12 Today

Akshay would have been twelve today. He would have grown taller and lankier, and would have been experiencing all the joys and challenges of a pre-teen.

I would have loved to give this adorable pen drive to him on his birthday. A Chinese company has made this special USB stick to mark the Chinese year of the snake. Looks more like a tubby teddy, though, but its cute nevertheless.
Today, Akshay's mum is doing what he would have wanted her to do - taking an aol course. Plan to give food in an orphanage today. This blog is a year old now. I feel happy after spending some time on the blog and hope the readers also feel the same. Miss you Akshay and we know you miss us too!

The Night of Awakening

Yesterday was Shivaratri - the great night of awakening for Lord Shiva who drank poison to save the world from death. There is a beautiful rendering of Adi Shakaracharya's Niravan Shatakam by Nandita Iyer. Used to listen to this soon after Akshay left us. It used to feel like a soothing balm on the intense pain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2et8dAo344

The story behind this sloka is this. Eight year old Shankara was wandering in the Himalayas in search of a Guru. When asked by a sage who he was, he said I am a Soul and went on to describe the attributes of the soul. His introduction in these six stanzas captures the essence of the Vedanta.

Listen to Mritasanjeevani Stotram and Chandrashekara Ashtakam both alleviate pain and suffering and give solace to the heart and soul.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWLQzJ92ZY4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTzhYWceIxk