Your Soul's Plan - Robert Schwartz

 The book is about discovering the real meaning if the life you planned before you were born - basically saying that there is a particular purpose you came for, and that you chose the life you wanted to learn some lessons by a pre-agreement. It makes everything bearable once we own that its our own making or wanting and nothing beyond it and that its all leading up to growth at a soul level.

Robert says that our life and the events that happen, good and the bad, are part of a pre-birth planning that we did with our soul group. To illustrate his point he gives ten examples of people who have had physical illness (HIV, cancer), who parented handicapped children, who lived with deafness and blindness, who dealt with alcoholism and drug addiction, coped with the death of a loved one and even with debilitating accidents.

Jon was diagnosed with HIV and in his work with his mediums or channels, he discovered that he needed to experience love, to be open and he did that through the tough experience of living a vibe of separation. Doris experienced breast cancer, an alcoholic mom, shame due to her sexuality and her non-acceptance of the female form, found that her soul's plan was to get over self-loathing, use sexual energy right, accept her female form and to practice self-love.

Jennifer parented handicapped children alone - one with bipolar behavior and autism and another who was blind and she found that she learned to be patient and to accept a life with someone else's choice. Penelope who was deaf and Bob who had been blind found out that they learned to be more sensitive and compassionate and thereby teaching others to be compassionate, by choosing this life with these handicaps. 

Sharon's only son almost died due to a drug overdose and then her friend Eddie actually died and she found that the drug addiction was planned to show what love looked like. Sharon's words - 'I will be the mother who loves you through them and I will build upon this experience to help others.' Pat who struggled with alcoholism, abandoned his family, learned to be unafraid.

Valerie had to deal with the sudden death of her son Dustin and her lesson was to find a sense of self-worth, find balance. Accidents like Jason's who in a celebratory mood jumped into his pool and cracked his spine and became paralysed his whole life found that he was more than his body. Nothing can beat   Christina's story - she opened a letter box of her boss and set off a bomb which blew her face off almost and she struggled through her pain to discover that her lesson was to be relevant and to help people in a relevant manner.

Robert says that the physical plane provides dualities. Our souls communicate through feelings - joy, peace, excitement when we are in sync, fear and doubt when not. In all the above cases the people were helped by their soul group, their angels and so on.

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Interesting to know that we choose everything - parents, school  circumstances, events - to aid our own growth. Makes it all so bearable that its all part of a grander plan and that we are not alone in that. Interesting reading certainly and one that puts me at more ease because we tend to take too much responsibility or tend to write ourselves off for any wrong we may have committed. Its al part of the plan, and we are not alone in that. Good to know I have a plan.

The Baroda Diaries - Day 5

 An early morning wake up and head off after breakfast to Champaner and Pavagadh which is about 50 kms away on the Baroda - Indore route. Champaner is a city, the capital of the Gujarat Sultanate during the 14th-15th century, which for some reason quickly was abandoned and became a lost town. Its a UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site and that interested me a lot (don't ask me why). The Pavagadh hill has the famous Kalika Mata temple at the top of an imposing hill which can be reached by cable car or by walk (2000 steps). Its a very popular destination among devotees and the place is packed with them walking up.

M is not a good traveller by his own confession and to get him out of bed and moving early on an off day was not easy. But he committed and said he did not want to let me down and came as promised. We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed off with the taciturn yet professional Vishal, a young taxi owner who owns two new cars and is planning to buy another. He spoke little but took us straight to Champaner which is the town at the foothills.

Champaner has a fort, its walls lining the highway, and we turned in to go to the first site, Sahar ka masjid was our first stop where we bought some literature and tickets worth hundred bucks which will serve as entry tickets in other places like Jama masjid. The masjid is within the fort and the Pavagadh town. Its maintained as all UNESCO Heritage sites are maintained, with well manicured lawns and so on. Interestingly the style is a mix of Islamic, Hindu, and perhaps Jain, with intricate carvings, pillars, motifs etc which are very syncretic. Hardly had the feel of a regular mosque.

From there we went to the Mandvi structure close by which was the place where tariffs and customs and octroi was collected. Then to the magnificent Jama Masjid which is truly beautiful and very well preserved. There is an octagonal pond behind the Masjid. The masjid etc are all walking distance and in that sense its a bit like Hampi, only closer. Then we went to the Kevda mosque where I detoured in some village routes and ended up in a lonely place, well maintained though.

Then to the Kamani mosque, a ride up to the ropeway point on the Pavagadh hill where we decided not to go the full distance thanks to the crowds. On the way down we saw the stepwells - the helical one was impressive. And then we headed back. At the hotel by 2.

  

The Baroda Diaries - Day 4

 Match at Motibaug cricket grounds which forms part of the palace estate. In fact it is right next to the Fateh Singh Rao Gaekwad Museum which was at one time the private school of the royal Princes and princesses. Right in front of the museum is the replica of the 'Flying Scotsman' - the train from London to Edinburgh - which had a few carriages so that it could carry 30 children - the train would make its way from the palace to the school via the orchards etc. Apparently they have shifted the train tracks to the Sayaji Baug park where hundreds of kids now savour the toy train experience. The original train engine is now retired and stands outside the museum.

Moin and I walked around the beautiful ground with tall trees, a mango orchard to one side, cricket nets to another, an old monument right next to the dressing rooms, bougainvilleas, the rising tower of the palace behind us, the Peacock playschool to one side etc. The game got over at 4, we recorded a convincing victory over Vidarbha and Moin and I hired Safi Shaikh who was hanging around to go to Khanderao market. It was a market place built in the times of Maharaja Sayaji Rao - a beautiful, old world market with a place for fruit and vegetable sellers in the centre and many shops that sold provisions inside. We took some pics, bought some dry fruits, drank some Rajwada chai and headed back to the hotel where I dropped Moin off. He prefers rest to these exertions.

I went off with Safi to the Maharaja Sayaji University (popularly known as MS University) which is close  to the Railway station. Its a beautiful campus with high domes that remind one of Gol Gumbaz from Bijapur, especially the Arts side. The science departments seem to be have been built later which is obvious from its construction. But the entire university had a lovely feel, an experimental school to one side next to the department of education and psychology. I wandered about for a while taking pics, wondering why there were so many students hanging around the campus at 5 in the evening. There is a nala flowing through the campus!

MS University is where Mohan studied his Masters in Fine Arts and I remember one crazy incident when I was travelling from Mumbai to Ahmedabad on some work in the early 90s and had told Mohan I would be passing through Baroda on that particular day and in that particular train. Come that day and time and I find Mohan searching from me frantically in all compartments until he found me. After a couple of minutes of pleasantries he told me he needed a hundreds bucks - hostel life - and I was happy to give it to him. Trust Mohan to spice up our life like this. 

Back to the hotel from the day's exertions and chilled. 

The Baroda Diaries - Day 3

 Rest day. Decided to head to the Lakshmi Vilas Palace after breakfast with Chattu for company. We took a rickshaw and went into the huge palace grounds which has a private golf course. Entry ticket to palace and museum was about 375 per head. We took a few pics outside as no pics are allowed inside. A bunch of old Bengali ladies came and asked me to take their pics - friends from Ahmedabad apparently having the time of their life.

Once inside the palace we were given an audio guide and asked to step outside towards the golf course. We took a few pics from the outside and then went back into the palace where we were led into about four or five rooms - one dining, one armoury, one hall where you have to take your footwear off - and pretty soon the trip ended. We gave back the audio guides and stepped out and took some more pics.

The museum is a long way off - go to the main gate and then walk another km - so we hired an auto. Saif took us to the museum and we walked along watching the paintings, sculptures, pictures and so on. Lots of European stuff nd lots of paintings by Raja Ravi Varma who was commissioned by Sayaji Rao Gaekwad to paint many paintings. 

From there we headed off to Sur Sagar lake and then to Mandvi gate, passed by the Khande Rao Market place. Then we headed back to the hotel and stopped enroute on the bridge across Viswamitra river where the enterprising Saif showed me fat crocodiles lazing on the banks of the river/stream or whatever. I have never seen crocodiles in the open like that - only in zoos. Apparently when the river was in spate during the rains last year, the crocodiles showed up on the bridge or the roads. Crazy.

After lunch I stepped out with Saif and headed to Sayaji Baug to see the Baroda museum. The Sayaji baug garden is beautiful, large, has a small zoo and also this beautiful museum. I took a long time walking around the museum and spent more than an hour looking at lovely sculptures, paintings, stuffed animals, idols, Greco Roman figurines, an Egyptian mummy and even the skeleton of a blue whale that washed up in the coast near Baroda in 1942 or sometime - massive.

Loved the Baroda museum. I saw the toy train and school children whooping as they went along.

From there Saif took me to Kirti mandir which was for some reason shut. I hung around there for a while, took some pics and headed back to the hotel. Very satisfying day.

The Baroda Diaries - Day 2

The cab guy took us to Reliance ground which is a pretty ground with lots of trees and open spaces around. The air is quite chill so my plans of early morning walks are not happening. I can see the sun rising from my window and its quite beautiful. The game swung this way and that and finally went that way.

We took a rickshaw from the ground and headed off to Ratri bazaar and the famous Raju Omlet which showed up on the map. We tried two varieties - one half fry and one crushed butter omlet - both which were quite nice to taste but also heavy on the stomach. Then we asked the owner, possibly Raju, if they served tea and he said he would share the the tea he had just ordered. Just one little cup and he would not hear a no - and he split it three ways. Absolute generosity. Why would people not go there?

We walked around a bit, found one chai tapri, and had a chai while discussing issues of the world. Then we went back to the hotel. Ratri bazaar needs another visit at night in my opinion.

Finished reading 'Merchants of Death' and started reading 'My Soul's Plan.'

The Baroda Diaries - Day 1

 16th December. Found myself booking a cab at 11 am to the airport. Picked up Moin on the way and we went to the airport and hung around until our flight took off. Had a horrid spinach and corn sandwich which I threw away. Baroda airport was pretty small so we managed to find ourselves a Uber and headed to the hotel.

Taj Vivanta has a nice vibe and a cosy atmosphere. Chattu came by soon and we stepped out for a chai and an egg roll. The traffic is pretty less here, roads wide enough, not too many people - enough to make us fall in love with this place. Anyway we slept in early. Tomorrow is a big game.

I checked out some local spots and the rest day seems a busy day. 

Merchants of Death - Neelima Dalmia Adhar

A sinister curse on the House of Loya which is a rich Marwadi family from Calcutta pretty much ends the lives of many of the family members who are too busy either having affairs, getting into shady arms deals, controlling the government and finally ending up losing their near and dear to death one way or another.

Too many characters so I do not remember who did what except that there was a character called Amba who controls the situation for quite a bit. There are real life settings in the time periods which involve people in the Government, known names so we can relate to them, arms deals which is a known story, lots of research well woven into the narrative. But then the story is mostly told and not shown so I kind of skimmed through it all and got to the end which is nothing to look forward to. One wonders who the protagonist is, what his motive was, how he achieves it or dies in its pursuit. However it does paint a picture of the decadence of the rich families, the Jews of India as the blurb says. There's no doubting Neelima's storytelling abilities with complex, hard plots nor her penchant to tell the truth  however ugly - I only wish she had been more patient in developing it some more. 

Interestingly she has written several other books which sound interesting -I already have 'Father Dearest' - am looking forward to reading it next.