People & Puzzles

Have you ever wondered that we might be like various blocks of a puzzle and our world when united  is one solved puzzle as a whole? It just happened to me a while ago during my fits of contemplation. Read on and see if you agree.

We are like the pieces of a puzzle. Neither perfect nor complete. So there is one block that completes either one or multiple others. There are some people who complete us or many others at once. Sometimes we are the middle piece of that puzzle requiring many people to complete the space and meeting the requirements of them too and sometimes we are the side blocks requiring the support from just a few other incomplete pieces. Here by completing the requirements I mean any sort of interdependence viz. emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual, financial or any other. 

So we live in a world where we need each other to attain a perfection and a great life  for sure.  Our weakness is covered by their strength and our strength is enhanced by their efforts and vice-versa. Just then we look at our creator and smile back and say now we know why He did not make us that perfect- appreciating this socially dependent life.

Author's Note: Do you feel so too? If yes, your feedback  is welcome. If no, I want to know that perfect and isolated happy block that is not the part of this puzzle!

What are you waiting for?

I was thinking what exactly people wait for in their lives?  My neighbor says she most eagerly waits for her husband in the evening- but I see her in a cold feet when her maid is late by an hour- I guess more than her husband she awaits her house maid. One of my friend claims he has been waiting for a hike or a promotion. And when his phone bell rings, he cribs he needs peace of mind- so is he actually waiting for a promotion? Another guy tells me he is looking forward to get settled, but when his girl calls up & complains (she often does), color of his face changes- I wonder if he is really waiting to get settled? So somebody awaiting his promotion, somebody is waiting to buy a new house. Somebody is waiting for her/his score sheet and someone waits for a hike/promotion.

 A boy is looking for a chance to propose, on the other hand some girl is waiting for a chance to announce a breakup. A child is waiting to grow up and a man is waiting for his new job. A mother somewhere is waiting to give birth to a new life and someone is planning to abort her girl child. And then there is an old man who is tired of his illness hoping and waiting to leave the world. A bride is waiting for her wedding and a victim is waiting for his divorce. Some grown ups are eagerly waiting for the legacy to be passed on to them and a daughter is praying hard and waiting for her parents to return home safe and sound. There are some people, tired of the city heat, praying for the rains and then there are those farmers waiting for it to stop to save crops. There is a politician waiting to get into power and then there are thousands of people waiting for corrupt governance to crash.  Then there is a player waiting for a break in the national cricket team and there is a fan waiting for a match to start soon. So many different people, and so many different waits. But there must be some thing common to all.

One thing that everyone waits for all their lives? As children we look forward for Saturdays and Sundays, so that our parents are free for us. As a student we wait for the weekend to get a break from hectic school/college life and get rid of homework and assignments.

  As a professional we wait for the same to get some leisure time/to party may be a quick escape from a busy city life. As a spouse we look forward to it so we could spend quality time with each other, to gain that lost chemistry and to shed the growing burdens of progressing lives. As an elderly we wait for the weekend again to sit with our children & grandchildren who are swamped in hustle and bustle of life. So in a nutshell:

 

P.S. There can be exceptions. Need not mention that!

P.P.S. People across the globe are over-worked and that's why they wait so eagerly for a weekend all their lives. Do not burden yourself totally and take out some time for yourself too...

*Needless to say if you agree/disagree or if this post has made you smile or has disappointed you - kindly give feedback below.*

Rupee vs Toffee

This is becoming a trend. A trend that every retailer cultivates and advocates religiously. If not every retailer most of them do. Hence, its becoming popular with passing years.
My story started with an emerging requirement for some commodities one day. I went to the stationary shop first and asked for some ball-point pens that I needed, the total bill came out to be Rs. 38, after giving 50 rs.  I got  back Rs. 10 note with two toffees (1 re. each). I then went to a grocery store and asked for sooji(rava), besan and other stuff and handed the shopkeeper 200 rupees against the bill of Rs. 145/-. I  got back Rs. 50 + five sweets, I asked for change to which he replied he had no change.

Coming back home, I noticed there were too many such sweets in a small basket on the table near our dining table -contributed by all the family members! So we unknowingly bought Rs. 50 sweets in a few days span, which we were not interested in consuming at all. The drift was becoming popular.

So we were discussing this new exchange system at home thinking if people can keep sweets why can't they keep change? If this is the new one rupee coin, or a new exchange currency we should also make use of it.

Post few weeks, me and my sister were getting out from a metro station. We bought water from the stall, he asked for 12 rs. I handed him Rs. 20. He gave us Rs. 5 coin + 3 sweets. (As usual).
My sister told the guy that we don't need sweets. He insisted he doesn't have any change. I asked for my 20 rs. back, handed him a Rs. 10 note and 2 sweets.

Smiling sheepishly he uttered-" hehehe Madam esa thodi hota hai." (madam, this doesn't happen) handling us the sweets back,
My Sister- "Bhaiya kyu? Jab aap humein 2 rs. ke badle sweets de rahe ho, toh wapis lena bhi seekho. hum hi mile hain bevkoof banane ko?" (Why? When you can use them as a currency why not us? Don't make fool of us)

He was embarrassed. after a few minutes of debating sessions, his logic failed, he fumbled for some change inside, gave it to us, and yes we were victorious and over with this sweet collection hobby...

P.s. You can't sell me the things I don't want to buy.

P.P.S. Try the trick. Its fun!!!

Author's Note: I noticed  yet another problem with some folks i.e. not returning the change at all. While watching a play we bought some snacks during the interval, the quality wasn't good hence we returned it, the shopkeeper handed us 50 bucks back retaining ten rupees on purpose. We had to ask for the rest of the change which he handed back reluctantly. Assuming a customer won't ask for Rs. 2 or Rs 5 change(out of embarrassment), which multimillionaire Delhi folks might be doing considering it a status symbol entertaining and facilitating greedy habits in the markets, shopkeepers are facing a change in the values . Better to hand them to a beggar outside on roads, at least they are openly asking for a Bheekh!

Tomorrow...

A day when we'll realize our dreams, do what we want to. A day when somebody in a dire need for money will win a lottery; a guy at a beer bar will get a free beer; someone will get back one's love; the couple who have been working day and night will pay off all their bills; a man who has been saving for the day will enjoy all his savings; a critically ill guy will get well. A day when system will change, life will change; a day when we will fulfill all our responsibilities and live a free, untangled life or as some say a day when we all will die .

Tomorrow is a day that no one has ever seen or been into, but we all fear, worry, plan, dream and live for it.
"...though Tomorrow never comes."

The Elusive Dreams...

As a child the dreams were easy to see. Some were as small as dreaming of getting a doll or a toy car, and some were as big as finding a fairy in a white dress with those two large wings and flying high with her. Both dreams had a big difference, one was close to reality and other had no connection with it. One could possibly be achieved, other was lived forever in a hope to be achieved. Where the former got fulfilled, latter was beautifully lived without regretting or bothering if it will be realized someday. Both were different but both had contentment, a tranquility and a joy of living the different worlds and were lived without a fail, a repent or a sorrow.

One day we started growing up. And the world started shrinking in our minds restricting our fictional wisdom with its facts and figures, the dreams now got closer to reality. When as a child only dreaming mattered, now making that dream come true was the motto.. When dreams, were not transformed in reality now, we were torned, the trust vanished, the hopes broke!

As a child it was a dream to pluck the stars from sky, or holding that moon with a thread to stop it from falling down during the day, finding a white pony with wings if not fairy, or finding a chocolate bearing tree, is now that elusive dream that has no meaning, irrespective of how beautiful one had thought of even being a child...
A friend rightly said a few days back, "when u grow up its hard to bridge up the gap between reality and dreams."

Lying idle under the sky
With you besides
When as a child plucking
Those stars was all i dreamt of
Now holding your hand
Is all i want to
I used to pray for a fairy before
To take me on the worldly ride
Now you give me
my invisible wings for a lifetime flight....

Strange patriotic Indians!

In India winters are the season for loads of marriages, the year ends or starts with loads of oaths and promises for future, grand celebrations with flood of glitter and glamour. The other day I was curiously discussing about a strange thing with my dad that many of us must have noticed or thought about.

Me: Papa, why do they play all kinds of strange patriotic songs in Baraat (Marriage procession) when the groom is sitting on Ghodi(mare)?

My father had a big smile on his face!

Image courtesy: Google

I continued, “Isn’t it strange, they play songs like ‘ye desh hai veer jawaano ka, albelo ka mastano ka’, or ‘mere desh ki dharti sona ugle, ugle heere moti’. Is the Guy going on a war front or he has a future like that of a martyr?”

Now my father was laughing, he added, “ Kar Chale hum fida, jaano tan sathiyon, Ab tumhare hawale watan sathiyo.” Further describing the relevance of these words, “The guy has no more to offer to the world, leaving all duties and responsibilities on his friends. In Short, one becomes futile.”

I was amazed, “ And what about girls?”
He was smiling; I guess I knew the answer.
**Sigh!!**
We are encouraged to Rule The One!!!

The Ascetic

We were going to Uttarakhand (a state in North India) by car. The journey was long. Those were the winter days. The route was green and beautiful. Roads were topsy turvy and the journey was getting more tiring with the passing time. We decided to take a halt for some time. It was a chilly afternoon and the strong winds were making it worse. While we were enjoying the scenic beauty around, our eyes suddenly rested on an old man with dark complexion whose bone structure was visible from everywhere underneath his wrinkled skin that was covered by almost nothing. Apparently he looked like an ascetic or could be an ordinary beggar. He had some wheat flour, probably someone living down the hill might have given to him. He took it out and made dough out of it. He then collected some dry wood from around and created fire by rubbing two stone pieces (like in the stories from stone age) and cooked a chapati with it. We were amazed to see that, how a man at such a low temperature wearing almost nothing living in the wilderness arranged a meal for himself! And as he was eating it, he was crying out of joy, saying "Thank you God, for giving me food to eat, fire to be warm even in this place where there is nothing to survive. I am grateful to you, its because of you i am enjoying my fill with whatever i am having, I need nothing else thank you God for all the kindness you have bestowed upon me." And the tears of joy were constantly flowing out of his eyes..."

This was the real life story, told by my maternal uncle.
Contentment, a state of being in peace with whatever one has. I shared this story here with a hope that it will inspire us all to be happy about this life and we would work to attain that higher state of perfection of soul and true happiness and peace, the ultimate goal behind this life.

After Thoughts : Are we happy with what we have? Should we be unhappy about what we do not have? What is peace and satisfaction? What is ultimate Goal of our lives? Are we in the same state even after having everything that one needs and not desperately searching for what we do not have? I feel this instance gives depth to our thoughts and another perspective to see the world and our own lives..

Happy New year 2011

Ting Tong!!
Its a New day, New week, New month, New year and a New Decade!! Wishing everyone around a very happy and full of love 2011..

One more time to look in past and peep a lil in future. Another time to contemplate and introspect.. I was thinking i have over used these two terms in my blog and should change this blog title to " introspect and contemplate and bore all" :P

Quick Rewind:
So rewinding last year's tape i find 2010 was about:

Positives:
> Learning and completing last years taken up tasks..
> Wonderful cycling expeditions.
> Shopping around.
>Spending time with my cousins.
> Understanding intricacies of a society and people through social work.
> Celebrating Rakhi with my brother and best friend Puneet bhaiya. His visit surely made this year special.
>Some new posts
> And last but not least the whole year was full Rajni Kant Jokes in emails, messages and talks etc.

Negatives:
I missed going on trips. Unlike every year this year was a big bore on that front. the first quarter however saw two trips, one to Shimla and another to Mumbai.

Year of two T's i.e. tensions and tears. But never mind, I shed away both and there is nothing left for next year :P

An year contributed to a fast increment of Grey cells on my head. I kinda like them and now trying to convince my mom to let me paint some more. Its a symbol of peace anyway. :P

The last quarter was the best in all, after loads n loads of contemplation and introspection, i found this year was the year of growth. Ending of unpleasant things and growth of pleasant things.

Whats in store for 2011:
I don't have any plans for 2011 as of now.. But this year is expected to be year of advancements, finishing the things taken up in 2009 and 2010. I desperately wanna move out of my home and enjoy some good tours around.. Its a dead life without travel.
Current plan involves a celebration of New Year!


Resolutions: Like Always there are no new year resolutions, as I don't have any clue about the same. Going with the flow is the only agenda this year.. :D

Stay happy and stay healthy.. A very Happy New Year to all..

Media Shedia Hai Rabba...

On 14th September we went to attend the book release Function of “Hamare Kaptaan: Nayudu se Dhoni Tak.” by my Fufaji Prof. Surya Prakash Chaturvedi. This was his 9th book on Cricket. The Book is about Indian cricket captains till date and it covers 12 of the greats.

The function went well. The compere withdrew at the last minute, hence mum was given the responsibility. Although she is a writer, Prof. in Delhi University and has compered and conducted many `programs in functions and radio but it was somewhere difficult without any prior preparations. Still she managed well. People who attended the functions have been calling and praising her work. Anyhow here the anecdotes by Fufaji were very interesting and attracted and managed to retain the interest of even a non-cricket fan like me. Virender Sehwag was the main guest at the ceremony and he released the book. He surely is an honorable person, full of ethics and courtesy. His speech was wonderful too. He said he will read the book and since he doesn’t have a cricket background and so his knowledge about former cricket players is not rich. He said he will share the knowledge with the children of his family and his team-mates.
Anyhow the blog title as it suggests is about Media and the expression surely doesn’t depict the praises about the same.
Hence here I go further to the questions and answers session, where people attending the function were given the liberty to ask our chief guest the questions they want to. They were as follows:

Q: If you will be given an Opportunity to be the Captain of India, what strategies would you like to follow?
Sehwag: I think there is no need as of now for me to be the captain.

Q: Still if there is a do or die situation and you have no other option?
Sehwag: I will do my best then. If there will be an offer, I surely will accept it and will do justice with it. But I think team is doing great under Dhoni’s Captainship and is making new records.

Q: Who is your favourite captain?
Sehwag: Team is doing very well under Dhoni and Saurav Ganguly was also very good.

Q: Still who's your ideal?
Sehwag: Sourav Ganguly

Q: What is your say about CWG?
Sehwag: All the Best to them.

Q: It has been seen, the players who become Captain in India, their performance level as a player decreases. Is it due to increased pressure?
Sehwag: I don’t think so. This is not factual and its just false perception.

Q: The word “Dabang” has been used for you, how are you feeling about it?
Sehwag: Film is good

And so questions kept on flowing in…



As we reached back home and surfed through the news channels, we were awfully shocked with the news coverage on one of the channels. The Media quoted “ Sehwag said he would love to be the captain and has challenged Dhoni. He feels that Sourav Ganguly was a much better captain than Dhoni. He gave best wishes to India for CWG.”

It’s high time our Media should understand the importance and responsibility of their position.
Anyway I have seen such misquotation of words in real life. In the end its media, the business people and they would of course add some extra spice to sell the news.
No Comments!

INTROSPECTION

One of my Paternal Aunt (my Bua) casually threw a question at me some time back : "what do you want from life? , and what are your expectations?"

It made me think once more about the feelings residing deep inside me. And like always after much of an introspection I came on the exactly same basic wants as before, I want love, peace and satisfaction.

Love- that will help me in staying like a human, that will help me in making my life as beautiful forever, that will motivate me in coming back here again after my last breath.

Peace- Peace looks like something that we create, but I would ask and expect this too.. Its something i will want to keep with myself forever. When I see people fighting, man is thirsty for the blood, homes falling apart, brother is the enemy of brother, I desire for peace. When I feel thousand of storms inside me, frustrations over the disturbances created by others or by fate within me, I desire deeply for peace. and when I see myself in peace and masses still struggling and seeking the desire on what to ask for ? I feel the answer its peace..

Satisfaction- Yes. Peace comes automatically with satisfaction. Today I see myself, greatly blessed with everything one can ever desire for in a life. What I had when I was born, helped me in becoming a better person, not running behind materialistic things, no cribbing, may be because I had enough materials gifted by God, that slowed my pace of running behind the materialistic things like others. I know there is still scope for wanting more, but i feel tranquility in whatever I have.
However, that doesn't mean that I have become an ascetic, away from the worldly pleasures. I am all satisfied currently with what I have, not cribbing about what i don't have, of course also not ready to settle deliberately for something very less than what I am enjoying at present. And may be with the passing time I will get more satisfaction and will think again God is there to take care of me like always.

I think these three things will be good enough to get me going and make my life meaningful. Love will be followed by life, understanding, support, and happiness. Peace will again be the reason behind happiness, contentment and love. When we came in the world crying, Satisfaction is the real key to happiness and will make us leaving the world with smile.

My expectation is a beautiful life, with no mess. And a smile forever on every face I see. Trust me I try that...

STORY OF ACCENTS

There have been funny instances that you, I and others around us might be experiencing or might have experienced. Language is an expression, a medium through which we convey our emotions or needs and wants. But after our classroom learning and real life experiences sometimes we fail to understand “what the other person is trying to say”. This is because of either our weaknesses or else difference in accents.

Today I am sharing some such instances which can be hilarious and meant only for a simple hearty laugh and not targeted to insult or make fun of any creed, caste or person.

A few days ago, I was asked by my uncle for some of his business deal to talk to a Chinese woman. And I called her up, and there was I, ended up just saying yes, no, what? And it was really a pitiful situation of mine, where I was hardly able to understand her accent. Just because, she had different mother tongue so her accents were influenced by it. Normally I don’t find any difficulty in understanding the different accents, as people have clarity in speech, but honestly the most difficult English seems to be them Chinese English, a challenge for me, where in I just secured 40%, i.e. I was somehow able to deliver the main message in the whole conversation.

After a month, again my uncle was having some trouble with his phone connection, so he asked me to call her and to deliver another message. Here I was asking my sister to do the job. As I felt it might be my fault, that I didn’t get her accents properly. So she took the job after much discussion and with the fear that she might end up in the same boat.

Anyhow she called her up. I saw her too, just like me, she was totally concentrating on understanding the accents and jotting down whatever she understood of the main points. She was either squeezing her eyes or closing them. “Yaa”, “okie…” ,“What?” ,“I am sorry??”, “Ahaan…” were the prominent words. Minutes felt like hours to her. And there she was writing her email Id: ya “x”, “o”, “I”, “k”..

The lady on the other side of the phone said: No, not “K”, its “K” for “Kob..”

My sis – “Kob?” You mean “K?” (Thinking to herself: Kob is a word??)

Lady: No no, not “K” for “Kob”, its “K”. “K for Kob”.

In puzzled tone my sis asked is it “K” for “Kite”?

“Oh no” the lady said, its not “K”, its “K” for “kob” “KOB..”

She was puzzled and pondered over whether she should write “C” straightaway or ask once again.

Just a last guess my sister made: you mean “Job”,” J”??

Lady in a relaxed tone: yaa, right, its “K”, “K” for “Kob”...

Anyway somehow conversation came to an end.

The outcome was, next time our brother will call her, I am not going to call her again.. I will ruin everything.

The second incidence- one of my brother’s friend, was attending trial class for his science tuition.

So there, his teacher said write “bhi”=12,

“ Bhi”= Distance/time.

“Bhi”= momentum/mass,

“bhi”= u + at.

After a while he peeped into his notebook. What is “bhi”?? Write “bhi”! He was puzzled, and changed the spelling from “BHI” to BHEE”. He said “bhi”, “bhi…” Write “bhi” not “bhee!” He said sir I am not getting you, his teacher took the pen from his hand and wrote down V and said this “bhi” for “bhilocity” (velocity), and he then moved to another trial class for his quest for a decent enough tutor.

Another one happened a few years ago, as I have been to Chennai many times. I liked the place and people were really helpful during the journey. Once me and my mom were received by some friends of my mother’s friend. We stayed there for a couple of hours. I called my cousin brother, Puneet bhaiya, to book our air tickets for Delhi for the night, as we were through with the work we went for. He asked me the address. I asked some girl sitting there. She said “Teynampet” I passed on the word to my brother who was on phone. He said “I didn’t get it, spell it” so I asked the girl to spell it.

Girl: “T”

Me to Puneet bhaiya: “T”

Girl: “E”

Me: “E”

Girl: “Y”

Me: “Y”

Girl: “YEM”

Me “YEM “

Puneet bhaiya: whats that???

Me: she must be telling one whole syllable.

Puneet bhaiya: Chup chap dobara pooch! (ask her again!)

Me: Can you please pardon the last letter?

Girl: YEM

Me: I don’t know, she is saying YEM only. Write it like that na.

Puneet bhaiya: Are you nuts? Ask her to write the spelling.

And I asked her to jot down the whole address.

While I unsuccessfully tried to control my laugh, in order to not annoy the girl who was helpful, my brother on the other side was laughing at my stupidity and ignorance and also on YEM which was M.

Ending note: One of my jija ji who is from south India tells us a joke, asking us how will a person from south India spell MOON?

He will say YEM-BO-YET ANOTHER BO-YEN.

On this note I bring this blog post to an end.

P.S. – As quoted in one of the autobiographies there was written “When someone has an accent, it means he knows one more language than you do.”

HAPPY BLOGGING ;)

THe bLaCkMaiLeR

This post is dedicated to the blackmailers who have been intimidating common man for ages. blackmailer is a term we use for the person who pushes us against our will to fulfill his demand. We all are surrounded by them. Don't laugh because i will start making sense to you after some more time. There are two blackmailers- one who blackmails us to reveal some hidden information about us, which we want to hide from public unless his/her demand is met.
and the next one are - some of our near and dear ones, emotionally blackmailing us to fulfill their demands or else they will keep on throwing tantrums without giving you a chance to speak.
We of course don't want to encounter such blackmailing incidences, still if one has a choice, they will prefer the latter one.
Here goes telephonic conversation between two friends. (point to be noted, often it has been seen that the blackmailer calls the victim.)

BLACKMAILER- Hello, Shesha?
victim - yeah, hi. long time. how are you doing?
Blackmailer- glad atleast u recognized my voice. (hitting started)
victim- of course how can i forget you? tell me hows everything at home.
blackmailer- All is well at home, u never miss me, right? (second hit)
victim- of course i do, why are u saying so. we had a talk a week before i guess. i have been busy with my routine. tell me watsup? (trying to wash away the unpleasantness or may be the motive)
blackmailer- Anyway leave it.
victim- (phew!!)
blackmailer- i was thinking if we can meet up on Wednesday for some movie?
victim- oh, make it on Saturday, i will be having some work on Wednesday. wtsay?
blackmailer- no not on weekends, everyone is at home on weekends, i have to look after them.
victim- doesn't matter, sometime else?
blackmailer- can't you postpone your work for me? we are friends since school time.
victim- the thing is it's really important for me to get it done by Wednesday. (huh??)
blackmailer- you have changed i guess. I had so many friends. but now I'm so alone and bored to death, though we will have fun and relive the old times. but its OKAY.. (wow she is too good at this)
victim- Don't get me wrong, i really wish to but can't.
blackmailer- no its okay, everybody changes with time. i shouldn't expect too much .
VICTIM- OhkkkAY.. I will make myself free..
blackmailer- wow you are a darling, i am buying the tickets then. bye

AFTER THOUGHTS- " crap what have i done? how am i going to manage. Last time when i made a plan she had no time and now she has time so i should also have time.. " :(

you might also be having such instances hitting you now and then, may be in a different form! you might be facing this in other form may be in relationships like mother-child, girlfriend-boy friend, brother-sister, husband wife and so on.

P.S. Emotional blackmailers are normally the girls but don't forget many guys are also doing good in this stream. :D

P.P.S. I really adore my friends, they are most of the times all cool. But sometimes being a victim sucks and i try to be on the other side, but fail badly. in a hope to stand successfully someday on the other side of the talk, i put this post to the end.
Happy Blogging!! :D

War of Gods

Bare my beliefs, I want to rise spiritually with my own faiths, not as others want me to, I want to see world with my own perspective, not the way others want me to see. I believe my beliefs not what others want me to believe.
I have been a God’s believer and this belief keeps me positive in many aspects. Of course I don’t belong to a class or group where a person fights for the superiority of his God and disown other people’s beliefs or faiths in other religion or gods. It is shocking when we see wars between the people over the superiority of God. Like Iskonians say Krishna is the highest ranked God amongst other Gods, whereas Arya Samaj says Idol worship is fake, Shaivism followers believe there is no one above Lord Shiva. And hence debates go on and on. What if all the Gods are friends above enjoying tea and snacks together, laughing on human’s foolishness for such irrelevant fights? Even if there is only one God, or according to some none, what difference does it make? But the debate goes on, people keep on fighting arguing and keep on showing each other down. A useless effort!
Is there anything constructive I will do, if I will convince one person to follow the same path, even if I have never known for sure where it will lead me? Yes there will be one thing for sure, will get a company to chant with me for my Krishna, my shiva or my light. And who knows you may accompany me after death, whatever my lifelong chanting has formed for me. I have been watching more and more wars related to Gods between the rigid followers lately, anyhow people like me are flexible,. There are splits and fights within Hindu religion, so expecting a respect from such groups for other religion is a far away dream. I respect people’s view on religion or in God, I respect the beliefs of atheists, if one doesn’t believe in God, one doesn’t. There is no point to convert him into theist. As such faiths arise from within inside. There is no point in breaking somebody’s beliefs, if that belief is not harming anybody else. Showing down somebody else or disrespecting somebody’s faith wont make you or your God superior neither will it put a stamp on your faiths, in case you want a proof from other people, that ‘your’ God exists. No two people on this planet are alike, hence their thoughts and believes will also vary.
Swami Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has mentioned in his autobiography that he followed other religions notably Christianity and Islam, and said that they all lead to the same God, as per his own experiences. He was a Hindu Bengali Brahmin and big follower of Kali. This means religions are merely paths, to reach the same destination. Please don’t debate to create tensions and war between the gods for achieving the superior identity for anybody, for whom-so-ever u wish to.

Karma philosophy in Hinduism

I was reading some article about Hindu philosophy on karma cycle. There were so many questions that came in my mind, hence I'm sharing here what I gathered. Of course I believe in births and rebirths. I have examples before me in my own family. So I, by no chance can question the fact. So I do believe in karma.

Karma means an act or a deed. Hindu philosophy of karma clearly speaks what we sow is what we reap. We will get benefited from our good karma and will have to pay for our bad karma. Karma can be performed through actions, thoughts or speech.

Karma in Hindu philosophy are classified in three forms viz. Sanchita Karma, Prarabdha and kriyamana or Agami karma.

Sanchita karma are accumulated from our past lives. Since we cannot endure or enjoy all karma in one life, hence we reap the effects, sweet or sour in the following lives, depending upon how much we have accumulated. These are considered consumed only when the person has enjoyed the fruit because of good deeds or suffered due to bad deeds and not otherwise.

Prarabdha is the present fruit bearing karma, which is a portion of accumulated karma that a person has to suffer in any case in present life.

Kriyamana karma are the ones for which we are working in our present life and which will shape our future later.

Only in human life we can change our future destiny. After death we loose our ability to act and perform until we take another birth again in a human body. And when we reap all the fruits of our deeds from our past and present lives, we get free from the cycle of births and rebirths and attain Moksha or salvation.

Once asked from a saint, "what will decide if we will get a better life or worse life in the next birth, how will we get to know about it", his reply was "every person knows what karma he has done and hence knows how next birth will be for him..."

Happy New Year

Another year has ended. A Happy New Year to everyone.
More resolutions taken implies more resolutions broken. Hence, no resolutions for me this year.

2009
Achievements :
1. Written some more posts :D
2. My entry into poetry after a long time. I guess this time I make more and better sense.
3. Entry into a new language and upgrading rather expanding my knowledge area.
4. Beautiful comeback of my childhood friends.
5. I am the owner of a big farm and leader of a mafia gang, traveled new York, Cuba and Moscow and soon leaving for ‘Bangkok’ (As soon as my passport arrives)*

So it was a very different year. An eventful year. Good or bad?? The upcoming years will decide about it. But an year of growth I would say. Just like the waves of sea, which when leave, make us realize whether they have gifted us anything or taken away something from us.

Special Thanks :
A big thanks to all my blog readers for reading my posts and commenting here patiently without any complains. :D
Love all my friends and family for being with me and making one more year beautiful.
Big thanks and a big chunk of heart to my childhood friends for reuniting after 15 years through facebook and orkut. I was really overwhelmed with your efforts and love. Wonderful to have you back.
*Glad facebook and its games are always there for me.

31st celebration
Since we are not party people, so the arrival of the year had to be celebrated decently at home. But shouldn’t there be something different to make the celebrations special? Thus, with my sister I made small cards with caricatures of each family member. At 12 midnight we all welcomed the new year with these funny little cards along with small bunches of flowers, which did the magic and a big smile rushed on each face.

Welcome 2010

I am very hopeful with this year. The year has started nicely. Morning was welcomed late, followed by a few small decorations. An evening spent shopping and hopping in the market with my sister and her friend. We three stuffed our stomachs with Mexican food. And afterwards ice cream in chilly weather gave warmth to our hearts. After coming home, our new car welcomed us at home. And next day went more eventful at our mama’s place with an overnight stay, laughing and scoffing on pakodas.

I hope this year will be a great fun for all. Happy Twenty Ten to all.

2012 -Lets discuss it for fun!!

2012.. 2012.. 2012.. Believe it or not kinda story.. Some people are really trusting the prediction, as it has been backed by Nostradamus. So?? There can be a big tsunami somewhere, and some other planet can change its orbit and hit the earth, next world war is awaited, might happen as things are somewhere becoming tensed between the nations, some epidemic disease can hit the masses, sun can burst out ....BOOoom!! Trust me i am not creating any panic.. just discussing it like that.. :P Anything or may be nothing will happen.. Human mind mostly trust on facts rather than predictions..

"Oh if its gonna happen, should i stop working for my future and enjoy the life, but what if nothing happens.. may be i will be doomed in true sense.." :D

I don't believe it.. if its going to be so, it will be so for everybody and not just me.. and so how i am living, this is exactly how i wanted to live.. no additions or subtractions.. no grudges.. i have everyone around me.. Of course i don't want to be the only person in the fourth world without my near and dear ones.. I don't mind living some more, if its going to end anyway ;) .... When i ask it to myself, what would i want to do if i get to know the world will end in another two years, i try to answer it this way.. lemme keep my count till 10.

1. I Would like to meet all my near and dear ones.. may be even those who made my life special at one pt. of time, even though they are not a part of it now to thank them.. :)
2. A nice decent family get-together.
3. travel travel travel
4. Will find my soulmate n marry may be!! :P :P
5. some more daily blogs to get updated on how and what others are doing :)) I may get some more ideas to enjoyyyy!!
6. no more books... :P i would like to travel some more
7. Shopping.. :)) =)) can't help my greed!!
8. Panic.. (that's natural, of course) :P
9. just most of the time i would like to spend with my family and my loved ones, that means some group travel too.. yipppieee :D
10. Last i would like to make something and write something to gift everyone i love, to tell them they are important and to ensure if they'll be there without me, they have a memento with them to live a further. :), ofcourse will get some gift from them too.. (its not so good to be loved always.. lol )

A question for you now:
How would you want to live your life exactly, if you get to know that your world is going to end in just 2 years???

Thats how i developed interest in literature.

I have always had an interest for literature, which was for long time unrealized. Being from a literary family, its natural to feel a knot with different forms of literature. There were days when I used to feel intense isolation with all family members submerged in their respective books and me searching for somebody for some discussions, cribbing a lot due to lack of company or attention and ending up either watching television or reading a few interesting stories. My younger sister has a good appetite for reading since her childhood. And with all pressure and her example, I had no choice but to keep reading and reading until I made this a habit. My mind always wandered in the world of my own. As a child we used to enjoy one of the monthly magazines champak and Chanda Mama which as per my father was no more suitable for our age as we grew up and got promoted to Nandan. He never liked us reading Chacha Chowdhary, Pinki, Billu, as they were just for fun and no gain. Anyhow I often managed to borrow such fun reads from my cousin brother, he was generous enough. And after a few years, probably when I was in fourth standard we kids were blessed with two wonderful books, I can never forget. One was “Russian Folk Tales” (translated in hindi), and the other was “Jahaan Chah Wahaan Rah”. Both of them were of 250 or 300 pages with wonderful magic tales, each of them of around 40 pages. After watching the large sizes of the books I was reluctant to read them, they were scary to me. First few of the stories were narrated by our parents and then after watching my kid sister reading it (though she is only one and a half year younger), I was inspired, or may be out of competition, compelled to read it too. And then I enjoyed the tales in it so much, that I have read both the books infinite number of times. Some of them had wonderful poems in between, that were really enjoyable, I still remember them and hum them before younger or elder members of the family. While shifting to a new place, we lost both the books. And that was the first intense loss of my true possession. I still at times search and ask for those golden reads at the book shops, in a hope to get my childhood back. In the meanwhile I developed another talent inside me during 6th standard i.e. writing poetry. One of the initial poems I wrote was for my school magazine “badal mujhe bana de ma”, which my siblings still like, and some more poems followed till 8th standard. After which I got busy with my own soul searching and developing an understanding of life around me, a transition period, which I believe every kid goes through. My interest for writing got dissolved but reading habit remained intact. I enjoyed loads of folk tales from different states of India. I was always hesitant to read novels because of their serious nature( as I believed) and their weight. My first novel was “tell me your dreams” by Sidney Sheldon, which I read by chance. And the next was “The Thorn Birds” which my sister compelled me to read in a funny way. She narrated me the story and like a child I was hearing her every lil’word and when I developed interest in it, she left the book and I was compelled to read it out of the curiosity. That was the first Lengthy novel I read and which I enjoyed, followed by Babar. I felt more attached to the characters and their life depictions. After that there was no turning back. Again after a long time I have developed interest in poetry again. After writing a few, I have started reading books on poetry. Another addition in my library...

The Thousand Splendid suns - Khaled Hosseini

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs
And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls

The Thousand Splendid suns- A beautiful book by Khaled Hosseini on the lives of Afghans. A story based on the lives of two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila who are from different backgrounds, gradually develops the relationship of mother and daughter in the terror of war.

Mariam an illegitimate child of her father (who is rich and has 3 wives), lives far from the city, grows up with an impression of being a burden on her mother. While her father visits her every Thursday and makes her feel important and desired. She wants to live with her father. On her 15th birthday, she shows her desire to see the latest movie Pinocchio with her step siblings. After being promised for what she had asked, when her father didn't show up on her birthday to take her for the movie, she reached there on her own and ends up spending the night at the porch. When deserted Mariam reaches back home, she finds her mother hanged to death, with a fear that her only daughter has abandoned her. Her life changed since then. Her step mothers considering her a burden on the reputation of the family makes her marry much older man Rasheed, a shoemaker in Kabul, who has lost his wife and a son sometime back. After her miscarriage, her husband becomes abusive and cruel towards her. Mariam continues to live with orthodox and abusive Rasheed.

One the other hand, in Mariam's neighbour a young girl takes birth; she lost her two elder-brothers in the war. She is an intelligent girl, who is admired by her father for her intellect and her interest in studies. As she grows up, she eventually falls in love with her childhood friend and neighbour, Tareek. His family decides to leave for Pakistan. After sometime as tension grows worst in Afghanistan, Laila's family too decides to leave the city, when a rocket hits her house. In this accident Laila loses her parents while she recovers in Mariam and Rasheed’s house. Rasheed lays his eyes on Laila, while on the other hand both the women strengthen their bond each day.

From here onwards their struggle for food and survival starts. As story progresses, it depicts how Mariam and laila became friends and from that how their relation grew stronger to a selfless and unbreakable bond, how they supported and stood by each other through their struggles for survival.

The Thousand splendid suns narrates the story of both Mariam and Laila, their struggle for life, their losses, their sorrows and endurances in those tough times and their sacrifices for each other. It depicts the purity and selflessness of their relation and the condition of women in Afghanistan. This story narrates the struggle of people, the laws dictated by Taliban on Afghans and the violent history of Afghanistan and its people.

I would like to recommend this Book to all the people since it makes up for an interesting historical reading. I like it, and I am sure you'll like it too. As it is my first book review, pardon my mistakes and story narration, whichever way I lacked. It’s a novel not to be missed. :)

Just have a lil patience.......

“Have a lil patience” – how often have we heard it? How astoundingly easy it seems but when I think deeper and dig myself and people around me and their lives to understand it, I sometimes fail to understand its true worth. Patience is one word which is on the lips of everyone but in the heart of only a few. When I think about myself in this context, I too find myself amongst the pupils attending patience classes, trying to master one of my subjects of life but often fail in my own eyes.

Patience is a war with your own self, a tiresome brainstorming session with your own values, beliefs and thoughts in difficult circumstances. Patience is the art of facing difficulties especially long term with endurance without losing your head or getting upset or disturbed. Many people feel they have been keeping it and when you actually peep into their soul, you find a big hole in it from where patience is leaking a great deal. Yeah it takes a long time and great deal of patience to learn patience. At times you will find yourself sitting on the fire and spectators enjoying the show and simultaneously scoring you on your patience. It seems so easy to say “be patient”, but always ask somebody who has been practicing it since ages but has broken it recently. All teachings, learnings and practicing just vanish in a split second.
Even the rocks near a river keep patience but slowly turn into soil with constant hits. “When I keep it you lose it, when you keep it I panic, when we both keep it we lose time and when none of us keep it we lose a relation”. All we still want and crave for is patience. Being like a rock, waiting for our temperaments to get retarded, we keep ourselves patient. Sometimes we lose it because of our weaknesses and some times we lose it with lots of interferences in our lives. We sometimes want to be heard and understood and, we lose it because we get consoling words and possible solutions without being understood. Not everything can be solved today, but can be taken care of and kept in for tomorrow. We need to have patience. We lose it with difference in attitudes and natures and understandings. We lose it when people are judgmental, with perhaps, their limited knowledge of facts and figures.

I was discussing the term “Patience” with a friend yesterday. And I have been told that we lose it because we think we are mature, when we are not in certain cases. True!! And if we look at it with another perspective, we can also say it might be possible that other person is not mature enough to understand our wants and needs. We lose it when we are being doubted for our decisions about our lives, when people themselves hate others intervening in theirs.

Sometimes our constant failures compel us to surrender ourselves and our so called patience, be it failures in relationships or careers. So keeping patience with broad thinking is easy, but keeping patience otherwise is a tough game to play. Too much of criticism and too much of optimism kills patience. And with the so called loss of patience, some things like anger, frustration, detachment and violence shine and love, understanding, trust vanish. Elongated practice of Patience kills patience. Being silent is the only way out to fight impatience and being joyful is the only key to have a healthy and stable mind when you are practicing patience. Live it in your way. Be patient to you, even if it’s a war with yourself, just try to win it. And when you can’t, give your black emotions out and keep patience again!! :-)

Black Emotions

We all have negative and positive side of us.. As normally they show in cartoons two avtars of a same character comes out from nowhere, one angel looking and another devil. And its totally on us as who we choose to be like.. Sometimes bad things are too tempting that good ones are totally ignored and lose their value. So now y am i writing all such stuff... As because here i want to divert our minds to the darker side of us that we sometimes enjoy.. Dark doesn't necessarily mean bad but can also means secretive.. A hidden side which has been hidden there since long, and we prefer to keep it in dark without any light there, as because before the world we want to be known by our white selves and not the black ones..
I personally feel its very difficult to be good all times.. and to be open and non secretive.. We all have something or other to hide, to act bad for.. At times we feel nice to hurt somebody who has done something bad to us or our loved ones.. We are emotionally so tormented at that time that sometimes we end up thinking how to give that person worst possible loss. I think there is no harm in just being negative sometimes. We respire and we perspire Our body throws out that we dont need.. Why we care so much in throwing bad emotions out of us.. Sometimes giving out these emotions makes us feel nice and light.. Many psychatrists give tips to hurt people back who have hurt you as to get yourself out of derpression and humiliation you are going through So in a nutshell all i wanted to say here is that its not always bad to be bad, sometimes its really good to be bad.. It helps us from not being fake. It helps us to give out our anger. It helps us in our difficult times. It gives us attitude to fight back with much anger and wrath. It helps us to be away from depression.. So sometimes being black helps too, where being white fails to.. :)