'Happyness' - a way of life

Chris Gardner's choice of his biographical film's title was beyond a mere reminiscent recollection of a mis-spelt word that he came across on almost all his days in peril, it was a remarkable neologism which marked the inevitable separation of feigned happiness from true happyness. Although the film advertises the well sold cliche that destiny favours only those out of the poor who toil hard to make more than a living, it etches a memorable picture of the pursuit of a widely sought state - real happiness,which is called happyness.

Happiness as a state is difficult to realize when achieved, because when you have it, you dont realize that you have it. In the sense, when you have it and by the time you realize your possession, you become conscious and try to restrict the flow of happiness, and thereby restrict happiness itself. When conscious, you are distracted by your existence from your being, no matter how much you try to vex your brain to stay calm. So, in pursuit of happiness, you actually lose it on the way. That is why happiness should never be pusued, it is to be attained. It comes as a reward to truth and passion. It is better to keep lesser reasons to safeguard your happiness, for the more you have, the lesser you will gain

This occured to me as I watched two people laughing - the air was of pure mirth. But it did not take much time to read who among them was actually happy. The smiles of  the happier person reached his eyes and emanated a radiant glow of ambience. The other person struggled to mask his artifice - though he did a pretty good job in sporting a camouflage of expressions, the elegance retreated as soon as awareness took over. The happier one continued to amaze the beholder by presenting a sense of ease, from a face comprehended to be unpromising moments before.

So come out of the hangover of the past, submit yourself to the joy of the present, and free yourself from the fear about the future. Truth and passion are, and riches and luxury not, the two ingredients to real happiness also known as happyness - the true way of life.

Hats off to Amish and his Shiva Trilogy

The world, as described in The Shiva Trilogy

Image courtesy:  http://shivatrilogy.com

I picked up 'The Immortals of Meluha' from a shelf marked 'New Arrivals' at the Landmark, Nungambakam. I have a craze of buying books, especially bestsellers and good old classics. But I read only half of those I bought so far. This book named 'The Immortals of Meluha' by Amish hooked right on my inclination for history-religion blends. Time was not right then for I kept it back in its place.

But recently I found this book again at my friend's place, and decided to borrow it from him. It will give a good break amongst the hectic work schedule, I hoped. And surprisingly, my friend had the sequel to it also. That was 'The Secret of the Nagas'. Appealing title again, and I borrowed that book too. 

Flawlessly flowing script of both these books helped me finish reading them in less than a week's time. [It took two years and a half for me to finish 'The Fountainhead'! Ofcourse it had to be helped out of a grave shelf, that was seldom used, to dust it off and be read]. And the best feature of the Shiva Trilogy is that the characters from the puraanas have been used efficiently, although Amish bails himself out smartly using a fictional probability on the personalities and time frames of existence of the iconic characters, to embellish in the mind of the reader a strong message on the good and the bad.

Shiva clearly exemplifies how to be human and impeccable at the same time and how battles are won with the way of the heart. As the second book concludes, it becomes clear how the good and the bad are the two sides of the same coin, how the evil can be found when the good is found, and how the very perception that forbodes evil at first notice might be deceptive and be the evil itself. The different interpretation of the meaning of 'Har Har Mahadev' is an inspirational one, to one and all of us. Ambiguity lies in whether it is 'Hara Hara Mahadev' or 'Har Har Mahadev'. In either case, the divinity exists, but the latter emanates immense energy and confidence. For it means each and every one of us is a Mahadev, the destroyer of the evil. Through Shiva and his devoted followers, the blind superstitions and unnecessary bloodshed are questioned, a matter of utmost importance in the present day turmoil. 

Instead of leading to blind beliefs, the Shiva Trilogy kindles intrigue in the readers. It will generate interest in the history and mythology of India in the minds of the youth. It definitely is a must read for everyone. The third and the last part of the series, 'The Oath of the Vayuputras' will be out by the end of this year. I am sure I would have read much more about Shiva and ancient India by then.

                                                              Har Har Mahadev !!!