“Dans la vie parfois tu gagne, et parfois t’apprend”

“Dans la vie parfois tu gagne, et parfois t’apprend”
“In Life, sometimes you Win, sometimes You Learn”

And often you learn more from a Loss than from a victory. So the french football team was eliminated from the World Cup in Brazil. Loss accompanies disappointment. Failure brings in the dark clouds of self doubts. I prefer to look at the silver lining and imagining the blue sky beyond the visible. The hot scorching sun sharing its warmth for those who  wish. For the young talented but lacking in experience french team I can only say “Le Soleil est en Nous”. Prepare for Euro 2016 in France and maybe  we will see shades Bleu, Blanc, Rouge from 1998!

° “What contact sport do you have in India?” Cyrille, the manager of my gym asks after a long exchange on Sport in general and the real motivation for people to come. We do not really have a ‘contact sport’ in India. Indian wrestling is probably the best example I could give but it has nothing to do with ‘contact’. It is all about the flow of energy. Kalaripayat is the mother of All Martial arts. It is still an Art form rather than a competitive sport. It is All about Energy – yours first and secondly the opponent’s. It was created as an art of self defense against the animals in India – tigers, cheetahs, wild boars, elephants, snakes…about five thousand years ago. Once you master the flow of your own energy you can come in contact with the animal’s energy. There has to be no contact. It is all about avoiding that contact. To let it flow beyond you until the animal tires himself  out and then finds his path of peace. I know it sounds very easy but that’s exactly how we can work with people with whom we are in conflict… Go with the flow, it is the call of Nature 🙂

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Back to the Future

Is it a Railway station? Is it a Club house? Is it a an old Factory being renovated? Your guess is as good as mine. It is called “La Recyclerie” !!! Just as you step out of the parisian metro at Porte de Clignantcourt you are welcomed to a frenzied tanned part of France many don’t want to be associated with today. And then you step Back into the Future… The old Gare is in Transition! A non profit association has taken over to repair and recycle the space converting it into a bar, an eaterie, a place to exchange ideas and culture!

Talking to the ‘responsable‘ Stéphane I discover that he has lived in Africa as a child and has an open mind. He comes from a background of ‘organiser 5000 concerts…‘ (he’s probably from Marseille 😉 )His ambition is to make something out of nothing. To bring out the best in what would have been another beautifully romantique crumbling ruin in Paris. But the french have an amazing relationship with their past. The decor has been left practically untouched but held together with the latest sprays to keep the walls from chipping into your ‘verre de vin blanc en vrac’.
Bravo and I will follow your Transition mon ami.
http://www.larecyclerie.com/

• That brings me to the question What is the french notion of Time and Future?
In the occidental world people usually have a very linear approach to Time. A clock is the standard regulator and accepted as a specific measure at work and home. North europeans however see this linearity differently from the latino-catholico-easy going southerners. So there is a divide even on the old continent. Americans see Time as Money and the Future as… More Money! The Arabs, the Asians and the Africans have a non-linear approach. It moves in Cycles of Time. The Futre is uncontrollable. It has to be lived to the fullest just like every moment today. It would probably be the reason why people seem to be less stressed in other non-linear times zones of the world?

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• France-Germany in the quarter finals of the World Cup in Brazil. Today Time will stop as the two great european nations hold their breaths, drinking more beer and/or wine, shouting and screaming obscenities at their own countrymen and/or at the opponents but one thing is sure. The experts will be pouring over the records of who won how many matches? When? Where? Why? but as of this moment we cannot foretell the Future 😉 May the Best team win but my heart stilll lives in France…

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Knowing You Knowing Me…

Before we start any project or voyage it helps to get to know oneself…and the other – the destinations, the travellers, the conditions etc. There’s nothing easier and yet more complex than knowing Oneself. It is an inward journey, questioning, discovery, shocks and comfort zones.
I have decided to use All of my Senses as indicators, guides and landmarks. Yoga is a great revelator of our consciousness. You don’t need anything else except your own body, mind and soul. Remember the concept of I, me and myself? The Detox Yoga class on tuesday turned me upside down and inside out. Its normal because not only does Yoga help you to breathe consciously but also massages your internal organs. The positions, the twistings and turnings help to bring Life to areas we were probably not even aware of.

• Yoga is NOT a SPORT!!! Please do not be in a hurry to go through the ‘programme’ and perform to prove to yourself that you are supple, strong and sexy 😉 Being Beautiful is allowed! Contacting your inner self is the journey. Like everything on this earth even Yoga has a smell – Sesame seed oil. It is heady yet comforting. Surprisingly we did not use incense sticks (agarbattis) in Paris?

• Yesterday was Gym day. An hour’s workout of stretching, straining and strengthening  was easier thanks to the Yoga class the day before. 30 mins on a treadmill at a reasonable pace came as a pleasant surprise but I have to get my ‘breathing on the run’ right. The sound of the gym is exactly the opposite of Yoga 😉 Video clips with ‘almost naked’ young ladies jumping into swimming pools while the rapper is all dressed up drinking french champagne and smoking electronic cigarettes… 😉 It helps to keep me treading on the mill!

• It was also a rather warm day for a quick visit to introduce an Australian friend to my favourite grocery store in Paris for Indian products. Gare du Nord is not Little India as many people would like to name it. To me it will always be Little Sri Lanka but you can get ALL you need for Indian cooking…and more! The prices are very reasonable and the smiling service is a great change from the traditional parisian sneers. Not so long ago I had to get all my spices from London but now the Eurostar trips are nostalgia.

• Discussing Business with a a friend brought us to the topic of Entrepreneurship. You cannot start off any business without any professional training or experience. Ever more you cannot start without knowing your own internal and external structures. Your body, mind and soul have to be in harmony to go through the process of creating your own company. Be it a single product entreprise as a sole producer, marketer, sales person and accountant or a multi-brand, multi-product and multi-partnered private limited business. Your body will decide the number of hours you can put in, your mind will give it the vision and your soul will direct your clients to you. Sheer Profit driven entreprises will give the material comfort. Cosmic Harmony will give you Business Joy!

Curcuma, Cumin and red chillies in their powder form in a Raïta. Garnished with fresh french coriander leaves 😉 What’s your recipe? © Anil Abhimanyu Sharma

Your thoughts are welcome…

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Ze French Democracy Today

• All else takes a back seat as I dicover that yesterday the former French President was in jail and then in front of the judges for almost 16 hours! Normally I try to avoid talking about Politics but here I cannot but admire the french judicial system. Many modern countries would call it in disdain “An Inappropriate Alliance”…

• I was in fact in the front seat all day studying to be a “Créateur d’Entreprise”. A 4 months course provided by the french government so that we are aware as Entrepreneurs to our Dharms & Karms 😉 Our duties and actions are all chalked and like the Gita they can be very confusing – even to the natives! But I have decided to tread along on this road to transition and see if at the end I have the guts, the intelligence and the vision to have my own french company… à suivre

• Yoga is to India what wine is to the french. Or that’s what I would like to believe. After almost 10 years I decided to take a short summer course to keep me in Peaceful Transition. Going through the explications and postures in french sounds so exotic but it was tough going. Age does catch up with you one day but if the mind is strong you can break the barriers…well almost! Here’s the programme over the next couple of promising weeks…

* YOGA DETOX
“Through this dynamic workshop, stimulate and boost the detoxifying your body and free your mind. Postures twist, inversions and inflections to massage internal organs, stretch back, stimulate circulation lymph and blood. Activate different circuits elimination of toxins with respiratory work to feel lighter, clearer and start the summer off right! “

* YOGA & FLEXIBILITY
“Through this workshop specifically focused on flexibility, you will discover that, regardless of age, it is possible to gain elasticity, flexibility in freedom of movement throughout the body. You will discover techniques for maintain the fluidity of movement and this stretching deep that releases deep tensions and opens the consciousness.”

* “HAPPINESS YOGA”
“According to the masters of the yogi tradition, the ideal body should be strong without being too muscular, too big or too thin. Through this workshop, you will learn a series of
specific postures to strengthen the postural support, facilitating the removal of excess fat, skin regenerating and the body detoxify and get rid of tensions.”

* YOGA AND QUIET INTERIOR
“A workshop oriented around fresh practices postures, breathing and meditation to
reconnect with his inner being and allow the body and mind to recharge and regenerate in
depth.”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMM 😉

90 days in Transition…