Prasanta Behera Blog

During the trip to Costa Rica in December 2015, the tour director started with the concept of "Pura Vida" and what it means to Costa Rican. Simple translation of " Pura Vida " means " pure life ". It is also called "good life" and other variations. It's an amazing country ... they truly have integrated nature in their daily life. Costa Rica wants  to be carbon free by 2020 .. amazing. The roads are clean. The best way to truly know "pura vida" is talking to people in the streets and market. People say "pura vida" to greet, cheer  or say bye to you. It is integrated into the fabric of society. That is huge! Pura vida! Means that no matter what your current situation is, life for someone else can always be less fortunate than your own. So you need to consider that maybe...just maybe, your situation isn't all that bad and that no matter how little or how much you have in life, we are all here together and life ...

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.   We all are familiar with Robert Frost's poem "The roads Not taken".  We come across forks many times in our life and many of those decisions have made huge impact in our lives. We make many "less traveled by" decisions in life but it is not apparent but as you introspect, it is there. When we reflect back, it is much easier to see the roads and the decision we took. The key may not be which road to take .. but make a decision and take a road and not "worry" about it ... close the doors and move on ( Opening Doors ).  We also remember these lines very well from Frost's famous poem. The woods are lovely, dark and deep,    But I have promises to keep,    And miles to go before I sleep,    And miles to go before I sleep. If you think about it, the lines from both poems talk about time ahead and decisions to make...

The gentle touch Curious eyes The sleepy sighs Fitting in two palms Fatherhood begins with tears in the eyes The little flower blossoming The gentle kisses in the cheek The nibbling of ears The sound of trinklets I feel blessed that I have a daughter The sleepy head on shoulders The occasional hug The dancing footsteps The sound of your sweet voice Makes life experience beautiful. The drive to Berkeley The occasional talk The sound of Odissi music The rhythm of your dance Mesmerizing feeling of joy like never before the challenges for fatherhood vanishes at that moment. The emptiness when you left for college The occasional visit to home Always eagerly waiting for the opening sound of garage door... Fatherhood is like a river ready to give a hug and lift you up. Time is moving forward The little girl turning into a young women The young daughter turning into a friend The cactus birthday present The "you are awesome too Dad" text K...

Thank you all being a supporter of my journey. It has been a great experience for me in the last few months. Thank you for taking time to read my blog. Wishing all of you a happy and prosperous 2016 and beyond.     Someone told me few weeks back that hiking in rain was crazy but child like bringing the "inner youth". That reminded of a story I had read in Reader's Digest some 20+ years ago. A Japanese "old" men describing youth to his grandson. He showed him a copy of the following poem which he had kept in his wallet and he said he used often read it to remind himself. This poem is about "youth". I liked the poem a lot and so made a photocopy (long before iphone) and kept it in one of my binders.  It took me a while a find it! Enjoy it!  Here is to the youth in you! Let us be young -- optimistic to life and keep our aerials up to catch the beauty of nature. May the inner beauty and peace help you achieve it!   ================================...