Happy Janmashtami

Hathi🐘 ghoda🐴 palki

Jai Kanhaiya Lal ki!!

My earliest memories of Janmashtami are standing barefoot in enormous queue of devotees to pull the Jhoola ( swing) of the bal natkhat Kanha. The crowds would jostle and at times it would get either hot, humid or wet depending upon the humidity and downpour. The echoes and chants of Radhe radhe and Jai shri Krishna would energize our spirits and mesmerize our hearts.

Myself and my younger sister, accompanied sometimes by the entire gang of neighborhood children would cling on to sarees and dupattas of mothers and aunties and make a beeline for the fair/ mela demonstrating the miracle of birth of this lovable God. It would be in form of big cardboard cutouts with some kathputli magic. For us tiny tots, it was no less than seeing the divine incarnation in person and we would be enthralled.

We would all go back after spending small amounts of money on flutes, bangles, etc. Our hearts were filled with love and devotion and our tummies were full of gorgeous sweets/ mithai.

It is said that devtas shower raindrops as petals on this day to welcome/ abhishek the little God. Heavy rains are of sacrosanct importance to the night, as it mimics the thunderous rainy auspicious night when the Lord was born, exactly at midnight. The father Vasudev ji had to carry the small Krishna on his head , and the Lord was shielded and guarded by Naag maharaj/ Serpent King. 🐍

Midnight, the excitement would be feverish. My father and the rest of us would glue our eyes to our Doordarshan television set and watch in awe at the abhishek being telecasted live from from Dwarka in Gujrat, to Mathura and Vrindavan, in Uttar Pradesh.

Aim at a lovely simplification of life, and give your soul room to grow.

After both my boys were born, my sister took pleasure in decorating them as bal Krishna and clicking numerous pictures. What joy it is!

Krishna symbolizes fun, frolic and masti for me.

Swinging to the harmonious beats of hare Rama hare Krishna is bhakti for me.

I recently came upon a very powerful quote of Vedanta philosophy which takes inspiration from the divine play of Krishna.

Humanize your relationship with God, Divinize your relationship with human beings.

The meaning is very simple and useful in our day to day life. And has really helped me. Treat God as a human and share your true emotions and your feelings. Talk to him about your day. Leave all your difficulties to him. Let him be your day to day guide. Find time to say hello, hi and bye every day! Trust me, it helps. He is the instinct, the conscience present in all of us.

If we follow instinct, rather than intelligence, and it may result in a modicum of happiness.

But as far as people go, treat them as divine. Look at the brighter aspects. Look beyond the silly vices. Do your service as devotion to them. If you love and embrace them, irrespective of their rank, position, caste, creed, religion, then you will feel happy, positive and wholesome.

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts, therefore guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to your virtue and reasonable nature.

Marcus Aurelius

Happy Janmashtami to everyone. How do you celebrate it? Any family traditions you follow? Do share and tell. Let us all learn and grow as a community from each other.

We are all potentially divine, children of Universe. We were born from stardust, from All Almighty Himself and we will go back to Him or disintegrate ourselves to stardust. Let us learn in this journey from one another.

Jai Shri Krishna.