Back with a bang!

But Did I go anywhere at all? ...

I did for a while get lost from the hustle bustle of my online identity, tried to run away from the constant chattering inside me reminding me of  my aspirations and the other extremely hilarious but "not important any more" conversations!

So where did I go? I went to meet myself! Well! I said hello to my fears, anxiety, happiness, bliss, my strengths, my weaknesses and what not! My lovely girl made it all happen...She made me face myself with more strength and clarity, with more spirit and patience, more purpose and virtue.Alas!they say parenthood changes you and your life.

It definitely does! For better or for worse, is your viewpoint.If for once, parenthood changes something in you, it would definitely be your capacity to feel unconditional love which only these little wonders are capable of bestowing on high on aspirations parents like us!

And that is when the change starts...that is when this question.. "why are we doing, what we are?" starts coming up time and again bothers you day in day out. Everyone finds out their answers eventually.I am a little slow....have some answers and have not figured out others so far.

Cheers to this amazing journey, which has just begun ( while all this while, I thought we have arrived/settled, whatever one calls it, this realisation is quite big in itself); that WE HAVE JUST BEGUN!

I have just begun! and yes! M back!

Kabir- The practical Saint

"उड़ जायेगा हंस अकेला उड़ जायेगा हंस अकेला


जग दर्शन का मेला

जैसे पात गिरे तरुवर के

मिलना बहुत दुहेला

ना जाने किधर गिरेगा

लगया पवन का रेला।।

जब होवे उमर पूरी

तब छूटेगा हुकम हुजूरी

यम के दूत बडे मजबूत

यम से पडा झमेला ।।

दास कबीर हरि के गुण गावे

वा हर को पारन पावे

एक डाल दो पंछी बैठे

कौन गुरु कौन चेला

गुरु की करनी गुरु जायेगा

चेले की करनी चेला ।।

साधो ये मुरदों का गांव साधो ये मुरदों का गांव

पीर मरे पैगम्बर मरिहैं

मरिहैं जिन्दा जोगी

राजा मरिहैं परजा मरिहै

मरिहैं बैद और रोगी

चंदा मरिहै सूरज मरिहै

मरिहैं धरणि आकासा

चौदां भुवन के चौधरी मरिहैं

इन्हूं की का आसा

नौहूं मरिहैं दसहूं मरिहैं

मरि हैं सहज अठ्ठासी

तैंतीस कोट देवता मरि हैं

बड़ी काल की बाजी

नाम अनाम अनंत रहत है

दूजा तत्व न होइ

कहत कबीर सुनो भाई साधो

भटक मरो ना कोई

Kabir ranks among the world's greatest poets. A weaver by profession, Kabir’s verses openly criticized all sects and gave a new direction to the Indian philosophy. This is due to his straight-forward approach that has a universal appeal. It is for this reason that Kabir is held in high esteem all over the world. To call Kabir a universal Guru is not an exaggeration.

In his wide and rapturous vision of the universe he never loses touch with the common life. His feet are firmly planted upon earth. The constant insistence on simplicity and directness, the hatred of all abstractions and philosophizing, the ruthless criticism of external religion: these are amongst his most marked characteristics.

In India, Kabir is perhaps the most quoted author. His verse is an effort to tell the truth about that ineffable apprehension, so vast and yet so near, which controls his life. His genius lies in seizing and twining together symbols and ideas drawn from even the most violent and conflicting philosophies and faiths"
SOURCE: Advait Life Education Pvt Ltd.

Lansdowne- Serenity and Calm

Silence broken only by the sound of the wind and the symphony of the birds...Tall Deodar trees all around, letting sun reach you only in bits n pieces...Sound of the temple bells echoing throughout the spread of this quiet, sparsely populated town...all together make this place a must visit for everyone who wants to run away from the cacophony of cities,the clutter of people and the monotony of Modern hectic life.

Plus: No network connectivity at most of the places.A pure bliss!

Meditative Stillness and joyous silence-These happen to be my souvenir from the place!

Best time to go: March-Sep
Location: Uttranchal,India

Chamku-The Sunshine Boy!

Mustard flowers, shimmering yellow, spread over acres of farmland in a remote corner of a state in the chilly, winter struck,sun basking northern India...A quiet road transversing the fields shines on a bright sunny day and the generous breeze makes its presence felt...gently blowing across the face of a cyclist..coming from afar...lost in oblivion...

He is popularly known as "Chamku"(which means Shining in English) in his village.Why was he given such a name even though the colour of his skin does not suggest anything like that...may be the profuse sweating that he is prone to, gives his face an unusual shine..therefore the name!

Chamku always keeps on smiling..his smile is infectious! It catches on to you and suddenly you feel you are part of some girlie party that goes on crazily giggling away to glory for no reason at all....He smiles when it rains, smiles when it is scorching hot, smiles..when it is bone chilling cold ..keeps on smiling always...

Foreigners frequent his scenic village quite a bit.They come here looking for eternal peace and calm and many of them have actually confessed that Chamku makes them believe that this village can actually give them what they have come looking for..peace..for isn't Chamku just that-embodiment of peace and calm..

Chamku doesn't understand english at all..however, he loves conversing with these foreign tourists...speaks his own language and still communicates! Wow!Looking at them, you realise that you don't really need a language to understand each other...just a genuine interest in understanding others and being understood can work wonders!ha..they don't teach that at B schools...

Why is Chamku so happy?one wonders, what keeps him so content and genuinely calm? is it his scenic village, that does the magic or the people association that he gets or may be even better, the villagers....what is it?

Nobody has ever been able to answer that..

Yes, but Chamku does one thing absolutely right....he takes a lot of effort to shine the shoes of every passerby,villager, foreigner that comes upto his small box shop...a one box shop rather...works very hard..just to give that perfect shine....to the shoes....just to make them CHAMKU!

One wonders what would have Chamku achieved had he been putting all that effort into his education?

Shauk hai..masterpiece by AR Rahman-Guru

Raat ka shauk hai...
Raat ki saundhi si..Khamoshi ka
shauk hai..shauk hai......
Subah ki roshni, bezubaan subah ke aur gunganati, roshni ka
shauk hai

Facebooking!

Another one of my random tete-a tete with my mind!

Facebook...I have realised every time I go to Facebook, I am either bored and therefore want to fill my life with Masala from other people's lives or I need food for thought, which is somehow provoked by FB in me and may be in a thousand others!

I can't help relating the famous dialogue from three ideots-the famous Bollywood movie to facebooking which says , " aap fail ho jao aur apka friend fail ho jaye toh dukh hta hai, lekin agar aap fail ho jao aur aapka friend first aaye toh bahut zyaada dukh hta hai".

Therefore , If you have all the fun in life- (travel, go wild, buy a new car, new house, get married, have children, or join a new company at a fancy designation or a new B school( a top one on that) or relocate to London or somewhere in US), you have every right to announce the same to the world via pictures or of course the status message feed which says something like, ( Yippee...First day in blah..blahh) or (New life, new beginnings) etc etc etc...

However, the same done by any one of your FB friend ( FB friends= friends who rarely talk to each other personally, who get to know about each other's life only through a status update and friends whose conversations do not go beyond..how nice they look or how nice their trip must have been! i nut shell, friends who know nothing about your life other than what you choose to showcase to them ;P) might send you off in a frantic frenzy- not in admiration of the other's life but in lack of it !

And then starts the Food for thought syndrome..which is all about the famous questions-When, how, why, me, myself, etc etc. The good part is this provokes you( inspire is a better word here) to look forward to better things in life..the bad part is..you do nothing about the future and just sit and lament on the current state of affairs in your life!

and even worse...like me...you become a victim and decide to jot it down somewhere so that it goes out of your system, you get to see a better side to it, laugh a lot while writing this and then get on with work-which BTW is the only way to make things happen in your life.:D

So, till the time , that I happen to post a few pictures of my new muse in life..here's to FBing happily ever after!

Love thy work!

That is indeed a thought provoking statement...A statement that I have tried to live by and live through...
Yupp live through...and live through like hell..Coz with every dream, there might be a perceived price to pay.Please note " PERCEIVED"..these prices that you pay sometimes are more pschyological than real..Sometimes they just do NOT exist in the present..they are all nicely waiting for you in the future or so called future as potrayed by your near and dear ones..

and then starts the journey..the tussle of "to be or not to be".I happen to come across many such souls thoughout my day..at work..their reasons for taking any particular course could range from "Good marks" to" better paying" to "Societal recognition" to even a "nice matrimonial match." Passion does not seem to be the Trend...

Passion could be dangerous, rebellious, could just defy every existing norm and tradition and could prove that everything that has to be or will be is in the NOW, in the present that we reside in.If I do not appreciate the present of PRESENT given to me, in all proabilities my future would be just the same old story!

I am trying to reiterate certain rules that I have created for myself, to myself all over again, lest i forget the importance of the time that Iam in and the future that i am trying to create.

and the rule for my life is:

Following Passion = great satisfaction and pride and sense of achievement= great efficiency at work, great output= better paying, better growth= happiness = great life!