Photoessay – Soul-itude & Natsukashii

Natsukashii is a Japanese word used when something evokes a fond memory from your past. It’s a word you exclaim as a smile creeps across your face.

Having lost my mojo to write in these troubling times, I’m sharing some photos of my bastion of peace – mystical & majestic – where I choose to commune with myself. Some cherished moments between 2015 and 2021…

Recess, decompress, de-stress from distress…

FAITH TESTED

IMPATIENCE, EXPECTATION & FAITH

My faith, it’s what protects me

There are times I want to cast that boulder away

But I cannot find the strength to lift it

Cannot dig under

Cannot find my way around

So I simply let it rest

And it stays in place

Rocklike

• The lead image is of Bhima Shila – the boulder that saved the Shiva temple of Kedarnath in North India from damage when there was a cloudburst and avalanche a few years ago. The portals of the temple open for the summer today.

QUE SERA SERA

Uncertainty tests faith

Insh’allah, Ishwar ki marzi

Bhagwan ki ichha, Thy will be done

What the Universe has in store

What is written in the Book

What’s etched on my palms

Dame Destiny

Kismet & Karma

Tea leaves, runes, Tarot

Omens, oracles and prophesies

Nostradamus and soothsayers

The end of the world

A new beginning

Trust that He will deliver

• I’m linking this piece that I really liked on Bhimshila – the rock that saved Kedarnath, if you’re inclined to read –https://doonmozaic.com/biography-kedarnath-bheemshila/

Implosion

Thy Will Shall Prevail

Guru Mantra (Buddha Bar version)

I have no formal Guru in my life, but have learned from many. Today is a day of thanksgiving and gratitude to God and each one of them. I feel I am blessed; I truly appreciate all that I have got, from my heart. Thank you!

Kutastha*

Ib’n Arabi – Alone with the Alone

PRALAYA*

While under COVID lockdown, and on a walk, I came across this striking metal mural of Lord Shiva – the Destroyer. I thought it apt for days like these when the end of the world seems nigh. And here below is my poem inspired by it:

Viraha* – situations, words & meanings

* Viraha (Hindi) – The realisation of love through separation. A dedication to the town of Rishikesh, to which I was to travel today, but haven’t because of the COVID lockdown.

“I choose to visit it again & again because it provides solace to my soul and leaves me refreshed & rejuvenated to carry on with the humdrum affairs of my life with greater vigour.”

Bridge Across Time

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

RISHIKESH WRITINGS

Catch the Drift

PILGRIM HEART

Sangam (The River and a Rivulet)

A Love Mutual

Where I’m At

“Again?” & “Alone?”

By the Ganga

Folded Hands

Tears of Homecoming

Dissolution is the Solution

SACRED SPACE

3 Steps to Nirvana

Seventh Heaven

Giving It All Away

Heaven & Earth

On Silence

Offering

On Meeting Her Again

And he sits

Alam-i-Dharr*