I was driving to the New Jersey Princeton Junction station in an Uber when the driver struck up a conversation about spirituality. I remember a distinct moment when he began to rave about The Autobiography of a Yogi, insisting that anyone who reads the book will experience miracles. He starts recounting how when he started to…
This past November, I was given the opportunity to speak at the TEDxGeorgiaTech Student Speaker Salon! If you’d rather read than watch, the text of the speech can be found below. Performance of “Posters” Spoken Word Poem I am tired of posters. Everywhere I go. Every doctor’s office, professor’s desk, waiting room, classroom, bedroom, everyplace…
There was a time I could neither read nor write. This idea to me is incredible. As I’m typing out these words, able to convey complex ideas using words, sentences, paragraphs, I am bewildered by the fact that there was a time that I couldn’t read and I couldn’t write. I’m a little saddened that…
We often idolize rationality as the solution to all of the world’s problems. Awareness. Education. These are always touted as the foundations of success for any plan that hopes to create real change. Especially in our current era of Enlightenment, we have come to view rationality as our savior. We believe that if the whole world was…
We all want peace. When people explain why they are interested in meditation, inner peace is one of the most common reasons that they share. Whether it is the day after the election, a stressful exam week, or just a chaotic time in our lives, we often come to learn meditation expecting it to be…
Read more Meditate for: Pockets of Peace (Why Meditate? Series)
As a kid, I used to love watching Avatar the Last Airbender, a cartoon series about a young avatar who had to restore balance in the world. Although it was just a TV show, one of the lessons it taught me is how there is something we can learn from each of the four basic elements…
We may spend our lives trying to fulfill our craving for wholeness externally, but it is one that can only be fulfilled by what is already within.
Read more Meditate For: Feeling Whole (Why Meditate? Series)
It was the first time in my life that I had found myself on crutches. My left ankle had been sprained but with a lot of airline assistance and hopping from wheelchair to wheelchair, I had managed to travel from the United States to India. There was a lot that I learned while I was…
I began to meditate over three years ago in June of 2013 and have been teaching heartfulness meditation ever since July of 2015. For over three years, I’ve had people ask me about how I meditate, why I meditate, and above all, how meditation has helped me. So I am starting the Why Meditate? Series, a series of blogs…
“Be present” It’s the latest catch phrase of our decade. Everyone is constantly telling us to stop worrying about the future, to move on and forget about the past and to live in the “here and now”. While almost each one of us will agree that we want to be “here and now”, to live…
Read more 11 Practical Ways to Live Fully in the Present Moment
If you’d rather read than listen: As I explored WishDish with a friend of mine, she immediately told me, “This seems like a cool idea, but not sure if I have anything to share. I’m not a good writer anyways.” Many of us have this same sentiment when it comes to writing, talking, or just storytelling…
Originally posted on 100 Ways to Write:
I recently had the opportunity to perform a spoken word poem that I had written a while ago. And on the day of the performance, I remember staring at the words on the pages that I was holding and realizing that these phrases that once held so much emotion and meaning to me…
If you’d rather listen than read: — My Day Four assignment for the “Blogging 101” course that I have enrolled in is to publish a post for my ideal audience member. Seeing as this was assigned five days ago, I’m definitely playing catch-up, but I am determined to make it! Well, this got me thinking, who is…
At Georgia Tech, I am surrounded by students (myself included), who are consistently complaining about the amount of work they have to do or how much they are dreading the amount of studying that awaits them. It has become so commonplace to accept studying as an inevitable evil that dooms us all that many of us don’t…
It wasn’t until I came into college that I began to appreciate my friends and what it meant to have a friendship. When you are suddenly surrounded by people everywhere, and are also given more duties and responsibility, the day-to-day tradeoff between investing in friendships and expending effort on classes, work, and organizations becomes much more tangible. For me, this…
This past summer, I had an amazing opportunity to go on a 10-week study abroad program in Europe, learning about the European Union, US-EU relations, European security, and human rights. I spent 6 weeks in Brussels with a host family, and about a week each in Ireland, France, Germany, and Poland. Needless to say, it was an…
Read more 10 Valuable Lessons I Learned from Studying Abroad
The word “culture” has its roots in the Latin word colere, meaning to tend or to cultivate. For me, my culture is a cultivation of seeds derived from the values, customs, and achievements of my two homes: the United States of America and the Republic of India. As the son of Indian immigrants, my culture…
Read more A Cultivation of Seeds – My Indian-American Culture
When I shift my gaze towards you, everything else goes away. Suddenly all that used to excite me and bring me wonder is brought to my blind side. Because I’m taken away by your beauty, Compelled by your majestic mystery. None of this can matter, because I yearn for you. Only you can fulfill this craving. You are the…
As I make my way through a crowded walking trail in Brussels, Belgium, I feel free. No one talks to me or gets in my way, and I don’t get in theirs. For a moment, I am nameless. And in that beautiful moment, I am allowed to forget myself. I can shed my identity and embrace the world. I am everything…
Perpetual Change 