A Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Part 3 - A Choice

In Love - A Choice?

I know whose right for you, my mom calls in,
You must find someone, the chorus chimes in,
My friends and their neighbors try setting me up,
I am sure by now, they're completely fed up,
Fake it till you make it, some then say,
My answer to them, I've tried that way,
Arranged marriage, another contends,
Been down that road, I know where it ends.

Friends with benefits another suggests,
Or a glitzy life of carnal conquests,
To hell with love, a date once texts,
Just shut up and give me some sex,
What good is sex with no love, I say,
How can you say no to sex, you must be gay,
In total desperation, I throw up my hands,
How do you explain, to those who won't understand.

To love or not, is not a conscious choice,
Its the only topic, where logic's got no voice,
With the way I think, if you have a qualm,
She still loves you! Why? Ask your mom.

Vegas, or Venice or Half Moon Bay,
Which, one picks, you can never say,
Love is the same, should I dare say,
Can never tell, to whom, your heart'll sway.

Love, you must, feel in your bone,
Anything less, I know, I will bemoan,
Love her more,  every milestone,
"Loved like no other", on my gravestone.

Its not my choice, to march to a fife,

To just spawn upriver, like an alewife,
Adore i must, to make my wife,
To wake with her, the rest of my life.


I have, but a life, to live and bet,
I will not subsist with any regret,
If a cat, I am, with seven to live,
I will do this again and not misgive.


Yes, drama, my life, ur at the edge of your seat,
Does'nt mean you boo, and give me such heat,
My life is perfect, just nice and neat,
Won't mess it up, because you browbeat.

Sure, set me up, every way you mean,

Be her black, white, even alien green,
Then shut the hell up, go hatch a new scheme,
Let me listen to my heart and follow my dream.


Part 2 - In Love - It Feels

Copyright (c) Sarvi Shanmugham

A Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Part 2 - It Feels

In Love - It Feels?

The chatter drowns, for a single voice,
The crowd blurs, for a single choice,
Anger dies with a single touch,
A day without her doesn't mean much.

Back from work, the look on her face,
A kiss, a coffee, you'll slow your pace,
Moments like these, you can't erase,
A rough day gone, without a trace.

She waltzes in with a child like grace,
Flashes a smile, and leaves you in a daze,
She fills your life, every nook and space,
Like a breath of fresh air, after a very long race.


You'll smell her skin like she was fine wine,
Swirl her, sip her, and go for her waistline,
Taste her cheeks, her lips, her neckline,
She'll make you feel like you're drunk on moonshine.

Like a lovely siren she rolls in bed,
You'll love the way she smells fresh bread,
With a single look she can drop you dead,
If you survive, you'll still be a love sick bonehead.

Never in a millions years, you used to moan,
Famous last words,  that since have flown,
No one eats your brain, you used to run,
Now happily you serve it, rare, medium or well done.


That look, though rare, that drives you mad,
The hug so tender you want it bad,
Pure agony flies, with that lingering kiss,
If it means one more, you will gladly want this.

When you know its time, to bid adieu,
Time has flown by and its her curfew,
You can't let go, you are super glue,
Its one more minute, o god, please make it two.

Part 1 - In Love - It Means   

Part 3 - In Love - A Choice

Copyright (c) Sarvi Shanmugham

A Crazy Little Thing called Love - Part 1 - It Means

In Love - It Means 

Love you crazy, you're only mine,  say they.
Love you crazy, without you I'd die, say they.
Love you crazy, no one else in your life, say they.
Love you crazy, I must be your wife, say they.
Love you crazy, stalk you where you go, say they.
Love you crazy, can never leave therefore, say they.

Well, say these, they may not, but think these, they sure do.
Love themselves, they do. In Love, truly, they are not.

A mother's love, is unconditional, I know.
A father's love, protects with his life, I know.
A brother's love, stands by you, I know.
A sister's love, misses you every day, I know.
A friend's love, accepts you the way you are, I know.

Well, say these, they may not, but act this way, they do.
True love, it is.

True love, matters not they feel the same, I say.
True love, lets them fly though driven insane, I say.
True love, protects their smile whatever it takes, I say.

True love, will live to love even if its heart breaks, I say.

True love, moves mountains for a moment, I say.
True love, expects nothing in return, I say.

Test of a strong heart, it is. To love some one this way, easy, it is not. 

But True Love, it is I say.

Part 2 - In Love - It Feels

Copyright (c) Sarvi Shanmugham

Dalai Lama's rules for Existence

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. 

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rs:

1. Respect for self 
2. Respect for others
3. Responsibility for all your actions

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. 

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it

8. Spend some time alone every day

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer

11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past

14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality

15. Be gentle with the earth

16. As often as possible, go someplace you’ve never been before

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it

Fasting and the Focused Mind - Part 3 - The Learning

Continued from Part 2

My one week fast was a success. There was no gotchas. It felt good overall.
What was my take away? Eating is overrated. Food numbs your brain :-) Just kidding.

Jokes aside.

I should say I have a new found appreciation for the pain of starvation. The first 2 days was painful, quite excruciating really. In my case the starvation was a choice. I had access to food all the time and I could have broken my fast anytime. It was my choice to will myself not to. But the people in the world that are really starving because they can't get anything to eat is a whole different story. I am sure the mental agony of not knowing when they or their kids would have their next meal is far worse. I can't claim to know exactly how they feel. But the first 2 days of the fast certainly gave me a better insight into how it feels than I had before.

Now to the later part of the fast. Once I pushed myself past the first 2 days. The hunger and the pain that goes with it actually stopped. By the fourth day, I was past craving for food. I wasn't feeling completely energized but I wasn't feeling completely tired either. Normal would be closer to how I felt. But there was a marked difference in my mental perception of my surroundings. Felt more alert. My mind felt fresher than my body.

From what I've read, once the body burns the sugars and then carbohydrates, it falls back to a process called ketosis where it starts to burn the stored fat. And once all the fat is burnt, the muscles start to atrophy starting with the non-essential ones. Its natures way of surviving and keeping you alive as long as possible. Now theoretically I don't believe my body went to the last stage. But I certainly think it entered into ketosis, coz there is no way my sugar or carbohydrates could have lasted a week.

The process of ketosis generates ketones, which I read, is another form of energy that gets generated by burning fat. Interestingly, there seems to be research showing that the brain functions on ketones more than sugar. That there is really something call brain food and that they are ketones.I did feel mentally sharper and more agile during the second part of the fast, the period of ketosis. But was it because of the ketones, I can't tell. But it does seem to correlate. Statisticians will tell you, correlation does not imply causation. But in my mind it does imply that there could be and hence something worth researching.

Now going back to the root of the why, I tried a one week no food fast, and what were my conclusions. Indian history and mythology talks about sages that meditated in the forest and mountains for months and years without food. Is it really possible? And why would they do it? Why not eat between meditations.

First, even though I fasted, I did drink a lot of water. I can see someone meditating for weeks without food. But I suspect they would need water in some form or the other.

Second, Since meditation is an exercise of the mind, I can certainly see how getting your body into ketosis and hence lots and lots of brain food could be helpful.

Third, I still went through my daily work schedule during the whole week of fasting. If I sat myself and meditated the whole time, my energy requirements would be far less and I can totally see how someone can do this for weeks together or even months.

Fourth, mythology claims even years, but that could be bit of exaggeration which happens when stories are told over generations. But then there could also be additional factors at play that I may not be considering such as reducing one's heart rate to a very low level, which yogis have shown to be able to do.  Akin to hibernation.

In conclusion, it was an interesting experiment and experience.

Fasting and the Focused Mind - Part 2 - The How

Continued from Part 1

My plan was to fast for a week, Sunday to Sunday. Living only on lots and lots of room temperature to luke warm water and Green Tea in hot water. Based on my reading on such fasting, I decided to use this as a detox opportunity and give myself an enema every day as well. Gross. Yes. I know. It was recommended to be medically good as part of a detox plan as well as part of our Ayurvedic and Yogic tradition as well. It was simple and Healthy. So that was the plan. :-)

Break out of fasting slowly, with just a small amount of juice in a lot of water, and slowly increasing the juice strength. Then on to bread and milk.

As preparation for the fast I turned vegetarian for a month before I began the actual fast.

I took notes. Observing how I felt each day both physically as well as mentally. I'll spare you all the long details and summarize the week and more for you below.

To summarize, 

Day 1(Sunday) was pretty uneventful. 

Late Evening 1(Sunday) was pretty hungry.

Day 2(Monday) was hungry as hell. Being a work day helped keep my mind busy and out of the hunger. 

Evening 2 the hunger was really bad. I almost gave up on the fast. But barely held on by a thread.

Day 3(Tuesday), I felt the hunger but the peak had passed already. 

By Evening 3(Tuesday), there was just a lingering thought of hunger, nothing more. 

Day 3(Wednesday) certainly felt a bit more tired, physically. But my mind felt a bit spiffy.  

Day 4(Thursday) my mind felt sharp and focused. Never for once thought of food or was hungry. I kept physical activities to a minimum these days. Walking to a minimum. Had to drive into work and back which wasn't a problem. Spent an hour a day meditating.

Day 5(Friday) was brilliant.  Absolutely brilliant. I didn't feel any physical tiredness but kept my activities to a minimum too. But it was my mind that felt like a million dollars. Ultra focused. At work you notice it because you are more attentive in meetings and feel more productive in general. But the biggest difference was when meditating.  Normally, my mind is erratic and wanders a lot. I find it difficult to focus on an object for more than half a minute. It was different on Day 5. I felt my mind was calmer. I could easily stretch my focus for a few minutes which is record for me even today.

Day 6(Saturday) was the same as Day 5. Brilliant. Slept very few hours this whole week.  Yet felt awesome through the day. Everything felt brighter and more focused, like someone had turned on a 500W bulb around me. I just felt much more aware of surroundings and what was happening around me.

Day 7(Sunday) morning, it was time to break my fast, but do it slowly.  I started Sunday morning with a glass of water with a few tablespoons of Orange juice. Lunch was the same.  Dinner the same, but with a few more spoons of juice.

Day 8(Monday) was my day to start solids. Breakfast was a slice of bread and a quarter glass of milk. Lunch was the same with half a banana to add. Dinner was the same. 

Day 9(Tuesday) was a regular breakfast, a bowl of cereal, with milk. Lunch was a light salad at work. Dinner was back to normal food, but vegetarian. 

I continued to be a vegetarian for a few more months after that. And continued to meditate during this period.

Fasting and the Focused Mind - Part 1 - The Why

Fasting without food.  Why? Why Not? How? How Long? Does it work?

I grew up reading Amar Chithra Katha comics. Some would question, the growing up part, but then thats for another blog post :-)

For the unfamiliar, these are Indian comics that cover Indian mythology, history, religion, children's tales and much more. And if you know Hindu mythology, there is a lot of stories that involve penance and fasting and meditation going on. Anytime some character in these stories  wants to win, beat, get power, develop some skill or wishes for incredible wealth or happiness, he or she goes off into the mountains and fasts or does penance.  We are talking of hard penance and long fasting. Months and years as the stories go. They made it sound fantastic, the deity always showed up in the end,  and he or she always got her boon. Yup. Don't you love happy endings.

I've always wondered why. Whats the deal with penance, and fasting and meditation. I believe mythological stories are always fantastic exaggerations of some basic facts or lessons. Hinduism has always revered knowledge as power and meditation and self realization and enlightenment as the ultimate knowledge and all paths to it as being sacred. I am guessing these stories aim to interest the young readers in that ultimate goal. To encourage and motivate them to meditate. To develop ones mental faculty, to develop focus,  to develop an understand of ones self, attain Self-Realization.

So I hypothesized that fasting had something to do with developing exactly that. Or to put it simply, fasting, may be it helped the brain function or focus better in some way.  So I decided I wanted to experience it for myself. But anyone with an understanding of basic biology will know that prolonged starvation is deleterious to your health. So I decided to research the topic on the internet and spoke to a few Doctor friends of mine.

Armed with all that information, I decided to try a one week fast.  No Food. Just water, and lots of it.

Disclaimer: This was my experiment and plan for my fasting. I am an average healthy person.  If you choose to reproduce this experiment, do so at your own risk. Do your own research and consider your health status and consult your own doctors too.

Continued in Part 2