches many things to me personally. My father always tells me "There are three types of learners. The first type who learn from their mistakes. The second, who learn from someone else's mistakes and the final category which consists of people who are destined to repeat their mistakes again and again!" I try to keep this in mind and just move on to meet the challenges ahead that wait for me to reach my destination and find my treasure! In short, today was not one of the days that I particularly enjoyed but there was plenty that I can try to remember and learn and imbibe from for my future!

I hope YOU have a good day,
and night,

Devarsh Pandya

Complicationz and Applicationz

Today the morning began as usual at 4:50 a.m. Many of us may think that this is a rather early start to the day but I remember one of my favourite passages with a poem that connects well with the situation. "The day started early as always. Somewhere my father’s words haunt me. He rose early every day and after his morning formalities would set off on his morning walk, waking me up to study. If i dithered he would recite in Sanskrit -“Suryodaya chya ast maye, chasha enam,Jahaati lakshmi, rapi chakra vartinam”Surya uday hone ke baad aur asth hone se pahle, jo insaan sota hai, uski lakshmi chali jaati hai chahe woh chakravarti raja hi kyun na ho.After the sun has risen and before it sets, the one that sleeps, shall loose all his wealth even if he is a wealthy and devout Raja or King". This passage is taken from one of Shri Amitabh Bachchan's blogs.

Another successfull inspirer in my eyes is the current president of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama. I read a little about him as well and learned about his early mornings since an early age. The same routine to become a better student, and somewhere along the timeline, a better human being in the making and now the world recoginizes the capabilities and the true intellect that resides within.

Today, during school, I was talking with some friends and we hopped on to a topic of lying. It was interesting to see the various perspectives once again among these friends. The group only consisted of males but female insight on this issue would definetly have moulded our discussion in a different angle. We discussed honest personalities and also the 'lying' population. Can you have a mix of these two and have a honest liar? Maybe a person who utters the lie and then feels and thinks about what he has done and asks for another chance to change.

During the day, a teacher also surprised me with her presentation today talking about a little synopsis about biology. How it runs through us, what we actually understand about it and what we think we do not imbibe from it? We talked about health of a human. This is influenced by a lot of activities that you indulge yourself into. She stressed the importance on diets for this specific generation. We are experiencing a lot as aftershocks due to diets. Obesity, and other disease and health issues such as heart attacks and diabetes and the worst of them all I thought, Cancer!

When the word 'health' pops around, we immediately think about our body and our physical capabilities. It is very normal human behaviour to think so but we also learn that health extends and covers mental balance of a person, and emotional health as well. Are you happy? Are you happy with your surroundings? people? friends? how people percieve you? how they judge you? At some extent, it makes an impact on everyone. No matter how much we dislike or dispise the form of response we recieve from people (which we may like or not). This gets us into psychology of the teenage population. We will discuss that some other time in greater depths and details that we may want to discover.

The biology presentation also touched on some questions. A really interesting three worded question that made me think really deeply. The question is: Who are you? It is so simple to write the three worded question or to articulate the question to someone. However, when you are asked the same question, it makes me think for a while. It's amazing how commonly most of us imagine this question to be related to socializing or we would answer it with our name, what we do and so on... I, for one never thought that this question could be related to a subject matter like biology. Interesting that we can say answer it with other common properties of our skin tone, heritage, culture, our occupation or as a student our progress. But really, can we answer this question truthfully, can we even answer to ourselves as to who we really are?

In another science course, we were discussing what physics really is. We all took our guesses and knowledge in to account and tried to think for a minute as to what it really is. We tried to say, is it the study where we learn from nature and think about relationships between forces. Not really, there was a simpler summariztion that was available through just one word! Energy! It surprised me, physics and energy. As you think about it further and in depth, we can make sense of it as to how energy becomes dominant in this study. Energy can be reason to motion, light, nuclear energy for various uses, thermodynamics and even acoustics. I can actually say that my teacher is a master of this form of science. He obviously understands it but also knows how to preach it, preach it properly to our generation?!?! I would consider that an achievement because the world is constantly changing, this influences a lot of things and people. One of the target things it influences and indulges is teenagers. Therefore, teaching and teaching properly is a very challenging task at this point in time.

After class, my mind still revolved around that one word, energy! Energy! ENERGY! I thought about it in my own personal context, I am a fairly religious person so I thought about it in a cultural or religious perspective and I wondered, what about the energy from within? The energy that has capabilities to influence your every decision, your thoughts, your behaviour, your success and even your failures? The energy that you can exercise through meditation! I reached the point where I considered that this energy is actually quite prominent and momentous. This is when I also thought that having a faith in a religion could really motivate people. However, I have many friends that are atheists and do an amazing job of enforcing work onto themselves to finish it when you are required to. Think about it, does culture or religion differ you from others on academic levels?

After lunch, we attended my english class and we were discussing learning strategies and how we percieve and/or think about our successes and failures alike. Some feminine vs. masculine critical thinking involved again. We talked about how we really influence learning through our perception of a course or learning matter. Earlier in one of my posts I discussed the prominent factors that lead a student in enjoying and excelling in any course. This factors were revisited and this topic actually acts as the cross-section of the venn diagram on the two genders' thinking. It's interesting, what motivates you to enjoy or excel in a class or any activity? (Job, Volunteering, e.t.c)

I think this will be my endnote as I would like to wish my friend Janany, a very happy birthday.
the young writer,

Devarsh Pandya

It's a new day.

Today was a terribly chilly morning with some gusty winds as well. It became even more hectic and busy as I realized I had promised my friend that I would come early to review for our math test. For the first time in my life, I felt guilty and conscience-stricken that I did not study hard enough for this test. It's not the best feeling, I wouldn't want to experience it again ! Ha Ha !!

The day followed by a 'pleagiarizm' workshop and how to do carefull and high-level/detailed note taking, paraphrasing and citations. Then, period three came along with Mr. Maunder and we all had a few laughs at his unique perspective towards teenage behaviours and our generations views on specific subjects. The phenomenal thing about him as a teacher is that he really tries to keep varied resources available for the students and analyses them heavily on their critical thinking skills. He definetly mentions a few hinted words in public about you if you fail to follow instructions but that the price you just have to pay :)

Some other fantastic occurences that really amused me were those involving friends. I discovered in greater detail about some of them, their likes, dislikes and some guidance that we give eachother regarding important subjects relating to life. Important phases of life like when you go through relationships, perspectives of males vs. females. The wide spectrum of reactions of the two genders upon unfolding of new circumstances that bind you and your partner.

There are some people who react with full awareness of how they will be judged, conceivably because they are judgemental themselves? I do not know the entire truth, what do you think, its interesting? Some choose to act as they feel from within, they show nothing but their real side to the world and to everyone, the difference is some know a little about that person and some know more than others.

Another intriguing subject I discussed today was about life and death. I casually asked my parents whether they believed it was true that a person can see their life in a flashback moments before they are claimed! They had different views on the matter. Some people who may agree with my father's thinking may suggest that there is really no true way of finding out but, no! There is no time gap that allows people to see this flashback because their physical abilities are very minimal at this point and even as humans, we cannot recollect the memories as clearly. Ask yourself, will you be able to remember the memories of today as clearly in the next 50 or 60 years? My answer is probably not, but maybe you can recollect some important bits that transformed your life or shaped you as a person.

However, my mother's thoughts differ and that is completely in order and it is respected. She is quite religious and according to many hindu mythologies and written text, it suggests that when humans end their mortal life and move on, they seem to see the past because that is all that they can recollect. They cannot really think or say anything about the future now because it will be completely different and the body and soul will separate and you will experiencing new realms that have not been described or explored by you. It's a very personal journey and then some may argue that you never really know about your future, but really you have a vague understanding. You would expect to become a worker or gain money through some means and have a faily, e.t.c. However, this checkpoint in life is different? Also, hinduism also believes in re-incarnation so, the journey is quite complicated now!

Which of the explaination really answer the questions, which actually satisfy and sooth the mind, according to me neither. I believe both of the answers would contain some measure of bias because it is a cultural issue and its a very sensitive subject as well. Think about it, it would be interesting to see more views on this and then further compare male perceptions vs. the females? The critical thinking in both genders should produce a satisfying answer that can lead us to some point closer to what we can believe to be 'truth' or simply what we want to be 'truth'.

The day proceeded longer with various other events and details that came into progression, I met up with other long-gone friends that I had not talked to for a while now. A special birthday wish goes out to some friends: Yali, happy birthday, Jessyca, happy birthday as well.

I am going to head over to my work desk and get some work done and will make by best effort to come back tommorow with another exciting bit of my life.

Love and Regards,
Yours Truly,

Devarsh Pandya

Life Is A Race!

"Life is a race!" this is what has been taught to us from our very childhood by teachers, parents and most elders. As students, is it a race to become the best? Just shock others by becoming an over-achiever? Make others jealous by getting and hoarding all the awards? Or is it something deeper... I am not the one to decide that or yield an answer; I am still experimenting, questioning life at various checkpoints and trying to learn this serious game of time. I am not anyone new, and neither are you. We must play by the same rules, stay positive and deliver your level best.

In this first semester, my life was more adventurous than I had anticipated. The solid walls of the school and the teachers were the same however, the environment was more subdued and students were in an imbroglio as to what work they shall present to please their teachers again! I learned that note-taking is a very crucial skill one must learn to become a better student. Also, helping other students with problems helped me to ensure that I know the concept because I could re-teach it. Things had changed; students had dived into a fresh level of responsibilities when they plunged into deep sciences, mathematics and/or social sciences. It was certain that the third year of high school was about the details. Every stroke of the pen, every incantation of the carefully chosen words, every single time, we must deliver nothing but your best!

During the succession of this semester, I had encountered failures and realized my weaknesses which I must improve upon. One of the biggest lessons I learned was about procrastination. I have developed an action plan to rid myself of what has become a habit. I also must learn to prioritize and avoid distractions when I am supposed to be working, hopefully working diligently. The competition is really closing in, you have a lot of stress and pressure but, not nearly enough time. How will you react? Will you vociferously complain, or put your best foot forth and keep shooting at the moon? I try to remind myself, destiny is a story that we write for ourselves through struggles and hard work.

This new semester brings much new opportunities and new requirements we must meet. I am hoping to continue to become a better student to learn for its sheer enjoyment and fulfill my curiosity. One of my goals to deliver my level best in every course! I also want to develop a new spontaneous personality which can ask relevant questions at the right time. As I addressed earlier, I must learn to prioritize and also build a positive attitude to feel good about the work I do and about learning!

My conclusion from this point is short and concise, unlike my article itself. I learned that I must use my past as a reference to learn, present time to learn and take action and get ready for the future!

Its been a long day, I'd like to sign off and get ready for my coming week,
yours truly,

Devarsh Pandya

My First Time...

Hello Friends,

Today is a very special day that I will remember, celebrate and cherish in the future. I have finally decided to create my very own blog and this is very much because of some very extraordinary personalities that I have come across in my life.

Some of them being quite popular,one of the best actors Indian cinema has ever experienced as well as a public icon such as Shri Amitabh Bachchan and also some friends like our beloved Kenneth Kwok. These people have inspired me to write and outsource my thoughts, feelings and perspectives on issues that we encounter or events we celebrate in the future.

I will try my very best to become an honest, unbiased and loyal writer to this blog spot but I must prioritize with my personal and educational life first. I would also like to thank the supporters once again who have encouraged me to get into this practice.

Until next time, this is good bye,
love and regards from yours truly,

Devarsh Pandya