The Pree

"Hi. My name is Priyanka Shruti..." Should be how I introduce myself, but instead go by Pree, sometimes NinjaPree (twitter etc.).

Everyone calls me Pree now. Very few people call me Priyanka.

Priyanka means - the loved one, or loving eyes and other pretty meanings like that.
Shruti - is the melody/tune of the universe, and is a part of the Vedas (ancient Hindu philosophical literature). So profound.

My parents gave me two names because (apparently)  my dad's side gave me Shruti, and my mom's side gave me Priyanka (or the other way around). Priyanka was after Priyanka Gandhi (the then prime minister's daughter). Or maybe the name Priyanka was just "trending" at the time. Then they named my sister - Piyali Smriti, and we have the same initials, and my mom would dress us in matching clothes (we aren't twins).

I have no idea what people called me till I was age 5, but in Chennai, India everyone called me Priyanka. My friends called me Priya or Pri (and other nicknames!). Then high school in Calcutta happened and because there was a surplus of Priyanka's I was called by my last name.

Then I had to plan for college in the USA, and there was a form to be filled, which asked "You Name" and what you preferred to be called. So I thought I would try out Shruti. I thought it might be easier for Americans to say and it was shorter. Shruti was harder for them to pronounce than Priyanka, for them. it was also strange going by my middle name, which I had never used before. I would explain to my fellow classmates what my name meant and how it was pronounced - "Shrew + Tea", but the combination, and rolling the R a little was difficult for some. Just like the word "totally" morphs into "toadally" my name morphed into "Shrewdee". One of my biology lab mates said Shruti was too difficult, so he called me "Bob" and I was "Bob" for a whole semester. True Story! No I did not appreciate it.

When I moved to Ohio, I reverted back to Priyanka, this was because the college did not have the option of what you want to be called. Plus some Indian friends I made decided for them selves that they liked Priyanka better and it stuck. I did not mind at all. However my transition to Pree took place when I would go to this little cafe on Euclid Ave. Opposite Cleveland State University, called "Cafe Aroma"... they had the best sandwiches, however they would call out your name when your sandwich was ready, and you could pick it up from the counter. Spelling out Priyanka for them every time got so annoying so I would just spell out "Pri". They pronounced "Pri" as "Pry" like "try". Even manage to find a way to butcher my name in its abbreviated form! (Today I realize Pry like Ry - my bf!).

Ry and Pri!

The next day I decided to give them my order and my name as PREE! It worked! Pree like Tree! (those of you wondering, Priyanka is pronounced "Pree+yah+kaa", and no the "PriYANKa" is not like "Yankee", but more like "young" without the "g". Bengali people always managed to pronounce my name as "Pree+yon+ka", and South Indian's - "Pree+yung+gaah". So it's not only Americans who butcher my name. I have gotten called "Piranha" "Rhianna" "Briana" "Bianca", American Eagle sends me mail as "Pritanka". Some of these are world traveling/ "educated" people, you would think to be able to expect a little more from them, regarding efforts in pronouncing, but heck what do I know! I might be saying Tom wrong! :-P

My family has all sorts of nicknames for me, my sis has the most interesting names for me, including Deadly Deds! And I call her Pig. Yes these names expose our utter love and tolerance for each other; we were two very different, yet similar peas from the same pod! My boyfriend has his own nicknames for me. So I have been not Priyanka for a long time, and I have really embodied the "Pree" ness since 2003. Recently I tried to revert back to Priyanka, since my boyfriend and a few other people like Priyanka, however it is hard for me to be Priyanka (she sounds too proper). Either way I am ME, with my plethora of names. I love all the loving nicknames all my friends and family give me, from the most absurd to the most cute names!

Also found another Pree in the world, a guy whose actual name is Preetam, went by Pree! We became friends in the myspace days! So I'm not the only Pree, but most "Pree"s are awesome!



50 shades of Pree:

Little / Childhood Priyanka

Priyanka and Friends! (Becks, Deeps, and Pig)

Wicked Witch of the West Pree

Snow Pree

Very Indian Pree

Pree and Ry, and the Great Outdoors

Adventure Pree

The Manders and Pree

Harry Potter Themed Pree

Sporty Pree

Flying Pree

Business Pree

Yogi Pree

Cheeta Pree

Pree can be pretty!

Bicycling Pree, AKA "Helmet Head" Courtesy Aditya Renduchintala.
The name Helmet Head was given to me in 4th or 5th grade by Adi, because of my haircut.
I am now proud of that name, because helmets save lives, and I live another day, thanks to a helmet!

Animal Friendly Pree

Climb On Pree

Mexican Pree

 Bassist Pree

Travelling Pree

Egos, Opinions, and Arguments

This morning, in a meeting I witnessed one of the biggest clashes of personality, ego, and wit. It was amusing for a while, then it was hackneyed and I just wanted them to grow up and sort out their differences. The eye rolling, the use of wit, semantics, and what not. Grown Ups!

I miss the days when I could just pull my sisters hair, and she would slap and scratch me back, we would cry, and my mom would say sort it out. We would look at each other, say sorry and start playing again, together.

Things were simple then, how did it get so complicated?

The ego slowly develops as we grow and it becomes a source of comfort, the mental embodiment of that security blanket, or teddy bear we once couldn't live without. Holding onto our "ego" we actually miss out on a lot. As we grow we learn, and we often seek for approval of our opinions, thoughts etc. When we confront disapproval instead of seeing why and how, we say why not, and begin to stand our ground. It is important to learn how to stand our ground, but also see the other person's perspective and realize to them that maybe right. As we now learn after being around this planet for a while, and living with other humans for a little bit, that no one ever wins a fight, and no one ever is right or wrong (it's never as clear as black and white, and even then we found the 50 shades of Gray, different shades of white and black!).

If we are so educated, why do we still end up in conflicts?

Ego! The ego holds us back from seeing things from the other side, or multiple sides. When we hold onto it, (it's like holding on to pride), we can't see from anther's perspective. However when you can put things in perspective, then you range of vision, understanding, empathy, experience increases drastically.
Education, I feel, kind of hones that ego, rather than making us understand that we have it, and how it holds us back from truly being an "educated" human (with that statement I will say there's more where that comes from, a lot of ranting).

So how do we remedy this human nature called the Ego?

Let go of it. It is very hard to do, especially at first, because it always comes back, be aware of it, and notice the actions it makes you take. Its really easy to correct once you realize you are acting out of ego and not from your true heart. Realize the difference and make that change, it is good for the world. It is one of the things I have learnt from my boyfriend and my sister, is letting go of it, and being the higher person, not for pride, but to do the right thing, and realize I will be making the same mistake as the "offender" if I behaved in that fashion. Deepak Chopra, Sri Sri Ravishankar, The Dalai Lama, etc. and other philosophers and spiritual teachers have some useful advice.

Back to the argument this morning, it's funny thought both of the individuals involved have the above awareness, they went back to that nature since they thought they had to defend themselves against each other. Defense is a major part of protecting the ego/ error or a great way of hiding the fact you KNOW you did something wrong. So although I see where they were both mistaken, they both could have bowed and admitted, apologized and started working, building from scratch. However that seems like more work so they decided to take the messy path. As amusing as it was, it was disappointing, however I learned a lot and do plan to apply this further in my life.

Breathe!
 

The sign reads "we are not Human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience"!!! This lady (who drives the car) got it right!


Deepak Chopra - https://www.deepakchopra.com/blog/view/744/selfesteem_and_ego

"Be mindful of how you release your negativity so that it does not reflect back into your reality."



Dalai Lama - http://www.dalailama.com/messages

His tweets are the best:

Affection is important because it counters anger, hatred and suspicion that can prevent our minds from functioning clearly.

Affection is important because it counters anger, hatred and suspicion that can prevent our minds from functioning clearly.

Don't blame others for your uneasy feelings; blame your own state of mind. This is why altruism  brings you greater peace of mind.

Don't blame others for your uneasy feelings; blame your own state of mind. This is why altruism  brings you greater peace of mind.

Blogging

Recently I read an article making fun of bloggers, and of course now I forgot where, but basically pointed out how one created a bubble about themselves and life, and how sad the lives of bloggers really are etc.. I put a lot of work into my blog, because it helps me prepare for "writing". Also I enjoy writing for an audience, however I need for feedback, constructive criticism, appreciation, anything!!!!

Do write! Love hearing your opinions, ideas, thoughts, even if it maybe just one word. Silence is great, but art is nothing unless it is discussed. Yes?

So anyway this attitude that bothers me is that "writing" is less novel now thanks to online publishing and the E-readers. It is true, books are more easily accessible, and cheaper, so what does the writer get? I remember the days when I traveled the whole city of Chennai looking for 1 Enid Blyton book. Or traveled the entire of Kolkata college street to find the right copy of The Tale of Two Cities. Gone are those days? Some very old books still aren't digitized, I had fun tracking down one of Edmund Hilary's more rare books. However in this age where we are obsessed with making fun of blogs, 50 shades of Gray, Twilight... what is the scope of becoming a Tolkien, Dickens, or a Shakespeare?

A twist.

So I will bring music and stories... from the abyss. It's just not a love story, or lust that drives me, but those of you who knows me it's something deeper, spiritual, and even dark. I began writing my novel this weekend, as well as writing music. It was awesome and exhausting. I had forgotten how exhausting creativity could be. I will still blog! However I am excited about this new advancement to the second phase.

I was talking to a friend recently who reminded me I just need to immerse myself and stop waiting for some traffic signal. I'm the only one who can change the traffic; Just as Gandhi said: "be the change you wish to see in the world."
Me: "I want to be a writer,"
Friend: "It's like a duck saying it wants to be a duck. Just start swimming!"

Now I'll have to get back into Yoga! Re-finding myself is fun!

Breathe!

My creative sister and I!

Tranquil Turmoil

I want to be happy -
I smile.

I feel the pain, I feel sadness-
Sorrow

You guide me through life -
I follow.

Blind leading the blind
You are only trying to be kind
Do me a favor, Leave me alone
I will surely find my own way...

...One day,
Might not be today.

I have nothing else to say.


I want to be free-
Be free.

I feel constrained-
Society.

I resent, repent, remorse, remember-
the past.

You think you know me
Do you even know you?
Do me a favor, leave me alone
I will find me, Go find you...

...One day,
Might not be today.
I have nothing else to say.

The darkness envelopes me-
Acceptance.

The light will shine once again-
Anticipation..

Lose the complacency, shed the passivity-
Fight.

It's my life and I will do as I please
We don't have to go separate ways but

Do me a favor, leave me alone
We can agree to disagree and be at peace...

...One day,
Might not be today.
I have nothing else to say.

Copyright Conscious Culture

Copyright Conscious Culture
By Piyali Banerjie
"Raise your vibration"

Turtle Walks

"My Experience in conservation, and environmental activism includes turtle walks"

"What?"

This was the reaction, I most often received when I told professors and employers about my experiences in environmental stewardship. My school would organize nights walk, for which we would, walk about 10 miles along the coast in Madras (Chennai), during the Olive Ridley nesting season. This was usually during November to January. Why would we do this? The Olive Ridleys were attacked on the beaches when they would come up to nest. The nesting process (digging the hole, laying the eggs, covering it up, could take a while). Each nest could hold up to 200 eggs. Sometimes, stray dogs, poachers would come and hurt the turtle, or destroy the eggs. Our job would be to protect the turtle, and relocate the nest after the mother made it back to see. This relocation process was done very precisely (distance from shore, depth of hole, width of hole, etc). In the 90's in India the Olive Ridley was considered an endangered species. Now when I google "Olive Ridley", the facts seem to have changed; according to NOAA they are plentiful. What I knew then no longer stands? Research? I am not sure, however perhaps our efforts then are reflected on their now "plentiful" status.

There is nothing more lovely than walking on a beach all night trying to save turtles. Breeze, the moon, the ocean, changing of tides, and creatures of the sea that only come out at night. Stories would come to mind; how the ocean requires a human sacrifice of one human a day. I wondered who it would be that night, maybe a poacher.

These were the days when some of the major organization in conservation of wildlife seemed so great and good, but as we grow, we do get jaded by the truths. However the truths about the turtle walks and other efforts to help save our planet, hasn't be tarnished. I mean honest efforts, the ones where people don't go seeking money by overpriced cards, or something of the sort. I'm glad the Olive Ridley is still around, now let's help the tigers, although dangerous, the Florida Panther, the bald eagles (their numbers are on the rise)... It is wishful thinking, that even with all the problems in the world right now, someone (me) is still worried about animals, but they do, eventually, play a large role in our circle, although we might never see it until we feel it.

My friend Adhith Swaminathan took the following pictures. This is some information from him:

"I work as a research assistant on a leatherback project in the andaman and nicobar islands. We basically stay in an island called little andaman and camp for like 5 months recording data with regard to turtle nesting etc..track them using satellite trackers to get an idea where they go after nesting..post nesting migratory route.
anyway...
all the sea turtles including olive ridley are still endangered. Only reason you see so much in one place is cause they practice a phenomenon called arribada..i.e mass nesting / synchronized nesting. SO this basically happens only in 3 places in Orissa, India and i was fortunate enough to work in one of the beaches "

The turtles come ashore during mass nesting, called arribada

she travels a long way to dig a hole

Just keep digging

she doesn't posses opposable thumbs so she gets a little covered in sand!

she lays the eggs, they fall a foot or so, but they don't crack!

here are the eggs!

Adith and a turtle while she's laying!

she covers up the hole and heads back to sea

Back to her element

The babies hatch and are guided back to the ocean where they will have to fend for themselves.

grow into a big turtle, travel the seas to find a mate, and make her own babies!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Ridley
http://www.fws.gov/northflorida/seaturtles/turtle%20factsheets/olive-ridley-sea-turtle.htm

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/marine_turtles/olive_ridley_turtle/

http://world-turtle-trust.org/project07.html
http://sstcn.org/