In the beginning was the Word… (and the Crossword!)

In the beginning was the Word… (and the Crossword!)

I always picture Thatha (my adored grand-father) sitting in his ‘easy-chair’ with ‘The Hindu’ folded to the cross-word page, solving the clues, getting up from time to time, only to go back and fill in another word. On Sundays, Appa (my dear Father) and Thatha vied with each to get their hands on the Hindu supplement - it was slightly more difficult to solve the Sunday cross-word! This interest, or should I say addiction, has been passed down to all of us!

Nowadays, most newspapers have a corner devoted to cross-word puzzles with varying degrees of difficulty… The one in the TOI is more American-style, the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace>Deccan</st1lace> Herald in Namma Bengaluru has a two-in-one, a cryptic and a regular puzzle. The Economic Times is a bit too difficult, my personal favourite is the Hindu Cross-word!

The grids in US papers and magazines have solid areas of white squares, in <st1:country-region><st1lace>Britain</st1lace></st1:country-region>, the grid looks like a lattice. The grid is symmetrical so it looks the same when turned upside down. Then there are Japanese and European style grids. So it all comes down to words, criss-crossing, sharing a letter with another word, anagrams, quotes, phrases… resulting in an ever-increasing lexicon!

Well, word games are usually a source of entertainment on long tedious bus or train journeys or to spend a rainy evening cooped up at home. Word-building, word-endings, word-associations and such games are also a fun way of teaching young kids to increase their spelling skills and vocabulary.

Among other cognitive activities, solving Crossword puzzles is said to keep the mind sharp, as it requires a larger vocabulary and the ability to spot the easy clues like anagrams, and then move on to the cryptic ones… Research has pointed out that stimulating the mind helps to offset memory loss and delay the onset of dementia…

All this set me thinking of words and sounds and the intricacies of languages. A word is ‘the smallest free form in a language’. A word is a sound or a combination of sounds that communicates a meaning. Words are combined to form phrases, clauses and sentences.

<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" oreferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><vath o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></vath><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype>The Origin of sounds and words? It always comes down to the primordial and mystical syllable Pranava that resonates in the heavenly spheres from the time of creation of the Universe, holding within it’s sacred confines all the sounds that merge to form words, concatenate into languages and condense into the harmonious vibrations of the Mantras. This is the source of manifestation of the Shabda-Brahmam and the Nada Brahmam.

Om (Aum) became the sacred word ‘Hum’ of the Tibetans, ‘Amin’ of the Moslems and ‘Amen’ of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Christians. Amen in Hebrew means – sure, faithful. The biblical passage, John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Paramahansa Yogananda called "<st1lace>Om</st1lace>", “The vibration of the Cosmic Motor” as the ‘Word’ of the Bible, as the Holy Spirit. According to Yogananda, “all aspiring yogis seek to commune with "<st1lace>Om</st1lace>" and understand it. Audible utterance of this sound produces a sense of sacredness... However, real understanding of "<st1lace>Om</st1lace>" is obtained only by hearing it internally and then becoming one with it in all Creation”.

Realised Masters tell us that the sound ‘A’ starts from the chest at the Anahata Chakra (the heart centre), moves upward with the sound ‘U’ in the Vishuddhi Chakra (the throat centre) and ends with the vibrations of ‘M’ in the Sahasrara Chakra (the crown of the head).

Just as the sympathetic strings vibrate and resonate with the plucked strings of chord instruments, all of Creation resonates with the Original sound. When the vibrations are completely in harmony with this Divine Omkaram, one is said to have attained the Supreme Consciousness…

 

Dear Manjula,

How lovely to receive the 'boni fb' from you!

Yes, Scrabble is a very interesting word game, definitely tougher than the Crossword... using up all or most of the letters and trying to make more points too...

I like the analysis of AUM, the energy is amazing while chanting the Pranava Mantra.

Thank you once again, Manjula dear!

LnBBHs,
Padma

 

Priya Atma-Sakhi Jaya,

No post is complete without an fb from you, I am overwhelmed by your lovely inputs on the 'Naam' and also Irving Wallace, one of my favourite authors...

I have no words to express my thanks to you, my dear Soul-Sister Jaya,

Jai Bhavani Maa!
Loads of love,

Padma

 

Dear Bhargavi,

I agree that one can get addicted to Crosswords, but it is such a value-addition in terms of vocabulary and to keep the brain cells ticking!

You should start again whenever time permits, it is also a great stress-buster... just like chanting the Omkaram, it eases away all the accumulated tensions.

Thanks for dropping by to post a sweet fb, Bhargavi dear,

LnBBHs,
Padma

 

Dear Balajee,

Long time, no hear! Good to have you stop by...

I can see you are a whiz at solving crosswords, particularly 'The Hindu' variety. I quite agree with you that there is usually a pattern to the clues and once we get the hang of it, just takes about 15 minutes to complete...

Thank you for a refreshing fb,

Padma