God's own country

ഗോഡ്'സ വണ്‍ കണ്‍ട്രി, in Malayalam, phonetic: Deivat tinde sondam nade...

A week of discoveries, even for me having been here over the past 2 years: from Amritapuri ashram to Fort Kochi, north... in June, middle of monsoon...

....what to do?

  

 

Amritapuri, ashram views, beautiful light...

In so many ways...

Indian bicycle, almighty Hercules, present for my 43rd!

 and then moto taxi by Suraj, very nice and helpful B&B manager from Alleypy beach
I recommend this young entrepreneurial guy: Suraj, Funky B&B, beach house at Alppuzha beach
email: sachu-chillout@hotmail.com, cell: +91 994 7997535

 the magic of a cruise on the back waters, monsoons sudden rains to make it even more poetic, the setting of an indian dinner, on water, to dream further...

Fort Kochi and the wonderful welcoming home of Doyal, as well as his mighty Royal Enfield, that he so generously let us use, to visit this old part of town... and enjoy till the last minute...

if you ever need accommodation in Fort Kochi the place to stay: Jojie's Home Stay:
Doyal and Sophie: www.jojieshomestay.com
Doyal cell: 9953 96543, you can mention my name

Bdays...

...

I must admit I was never that good ...around the 12^th of June!

Never really felt that happy about it....
William Wordsworth would say (see Inspiring section): "In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts bring sad thoughts to the mind!"

maybe coz it felt just like a like a reminder of my perception of that trick some woman used ...to get the man she had fallen in love with? ! well I know now what perceptions mean! but some pain is still burning inside...

Or just because for years, in June, I was in the middle of exams: baccalaureat, business school prep, business school finals… military duty, Siemens EAE (evaluation reviews…)…not really the best time to enjoy a special day!

So the start of the summer often felt like pain to me.

Strangely this year I had no choice: work, work, work… again (not like last year in the Himalayas finishing an amazing Vipassana meditation retreat)... but this time in a seva way…serving selflessly, relentlessly!

And that worked…

I loved the class I gave to the 21 Masters from EOI Madrid on skype.

Hard to focus more than 2 hours on skype and 21 students, but a really interesting experience

I loved the session in recycling for 2 hours...

I loved the meetings I had with key Amrita University on topics like syllabus on SI/SE, center for sustainability, PhD registration…

All this finished at 7PM, exhausted having waken up at 4.30AM for archanas…

By buying a big cake to share with my ashram buddies… with: 43, Zorionak Jnananand!

Some basq memories mixed with my new life and dedication…

And a day with punctual long distance calls, skype to capture the voice and presence of 'un etre cher'!

Funny, when only old friends whom I had not heard of in a long time signal themselves and wish you well, when your family seems absent…again.

Well... impatience and lack of faith....this afternoon a call from Corsica and a few emails from family members proved me once more that ... expectations… do not make you grow.

Distance, detachment are the surest way to compassion and love and forgiveness...

 

"The distance between the problem and the solution is often the one between your knees and the ground!"

Felt good, truly good to start to own my purpose, to feel a true recovery operating its chirurgical healing, to surrender finaly to devine plans!
Without ever knowing them… understanding, just trusting.
and fall on my knees... once again!

Grace flowing and... a heart that starts to expand again, with less fears, cramps…

Free to be me, claiming it, yet willing to grow, look in the same direction, give back, receive, and smile at life …dance to the rhythm of the world.
New year starting today, new era, free, new...me?

At least sure to be on the right path... here and now... and choosing every day... serenity, compassion...and love

While waiting for...

her, Her...?

In Bali our Insead professional dreaming teacher made us 'travel' mentally to an island where we had to imagine people welcoming us.

I had a strong vision of my grand father (the corsican one), whom I never met (as he died some years before I was born), guiding me through this island, kind of a journey of my life, with his values, courage and corsican pride, I guess... as well as a beautiful woman welcoming me on arrival on that island.

But I could never really see the woman, identify her...

I got quite frustrated ... wanting to know who she was, who was this woman of my dreams, of my life...

when I realized she was not one..but many... a whole feminine side of my life: my own mother, some key women I met and shared important moments with (a dear friend I lost to cancer when I was 24, some women I almost married and the strong devine presence too, of Amma, Marie...as well as other feminine divinities...)

So here am I once again tonight wondering who she is, she may be... while waiting for her.

Am I in love, confused again? (see in section D Diary, Moods some thought around love...)

Am just happy to start to reconcile a strong masculine side (the canoe paddlers whom I was paddling with toward that island, strong, polynesian tattoos everywhere, proud... only aiming at the destination...pure muscles and will) and the feminine side (this dream woman, welcoming with a tender smile, a friend? the mother of my kids? just an exciting slut?... is it really a cliche?...or a strange mix of divinity and lust??...)

In any case, bottom line is (as some of my siemens friends would say!): it feels damn good to want to offer flowers again, to start writing songs again...

Love is in the air!

Purpose...

Getting back to India, and especially to Amritapuri, the ashram the University felt a bit like coming back home... especially after the emotions of the trip back...
I had to finish a presentation on Social Innovation I had managed to pushed one day further but I knew that the 21 students of EOI in Madrid, International Master in Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility would have quite high expectations from that class on SE and BoP from a pragmatic indian perspective.

So I put my head down, research further, stats, economic angles, macro, micro and put together smth I was finally satisfied with the night before.
Both classes 2 times 2 hours went really well, and I had so much fun I started to realize a big part of the purpose I have been looking for in work/selfless service...:
giving back, teaching, spreading values I believe in... but not only in an academic way, models, concepts, but in a very pragmatic approach.
So coming back here, after having been really frustrated for the 1st 6 months I feel a real sense of detachment from results... but as well a very strong sense of purpose: researching new solutions for the BoP, community engagement, that is the PhD side, then developing solutions i.e. renewable energy through Amrita Green Campus project is another angle, and finally teaching students by doing, by alternative learning methods: video, inspiring people, learning by doing (business plans for local SEs, social innovative projects with technical simple/smart solutions...).
I have no more expectations on time scale, not pushing for anything anymore, and funny enough things come more naturally.

Why did it take me 42 years to smile at life instead of resisting it?