Alios Helios....

Yesterday, had a little discussion with a friend on Extra-Terrestrial Life ...likelihood, etc....something that i'm really really interested in..

While thinking of it today, my thoughts got penned down in the form of the following poem... :D

I had fun writing it, hope you have fun reading it too :D :D :D 

Poem begins:

As I stand at the beginning of Nowhere,

I wonder, who else is out there?

Far Far beyond the sky so blue,

There you reside, I know its true!

The more I think, the more I’m convinced of your existence,

Why aren’t you coming to see me yet…are you serving a prison sentence?

Whether your world is above mine, or under,

What stops us from getting acquainted, then being friends, I wonder..

Im keen to know how you look like, what you eat,

And whether you have more than two feet?

I want to know your family, your society,

And you can see my world, in all its variety …

I wonder whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert,

What will be chat about; and BTW, do you guys wear any shirt?

Do you have funny laws governing your world too?

Do you have oldies running your country too?

Do you experience emotions like Love too?

If yes, in case of a break-up, what do you do?

I mean, do you sit still and feel your pain?

Then do you go out and love again??

I want to know what have you evolved from,

Like us, do you wonder where you’re going to, and where you came from???

Ohh there’s so much I want to know about you,

Of you and your world, we have no clue!!

Poem Ends

360 degrees....

Love makes the world go round,
It creeps up at you silently, without a sound....

It makes sure you see no further,
You pay no heed to mom or dad, sister or brother...!

It warms your heart and brightens up your eyes,
Gives you an extra spring in your step, which you don't even realise!

It makes you feel good about yourself and the world in general,
All's right with the world, you feel, all is well....

It makes you do crazy things that you otherwise never will,
You jump into the river even if you cannot swim!

It fuels your dreams and sparks up your life,
Ohh, there's no scope for fear, nor stress, nor strife!

Then one day, that niggly wiggly truth in the form of doubt, arrives,
And throws Trust out of the window; now Suspicion thrives....

You so much want to clarify things, you so much pray for the doubts to be untrue,
But Alas, the bitter tragedy hits you straight out of the blue...

You love the person, but hate his ways,
You try everything hoping that in the end, the love and the dream stays!

Things go downhill, he's no longer the same,
Oh let things be Ok,, let things be Ok, is your constant refrain...

You know not why he said, 'Aye',
When all you hear now is sounds of 'Goodbye'...

In a torrid moment, you drift away,
You can't bear him afar, so in your heart he stays...

Retracing the time spent together you feel dizzy,
Everything seems to have happened in such a tizzy ....

What started out as the best solution, is now an ugly mixture of questions and puzzles...

You can close your eyes to things you do not want to see,
But you cannot close your heart to things you do not want to feel....

In the midst of all this, where has Love got lost, you ask?
Oh, its right in there, even when you feel your heart is all covered by frost...

The Love you had is never gone,
But yeah, for Love's own sake, you need to move on! :-)

ICQ

pic courtesy: newzar.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/depression.jpg

More than enough has already been said about Viveka Babajee's suicide...
frankly wild guesses and vague interviews with a few ppl were the only sources the media had ...but with what authority do they air/print this news?? What she did right or wrong during her lifetime or whom she met was none of the media's business... but they printed reams and reams of glossy news about her past...! its downright condescending - to be doing this to someone who's not even there to defend herself...
SAD.


What the media could have done instead is to portray this unfortunate instance in a wiser way...in a more responsible way...They could have focussed on the following:
1. Unbiased trend analysis of cases of suicides reported - any studies on urban vs rural trends, gender, age trends...domestic n globally...
2. Genuine expert opinions, thoughts, on causes, symptoms, forms, diagnosis, prevention, treatment of depression and related tendencies....
3. Role to be played by immediate support systems - family/friends in cases where a particular trend / set of symptoms is observed.. sort of a "how-to" guide for all people concerned...
4. Focussing on larger societal / economic / lifestyle / stress issues ... and mitigants for depressionary tendencies in such situations.. addressing issues across the large societal gap that India has come to attain...
5. Increasing awareness about emotional stress from childhood - (counsellors in school / college), accessible counselling centres/help care centres & most importantly, SoS facilities for immediate addressal of panic attacks or suicidal thoughts / behaviour...

The World Health Organization warns that by 2020 depression will be the second most common disease in the world after cardiac health problems. It is becoming a fast-spreading endemic...with innumerable cases that dont even get reported; nay, not even recognised / diagnosed.... We should start taking action no doubt...but then we should know what actions to take as preventives, in the first place...
Giving this issue due media coverage with the right insights would have been the media's humble contribution to responsible reportage! 

Rainbows n B&W

'My dream is to fly...
Over the Rainbow so high!'

I love this song, its video, its colors, its vibrancy, its dreams, its energy...

B&W vs multitude of colors... What do u prefer? Do u slot life and its myriad ways in very staid strict separate 2 compartments... Where there is not even a single point's commonality?

Or do u view them as a fluid, inter-changeable state of matter which can get altered depending on where u view it from?

Both Rainbow as well as B&W co-exist...
None has supremacy over the other... None can stake claim to be the Undeniable Truth....

The sooner one realises this, life becomes simpler to go by... Instantly... :)
Any thoughts on this? - do share them!

The Curse

She grew up without the real it...,
And never even realised its need then...

And when at a continuation of teenage she found it,
She wasn't really astounded...

So continued her lack of need for it,
She was busy on a one-track field then...

Slowly the thought struck and began to take root,
But somehow, she couldn't convert each single opportunity to a mass route...
and soon, off the idea did scoot !

Further along in her journey, she had some brilliant individual accompaniments ...
But never did dey make music as an orchestra brings!

Since they were all ragas of their own,
Moods always didn't match frequencies ... And so she was still alone...

Whenever she thought she had come nearer to one,
Circumstances always conspired to make each of them run...

So it went on for years n years..
and the thickness of the real n potential losses was now several layers!

She realised maybe she should go back in time....
But when u're so far, u can never distinguish a pound from a dime...

And even after years when she thought and she chose,
This epithany can't be really put down in prose..

scars whether given by near ones or those who are far,
Right upto yr soul, have the ability to char!

Till this day she wonders what n why each of this occurred,
Some stories she told herself, n some she heard..

It really is a miracle to have a circle of good frens,
Investing time in them makes real good sense...

But she also knows for a fact that the choice is not always hers,
Sometimes its thrust on u...its like a Curse!

P.S. - comeback poem :) also u'd have noted that I've not put any day count... Will not be mentioning it henceforth :)
Realised u can't always have a set agenda:)

day 45 - trip diaries... Contd....

Oh i've been to Heaven .... And back... :)
Ladakh is one place which everyone must visit at least once ... The landscape is postcard- picture-perfect! - pristine, demure, breathtaking and at the same time magnificient n awe-inspiring ...
The people (ladakhis) are also very nice n sweet folks... Imagine what they go thru at a place where winter temps go down to minus 30!!! N all u get to eat in winter is potatoes n dals (if u r vegetarian - which most of them are, being Buddhists ) ... Schools are shut for 3-4 winter months (nov to feb) ... some kids are sent away by parents to boarding schools in delhi n dehradun... all this I knew before I touched down at leh airport... Courtesy a pretty ladakhi
Teenaged girl named Rinchen (ladakhi name means princess) who was sitting next to me on the flight!
She also wrote down a few Buddhist chants for me....which was really sweet! We exchanged email ids ... She's not on orkut or fb! ... And also invited me to stay over at her place ... (not possible, this time around!)

Coming back to d landscape, there was this inexplicable feeling of Wow which comes to u when u walk out of leh airport and breathe d freshly baked air! like a fren of mine who visited the place last year (or last-to-last yr) says - ' one could never think bare rocky mountains could be so beautiful!' ....
I so so much agreeee! There are layers and layers of chocolate chip n vanilla (some mixed, some pure choc, n mountain ranges all around u... Each mountain looks different from d other...
Each tries to outdo the others in enamouring d beholder... !
But these gigantic mountains can also have a dangerous side - landslides are not new in this geography... the treacherous weather is not helpful either!
And who knows this better than d brave Indian Army!
Pls salute them while u're reading this...
Right from leh, all above, u see only army camps all d way - providing tourists with refreshment and restroom facilities....
And they brave d rough n ruthless weather at altitudes ranging from 11800 feet - Leh, to 18000 plus feet (khardungla pass)... Kudos to these guys!!!!

the trip was over in a tizzzy ... :) time flew... N so did we... Back from heaven to our respective cities.... :) but trust me d scents, d picture of this stupendous place stays with u...even after u're back to d hustle n bustle of mundane life !!!

day 44 - trip diaries - I

am writing this post at 4 am ... At costa coffee, @ delhi airport, in the company of 7 other girls who were unknown-till-9hours-ago...
excitement galore at the next 6 days :)))))) always wanted to go to L-square for a long tym... Didn't know it would happen like this... :)
Nice concept... This is... Travel with unknown ppl... far off place - 11500 feet above sea-level - different backgrounds, languages, professions, likings, .... All put together... One is an ex-airforce, one's a journalist, 2 of us from investments, one from a banking kpo, one's an auditor, one's an ad web designer... 3 more to join us in next 15 min...

the costa guy here looks totally bewildered....we've been laughing like crazzzieee over d silliest of things - right from 12.30 till 4 am.... Ladies night out... Full blast - Haha... High on cold coffees, juices, pastries, icecream.... Midnight feasts at complete abandon! ... All of us who had proclaimed dat we're Oh-so-sleepy... have not slept a wink ...
I think dats d thing about women bonding... Its instantaneous... Similarly dislike is also instantaneous... But that's not the case here, thankfully! There are some stuff that only my women-frens understand ... And I have only a fingerful of them!

Got to go, tym for the next flight! Will keep writing whenever I get d network!

day 43 - The 3 Musketeers !!!

Sunday May 9 - the historic day when Sud, Abhi n I had a long overdue Reunion time! (those who know us will know what I mean by 'historic':D and those who don't, will realise by d end of this post:D !!! )
The 3 of us decided to catch a play at NCPA (more on d fabulous play in d next post), and d programme was quickly charted out...
These 2 chaps were supposed to pick me up en route... And no surprises, they were late dan d original schedule by an hour!
(courtesy d hunger pangs dat sud felt post an aftnoon-long session of bowling...and then, he also needed to top up his snack binge by a vanilla-icecream-in-coca-cola! !)
Anyway, we were on our way with the poor cabbie who had a half-struck expression - as if he would burst into d SRK song - (badi mushkil hai, ... Main roun ya hasoon, karoon main kya karoon) any moment!
Sud wanted me to showcase my new-found singing talent in d cab itself.... and I had to wriggle out of d situation by remembering suddenly to call mona, our super-busy common fren... And have a loudspeaker chat ... (again poor cabbie uncle bore d brunt of our noisy commotional talk...) we decided within 2 min of d conversation to drop by mona's bldg (on d way it was!) n have a Fab 4 reunion... And den jab we al met...it was a flurry of quick, loud cross-talk, jokes, reminiscence of funny ol school incidents... Etc etc... All while d poor cabbie sat staring far away ! :D
And then again we resumed our onwards journey to ncpa...
We reached d play in the nick of time... The seats were on a first-cum, first served basis, but man! Were we lucky! ! We were amongst d last to arrive but got the finest seats! 3 cool last row seats raised to d finest height providing a marvellous view of the whole stage!

After the absolutely delightful play (more praise on d plays will follow soon), we strolled onto marine drive... Omg, the place is jampacked on sun eve....! Caught sum of their funny poses on my phone- cam... And we were about to walk towards d awesome intl cuisine resto nearby....when.... Sud sud-denly decided he wanted to take a royal warrior-like ride on d Victoria - a familiar british era-leftover seen on MD and norman point on weekends!)
It was only when Abhi n I refused to give him company atop d buggy dat he finally relented... Plus d guy was charging 200 bucks for a ten min ride!
Even walking towards d hotel was no less an adventure... We happened to see a rolls royce parked on d road and these 2 were moving around so suspiciously like a stealthy paparazzi that the driver of d car thought we were upto some thin...
Li'll did he know we were just plain crazie fellas lurking on horse-dung-in-d-air filled narmn pt streets at peak dinner time... By d tym we reached d resto, we learnt there was a one-hour wait involved! I guess d emptiness of our brains finally got to our stomachs... And we realised we'll have to go to an udipi hotel nearby to satiate our sudden hunger! Which we did!
Bickerings between abhi n sud continued all thru... Non-stop!!!
Finally, on our way back home, sud finally made me sing 3 songs! While Abhi played d part of sridevi in mr. India (angry at the kids wala scenario) ...

Whoa, thank God for simple-hearted frens... Frens who're happy in d slightest of joys, who can share and laugh at d same ol school jokes! Frens who prove that the best things in life are....... FREE! :)

day 42 - Seasons....

Just like there are seasons outside,
So they are inside...
The ones outside change only when the time comes,
The ones inside arrive and leave in a random manner...

Sometimes both are in sync, sometimes not so,
Sometimes with Joy we rise, in Sadness we sink....

Sometimes when its Spring outside, its Autumn inside,
When hope blossoms outside but withers within.......

Sometimes when its Summer outside, its Raining cats and dogs inside,
While the sun scorches our body,
The raindrops cleanse the Heart and Soul....

Sometimes its stark Winter outside, while the Heart is warm,
Sometimes there's a storm and its Thundering outside,
While the mind is surprisingly, very calm.......

Now when I'm out in the sweltering sun, whats the need to crib?
When I know deep down inside, there's just a switch I need to flip....

We aren't always in tune with the Seasons outside,
But just listen carefully to the song humming on your lips....

Just like the Seasons outside need to change when the Time comes,
So also no one bad season can continue within us Forever.......

And while Eternal Spring is what we all crave for,
We do know that the entire package comes alongwith it!

day 41 - sometimes .... Just sometimes... ambivalence....is bliss!

In continuation to my damn good mood, as mentioned in my previous post, I want to share some new stuff I learnt... :)

I've always been an extremist - - - binary...either 0 or 1... To me, d middle path sounds synonymous to an inability to take a stand... And I detest people who can't take a stand (as a matter of routine) ...
So what learning am I talking about?? in the last few months I've learnt dat sometimes, though very occasionally, its OK to not take a serious, involved view of certain events/situations, esp when they have already occurred despite yr best intentions... you've already made yr best efforts, n they've not worked....... at such times, it feels good to step back, stay in neutral zone, be ambivalent in your reactions - not too hot, nor too cold, just room temperature! keep yr calm, feel good about most ppl (sorry we can't feel good about 'all' ppl :D:D )... Sometimes, its soothing to not try and slot / compartmentalise every single thing, or relation... Like a fren told me yesterday, somethings don't fit in any single dimension...
Sometimes, ambiguity is nice, mild curiosity is nice, constant humming (neither silence, nor pounding) is sweet...
it just is..... !!!! :)

day 40 - advice - free free free....... No thx !

For some peculiar reason, I'm gonna write some boiling stuff Tode, nope, I'm not in a foul mood, on d other hand, m in a damn good mood.... :D but dat doesn't stop me from spewing some pent-up anger!
So here goes -
some ppl are born advisors.... U speak to them of an issue concerning yrself n then dey start bombarding u with advice which u don't need or which even they wouldn't Follow. Themselves. They start thinking just coz u have shared this issue/s with them, u're Oh-so-vulnerable! And they can take d liberty of saying whatever they want, to whoever they want.
My feedback to them -
'Oh damn, before playing God, kindly realise dat u too have yr weaknesses, how will u feel if someone makes fun of u or taunts u from them...??? This is blatant abuse of the trust and faith someone has placed in u... Its a mockery of the word ''friendship''.
We are not perfect... Every single one of us makes mistakes..sometimes a series of them.... As long as our intentions were never wrong, no one, I repeat, NO ONE, except yr parents, has any right to criticize u for it... Solicited advice is welcome, unsolicited... No way!'

N yeah, now dat I've spewn this out of my system, I also hv realised dat I too must be objective in what I advice others.. N that too, only wen asked for it! :)

day 39 - type 1 type2

nahh this is not abt sum mobile quiz contest... Its a derivative of statistics, law, psychology... Confused ...? Lemme explain...
In statistics, there are 2 kinds of errors dat one can make -
Type I error - where u prove the correct possibility to be wrong.. N
Type II error - where u prove d wrong thing to be right...
The same philosophy is also deeply
entwined with law and justice - dats the same reason why laws are framed such that while 100 guilty may go off scot-free, not even one innocent must be declared guilty... At least dats d endeavour...!

D debate on which error is worse continues... Type I or II???

I thot of this today in one of my (now frequent) flash-backs... And dibba, before u flare yr nostrils, Nah it was a generic flash-back:D

I think Type I Mistakes are far more lethal...N can even be irreparable - wat if in today's selfish times, u lost a great friendship - due to a third person's lies or some unproven / mislaid accusation'...
when u realise wat u've dun, n want to re-trace d paths to yr friendship, its quite likely dat yr fren doesn't want to have nything to do vid u... Take another instance, where by the time u'd have realise the truth, Time would have already passed, over into d realm of eternity... How repentful u'd be then?

Type II errors, on the other hand, can be really a pain, gross mockery of justice, or a stark rude reminder of our (mostly silly) mistake, which unlike school, will not cost us a mere 1/2 mark, but also pinch/irritate/bug/ torment us non-stop ... But somewhere along our journey, our type II errors make us wiser, far richer in experience... Those harsh lessons remain with us forever... N n like a bitter medicine, ultimately help us heal and live better... :)

day 38 - time out :)

I took sum deliberate time out from bloggin for d last 3-4 days....Ahhh... Before I blame it fully on work, lemme let u all in on a lil secret! I wanted to see how many of u actually read my blog n await it.... and yr overwhelmingly unenthusiastic response is well....to say d least.... Hmmmm....... Ahmmmmmm.... @#*+&!
:D Nah, actually I wrote on each of the last 3 days... But have deliberately not put it up here on d blog...for more reasons dan one... maybe Someday later I will..

day 37 - words....

Words have phenomenal power.... its not said for nothing that the Pen is mightier than the sword! Not just the written word, spoken words too have the same effect... There are certain occasions when someone says something which makes your day .... Year... Even life...
some words - which have hit me....either when they were spoken or read or hours / months / years later... And have had a marked effect on my life... In someway..........
I've enumerated certain people's (non-family) words - spoken or written - that I've encountered and the associated Action / thought / feeling.... There's no hierarchy here... Its just a collection of random thoughts..

1. Kiran Bedi and Feminism..
2. Sarada Ma ( Ramkrishna Paramhansa's wife) and spirituality
3. Swami Vivekanand and Youth Activism
4. A.R. Rahman's music and Energy
5. Vande Mataram / jana gana mana and Patriotism
6. Enid Blyton and childhood innocence...
7. Rachel miss telling me in std. 9 that I'm a brave and courageous girl And Confidence
8. Rekha miss (my art teacher) writing C or D against my art grade column...and 'Non-creativity'...
9. Mantras and hatred for priests...
10. Shailaja Mule, a well-known career counsellor pointing out during a career guidance session in std. X, that I would do well in Arts... And I could take up IAS or Management...
11. Naniji telling me to choose MBA over an IAS....
12. Morning Assembly in school and Prayer
13. DDLJ's dialogues and mild crushes ;)
14. Someone telling me u must dress up well for yourself... (not that I took the person v seriously)
15. My dance teacher telling me I have 2 left feet - way back in early 1990s and awkwardness in dancing ever since.... Till the time dibba became my dance teacher! ...
16. A chance reading online ....and Adoption...
17. A chat conversation and A crush...
18. A moral science chapter on conscience ... And steadfastness to values...
19. words of hate in MBA and my turning an introvert ... Remembering My class teacher (again rachel miss) telling me I'm super talkative... I can begin talking even if placed in different corners of the class... And return to extrovertism again!
20. Conversations, jokes, laughter and Friendships...
21. Silence, words without any Sounds, and Faith

day 36 - directions....

Humphhhh, ....
I wish One Word could sum up my mis-adventure day before y-day or rather night before y-night...
ok, first the background, God in a hurry, while assembling me, forgot to fit the compass... hence I entered d world w/o an iota of sense of direction... !!!
And unlike other traits, this one is governed solely by heredity and not environment... ie nature not nurture...!
U can imagine (if you share the same birth defect or if u know me) how difficult navigation can be for ppl like me
.... Some pointers to this effect can throw sum light on the gravity of this problem...
1. Bombay - my own city.... unfamiliarity with sum of the best known landmarks of the city....
2. Visiting a place...once...twice...thrice... Dozens Of times...n still blank...stark blank ....wen I hv to reach their again...
3. Always taking the same wrong left / right turn, only to regret and make the umpteenth promise to myself that I won't repeat the same mistake again!
4. Wen out alone, Having no qualms about asking ppl around for directions....time n again.... No ego hassles here! Ha!
5. struggling to get a mental path of the route to go to a particular place...
6. A feeling of extreme ecstasy on seeing the green signboard with white font reinforcing that I'm driving on the right road...
7. Crying / howling on finding out that I've gone off in totally diametrically opposite direction.. (latest eg: wen I reached bombay central instead of nehru centre - coz the cabbie heard the former...) .... Okie now.., stop laughing!
8. spending double the taxi / rickshaw fare coz the driver's taken me for a ride! Literally!
9. Reading the signboard on shops to realise the area / suburb/ road I'm on...
10. extreme phobia of trying out a different route... :)

And all this in my Own city.... I don't have to bother elaborating on out-of-town experiences...:)
And before u try n gender-ise the issue...kindly note that my mom n sis are even better than any migratory bird species...they have n Awesum sense of direction....
So now u know wat to gift me...bombay guides, maps, compass... !!!

day 35 - finalllllly!

this post is for day before day!
The day wen I finalllllly finalllllly saw a Play! Yep theatre's wat I'm talkin about...
I've for years wanted to go for one... Plans got cancelled at d last min on many occasions...or laziness of family to travel far from home on a weekend meant I never saw a Play....
Till.... 22nd April wen I saw one without planning to watch it at all...
Though this was a different genre of theatre...a musical and dance cum one-man play based on the life and works of the great Sufi saint - Amir Khusro.
A Play is far more real than cinema -
1. thre's no screen....
2. its all or none... The movie's not finalised for release till ethings picture perfect.... Here, u can practice endlessly, but on the D-day, what matters is what the artist does 'that' day... Seeing it this way parallels it with life... Its reality all d way thru'... No matter how well u plan for it or practice for d future... What matters most is how u fare in the Present. .. How u live each day, each moment...
3. the artist essays the role of a common man or woman...by essaying the role on the stage - we connect instantly... Coz we also play our various roles on the stage called Life...
4. Feedback is instant, obvious n instinctive.... the audience's reaction can be guaged spot on... In life, the notion of genuine feedback, or the idea of praising / criticising someone, on the spot, direct uncolored opinion is not always appreciated... I wonder y...

All in all, a good beginning...n looking fwd to watching millions of theatre work in the years to cum !!

day 34 - Things I luvvvvv....

apart from reading, watching movies.. The follg are not in any particular order though...
1. Eating with my hands...
2. A good loud hearty laughter..
3. Driving... (my car ....not ppl crazy..Haaaa!)
4. Teasing dibba vid ny and every guy...:p
5. Singing out loud alongwith d radio...
6. Eating every half n hour...
7. Jumping into other ppl's conversations - Talking to nyone abt nything n everything.../ nodding if I know nothin abt it... :D
8. Learning somethin new on the technology front....(new for me....ancient for d others! )
9. converting non-veggies into veggies ...
10. Practicing writing (legibly ) vid my right hand....n writing ambidextrously.... !

day 33 - :))

what do u do when.....

U r happy....
U r sad...
U r right...
U r wrong...
U learn a lesson / gain experience..
U look back in hindsight n realise yr mistake...
you realise what a strong anchor yr fmly has been all thru...
u lose yr way n find a sign...
U wanna make a new fren...
u hv to manaoo an angry fren...
u wanna catch someone's attention..
U dream a funny dream....
U win a losing game...
someone guesses yr mind...
u remnisice about times long ago..
U enjoy yr present...
......
In all d above, U Smile...yep...
Keep smiling... :))

day 32 - for want of a..........

For want of innocence, childhood is lost...
For want of curiosity, education is lost...

For want of exercise, health is lost...
For want of a plan, time is lost...

For want of a conscience, values are lost...
For want of trust, relationships are lost,

For want of respect, families are lost,
For want of love, marriages are lost,

For want of discipline, a battle is lost,
For want of loyalty, a country's freedom is lost...

For want of a passion, a dream is lost....
For want of a Purpose, life is lost!!!

day 31 - 31/365 ....1st Monthly Anniv.....!

1st mnthly anniv of this blog...
U'll recall that the raison d'etre of this blog was 365 days of non-stop blogging...
Well, 31 blogging days r ovr.. :) cheerzz...!!
A quik take on what i loved abt these 31 days of blogging ...
1. I got acquainted vid a new - me... Sum things lyk a lil streak of creativity..was unknown to me earlier!
2. I've exceeded my own expectations, conquered my own demoniac fears...i nvr evr cd post earlier in my previous attempts at blogging, w/o first staring fr long at d blank paper, n den writin sum gibberish...i may still continue to write advanced gibberish...:P but hvnt written a single post beforehand....all of dem hv been spontaneous/impromptu, n strt dil se!
3. I wrote a poem, then another, den a 3rd.....all this for d first time in my 29 yrs...!

Enuf of blowing my trumpet :D...
Here's wat needs to be improved asap:
1. I need to respond to comments sooner,
2. engage in a more interactive dialogue on d post,
3. spread d wrd N increase d readership...;),
4. make it better on looks n start using images as well,
5. Add more diversity to d topics!

Do lemme know yr comments on this... !
Thnks dear readers fr still being around :D:D
Ciao fr now....!

day 30 - ordinarily extraordinary.....!

this post is actually based on yday's happenings...
I saw d movie 'The Japanese Wife' directed by Aparna Sen...(of mr and mrs iyer fame)...the movie's basic premise, is dat 2 ppl - he an indian, she a japanese, who've nvr met each other...get married...remain married...keep in contact only thru letters n an occasional phone call, n arent able to meet each other till d end ...(of the movie or their lives, i wont tell, else i'll be spilling out d whole story! :)
What shines thruout d movie is d ordinary lives led by d characters....interwoven with complete honesty,
Simplicity, love, care, trust....
it embellishes d ordinary, reinvogorates it and surrounds it with the magic aura of d Extraordinary...
i came bak with a restoration of my faith in love, life n ppl in general :))

day 29 - things far beyond.......

every single event, episode, word, person, memory, action in our lives is meant to happen / be a part of our life's journey ..irrespective of the timeframe of contact / association - momentary or lifelong...
Nothing's merely coincidental, nothing's a 'big cosmic mistake'...everything happens in Time, its Time...our actions yield the desired result in Time's own time...our decisions get made in Time's time, our successes and failures happen in Time's time, ... Destiny / Fate? - i donno....cd be....sum things vil always remain a mystery i guess....we arent wired as yet to understand or modulate EVERYTHING....but we do have a brain, a heart and a soul - using all 3, make the best of our Time here :)
Everything is with a purpose - whether in the form of a lesson or an experience, or as an inter-link, or to change our life's path or due to our subconscious mind's desire...every person / event's role in our life is already carved out - sumtyms our mind uses sand as d canvas, sumtyms it uses stone...!
In hindsight, we tend to becum critical / judgemental, take up / assign undue blame, becum a tad more wiser, ....n resolve to fare better at the next crossroad.....only till....we face the next event / decision :)
No future can be built based on shadows of the past....so its imp to break free, face adventure with a smile, be eager abt the future, not anxious abt it....
Thank eone - incl our enemies... for their role in making us a better person each day, wish no harm (irrespectve of WHAT he / she has dun to us)...
Finally...
What triggered dis post....a tussle between sum bitter n sum sweet memories in my mind.... !

day 28 - 'Real'ity check!

There's a v thin line dividing ---
Fact and Fiction - Statistics :))
Real and Fantasy - Space tourism
Judgement and Prejudice - nothing can be totally unbiased, not even Justice!
Belief n Superstition - look around, no dearth of examples :)
Genius and Insanity - Meeee :D
Feelings and Thoughts,
Religion n Violence - Jihad,
Love and hate
Humor n Hurt - Santa-Banta jokes!
Trust n Betrayal,
Silence n Speech - at tyms we can understnd someone's silence while at tyms we dnt even 'hear' wat he/she's actually saying...

...the list can go on n on n on...
What is wrong here?? Is it just when we mistake one fr another...or are ignorant to understnd repurcussions of one on another?? Who decides wrong and right? Society....Majority.....Elders....Judges/Law? when shorn of all these tags, just who r these ppl with such limitless power?
Which brings me to another pair to be added to d list above - 'majority is right' N 'herd mentality :)

Day 27 Friends

Happy New Year to all the readers

On this occasion there is gonna be something new / different on this blog ... the real owner /writer of this blog is on a break and has decided to let someone else write the blog for her today.
Well the most important thing in letting someone else having to do a thing for you is having faith in him /her.
FAITH the underlying thing of all relations

How doe we measure relations?
We measure distances between places in different ways mm, cm, mtrs, km & miles.
Of course we cannot measure relations using the above measures.
People really don't need to be with each other or near each other to be close to each other.
You might be living with someone under one roof but still be never close to him/ her.
You might be working with someone in the same office but still never be able relate with him /her.
There could be a friend who now stays in a different town but he/she could be much more close to you than your blood relations.
Distances between people is defined by the faith they have with each other.
If they have faith then the distance created due to place or time doesn't matter.
On the other hand if there's no faith then even living under one roof won't make them come closer to each other.
Of all the relations that we can name or ever create the only one we ever have a complete say is friendship.
We don't have a say in deciding our parents, brothers or sisters, many don't even choose the life partners but everyone gets to choose a friend.
That's why friends are so close to us... some really lucky ones have the same group of friends throughout their life while some not so lucky have different people as their close friends during different stages in life.
Whatever may be the case the fact remains that friends are an integral part of our life.
They are there in our times of joy n sorrow ,ups n downs whenever we need them.
We can share our inner most secrets with them n b sure its safe.
That's why it is said a man is known by the company he keeps.
A world without friends will very soon see its end!!!
That's why today when my mobile went blank and I was not able to reach or call any of my friends I realised how incomplete I am without them.
The fact that most of them do not stay in the same city where I am staying currently has not come in between the moments of joy / sorrow in our lives.
I am really happy and thankful to all of them for being my friend and letting me be theirs too.
Guestpost by Harishkumar

thanks for the memories....

this is the title of the book that i'm reading currently....its by the same author whose debut was 'P.S. I love u'..Cecilia Ahern...like one of the reviews says, her books have an element of magic in them...a mystic sense of outofthisworld fantasy...n loads of plain vanilla innocence n wonder....
In this post, i'm listing down some of the thoughts / philosophies that one of the characters conveys in a very simple, ordinary form...or in a metaphoric manner..

Here goes -

1. 'This is all u do When it all slows down n d minutes that tick by feel a little longer than before, .......you take yr time....you breathe slowly, you open yr eyes wider n look at EVERYTHING. Take it all in... Stop and notice little things....Find out d answers to yday's crosswords. Stop trying to do everything NOW...NOW...NOW...Dont let nybody dictate yr speed...'

2. ....'like a garden, Everything grows. Including Love....Everything builds....including our ability to cope with it. Thats how we keep going'.

3. 'in my day, something JUST WAS. None of this analysis a hundred times over...no whys n hows n becauses all the time...sometimes, you need to forget all these words, n just learn to say ''thank you''.

4. During tough times, ' what was once clear becums cloudy, n wat was once considered bizarre becums a possibility...but its precisely when u're in trouble, u look harder for answers than those who arent, and those answers help u thru...'

5. When we laugh so hard dat we cry, its tells us 'how close happiness n sadness are. ...how a moment of lovecan be quickly snapped into hate....how love and war stand on the same foundations. How in our darkest moments, most fearful tyms, when faced, become our bravest.
They all border one another, these opposites...how similar emotions are!'

What i loved abt d above 5 gems are dat they're woven into the story narrative so brilliantly...no preachings...just plain simple truths of life...! :)

day 25 - my top 10 list.....

we all hv a to-do list fr our daily routines...ticking them off / crossing them out wen dun gives an immense sense of 'yayyyy' ...:) haha...imagine how many multifold will the sound of 'yayyy' be....wen we achieve d 'to-do' lists of our life....
Dreamzz big n small, innermost hearts' desire, grand challenges/dares, soul-searching quests, our goals - silly or mediocre, our commitments to our self n the larger self....all find a place in our life's 'written in pink' to-do list / wishlist (or watevers yr favorite color)....its always there in the sub-conscious mind...just a matter of digging it out... here's my top 10 wish-list ...newer items will of course keep getting added as i tick off d ones i achieve....
1. Finding Kandle....soon...
2. Starting my own school...
3. Being an active member of a campaign against female foeticide..
4. 'Space trip' (waiting fr competition in this area to increase n fares to cum down before i'm disallowed frm boarding d flight...
5. Till then... Skydiving' shd be fun! :)
6. Get into Politics....Clean it up n make it shine!
7. Turn a 100 percent vegan...(vegans r vegetarians who dont hv milk in ny form)
8. Write a book...
9. Rebel against all things wrong...
10. Begin a fitness regime to accomplish all d above!
All ye know wat to say....
'Amen'! :)

day 24 - d kandle in my life...

I know for sure that you are for real...
I know for sure that you are already here...

There's so much of joy n anticipation,
There's so much of fear n trepidation...

When will u be mine, oh divine ....?
i'm now a prisoner of Time...

The thought of you lights up my life, making it so surreal......
The dreams of you come in a reel....

you n i are meant to be together soon,
This combination's already approved by all d planets n d moon....

Y oh y have i to wait fr so long,
Maybe just maybe God's seeing to it that to each other we soon belong....

Daily little things remind me of u
n d pain n agony of being afar hits me out of d blue....

I seek strength, courage n wisdom n guidance from the One Up There!
That lord, dear God, pls hasten up our pair...

I promise to be the best fren you vil find,
Kandle oh dahling Kandle, you're always on my mind.....

day 23 - indebted for life....

you walked her treks, while she simply played in your arms,
you lost sleep while she snored deeply
You felt her pain, she physical, you emotional,
You prayed n blessed, she succeeded,
You worried, she was over-confident,
You explained, she shrugged,
You forgave, she made mistake after mistake,
You were right, she was wrong,
You were selfless, she was full of 'self',
You gave, she took,
You hoped, she was hopeless,
Despite everything, You still nurtured, she grew,
For all of this and more, she'll always remain indebted to You...!
Love u loads Mom :)

day 23 - 'trust' me!

Trust - - -
5 alphabets which spawn an entire lifespan....across eras!
Right from the tym we're born - trust is a natural instinct.... a baby trusts nyone n everyone....she doesnt have ny doubts abt her parents, her siblings.... A baby can even trust a tiger! Now as she grows up, goes to school, she automatically trusts her teachers, her classmates...she gradually goes out wider into d world, out of the protective environs of her loved ones, trusts herself...makes newer frens as well....now since trust was so innate to her and v sacred, she followed her heart n trusted e one...slowly but surely she realised there's no great sanctity around Trust...its not sacred, unbreakable....its got sullied by too many pollutants emanated by all sorts of ppl... someone breaks her trust, then another, then many....she withdraws into a shell, she is suspicious of every one now, loses
Trust in herself, her abilities, her beliefs, her ideals....till her innate trusting nature claws back one day, she lowers her guard, opens her heart once again, makes another fren, then another....and learns that trust is not a one-time thing...u cant hv it, lose it n then nvr have it back again....its always there within us, just like there's always a child in us, n it'll stay put no matter how many storms n trials it goes thru.....so our girl goes back into d world vid open arms ..., smiles n trusts again! :)

day 22 - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sleep - something i simply love! N lots of it....hv dun sum records in this field on holidays! M just nt an early bird...cant get up early, however much i want to...
Now, y a post on sumthin as mundane as sleeping...?...you might ask...?
because most of the times, after a long sleep, i get this huge guilty feeling...a guilt of wasting time which is both precious n limited....a guilt of not doing important to-do things - personal n social goals because i've slept exTraaa...a guilt that somewhere i tend to use sleep as an excuse to escape from problems, or decisions....
To top it all, i got a fwd early morn last week which said - 'you can sleep all u want once u're dead, life is for living, so wake up!'
Ha! You can calculate yrself how many multi-fold my guilt wd hv multiplied.....
Its a situation of 'damned if u do, damned if u dont!'....
Oopar se my sleep is quite non-eventful....i dont remember nthing - repeat nythin of my dreams....unlike dibba who gets some really hilarious dreams at times! :D
one things fr sure, i'm a deeeep sleeper...a fren calls it sharing a split personality with Kumbhakaran!!!
So basically, if nyone knows any remedy for 'sleepaholism' do lemme know....till then i continue to pretend i dont hear my guilt pangs! :D

day 21 - slow down,.... pause, ..... Continue....

this post was already written yday, impromptu like all other posts before this, and by a 'cruel twist of fate' (:D) my phone got hung, d post didnt even get saved n its simbly vanished...!! :( n i cried boo-hoo-hoo ...like the sky fell down....!!
n then slept off..
Come morning, n i realised wht d hell....so wat if a mere string of words disappeared from screen??? I still have the thought in my head.....n wats more, i still have my head :D;) so ....y did i make such a big hue n cry of such a small issue?
I guess its a hotch-potch of a lot many things....our mood, n mood swings, our
Hidden fears, suppressed anger, piled-on guilt....n much more, a lot of small n big things....n so maybe i succumbed to being a 'victim' of such a silly problem...
whatever may be the triggers, the issue was not worth the response! Thats my learning fr yday's episode...:)
and what was the grand post dat i had written which flew off????
well, it was abt how like a train chugging along, needs to refuel, cleanup of dirt n grime clogging d engine..., we too, in our busy-whizzy-tizzy lives, need to slowdown, pause, rest, enjoy wat we have, chk our compass, reset it if needed, ...and then restart our engines...
Speed, is essential, but in the right direction...
So take time-outs frequently to take stock, re-assess, add, delete, modify...:)
Bon voyage! :)

day 20 - lonely vs alone....

wht is d first thought which strikes us wen we read the words - 'lonely' and 'alone' - dat they are almost synonyms...dat they both connote a feeling of despair/despondency??...but this interpretation's not true...lets c y...
'Lonely' represents a negative feeling while 'Alone' could be neutral to positive...
'Lonely' means feeling of despair, lost hope, no one to share your life's joys/sorrows vid, accompanied by allied negative emotions such as fear, sadness, a sense of alienation / rejection, even extreme depression ...
'Alone' is simply put, 'being all by yourself'..., it is 'being with yourself', it denotes oneness with our inner self...it helps crowd out d noise outside us, it helps us connect with our true spirit, n helps us 'listen' to dat inner voice- our conscience...it helps us sort out the commotion between head n heart,
It helps us clear past cobwebs, see things in their truest sense, helps understand others n ourselves - leading to many 'aha' moments... It helps us love ourselves for what we are (not in a narcissist way, but in a friendly way), helps us find solutions,
Helps us chart our course ahead...

I am now beginning to understand why 'silence' is crucial in our lives...it gives us d much-needed time-out to be alone...vid ourselves...!
I'm truly enjoying n cherishing every moment that i spend being alone...just as i love being around loved ones n frens....its worth a lot, trust me! :)

P.S. I now understand why 'home alone' series was such a super-hit! :))

day 19 - irshaad!

tode m feeling like writing sum fast-food nursery-rhyme poetry.....but first promise u'll all still continue to visit diz blog even after readin dis post :D:D:D...cross yr heart (n me my fingers:P) now!
Here goes:
One two three,
I wanna be free....
Four five six,
Life's such a funny mix.....
Seven eight nine,
i just wanna be fine.....
Ten eleven twelve, thirteen,
no need to say, 'it might have been'....
Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
in the world, sum ppl are mean.....
Eighteen nineteen twenty twentyone,
From no situation must i run.....
Twentytwo, twnty-3 twenty four,
Lets chant - 'ye dil maange more!'.....
Twentyfive, twentysix twentyseven,
This world is our heaven....
Twenty eight twentynine thirty,
Dont think this place is so dirty....

I stop at thirty... :D coz i've completed 29 n begun my 30th year...;)

day 18 - dibba part 3

continued frm part 1 n 2 below...
dibbu is very sentimental - both senti n mental :D wat she cant stand is dat mom luvs me more...! So try as she might....all crooked n twisted means, the results still d same! So if mom hugs me, she'll give such a teary-eyed look, that (majboori se) mom will have to do an encore vid her as well! :p
Andy, u can throw in yr first-hand experience in this regard..:D:D
Okie, now lets move onto wat dibba can possibly be doing not too far in the future...
She can be an:
RJ
DJ
DANCE TEACHER - EVEN THOSE VID 2 LEFT FEET CAN LEARN TO DANCE IN 3 DAYS...GUARANTEED!
EXOTIC TRAVEL AND TOUR OPERATOR - MAGICAL EXPERIENCE IN YR VACATION GURANTEED!
SCRIPT WRITER
POETESS / LYRICIST
AUTHOR
JOURNALIST
AD MAKER
OWNER-CUM-CHEF OF A CHAIN OF VEGGIE DHAABAS
PROFESSOR / LECTURER
AGONY AUNT - COUNSELLOR
And d list can go on n on...
Dibbu - abhi bhi tym hai...junk yr silly mba n go out n do wat yr heart truly tells u to pursue....
So all ye pls say - AMEN! :)

day 17 - the devilish angel....:)

contd frm previous post...
As i mentioned, dibbu is the real older sister in our sistership...;) she's taught me lessons ranging frm simple ones (on italian cooking) to fun - dancing sessions to giving me 'life survival kits'...
A lot of her sistahood is a box of paradoxes - she luvs me no end but vl pretend otherwise, she wants my advice but will reject it wen offered, she knows exactly wats wrong with me but wont 'push' solutions frm her end..., she wants to tell me everythin but wants me to ask abt it....she expects me to keep her secrets, but proudly leaks mine, she acts mature but is actually a kid..., she's actually kid, but acts mature!
She's super talented but wants to waste her tym doin n mba, she's younger but far more tradionalist, she's a Pro on 'human' relationships (even though she's ....hmmmm....well.....divine...wat did u think i'll write;) she's strong n weak both - she can make u laugh n cry both - she's chirpy, bubbly, yet thoughtful...she's got mystic foresight powers - trust me on this....but doesnt use it fr herself...
She's my devil....and my angel, forever! :)
To be continued.....

day 16 - dibba

dibba (means box) will literally box me wen she sees this as the title of a post based on her.. :D
But, u see nicknames hv nvr been in short supply for her...her official name, howevr means 'divine eyes' - which goin by the no of guys who've fallen ... (on the ground, of course...wat did u thnk??) seems a v apt name for her!!
Dibba is 7 yrs 8 mnths younger to moi! But she gets to b my elder sis most of d tym! Hehehe... More on dat lil later...
Wen dibbu was born, i was in d 3rd std..n my class teacher, ms cherian had a hard tym....hearing me rattle e day abt how old my dear sis was growing each day...'aaj meri behen 4 din ki ho gayi...aaj meri behen dus din ki ho gayi...'etcetc...
Mom says dibakhi was d apple of my eye...(reminds me of hot apple pie!!)...i wd carry her e where n inadvertently drop her....countless no of times...and then get a scolding frm mom....:( waise dib got so used to falling that she mastered the art and soon was effortlessly falling off the bed on her own with amazing frequency!
Lil divs in primary skool was a lost kid...
Either she was lost or her teachers were! Lolzzz! Gomezzzie....hahahaha..
But u cant keep a genius under wraps fr long....n divu in secondary skool blossomed... (no no not d shoe polish!! ;) her fan following cut across classmates, seniors n juniors...she donns d role of the all-rounder frm dat time onwards thru jr coll, thru bms, vid amazing ease n evn now continues to do so...!
to be continued....:)

day 15 - what vs how...a classic struggle

the immediate trigger for d theme for tode's post comes frm a short fight with a dear fren (P) 2 hours ago....one particular trait of hers was annoying me for sum tym and i was deliberating whether or not to tell her....by nature, i'm quite frank and forthright...but my experiences over the last 1-1.5 yrs have mellowed me down...i sometyms do think before saying sthin to someone close...but since its against my very nature, i'm not comfortable with this 'think before u talk' business...
Just to put things in d right perspective, lemme clarify that here we're debating about the approach to take while saying sthin not v pleasant to ppl who r close to us...shd we go ahead n just say it...assuming that since the other person knows dat yr intentions r good, they'll not mind it for long...(i belong to this camp) or shd we pause, mentally calculate how d person vil take it / react, and say it at a 'correct' time...
Somehow, personally, i think the latter approach is more manipulative, and less frank, and hence tilts towards some degree of dishonesty... But the biggest flaw in my preferred approach is dat dis very 'frankness' cd be wrongly perceived as rudeness even by yr close frens / fmly...which cd impair relationships....
I'd like to hv yr feedback on this... Coz its sumthin which does not hv a black n white answer...
As regds my fight vid dear P, it ended in 10 min...:)
P.S. Tode's d first day of sisters' week... And i'd like to tell my dahling sis a big thankyou fr e thin she's done for me...and no sorry for troubling her :D watch this space for a flood of posts on dibbu in dis week! :)

day 14 - simple or complicated....??

saw this movie yday....actually tode morning.called 'its complicated'.... Meryl streep, alec baldwin...its abt a divorced couple which after 10 yrs of d divorce suddenly meet one day n think that they still love each other...and wonder if theres still a future together....sweet n hilarious at times, the ending is well-thought of and contrarian to general perception that this tym around they shd give it another shot.....i simply loved it for meryl's awesome histrionics, some wonderful dialogues, the thought that went into the run-up to d ending...n the final decision that meryl takes, took the cake!

Which brings me to this thought...
y do we make a simple life complicated....
y wen we hv somethin dont realise its value, and take it fr granted...and then have an aha realisation d moment its gone....
y do v build mental barriers arnd us ... regarding our most valuable relationships...wen in fact it shd be simple heart-to-heart communication...
..... Y do some ppl go awry in their values/ morals wen all they hv to do is to simply listen to n abide by their conscience....
...y have simple old-fashioned values like honesty, trust, faith, love been trampled under the onslought of a complicated hotch-potch mix of greed, dishonesty, jealousy, hatred, lust, breach of trust...
..y do we burden our close ones under huge weights of expectations...wen in essence we shd enabe them to fly...and soar...
Y do we hv to enter a rat race, spoil our health n work-life balance, only to retire wen we can no longer be able to enjoy wat we've earned...
Y is someone who takes up their hobby, their passion, as a full-time activity kept out of the so-called mainstream?
Y are ppl vid enterepreneurship n creativity sparks denied adequate n timely funding support....while the enslaved salaried professionals put on a pedestal?
Y do we punish non-conformism (except illegal stuff of course) ...y the premium on herd mentality...
...y do we allow so called religious beliefs n ideologies to cloud out our simple understanding of the sole religion i.e. Humanity...

Each of us today n every single day ahead needs to get back to basics, question all current 'accepted' practices / norms, use our hearts more often and take out the knots from our lives - one at a time...and step closer to simplicity...:)

day 13 - time flies......

time flies....it just does.Fullstop.
(And m not saying this coz i can already see monday comin soon :p ...)
I guess we just gotta run fast too...since we cant fly;) birth, kg, higher skool, coll, gradn, jobs....as one grows older, time seems to fly faster....thats wen we rembr - adages such as - value time....lost time does not come back again, time and tide wait fr no one....wonder y it isnt classified as a precious commodity!! If it gets tradeable on an exchange, turnover in this asset class would supercede dat in all other asset classes combined multi-fold....!
another dimension to time is dat while we hav limited time available to us....our entire living species on earth as well as nywhere in our universe has unlimited time....there's no beginning and no end of time....rembr mahabharat's starting words - 'main samay hoon'....
So while there is infinite time available collectively, there's limited time avlbl individually....is this d case vid ny other element?? Air, water, natural resources, money, or even somethin like luck....d only closest i can think of is intelligence....d power of a mind...coz again d full potential there is not known....
But again its not universal in nature...in d universe....
'Love' again too bogged down by individual interpretations to be universally common....
in short, isnt this d most fascinating resource we have???? so next time wen we waste or while away time.....also must realise we've literally put millions of dollars equivalent down d drain....and while time is infinitely present for all of us....we still dont get back d same time again....nor will we experience its infinite nature in any single lifetime....
Time spent in the past or future is also a time gone by...coz our present moment completely disappears in such cases....
a lot of philosophy hence talks about enjoying the present moment (time) by fully being in it.....all this sort of falls in place slowly....after all its the biggest wealth nyone can ever have...:)

View it like this precious gift frm the universe which is ours only fr a while....and rest assured, we'll all end up using it well...to d best of our abilities... Amen...!

day 12 - cleaning up n clearing out....

i cleaned my desk tode.... Tonnes of paper (despite me taking only absolutely required printouts)...!! i am renowned for making my surroundings quite a mess but strangely, am also known to be a 'clear up' person...(wont say clean up coz u'll think of the ubiquitous forest green trucks plying on bombay's roads:D) so....i mess things around me n then clear up....trust me cleaning up is a therapy in itself...wrks betta dan any self-help guide...gives u an immense feeling of satisfaction....as if by cleaning up yr room /cupboard/desk, u're literally clearing up yr life's cobwebs.....n in d process making things clearer...to really 'see' them in a different light... So nxt tym u feel low....on energy or zest/enthu or puzzled/confused, u know wat to do:) but as rajnikanth says, 'mind it' - u found this patented therapy on this blog first! :D
Happy cleaning up!
Ciao...

P.S. My second music class session tomo....('ravana laughter'!) ....

day 11 - getting out of d routine rut....

Routine....dat monster which is waiting quietly to zap at us exactly wen we think e thing is going well....its wen things go smoothh, seem hunky-dory dat there's a boring (or as divs says - gnirob) routine ready to pounce upon us....
A new course/job, a new relnship/marriage, a new hobby keeps us on our toes....now try relaxing...slipping into a set schedule....n most of us will wonder wat was so good in this ever?? :) quite a common trap...is there a way out...? Yeps n we know it v well...keep d element of wonder alive always....keep surprising yrself n eone arnd u with new ideas, hv an attitude of curiosity towards e thing....question/debate often, both with yrself n others, exchange ideas with frens, colleagues, family on a vide variety of topics/issues, keep communication clear, (both inside yr head n vid others), read both fiction n non-fiction, hv time-outs fr yrself alone, keep working towards yr next set of goals, watch movies - a lot of them mirror life reality n hence offer insights on problems we dont seem to understand...

N last but not d least....keep yr cv updated at all tyms ... U nvr know wen yr next true calling beckons (this of course is fr our jobs, not marriages!!)

cheers!

day 10 - negatives & positives...

okkk, this post is fr yesterday, which is against my set rule....but i hv a real reason fr it...there are days wen u dont feel ok, wen yr dormant negative feelings from a past stir up, rear their ugly head n spoil yr precious present time...n i was a victim of dat yday....on such days no amnt of positivity helps someone like me...its just brood tym, with the effect dat it spills over into my interactions vid e one arnd me....since communication at such tyms is at an all-tym low, there are chances dat the negativity transfers to ppl arnd us as well... And dats not ok....just not ok...so as someone ritely told me one day, on such days its betta dat u stay alone, not sulk in public and spoil e one's day....trust me tym alone vid ourselves heals our agony faster...n helps prevent transfer of unwanted negativity to our near n dear ones....! So i didnt blog yday coz i didnt want to put up a sob-blogpost :D

this brings me to the qn...y does a terrible past come bak to haunt us ....n who decides d frequency...? My sober-state guess on dis is dat we dont live in d present most of our lives.....its either tooo muddled in d past or too puzzled by d future...! Also our past demons will not get exorcised till we learn to love and forgive ourselves, till we respect what we stand for, and till we learn to take the lesson (however bitter it tastes), internalise it and move on....
Moving on seems easy but its not....a lot of associations, mental imagery, mashhed thoughts, words and actions link us to our past...their hold on us is so strong dat a momentary seemingly innocuous memory can trigger a chain reaction....(our brains r d best supercomputers!) and boom, we get transported...literally time-travel into d past.... And as someone said, of all the things that one wishes for, the saddest ones are those that begin with....'it might have been'....so, it might have been different if i had dun this, or if i had not dun dat....but we forget...its already over n out.....! Now pick yrself up, pray dat u're able to break free of d shackles of d past and truly move on....no looking back now....(as harish tells me for my fitness regime - keep walking...:D
I promise there wont be any break on account of this reason ever again...
Ciao...

day 9 - sweet lil things....

most of today was full of sweet lil things - getting up at dawn, - smthin dat my fren abhinav always asks me to do but i just cant seem to open my eyes so early....but felt wonderful tode, it is an amazing feeling....no wonder d word dawn conveys beginnings n hope...
A lot of laughter prevailed thru d day with some real funny fwds frm frens....
On frens....i'm lucky to hv some wunnerful frens who are always there for me.... a whole post on them wl be up soon ...
Wat i luvd most abt tode was dat the day's awesum beginning seemed to hv a rippling effect thruout the day ....:)
During lunch, we even discussed goin to a past-life therapist....just for laughs on each other's past-life profiles....!
Another awesum news was abt d discovery of a new galaxy near us which is a 'factory' for making stars...chk google news fr more....! Which also reminds me....for all astronomy freaks out there, khogol mandal organises fortnightly overnight star gazing sessions at vangani near thane...if anyone's interested, do chk their website...
The only blemish on tode's day, was my temptation fr tea.... N then prsad halwa which had ghee....there went my 2nd day of veganism! :( i actually yo-yo-ed from feeling guilty to trying to logically explain it off, to allowing myself only today as an exempt day to doubting my ideas abt the whole thing, to gathering courage to give it another go frm tomo on...sounds familiar na....a lot of decisions we take in life go thru d same cycle.....doubts, guilt, yo-yos, hope, courage to move on.... Wat matters most, in d end, is d ability to move on. Period.

born free......

Born free,
as free as the wind blows,
as free as d grass grows,
Born free to follow your heart!
And beauty surrrounds u,
The world still astounds u,
Its time to look at the stars!
Youre free as a roaring tide,
So wheres the need to hide?
and life is worth living ....coz u're born free!!!

Watched this movie made in the 80s i guess titled 'born free'....awesum watch for e one! The song above is from the movie..... The song, as is the movie, is soul-stirring ....coz its exhorts us to free ourselves of any baggage - emotional, mental, physiological, social that we carrry within us..
It forces us to realise dat we need to get back to d nature we were born with - fearlessness - a baby doesnt know dat a lizard is as creepy as for eg i make it out to be! And trust.... Which comes easily to a kid and innocence and curiosity/inquisitiveness abt e thing...
As we grow up (it shd actually be grow down or de-grow!) we tend to lose our original nature and freedom and take on a shadow ....accumulate clouds of fear around us....fear of loss, fear of pain, fear of failing, fear of the unknown.....
I donno how this can reverse....(esp when the world is d way it is)....but then the world is made of u and me...and him n her...and in our true selves we're not bad....coz we're born free of all evils n, fears! So lets all collectively give this our best shot and maybe just maybe...one day, we'll all be able to live free, truly free ....
Coz .....yep u guessed it....coz we're born free! :)
p.s. My first day of veganism tode went fyn...i know the road ahead is not easy and there are temptations galore....but we shall overcome! :D














coz u're born free

turning Vegan --- awesome sense of achievement...hip hip hurray!

today was one of the bestest days of my life........till yesterday night, i thot i knew wat my plan for sunday was....attending a whole-day seminar on reversing diabetes ... For mom...and was looking forward to it...but God has his own best plans waiting fr us.... Little did i realise dat today morning's milk-cornflakes was my gonna be the last taste of milk of my life.....surprised.... ???
Yep, i have turned 'vegan' wef 9 am march 21 2010:::: and so today is a LANDMARK day!
Veganism is a subset of vegetarianism which involves zero intake of any form of milk or milk products.....incl paneer, curd, chaas, icecream, chocs, biscuits, ghee, butter, cheese, .... Veganism has ethical, physiological, sociological, health, and envt benefits - mutual benefit for d cows / buffaloes as well as us....the seminar was simply awesome....i've been thinking of turning vegan for a while now.....but misconceptions abt the need of dairy intake always prevailed over sheer commonsense....until today!
Im so so happy at making the switch....the bestest thing is dat the whole concept of total reversal of diabetes in as less as 6 weeks is based on only 2 fundamental dietary changes - going vegan and eating only whole food...
More on this later...for any details pls visit sharan's website (dr. Nandita shah) or mumbaivegans.blogspot.com,
hence better family health alongwith promoton of a cause dats silently crying for our attention - i couldnt have asked for a better sunday...or a better way to begin my fitness regime...... :)
More on my progress on being a vegan in the days to come.... :)

day 6 - ummmm....thinking of doing sumthng .....still thinkin.....to finally done!!

all of us are dreamers - overt or covert...just like we have a daily to-do list for our daily routine, similarly, at any given point of time in our lives, we do have a laundry list of 'stuff to do' - stuff fr ourselves, stuff for family, frens, background work for tthat business we may plan to begin few years later, dat long-pending blood donation, pledging of eyes, social service, getting back to yr long-lost childhood tym hobbies, crazzy stuff - (bungee jumpin), planning short vacations ahead of tym, planning dat long-overdue trek vid frens, getting yr fitness plan to start, n then sustaining it... keep adding to yr laundry-list...it gives us the much-needed feeling of zeal! N zing! I did dig out my laundry list tode... N added a few things to it as well... Reviewed my progress - Have been slow in some, plain lazy in others, good at some... Hv to buck up now.... Have miles to go before i sleep....no tym to think abt lost tym....loads of luck to all of us with our laundry-lists! .......'AMEN!'
P.S. - i began my muzzik class today, basic sargam and a bhajan... My teacher was mighty impressed with my soor (she's a bong...so its not sur), okay i am going a lil over d top - not mighty impressed, just - impressed! ;)

day 5 --- Compliments .....n atms...

no i'm not linking the 2 above .....!
My boss wrote an article for a leading np, n usually his articles are ok..ok... But todays was real impressive and bang on point...! Wat i did next was unthinkable fr me....i went to him n complimented him on his article and told him specifc portions of it dat i really liked....now now dont think dat complimenting is new fr me.... I usually do it tho nt as much as i shd but still quite often.....wat was NEW FOR ME TODAY was dat fr d first tym ever in my life i complimented a person in authority. I'd always believed v strongly dat if i praise say a teacher in school wen she was my teacher, it wd be akin to maskaa-lagaoing.... Or if i pay a compliment (genuine, of course!) to a senior or my boss /es it could be construed as wanting to get into their good books...but tode, i didnt let my belief system limit me in paying a true compliment coz wen someone deserves it plus we're honest in our intentions, there's no need to hold back wat u want to tell someone.... Coz frankness (on both sides) is a desirable trait to hv...so if i'm frank on d not-so-fine stuff, i m supposed to b equally frank on d good stuf as well.... :)
As for a generic learning, paying real honest compliments to ppl who are part of our lives n watever role or capacity is one of the best things we can do to enrich our lives...

so, ......
as for compliments to me, keep 'em coming!! :D

Lesson 2 - always remember to carry some cash vid u always....in d eve, i needed to pay soeone some amt and the only atm in d
Vicinity - central bank of india's atm to be precise...had a tech malfunction exactly at my turn....!

So make sure there's alwayys sum cash vid u wen u leave home nxt tym!
Coz i may need some;) u c i dont learn my lessn d first tym nor d second...nor...
Ciao! Byee fr now...

day 4 - lalalalala

'starts writin post after clearing her throat' ..........
Okkay by now u wd hv guessed today i'm in a singing mode! :) it so happened a few days ago at our office celebrations on women's day, we had this tp evening all lined up vid skits, dances, et other talent displays..... In light-hearted banter d host asked the audience is there nyone present here who thinks they are worst singers on earth......but who lovvvveee singing?!!???? while i interestedly looked around to see whose hand goes up, i got a shocker, wen my fren cum colleague shouted out my name and gleefully (read - evilly) pointed at the dumbstruck me! Its not that her choice was wrong, its just dat i had a prescience about wat was comin ahead......n yeeeeps, the host (again, evilly) grinned frm ear-to-ear having got a quik prey, n asked me the dreadful thing! so vid a canteen full of ppl, n not much tym vid me, i had to sing sumthin - i promised him i'll sure do it after d next performance on stage..... Soon enuf, my time came....time flies in all d wrong time-periods u c! N...... I began......cooing my fav song - stay d same by joey mckintyre.....1st para ......then d chorus.....then the final high pitch at the tail-end of the chorus......wen dats it....my voice cracked up :)///// n there i went into a fit of giggles at the inevitable ending!!!
To top it the host didnt forget to add dat it sure sounded like a nursery rhymeeeee!
But the story doesnt end here...... Singing uninhibited dat day set me free.....its kinda exhilerating to vanquish ny demons dat u've unnecessarily allowed to flourish inside yr hearts! Once u take up d challenge, smilingly, the invincible seems like a cakewalk:) manyy of us may have tried karaoking vid ppl staring at us n the screen showing scores dat read like '0 - y r u even holding d mike????'
But to hell vid e one else n d damn screen, sing yr heart out nevertheless....... After all, in all our tribe, Y shd only our poor bathrooms bear d whole brunt, nyway!???;D
Post dat women's day event, i had a couple of strangers comin to me n telling me i sing well!!!!!!!!!!!!! (i think my chutzpah got to them) :D
And then, today, mom asked me y i dont join a classical music class:
Me classical music????? I'm d crazzy filmy karaoker (yep i know i could hv used croaker as well!)
But i didnt tell her no.... Coz u c ethin has a timing....n maybe this is the right tym fr this music teacher to take an early retirement! Hahahahaha
My classes start this sat, vl keep u posted on wen n where im gonna perform......real sooon..... Watch this space...!!
N ya, go out n demolish all yr self-created demons! Today..!
Ciao!

Day 3 - fwds n self-directed jokes!

like most of us, i get more than my fair share of daily fwds - funny, hilarious, craziee pjs, sweet, senti, thru my fren network frm all ovr india. .
n these hv the power to work wonders for our moods in d midst of a crazzzy workday, i got one such funny fwd frm a fren n was readin it on my way back in the lift - wen lo! I burst into giggling laughter rite there, in front of strangers! There they were - staarring at me as if i had dropped frm nowhere!
So fwds are an integral part of our lives, they light up any party, fren gang get together, etc.
Now my learning of d day is only partly related to fwds --- if we can joke on xyz, santa-banta, we also must realize the healing and therapeutic value of laughing at our own selves. The person who does this w)o any ego hassles, self-image issues or complexes is a truly wise human being! And can handle ny failure, ny pressures of life wonderfully well! From tooday, i'm gonna try and accept myself as i am and laugh n smile n chuckle at my own self more often!

Traditions et al

gudi padwa tode!
'As per lunar calender today is the new year for hindus'........so reads one of my friends' facebook updates!
Gosh! Just how many new years do v have??? Calender, financial, diwali, gudi padwa, makar sakranti (is it aint it??) then religious flavored new years, .....
Then regional /local new years!
Phew!! So we are always taro-taaza due to new yrs all yr round!
But heyyyyy, do we let d old in us make way for the new? Do we let new thoughts ideas, come into our lives on a daily basis? Do we choose to really question our age-old traditions, verify them vid today's facts n realities n discard them, n let newer traditions blossom?
Do we discover a newness in ourselves, our families, our colleagues, our travel-mates, our travel modes, our furnitures, our friendships often??? ask yourselves and the ans will mostly be a no - thats
called ROUTINE:) I've learnt my lesson fr the day on this New year! Happy NEWNESS to all of us!

Day 1 - March 15 - driving meee crazieee!

So here i went - driving alll d way to kalina n den andheri n dat too andheri (east)!!! N den bak alll d way, with all energy soaked up by d effort!
God bless my driver fr braving bbays torturous traffic daily!
Nyway, comin to my learning of d day - next tym wen im a pedestrian, i'll rembr to appreciate the difficulties of the motorist, treat them human, n not machines to drive thru a sea of ppl, walk on the pavement (wherever i discover one;)). . Another lesson, - i saw a grp of lil gurls (primary school) running to cross d street with hardly ny distance frm my car, wanted too scold them so dat they wont cross roads carelessly again, but their smiles - sweet, innnocent, carefree - made me smile, laugh n wave at them, they taught me sumthng precious tode n here i was gonna try n teach them sumthng abt road rules, they taught me abt how life needs to be lived, a little recklessness is ok, once in a while, as long as u learn frm yr mistakes n move on!

Ciao fr now!!!

This life's all we got. . . Live it well!

Its funny how long-time pending stuff gets completed (or begun) together - i've been thinking of writing my hearts thoughts for quite sometime now:) but procrastination plus a high degree of low-creativity led to a blank paper syndrome in my diary: so how cum this blog?
Well, u see, this tym i'm transplanting that bane of our daily donkey lives into sum good use . . I'm referring to 'Deadlines'. . . I suddenly realised today (after my usual movie routine, while listening to radio, while eating my fav butter-cheese-tomato sandwich while
Paralelly doin d usual fb-ing that i need to take up a challenge - thrown by me to me! I have a deadline of d next 360 days to wrte about every facet of life that i discover each day , share every such portion of your life that is a part of my life's Puzzle, share every small and big learning of each passing day that hekps us understand life, reduce its mystery at the same time marvel at its Wonders!
So let the Countdown to 360-day NON-STOP-BLOGGING ABOUT THE WHAT, WHERE, WHY, HOW, WHO AND WHEN OF LIFE BEGIN! :)