Vikram Hazra

Went to see Vikram Hazra’s concert cum satsang at Fine Arts Society, Chembur. Seeing him perform was such a delightful sight, his energy, charisma and the way he took everyone along with him on the spiritual journey is simply mind-boggling.

A devoted pupil of Sri Sri Ravi Shanker, he has been spreading the love and message of his guru for many years now. I have not heard or read of Sri Sri much, but one thing I remember watching on TV, when one of the reporters asked him about his never fading smile and the love and jolliness he carries? He replied – “I refuse to grow up” with the same childlike smile, so pure, so serene, that you can’t help but fall in love with the mojo of the Guru.

Vikram Bhaiya, as he is famously called, sang bhajans of many deities including Shiva, Krishna and Durga. In his mellifluous voice, it appeared as if even the songs were enjoying themselves. We were all singing along with him with the same fervour and same energy.

How time passed not a single soul in the auditorium realized. When he was singing ‘Radha raman hari bol’, people started leaving and I soon realized it was his last song for the evening, but he had not sung ‘Achutam Keshavam’, his most loved bhajan, yet.

As soon as he finished, put his guitar aside and bowed to say goodbye, I stood up from the farthest corner of the auditorium and shouted, “Vikram Bhaiya, Achutam Keshavam”, he was humbly adamant of not singing it and said now even the guitar has fallen asleep. I replied no guitar needed, just you sing. Soon there were pleas from all the corners, “please”, “please”,” one last song.”

So he picked up the guitar and hence came the most mesmerizing of all the performances of the evening. Everyone was spellbound , singing and enjoying , reaching the seventh heaven on that spiritual extravaganza.

It was one of the most memorable evenings I have ever had. Thanks Vikram!! Thanks Sri Sri!!

Catch a glimpse of Vikram's jamming.

Each one of us is both a sinner and a saint,

the difference lies in the ratio.
-sudharm baxi

Paulo Coelho

I have particularly liked Coelho ever since i read 'The Alchemist' because of the simplicity in his writings. He tries to teach life lessons that are so simple but all forgotten, all buried in the sands of civilizations. He is the guy who is removing the sand. For me he is a cleaner, a soul cleaner.

There are gurus who say do this dhyaan, asana, Samadhi and whatnot, and we forget all that, minutes after listening. But Coelho is different, he is a simple story-teller with that grace, that aura, and that magic to transform the complex life lessons into easy, comprehensible and good to read fables.

You always wish to live in the world, in the shoes, in the troubles of the central characters of Coelho. Be it the girl who decided to die (Veronika decides to die) or the guy who was willing to cross deserts to attain his much desired treasure (The Alchemist), or the girl willing to learn magical powers (Brida) or any character for that matter.

You actually think what if I get to experience all this, but here is the trick, Coelho through his lessons want to convey one very strong point and that is – You need to experience everything in this life yourself and no one is going to actually teach you any of those strange or mundane or whatever things. You have to be a self learner.

You have to go through the pond of wealth as well as the creek of bitter life yourself. Life and time are bigger teachers than anything else ever existed on the face of this planet. So, I sincerely request you to read Paulo Coelho, he may sound silly, insane, or childlike at some instances but he is actually a connector between the unknown, unidentified being and the small us.

This spiritual extravaganza awaits anyone who wishes to explore, who is willing to remove the dust off the lid. One who is eager to take pain, suffer at the hands of the society, the customs, and the dictums to find the unknown will be the one who is going to find true spiritualism, true eternity and will eventually become the flag-bearer of the coming generations.