My name “Shama” means fire. From a young age, fire has been integrated into my daily life growing up. Coming from a Hindu family, the joint family that I grew up in, each of the ladies, my mother, her sister, my grandmother, they all had their own separate shrine, of which a daily lighting of oil fire lamp was integral. The fire was lit twice a day, one to commentate sunrise and the other to commemorate sunset. The ritual of lighting the fire came with a preparation of taking a bath, or cleaning one’s feet and legs, an act of purifying the physical body, and then lighting the sacred fire. The morning fire was always lit on an empty stomach, followed by mantra chanting of the worshipped deity. These daily sights introduced me to the element fire, of which I took no particular heed. How was I to know, how influential fire would be in my later years? Fire according to ancient rig Vedic scriptures denotes purity. When any significant act is initiated like moving into a new house, traveling long distance a fire is always lit for an auspicious beginning or an auspicious journey. Fire has been a longstanding symbol in every Nepali household, and one that still continues to this day. I never took a particular liking to my traditions and fire worshipping culture, due to my ignorance of its significance until the day I began to integrate Vedic fire practices into my own life.

One evening as I sat in the hills of Panchase, and was given the responsibility to keep the wood fire flame lit and blowing into the fire pit to keep the fire from blowing out. During that process, an inner fire lit within me, almost unintentionally. As I was actively involved in the physical process of tending to the flames, an inner flame too was tended, an inner knowing arose! An inner kindling of flames, a warm sensation,one that hasn’t stopped burning ever since! I felt a sudden presence of a mighty powerful force within my chest, a warmth like no other. This wasn’t a sensation, nor a feeling, it was indescribable! Everytime I try to put it into words, I stand defeated at my inexpressibility. It just can’t simply be fathomed by this limited mental structure. Words fall short. But I’ll try! Re - member. It’s an inner re-membarance of the self. It’s an inner union, a joining of all the separated parts within one. It’s a force that has its own intelligence, its own seeking, its own direction. It leads, and you don’t question why. You just know it is to be followed. There is no doubt. It’s both the torch and the torch bearer and you merely observe, you merely let yourself be led. You let it.