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! :)