Back in 2000, one of my Dad’s morning rituals was to play bhajans the moment he woke up. There wasn’t a single day when I didn’t wake up to the melodious voices of Vikram Hazra, Rishi Nityapragya (our beloved Nitin Bhaiya), and Chitra Roy.
Bhajans were never restricted to being an early-morning alarm for the house. My dad played them in his car too… something I have both loved and hated all my life.
Before 2000, it used to be old Bollywood songs. Then the Art of Living shift happened.
After he came into Art of Living, the mediums evolved.., from World FM Radio to cassettes (yes, we used those in our old Maruti), to CDs, and now to Spotify.
But one thing remained constant: his love for bhajans. And somewhere along the way, as I near 40, I have picked up that habit too.
I remember almost 14–15 years ago, I sat in his car while Nitin Bhaiya’s Trinetraya album was playing. The car was echoing “Jai Jai Shiv Shamboo” at its loudest. The moment I sat down, I told Papa, “You know what, I don’t like Shiv ji that much… let’s play Krishna bhajans.” And my mom, dad, and I burst into laughter.
That became our little inside joke. Whenever we needed to change a bhajan, or when we were sitting in a satsang and a Shiv bhajan began, the three of us would exchange glances, smile at each other, and gently lean into the bhakti.
All my life, I have been surrounded by friends whose inclination was… and still is… towards Shiva. Be it T in college, P in iYogi, RPN in Videocon, AM, and now AR - in different phases of life, I have walked alongside people whose lives were deeply touched by Shiva Shakti. Yet, for the longest time, I never fully understood the depth of that devotion, that surrender, that pull.
Now, as I near 40, after the Hanuman Chalisa, which is almost a ritual to play the moment I sit in my car, I find myself listening to Shiv Stuti more often. The ritual of playing bhajans in the car continues.
Over the years, I have read extensively about Him, listened to Sri Sri’s Shiv Sutras, and absorbed many of his discourses on Shiva.
And somewhere along this journey, there is a tranquility I cannot explain. A peace. A surrender. A quiet knowing - that I am Him, and He is me.
I feel His rage, yet I feel His stillness within me. He is nowhere, and yet He is everywhere. Despite what Annie says that Shiva has his own greys … I feel He is far beyond the small definitions we try to confine Him to.
He is the ultimate truth - the One with no beginning and no end. The One who simply is. Omnipresent. Formless. Boundless. Both aware and beyond awareness.
He is not just a deity to be prayed to… He is a state to be experienced. A dissolution of ego. A vastness that swallows every doubt.
He is Shamboo!
