Srivi Shares

One of my favorite places to visit is the meditation garden next to Swami's beach near Encinitas, CA. It is a hidden gem that I recommend to anyone visiting the San Diego area. It is a serene, peaceful, calming, beautiful garden. There are many spots to contemplate and meditate.  When you climb up a small hill with lush lawns on either sides, you get to see this breathtaking sight of the Pacific Ocean below you, lots of colorful flowers down the cliff side, and brown pelicans soaring above you.  The beach that you see below the cliff is Swami's beach , named after the author of the famous book "Autobiography of a Yogi" - Swami Paramahamsa Yogananda . The meditation garden houses this Swami's ashram (hermitage) and is maintained by the Self-realization fellowship founded by him.  The gardens are open to the public and the kids loved watching the fish by the calm ponds.  Here is a poem that was inspired by my visit to this garden. The Garden of Medit...

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By Srividya Ramasubramanian (published in the June issue of Asian Outlook magazine) Houston, TX, May 5, 2012 - What sets visionary musicologist and composer Kanniks Kannikeswaran apart is his ability to weave seemingly disparate cultural threads into a rich beautiful tapestry through the medium of music. He showcased this ability in his magnum opus presentation called “Shanti: A Journey of Peace” performed in Houston back in March 2010. Kanniks repeated his magic yet again with his latest collaborative creation. It was a unique, first-of-its-kind presentation titled “Meditative Moments: Guruguha - Dhruvapada” at the Stafford Center. The performance was a curated Dhrupad recital by world-renowned musicians Padmashri Gundecha brothers who honored the famous South Indian composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar (1775-1835). Drawing an imaginary line on the map of India South of the Tropic of Cancer, Kanniks pointed out that train travelers south of the line would hear “Kaapi! Kaapi!” o...

Dancing peacocks, spring wildflowers, little drizzle, warm lakes, acres of greenery --- beautiful Barsana Dhaam near Austin was a perfect place for us to spend our Easter weekend this year. But this was no regular vacation. We were there from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon for an immersive language learning family camp. From little kids to grandparents came from all over Texas came to soak themselves in the sweet nectar of one of the oldest languages of the world – Sanskrit. Sanskrit is the mother of several Indo-European languages and has flourished over several millennia contributing to the rich cultural tradition of India and elsewhere. In every field of life imaginable, be it medicine, mathematics, religion, music, sculpture, poetry, literature , yoga, or religion, there are myriads of Sanskrit texts, compositions, commentaries, and aphorisms created by great scholars. Sanskrit is appreciated by linguists as a complex, evolved and precise language. Did you know that NASA resea...

Last Friday, as we started our new semester, our department conducted a timely workshop on Pedagogy and Diversity. We invited a consultant from the Center for Teaching Excellence to lead the workshop. We had an interactive, lively discussion on power, privilege, authority and connectedness in a culturally diverse classroom. As can be expected of a successful workshop on difficult topics, there was quite a bit of empathetic listening, free sharing of anecdotes, and passionate venting of emotions. But this open exchange, safe space environment also left some people feeling awkward and uncomfortable for various reasons. Since I teach many courses on controversial or "hot topics" including but not limited to media's role in shaping racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, religious, and other forms of cultural identity, I could immediately see the parallels between my own classes and the diversity & pedagogy workshop that we attended. It made me understand that a safe classroom d...

We are in the midst of celebrating a four day festival called Pongal. We honor the Sun, the earth, farmers, and farm animals during this time. Naturally, it is a much bigger and more important festival in rural areas than urban ones. On the first day called Bhogi, the home is subject to deep cleaning. It is like "synchronized spring cleaning." In each street corner, a pile of old stuff is collected and this trash is burnt up in a community bonfire. The biggest celebration is on Day 2. New crop like rice, lentils, sugarcane, turmeric and ginger root from the fields are part of the communal cookout. At dawn, families will set up a large decorated pot out in the open sun singing "Pongalo pongal" to allow prosperity to overflow in our lives like the boiling pot of sweet rice dish. It marks the start of Thai, the month of optimism, hope and new beginnings. Farm animals are celebrated the next day, especially cows who are vital to the Indian food economy and culture. I th...

Boys don't dance, they say - They play games and sports They wrestle and tumble They wear blues and greys. Boys don't dance, they say - 'Coz they will be called a wuss A sissy, a wimp, a girlie boy Maybe even gay or worse. Boys don't dance, they say - Maybe taekwondo or judo Maybe hip hop, tap or jazz But never ballet or graceful Odissi. Boys don't dance, they say - Perhaps a fiery tandava The dance of virile Shiva But never sensual or delicate. Boys don't dance, they say - If they insist and they plead Then learn from a real male guru Careful not transgendered Narthaki. Boys don't dance, they say - If their mothers hadn't spoilt them Allowing such transgressions From a very young age. Boys don't dance, they say - If they absolutely certainly have to Then let them do so for a few years But never into adulthood, of course. Boys don't dance, they say - If they end up learning on thier own Let them dance in the closet or bedroom But never on stage o...