TAT TVAM ASI*

Father. Brother. Husband. Son.
Boss. Colleague. Businessman. Friend.
This I am.

A guy who can play the fool.
At times, a complete fool.
Middle aged, greying. Yet childish.
This, too, I am.

Capable of reading anything. Anything.

The Gita, NYT, Economist, Reader’s Digest, Playboy, Cosmo, Comics.
Fiction and non. Shakespeare and self help.
Lacking in loquaciousness, voluble with the written word.

Sure. Clear headed. Confused.
Duty bound. Selfish.
Laid back. Restless.
Seeker. Wanderer. Hermit at home. Occasional globe trotter.
Straightforward but straying in thoughts.
Emotional, sentimental, soft hearted, hard nosed.
Whimsical, contemplative.
This I am, this is me.

Exuberant of mind, restrained in appearance, of composed countenance.
Flippant and frivolous. Ever the thinker.

With wants, needs, desires.
The obvious and the unspoken.
Fond of the simple pleasures, the finer things.
Sometimes believing in indulgence, at others, abstinence.
Happy to be alone. Lover of good company.
Yes, this also I am.

Fond of rock, reggae, morning ragas**.
Guitar riffs and jugalbandi***.
Dog and wildlife lover.
Anti cruelty. Anti whaling. Anti seal clubbing.
Anti bullock carts, camel racing, elephant or  horse rides.
Anti sacrifice. Anti anything anti animals.
But a carnivore.
This I am.

Filled with doubt and dilemmas.
Simple to a fault. A conundrum of complex contradictions.
A many layered, multi faceted paradox.

The macrocosm in the microcosm.
The duality in the unity.
This I am. All of this is me.

*Sanskrit for “I Am That”, also alternately translated as “That Thou Art.”

**ragas are Indian musical arrangements

***jugalbandi is a duet, where musicians jam with each other on two different instruments