Bio-Data

Trusha Desai grew up in Mumbai, India. She landed multitudinous awards in Public Speaking while she studied for her Bachelor's degree. After marriage in Tanzania, she took on the challenge of a high profile primate behavioural research project. Her degree in Math, along with Statistics and Economics was the reason she embarked on intricate statistical analysis. After eight years spent primarily on the shores of the Indian Ocean, amidst swaying palms and casuarina trees, she immigrated to Canada with her family. They selected Vancouver as their destination of choice after the Consul convinced them that the benign climate would suit their spicy palate. Having lived and assimilated in Vancouver for nineteen years, Trusha is not trapped within the dichotomy of cultural opposites. She is an accountant, where her forays with the Certified General Accountant's Program assist her. The divorced mother of two children has not lost her focus amidst all that she does.

Trusha has four blogs to her credit, to announce her causes and passionate beliefs to the world: focussing on peace, creativity, education and career. She has penned a memoir of sorts awaiting publication ~ A Convoluted Life: around the world, zooming in on the three countries that she has called home at different points of time in her life, India, Tanzania and Canada. A novel, Family Affairs is in the wings. The multi-lingual, multi-faceted woman is a closet poet too, composing Life-isms. Meanwhile, she is compiling Swaying Palms by the Indian Ocean, a collection of short stories.

Using the right side of her brain to the penultimate, she has dabbled in art for the past nine years. She tries her hand at acrylics (on canvas and paper), oil pastels, water colours and multi-media.

People determine

Peace has a price. It is up to us to determine whether we are willing to pay it. The Mahatma was killed, as were JFK and honest Abe. All for a cause they believed in. We should remember that if terrorism rides high, it has to be nabbed in the bud before it continues to mushroom wildly.

People chant

The syllable om or aum ॐ is packed with spiritual power. It is suggested that om ॐ be chanted at the beginning and end of religious ceremonies in Hinduism. Mantras seeking blessings from different Gods and Goddesses typically have om ॐ added onto them, giving punch to the message. Meditation is enhanced when one sits in a lotus position, closes eyes and chants om ॐ.

Whether it is ॐ गणेशाय नमः or ॐ शिवाय नमः, whether we bow down to Lord Ganesha or his father Lord Shiva, the syllable om ॐ at the beginning of the mantra helps in focusing mental energies on the absolute. If there is only one syllable that you would chant while in prayer, let it be om ॐ.

Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism focus on the syllable om ॐ in prayer.

People remember

As we communicate with World War veterans, continuing conflicts in some corners of the world cause us sorrow. Over one hundred thousand Canadian soldiers died in the World Wars. And that statistic of death rises. How do we strive for peace? Can we end terrorist forays?

We must remember that peace is not the absence of war. Peace is a positive force that unites us and empowers good. Yes, we can pray for peace, we can hope for peace, we can derive comfort that countries may not stockpile nuclear weapons anymore.

People pray

सिद्धि बुद्धि प्रदे देवी भक्ति मुक्ति प्रदायिनी

मंत्र मूर्थे सदा देवी महालक्ष्मी नमोस्तु ते

O! Goddess, You are the bestower of success and intelligence, worldy enjoyment as well as liberation.

O! Mother Mahalakshmi, obeisances unto Thee,
whose form is 'mantra' personified.

People respect

In an attempt to expand zones of peace around the world, we must first curtail conflicts and conflagrations in our vicinity. When we speak to others, if we speak with respect and kindness, there can only be an extenuation of justice and friendship. Sometimes we are put in a situation where we are tempted to angrily counter a remark made to us. If we stay calm and take a deep breath, instead of combating anger with anger and fire with fire, we can extinguish viciousness.

This is a long-drawn process, we cannot learn the path to inner peace in a moment. However, we can learn it, if we are sincerely dedicated towards aligning ourselves with contentment.

People believe

In Paradise, in Utopia, in a world of peace, there would be harmony and tolerance, coexistence and understanding, faith and friendship. If this is the world we want, we can work towards it, one day at a time. If this is the peace we want, we can work towards it, one land mine at a time. If this is the belief we want, we can work towards it, one prayer at a time. If this is the coexistence we want, we can work towards it, one thought at a time.

In the month of July, as there are celebrations in Canada and the United States of America, let the fireworks designate freedom for mankind everywhere.