The Age Long Discipline of Unwrapping Gifts

I offer my obeisance to you Rev. Gurudev Sri. Sri. Om Swamiji 🙏🕉️ A Very beautiful New Year to you in advance full of Sri. Hari and Mata Rani’s  Grace 🙏

Back to my Motherland  embracing my roots after a span of three years was simply Home coming for this child within me. More so because I would be able to do more  hawans and Yagyas now. Though on the priority list was settling down near Solan and get to meet and see Gurudev. Rev. Sri. Om Swamiji 🙏

But for certain good reasons which the mind subtly puts forth,  sorting everything single handedly at this age and stage of my life it felt a bit practical to settle being in a place where I was earlier, the city of Pune. It’s a comfortable and simple apartment that I got and can’t thank The Divine enough for it.

I have always had an inherent passion to set up my space, wherever I have stayed but this time I had a minimalist approach set in my mind in doing things up, all thanks to Swamiji’s teachings and his Zen way of living.
And the ultimate bit to liven up any space is  to invite some green soulful family members ( Plants and flowers)  to rebuild the overall spirit. Hence once the furniture bit was ordered Plant shopping was next most essential bit on the list.

I took an entire next day out visiting a big plant garden close by to my apartment. To step and just have a glimpse of that lush green area made all the difference within. It rejuvenated my heart! There were various kinds of flowering plants, decorative plants, vegetable plants, and ornamental trees to select from. Sometimes I so wish that I was the owner of big plant nurseries. The power of plants is supremely contagious!

I ended up buying some nice big and small sized decorative plants and its owner was really kind enough to get  it delivered at my place that very evening.

Just as I was about to leave a beautiful big size Monstera plant caught my eyes. Its large green leaves shaped like a heart were very intricately and artistically created.  Each leaf interestingly had 10-12 gentle curve splits and that truly was its highlight. So I placed the order for that particular Monstera plant. It made me feel like I had invited a big Sage to my humble little abode.

Back home I made good space for it in my living room, for all I wanted was to sit down and keep admiring and smilingly greet it every day 🙂

This one fine day while misting the Monstera plant’s  delicate leaves I noticed that of one of the  leaf’s split  was turning inwards rather than opening outwards and seemed a bit bent too.  I felt  it needed some support to unfurl properly ( though it was not the case) and I hence tried to open its split softly with my fingers but instead I heard a twitching sound from it and  as luck would have it to my utter dismay I found I had actually hurt the vein of one of the split.

It was rather disheartening to see how out of love and concern I hurt the leaf and its natural formation. The injured split was now drooping and it felt that the whole big leaf was left unhappy. It pained me to see it’s state  for I felt completely responsible of this happening.

Oh! what could I do to rectify it ?  How I wished I had just let it be and allowed to open up on its own. Hope I am able to heal it! My head was almost rattling with thoughts of how to save the leaf’s split for that could cause the whole of the leaf to decay.

I quickly headed to my room, grabbed the medical box and took out a thin surgical tape from it. I had no idea if what I was going to do would serve the purpose but I just allowed myself to follow my heart.

I held the branch of the leaf and bandaged the twitched vein of the split delicately from all sides. The idea was that it retains its weaved self and remains well in posture and continues to breathe well into its energy ( more like how we hold on to a bleeding wound so as to heal) . Throughout the day I kept checking the vein of the split number of times and all I know for the next few days this was on. I would keep changing the direction of the plant off and on a bit so that the leaf gets the support of the wall till the time it is back to its normal self.

It was a relief to see it doing well. There was no further deformity and it did retain its color amazingly well. Thank God!  Few weeks and then months passed by,  it was doing great and till today,  been almost six months it’s smiling and thriving well in its bandaged self along with it’s other bunch of leaf buddies in the pot. I did not take the bandage off  as I felt I could damage it even with a small pull, yet again. Strange  as it may sound some new leaves branched out and withered away in front of it and this injured one stood firm and tall.

Each time I sense the Sage Monstera plant giving me a reminding look saying, ‘Thank you for the kind help! I survived well  in spite of the mishap and came alive more stronger and aware for I kept going with deep faith in myself!’

The Sage Monstera Plant 🙏🍃

But this experience with the plant taught me something beautiful and bigger … ‘Life only shows me the process  to my growth, through many euphoric and delusional emotions .

Whilst I bask in all joy when time is at its best and feel and experience the best version of myself with great courage and will power, there surely would be moments that could get dreary at some point in time  and I could end up pushing myself too hard, feel submerged and lost to a world of expectations and might end giving up on myself.

But I only need to hold on and reassure myself  of life’s ever flowing gifts that stokes, wraps and infuses in me a Graceful believability of breathing through all its resources that purely elevates me to experience me, be it in the face of adversity or in the high state of prosperity .

Reminds me of a beautiful quote…“Don’t turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That’s where the light enters you.”
― Rumi

It seemed Mother Nature in the form of the Sage Monstera only morphed me into her freshness in the form of a Divine message…..

“ Let me delicately weave myself into my togetherness to pulsate and feel it’s heavenly rythm that gently makes me aware of every nuance of the song my life sings for me in its breathtaking voice’.   🎶🎼

The discipline of unwrapping the gifts of Divine..

Nature surely has a way of calling  us  ‘to arrive’… arrive at places, spaces, homes … arrive in this body, mind and spirit, through unbelievable formations of kindness, love, care, compassion, joy of giving, laughter, gratitude and forgiveness. Time to gift wrap something amazing in return and keep surprising our life, isn’t it ! We are richly Blessed🙏

Immense Gratitude and thanks to my OS family and dear readers for being so loving and kind and taking your precious moments in reading my scribblings 🙏 Our meeting on this platform has only added to our growth and  lives , which is such a valuable gift and have only gotten better with each passing day because of the Divine Presence, love and Grace of our Rev. Gurudev Sri. Sri. Om Swamiji  🙏🕉

Blessed times and a Very Happy New Year 2023 to all🙏

Narayani Nomostute 🙏🌺

Jai Sri Hari 🙏🕉

Siddhika Umesh