Ashy Prinia

A delightful little bird that can found in open field that has patches of bushes, it is a frequent visitor to gardens (atleast in the pre pollution era!) and can be seen on low uncertain flight from one bush to another. Small bird with long tail they have ashy brown upperparts and lower warm buffy. I have observed this bird many times but only recently able to take the snaps. I was at Art of Living (run by Sri Sri Ravishankar) on the outskirts of Bangaluru with the specific intention of capturing wildlife (did spot a well fed rat snake) walked up to the lake and around but couldn’t spot many birds, after the breakfast (they provide free food, I am a big fan of free food!!) while I walked across the garden in the front of the main mediation hall that I spotted Ashy Prinia busy searching food, it was a spectacular sight against bed of green grass. This was the only bird I could photograph in the whole trip but must say was worth it.

In my mid twenties I did travel around different ashrams in the country and so on, indeed I spent much of my time in Rishikesh (I still love that place, it is quite vibrant), I look for intellectual stimulation -what is referred to as Gyana marga and never been comfortable in Bhakti marga, the latter is where you find many charlatans. There are some genuine gurus too, though I was quite cynical of these people (famously Sai Baba, Mata Amruthanandamayi so on) some experience taught me that they have created a positive space and have considerably helped underprivileged people, so even if there maybe some minor transgression that get sensationalized by media sleaze I tend to look at the overall context of their contribution and find myself rather quite insignificant to even comment, it easy to find fault but think of millions of contended people. I have listened to almost all gurus those who have influenced me include Ramanna Maharishi, Swami Chinmayananda, Jiddu Krishnamurthi and most significantly Osho (quite a sharp fellow that one…what I liked about him was you can call him an adorable asshole!!. I haven’t met anyone so sharp and precise, one moment he could be on the pinnacle of enlightened thoughts the very next he comes out with some hilarious crap. It is juxtaposing these that made sense to me. A reminder that there is no all nice world, indeed such a world would be sickening. Intellectually I would rate Naipaul in the same category: unpleasant brutal truth told as brutally that it shocks and you are in awe, there is no compromise it is like a Zen slap. Clinical and profound).

I recall spending a night at Ramakrishna mission in Chennai in early 1990s (after doing some crap that I felt intensely guilty about), mylapore was such a beautiful place those days (now it overruns with vehicles and barricades). I carried a copy of Bhagvad Gita (with interpretation by Chinmayananda) when I landed in Delhi and would refer it quite often. An old man (the head of institute I used to visit to take occasional classes in evening at Karol Bagh) had a heart attack and was prescribed bed rest; I gave the copy to him. I was free!!.

I wrote these on the way back from recent visit to Western Ghats…

The dawn

I started the day early
and visited the trees
the birds were there
so were the bees.
The chill in the air
doubled the mirth
the eastern sky flare
gave out the joy
that the clouds carry
in little knots.
Not a penny
not a diamond
can the amazement buy.