GREAT News!!!

Hey Guys!!
I am happy to announce that the YES!+ Program is now an official part of the curriculum at Cornell University (something we should mention in our intro talks :))!!! Cornell University is an Ive League school - one of the TOP Universities in the world!! Students were GLUED to Guruji's knowledge videos and are now super excited about doing the YES!++

Here are some of the experiences students had on the first YES!+ Program at Cornell...

"This course has taught me a lot about how to look at life and work withwhatever comes my way. It has proven how the good comes with the bad but howpositive will always outweigh the negative. It has given me techniques tofocus and ways to slow down worrying. It helped put everything intoperspective about the big picture (accepting people, situations, the present)and so far has really changed my attitude about negative people/situations.Thank you sooooo much!!!"

~Cornell University freshman, 2008

"After YES!+ I feel much more relaxed, happy, and less stressed. This was avery life-changing experience that everyone should have the opportunity to try. I will carry these lessons and this experience with me throughout my future."

~Cornell University freshman, 2008

"YES!+ is a course of self-discovery and liberation from the world. I feeltransformed. It was a discourse into a way of life that leads to astress-free, happier society. It's a very intense course that not only helpsyou to calm down but also to look at life with a different perspective."

~Cornell University senior, 2008

Jai Gurudev!

Are you driving a car without brakes?

This time Guruji gave us some really beautiful knowledge at the TRM (Teachers’ Refresher Meet)। He said "we are driving a car without any brakes!!" Imagine driving a car which only has an accelerator!! (whew!!) The result – the car goes in all directions and then meets with an accident!

Guruji compared the accelerator to ‘desires’ and the brakes to ‘meditation’ - we keep thinking about “what to do next” and find ourselves caught up in an unending chase towards stress, fatigue and disappointment! He said that it is important for us to apply the brakes (meditate) every day so that the car runs smoothly। For those of us who "cannot meditate" Guruji gave us three sutras to keep in mind –

“अचाह” or “I want nothing”

"अकिनचन ” or “I am nothing”
“अप्रयातना” or "Effortlessness"

These sutras are super effective!! Implement them when you meditate today! :) Jai Gurudev!

A day of 'First Times'...

Today, the oldest advocate at the Bombay High Court fell victim to a massive heart attack and passed away rather dramatically while he was delivering his arguments in court. Mr. V. T. Walawalkar was the senior most advocate who practiced predominantly on the Appellate Side of the Bombay High Court. I regret that I never had the opportunity to work with him. In fact, I didn’t know who he was until I heard of him today. From what I hear, he was a thorough gentleman who had mastered the art of advocacy. Advocacy is not always about winning cases… it’s about using every skill that you have for the sake of your client. It’s about grit and determination and giving your 100% till the very end. It’s about boundless patience and humility, all of which I could see on this man’s face when I paid homage to his body. The body was brought into room no.36 where judges & fellow lawyers paid their respects to his departing soul. Although I didn’t know this man, I felt drawn to the room. Soon enough I knew why... When they brought in his body, I saw the most loving eye(lid)s in the world! It was the first time I was seeing a dead body but the experience was not quite what I thought it would be. The brief that he was arguing when he suddenly collapsed was kept by his side (yea yea, we're a dramatic lot!:)) His face reflected the sheer passion with which he advocated his cause (he looked like someone who would take up a cause; not a case). Around him were keen faces all of whom suddenly seemed like family to me. I saw a humanness in lawyers that I had never seen before. For the first time, I was PROUD to be a part of the Bombay Bar Association. For the first time it felt like we were all on the same side! I felt a rush of ambition and passion for my profession. I was reminded of how important it is to be a part of a family… the larger the family the greater the pride! Like Guruji says, we are all part of an ocean and when we recognize and cherish this, we become the Ocean (Vasudeva Kutumbakam). I became the ocean today thanks to Mr. Walawalkar.
May his soul rest in love and peace! जय गुरुदेव :)

a beautiful city called AMBY VALLEY!

My good friend Tej turned 27 last Saturday and decided to spend the weekend with his close friends at Amby Valley! It pays to know a diamond merchant or people who work for diamond merchants ;) Tej belongs to the second category. He is an extremely hardworking boy and has this fantastic ability to dramatize the most trivial things and have you rolling in laughter … things that I otherwise wouldn’t have even smirked at ... you know what I mean?!

Anyway, the drive to Amby Valley from Lonavala was almost as long as the drive from Mumbai to Lonavala! We spent the journey laughing at Imran’s conversations. Actually we were laughing at Imran! Imran is one of the nicest people I know. He’s a sure short stress buster and the amazing part is that he doesn’t even know it. The drive was beautiful. Tree clad mountain tops interspersed with the occasional waterfall. Some of the not so impressive waterfalls were described by Imran as ‘nature’s call’. It was more like the ‘call’ that ‘nature’ didn’t answer for a year :)! The road to Amby Valley was incredible! We couldn’t see anything that was 10 mts away AND IMRAN WAS DRIVING (he drove surprisingly well though)! When we finally reached Amby Valley, my jaw dropped at the sheer size of the arched gates and I began imagining what it would be like inside. It felt like an achievement to be there (one of those gifts parents give you when you do well in an exam :) … more so because the last time I visited Amby Valley with a group of college friends, we were thrown right out (the place is open only to members and their guests)!

As the gates opened for us, they unveiled one of the most incredible places I had seen. Amby Valley is heaven away from home (Bangalore Ashram qualifies as home for me :)) There were hills and lakes and rivers and mountains... 10,000 acres of sheer peace. We were put up in cozy timber chalets with even cozier bathrooms :) (the first thing I do when I enter a room is check out the bathroom!).

We dropped our bags and rushed to the ‘paint balling’ field. Paint balling is an extremely challenging yet exciting game where two teams equipped with loaded guns compete against each other to capture a red flag in the middle of the ‘battle field’. The guns are loaded with paint balls instead of bullets which burst into a splash of paint when they hit you. The instructor briefing us took a look at my pink ashram rubber chappals and I could guage he wasn’t to happy with my footwear :) “Are you okay with falling?” he asked and I vigorously nodded as I fondly remembered how i played “dahi handi” at the Pune YES!++ course two years back! The whistle (or the conch during the Mahabharata) was blown and both sides began shooting at ach other in the pouring rain. Suddenly I was reminded of a war that we had to win for the sake of our dignity and self respect (it was boys versus girls :))! The first game got over in two minutes and it took us time to recover from the sheer speed with which the boys had captured the red flag! The second game and every game after that (except for one) was won by us … never mind that we were given a bit of a lead by the referee ;) . Sure enough, I fell in the muck and injured my back real bad. Nevertheless, the important thing is that we won!

… more to come tomorrow!
love Pooja

FUN-n-FROLIC At MARINE DRIVE

GuYs....ppl out of the loop R MIssin SUMthin!!!!! virTUALLY evERYDay is a party FOR us...WORKIN FOR YES!+ is fun..u know??????ne wys focussing on the FUN part ....Was in my off. workin till at abt 2 p.m recieved a call FRM aloK.THE TEAM was comin TO mariNE drIve!