It has been around 5 years that I have been driving my two-wheeler and many more that I have been traveling by road. During all these years I have learnt some traffic rules that were not asked when I gave the test for my license.
Rule 1 #: Never Follow Traffic Lights
Red…Yellow…Green !!! Who will wait for so long, one might miss the credits of a movie, or will be late for meeting friends, very important stuff…more than life.
Follow traffic lights!! only stupid patriots or very ‘Aadarshvadi type’ people follow such rules. If the traffic policeman is not there then who cares…Early in the morning the traffic is less, so why follow traffic lights they are anyways not required, we can descry all dangers.
“All my friends have gone ahead, what will they feel about me, that I’m a dud, they will laugh at me for waiting for the signal to turn green.” If others are not obeying then why should I hold the flag alone, even I’m busy.”
These are colors were fine till they were on the KG text book, on roads they are for others not for me…
Rule 2 #: The smaller the city, the more rules you can breach…as nobody bothers
I always say that if anyone can drive in Agra then that person sure is eligible for a license. Seriously, it is a task. I love riding my two-wheeler but when it comes to Agra I give up totally, I would rather sit back. It is the case with Faridabad also. No road sense what so ever prevails in these cities. Actually the problem is two phased; first the traffic police are negligent; second the commuter in general is also irresponsible. Most of the times the signals are not functional, or there is no officer at the booths to monitor the traffic, and even if there is one people hardly bother, he is a mere mannequin modeling for the traffic police.
Rule 3 #: Never give signals while turning…
This I have seen, people are for some reason averse to giving indications about turning and all. They feel the other commuters have excellent sixth sense to understand where we are going when and where are we planning to hit the breaks. I have witnessed so many road accidents because the person ahead took a sudden turn without indicating…the most recent is giving wrong indicators and giving them continuously.
Rule 4 #: Speed as much as you want to, we have paid for it (taxes)…apni sadak hai.
The younger college going generation loves speeding bikes and cars, they feel that they are still playing a video game even while on road and can break speed limits drive the way they want to, zig-zag, swaying meandering in the heavy traffic. They feel they own the road, obviously, “hum tax bharte hain, apni sadak hai.”
Rule 5 #: While in traffic jam…fit in your vehicle in the tiniest place you get even if that means aggravating the jam..who cares I moved forward
Whenever stuck in a traffic jam or even signals, some people have the habit of trying to squeeze in their vehicle in to an inch of road if it allows them to forward and block the traffic thereafter. Some people are always on the look out of reaching towards the line, as if they will get a medal if they are the first ones to rush as soon as the signal turns green. Sick, they are.
Rule 6 and 7 go in synchrony;
Rule 6 #: Even if its your mistake stare at the opposite person and fight
A person on bike is always more aware than a person on cycle, and a person in a car is more aware than the person on a bike...this is a common observation that, on road people will always blame the people with a cheaper vehicle for being ignorant. A person sitting in a Merc always feels that he knows all rules and follows them and is educated, in terms of road sense and a person on a bike is always rash and lacks road sense. Even in a tiff, the person with a more exotic vehicle will always try and bully the other and blame them for the accident even if he himself is at fault.
Rule 8 #: Keep talking while driving a car or riding a bike…after all call is more important than safety.
Even repeated warming from various sources people somehow love talking on cell phones while commuting, I fail to understand which talks are more important than life. But it is a rule never disconnect the call even if it means disconnecting a more vital cord. Some people find it so difficult even to park their vehicles by the side and talk. On the contrary these days there are so many exotic gadgets as to allow you to talk even will driving comfortably…whether or not others on the road are comfortable is not an issue only.
Rule 9 #: Turn on the volume of the music player…so what if you can’t listen to horns on the road…Britney Spears, Shakira toh sunai de rahe hain na.
This is another phenomenon that we witness so often…the volumes of the stereo increases in proportion with the speed of the vehicle..I’m sure most of the people don’t even understand what music they are listening to, but they feel it’s cool to listen to all these songs…ridiculous !!!
Rule 10 #: Don’t wear helments…hairstyle kharab ho jayega…I‘ll look funny
Most of the people are so conscious about how they look that they will not where a helmet…but these days thanks to a certain John Abramin and other actors like him guys have started wearing helmets not because of safety but because that’s in fashion now…some girls still avoid wearing it…reason, I will look funny…
Rule 11 #: Don’t turn off the car engine when in traffic or signals…AC band ho jayega…garmi lagegi.
Turn off the engine…no way…AC won’t work how will we tolerate the heat…as if all of us belong to the arctic circle that we can’t survive without AC for even 2 min…but that’s the way it is. Very few realize that if the engines are not turned down harmful gases are emitted from the engine regularly also from the air-conditioners and the pollution compounds and so does global warming, leading to rise in temperature…phew!!!! too big terms why think of them when AC is the simple solution.
Rule 12 #: Throw whatever waste you can outside the car…spit on the road even while riding a vehicle.
For this rule I have no comment…

Even after learning these rules all I can say is that, while on road we are not only responsible for our own safety but also of our fellow commuters.

The Endurance of a Fairy

She is magic personified; a God sent fairy who is not native to a fairy tale but to the earth. She is……..Woman.

The writer and Sutradhar of the greatest epic ever, ‘Life’ swirls his magic wand, creates fairies and sends them on Earth to do what he cannot, being the writer and Sutradhar. These fairies have the magical power of endurance beyond imagination. This power is bestowed upon both the genders but Women have a supernatural kind of endurance.

Though the society is changing and becoming better a ‘Girl child’ is still not welcomed in some families and has to struggle, sometimes even for her life….but the society is changing and this little fairy is getting her due. As she grows she has to keep up with the pride of the family, which for some reasons is mostly on the shoulders of girls, while mostly it is the other gender that tarnishes the pride of the family, it is less frequent that a girl tarnishes the pride of her family.

In the second phase of her life he has to endure to carve a niche for herself in this male dominated professional society, where the success of a woman is the cause of concern for most of the members of the opposite gender, less men can tolerate to be sub-ordinate to a woman or even partner in profession, it hurts a certain ‘male ego’…God only knows for what reason they have these egos but they do, that is their congenital problem. But this also is changing, because they have no other option as they can never endure as much as a woman and therefore have to succumb to her.

In the third phase she has to give a test of her endurance once again as she enters the Gruhast Jeevan. Now she has to leave her till now home and acclimatize to new surrounding and people. For men it is easy as they don’t have to disturb their regular setup, for them it just another member in the family but for a woman it is another family. It is not easy to be malleable enough to adjust to a new family; still she endures to do so. In the process of molding herself she has to sacrifice many of her wishes. Only a woman can embrace so many new relationships and nurture them with love and respect. As it is truly said only a woman has the power to transform a house into home. Men can make houses but not homes, women may not be able to make houses but they certainly can make homes.

To enter into the fourth phase, she has to undergo the most grueling endurance of all. All this to deliver a new character created by the Writer. Though the new being is of two individuals the endurance is of one only. In nurturing the child also, the mother undergoes most of the grilling, and she does so with a smile on her face. This is the phase which every woman cherishes and can sacrifice anything for this one feeling….Motherhood.

A woman has a plethora of responsibilities and diverse relations to shoulder. It is not a cakewalk to shoulder so many responsibilities which just keep compounding. In spite of all this she is able to keep her calm and still endure endlessly. Men don’t endure half as much as women do and still can complain of being tired, but women are like the muscles of the heart which just cannot retire.

These God sent fairies undergoes all the endurance with a smile on her face and love in her heart without expecting anything in return…but she does deserve to be addressed with three special words: ‘You are Great’...

Just realized what is love.....

17th August 2009: A sultry extended summer afternoon, She (my protagonist, don’t want to mention the name) is fast asleep, in spite of the loud volume of the Television and the generators running in the neighboring houses. Her family members are chatting their time away in the drawing room, but she prefers to sleep in the innermost room of the house. When everybody is engrossed in deep discussion suddenly she runs through the drawing room. I sat up confused and almost scared, when another person just smiled and said not to worry He (her husband) must be coming, his scooter must be at the turn and within the next two minutes he was parking his scooter.
How the hell on earth did she know that he was just round the corner when we couldn’t hear even our own voices because of the generators running around, this I thought happens only in Karan Johar movies but this time I saw it for real. She really loves him a lot. She knows exactly what time will he come down for his afternoon snacks or evening tea. She loves sleeping, but even in her deepest slumber she will know exactly when he is coming, almost like reflex action.
1 hr later he comes down after freshening up, his eyes glanced across the entire room, everybody was their but he didn’t start eating till she came with his cup of tea (which only she will make, as a rule). As soon as she came he removed a sweet from his plate and gave it to saying “Mujhe nahi Khana”, she doesn’t resist takes it and eats. I asked my aunt that I have been seeing this for about 15 yrs now and this happens without an exception of even one day, then why doesn’t she keep one sweet less in his plate. My aunt smiled and said that, he does it because he knows that she hasn’t had one after lunch. He finishes and she is off to sleep or reading a book, something she loves. They didn’t exchange a word other than “Mujhe nahi Khana” and that’s all that they have spoken since morning is what I came to know. Is this true and deep love…which needs no vector like words.

22nd April 1984: She is all dressed up as a bride and all set to marry him. She is not nervous neither is he. Both of them have known each other for over 14 yrs now (that’s on records, and may be a few more years for which there is no authenticated record).

Sitting on the dais, waiting for his bride he recalls the first day he had met her, as his junior in Medical College. Now, he is about to tie the knot with the woman he always wanted to spend his life (though they are opposite to each other in every sense)but was reluctant because he thought that the society then was not matured enough to accept an inter-caste, inter-religion marriage, love marriage. He was not scared for himself or her, but for her younger sister and brother and his own sisters. They had mutually decided not to blabber about their relationship and with time she finished her MBBS and moved to Delhi for pursuing MD and he stayed back in the same college. They did not meet each other for about 10 yrs, while she was in Delhi. Both of them had denied all alliances proposed by their parents.

Nobody ever knew that they were willing to marry, but only with each other, only after all their siblings were settled in their lives…Today was the day when they would be declared man and wife for ever…he smiled.

28th March 1983: Then happened a fateful accident, which forced him to reveal his relationship with her. He was traveling with his younger brothers, when their car met with a massive accident near Delhi, they somehow managed to drive upto a hospital in Delhi. One of his brothers was seriously injured, though he had administered First Aid, he would need help and he could only think of her. He gave his youngest brother an address and asked him to give his reference.
It was 1.30 am when a man, stained with blood, rang the door-bell, she opened the door with her mother beside her. As soon as she heard his name, she took her coat, her medical kit and ID and rushed to the hospital(without sparing a thought to verify the information, his name was enough, such is their understanding), by morning his elder brother and father were in the hospital, situation was fine and everybody knew about her…and to his surprise were more than happy to accept her as their daughter-in-law. Even her mother was elated because her daughter who was around 35yrs now had almost refused to marry, was now game for marriage.

Even now at their 25th marriage anniversary they didn’t feel the need to wish each other. They virtually don’t interact with each other for days now, but they know each other so well that there is no room for words…I guess sometimes words may not convey the message, which silence does.

This post may sound fiction but it’s a true story and not an excerpt from the next script of Karan Johar or the Chopras. There is a lot more to this love story, which just can’t be summarized into this one post. All I can say is, if even after 10 yrs of non-contact you think of only one person in times of trouble and trust only person then its love. If you can rush from your home in chappals at 1.30 am on hearing somebodies name even after 10 yrs then its truly and surely pure love…..

Dedicated to the loveliest couple I have ever met and am sure will ever meet.

PRAYAS

As a part of the curriculum of a course I had to work for an NGO for about 10 days. I spent days searching for one in my vicinity and finally found one…Its known as Prayas. It deals with the education of underprivileged children and adult women. Initially when I applied, I just had my certificate in mind, and saw my convenience only. I took up the work of teaching rather than administrative work because the school was closer to my home as compared to the administrative office. I admit that I had been really selfish…Since it was my first day, I was give the nursery and KG classes to deal with…I thought to myself ‘great, now I’ll have to teach ABC…what a wonderful thing to do after a post-graduation in biotechnology, but…
When I entered the class…I was greeted by 54 innocent voices in chorus. I looked at their faces, smiling and joyous to see a new ‘madam’, as they put it. Initially I really didn’t know what to do and how to handle them, as they are a bunch (a rather big one) of boisterous kids…but gradually with the help of a more experienced colleague I managed to gather my energies. As the day progressed I felt a lot better as things were going just about fine…till a new student was sent to the class, his mother came along with him…His name is Sahil, and is really cute n chubby but he is a champion when it comes to crying…the moment his mother walked out of the class-room he started his orchestra. My colleague tried to console him and engage him in some talks but he kept crying finally after lot of hard work we had to call his mother and allow her to sit in the class...The moment she walked out of the class the boy would start off almost instantaneously…what scared my colleague more was that another girl named Nitya, who also has won the reputation of being the most cranky child in the batch, who surprisingly was in very cheerful mood today, shouldn’t start off…but she didn’t and trust me she is a delight to watch the moment she comes down to reciting nursery rhymes…
Then there was a trio of girls who just did want to sit separately and somehow struggled to sit on the bench meant for two only…I could only catch the names of two of them Damini (she has constant smirk on her face and is the most mischievous student) and Kusum…it was a task to get them to do any work…but they are really cute and to think that they live in such difficult circumstances (I have been to a slum and know the conditions there, so I know) and still manage to keep that captivating smile on their faces its great…
One thing that was common to all students was their zeal to learn, almost all of them performed their assigned class work and made sure we saw it. Even when we had to assign their home-works (long forgotten word for me), we didn’t give them much, but they kept on saying that they wanted to do more. Another thing that was very remarkable was that there was so much of concern for the others in the class also…if any student was not listening to what we were saying or teaching the other would nudge him/her and make sure that they listen…
But the highlight was Sahil…my hands are still aching…as I had to actually console him by carrying him around the entire class-room, showing him the different colorful charts, drawings etc…so that he stops beating the orchestra…but all this was only short-term, he would start off every 10 min and his mother had to sit their through-out the day…only a mother can do that for her child’s future…hats off to her…

On day 2: I entered the class and heard Sahil crying again, he came running to me in the hope that I would allow his mother to sit in the class…which I didn’t (felt bad, but couldn’t help it, he has to learn) but I allowed his mother to sit outside the class so that he could get a glimpse of her whenever he wanted. I made two new friends Disha and Anurag, both of them too sincere and too cute. By the end of the day Sahil had learnt to recognize the alphabet ‘A’ and the number ‘1’.

On day 3: I was just outside the school when I saw Sahil and his mother…we were 5 min early so I took him for a ride on my scooty. Then we went to the class…his mother seated outside the class. My colleague began with checking their Home-Work and I started giving them Class-Work for the day…I had just finished when a girl came to me with a blank notebook, she had not written anything…she said she can’t write…I took her and Sahil to the last bench and made them hold a pencil. It took me 15 min to get them to hold the pencils correctly and position the book correctly…now comes the real task…to teach them how to write the alphabet ‘A’…It took a cool 30 min before they got it perfectly…and Sahil took 40 min because half the time he was looking for his mother…but thank God he didn’t cry…I felt it was some achievement…At the end of the day Damini asked me “Madam aap kal bhi aoge na?” , I just smiled…

I felt really good…The in-charge asked me whether I would like to teach higher classes after he came to know that I was a post-graduate… and I declined…now when I come back home I really miss the kids and look forward to meeting them the next day…

I feel honored to be associated with an organization like this…To eradicate illiteracy, yeh hai meri taraf se ek chota sa prayas……

Eclipse…the mythological aspect

Just came across a text stating the mythology behind this celestial phenomenon. According to this text…the story of solar eclipse stems from what is popularly known as Samudra Manthan. It is said that at the time of Samudra Manthan when the sweet tasting nectar of immortality came out, there was a huge tug-of-war among the Devtas and the Asuras as to who will drink the Amrit, then the devtas approached Lord Vishnu who disguised as a damsel known as Mohini. As accomplished she was, Mohini kept the asuras enchanted with her beauty and poured the amrit only to the devtas…but two of the asuras Rahu and Ketu managed to sneak in-between the devtas and sipped the amrit but Surya Dev and Chandra Dev, because of his luminous nature were able to the spot them and Lord Vishnu acted soon and killed the asuras with his chakra but by that time the amrit had already reached their throat, so their heads became immortal, and so to seek revenge Rahu and Ketu occasionally swallow the sun and moon and the heavenly bodies then travel through the throat to finally appear again.

Strange, but true this is what our mythology states. Wonder how did people manage to think something as insane as that…Thank God for Science and scientist or else even we would trust such preposterous stories.

HEY RAM
Know if he could; the pain
his beloved motherland is in,
how grateful the Mahatma would be
to the bullet which silenced him.

Satyagriha; he fought the British with
has overrun the nation like plague,
a razor in the hands of monkeys
he would think; did he give.

Cacophony of last laugh of monsters,
cast, creed, inequalities, poverty& violence;
he fought all his life; would
make him fast everyday; unto death

Seeing spottless khadi clothing unclear souls;
wheel would cry& spindle shiver,
without an assassin he would fall
everyday& every night- Hey Ram.

My father wrote this poem about 15 years back...I read it today.

Love you papa...one day I will make sure that you pick up that pen again for writing such stuff other than just signing and reviewing official files...

REASON TO LIVE IN 7 LINES

Chalte hue, payega tu manzil, Gum se na darr, Gum se hi, hogi khushi hasil.Honge poore tere armaan.

Kehti hai, bahtey samay ki dhaar, jeet hogi, teri ek din, khud se na aise haar.Hongi mushkilen bhi aasan.

Aata hai, raat kay baad hi din,koi nahi aaj tera, duniyan main kal lekin,tere kadmoo pe hoga jahan,

Aankhon main rok le,tu ye aansuoon ka tufaan.leti hai zindaganihar kadam pe ek imtihaan.

This is not something that I have written...but this had to be on my blog...this is the title song of a television series which used to come about a decade back...n I still remember it so clearly its just so inspiring...I don't know who the lyricist is but I think in these 7 lines he managed to summarize life n hats off to him for this....

A Few Moist Eyes and a Bleeding Heart

One can never understand the importance of anything till there is a dearth of it. Similar is the case with human beings…one can never know how special the person is till the tide of time takes the person away from you. I experienced this feeling yet again ofcourse for a new set of people…but the feeling remains just the same.

I never knew that in this very short second innings of mine in Mumbai I had made such lovely friends, till the day we had our final lunch together (at Khushboo’s favorite food joint)…I don’t know whether you all noticed or not but that day we hardly spoke n were most formal with each other, also we didn’t click any pics…we used to click pics at DP’s, college cafeteria, classrooms…that was like our favorite pass-time whenever we were together but that day the whole atmosphere was so different…I never thought that a person as practical as Khushboo could ever drop a tear because one of us was going from Mumbai…Khushboo I might have never said it to you but I really admired you for one reason that you were really honest each time and miles away from the word ‘hypocrisy’…Did you know that it was because of you that I completed like one fourth of my syllabus...because whenever you asked me a question I was compelled to look at the notes, which I otherwise wouldn’t have bothered to read till the D-date…You were probably my first companion in college…when I came to know that we were in the same working group…I had kind of mixed feelings…but slowly as we went ahead with our assignments I really felt happy and more than that honored to be in the same working group as you, for the only reason that you put so much of hard work in every task…n inspire the others also…forget about the people who didn’t get inspired…they were hopeless cases (you know whom I’m talking about don’t you? )…but sweety, that day those tears….

Then for two the lovely people, one who can be the brand ambassador for laughter therapy n a perfect substitute for Baba Ramdev and the other who is the brand ambassador of Hide n Seek and Ruffles Lays…do I need to name the two of you??? These two girls brought the smile back on my face when I thought I had just given up smiling…they got the humor out of me…they made me feel special…I owe a lot to them…much more than what meets the eye n it can’t be expressed in just by petty words…The two of them are diametrically opposite…n I have experienced the best and the worst of both the personalities…but one thing both of them have in common, is that both of them are extremely stubborn (n not to forget allergic to cold stuff) n will never listen to me, be it having roadside stuff or the most unhygienic juices in the world…they will never listen to me whenever I ask them to refrain from such stuffs n almost always land up with a sour throat or an upset stomach…another trait that is common is that both of them derive immense pleasure in what ever sets my eyes to water…be it surprising me on the b’days in the most bizarre but gratifying way…or crafting the worlds most special gifts…or coming to see me off at the airport at 8 in the morning (its not easy, considering traveling time in Mumbai)….they did it all…but sweeties those tears…

Finally, my friends from School Shilpi, Smita and Sneha…you guys are kind of immune to my moving in and out of Mumbai...but still Shilpi you need to grow up in every which way…Shilpi you are one of the most innocent people I have come across and the best thing about you is that time didn’t rob you off that innocence…you made me feel mature…but that whimper on the phone that day….

Those tears didn’t set my eyes to water…but each drop of tear was like a spike…they pierced my heart…I never have moist eyes whenever I leave a place but always a bleeding heart…but guys there is one thing I tell all my friends and am sharing it with you all also…

There are many facets to friendship, the most important of them being a string that tethers the two individuals. To me the string should be very elastic in nature to survive the strain of spatial distances, every other facet just falls in place if this string is elastic enough…for me the friendship begins when a person’s physical presence in my routine diminishes or evaporates. So, I never I like to shed tears at a person’s departure as I know my friendship is to begin now…it’s the very important for the metamorphosis of a person from being an acquaintance to a friend…

So, I hope the string of our friendship is elastic enough to endure this strain of spatial distance…

The Gandhian Thoughts…

Reading the newspaper has always been the first thing I did each morning, I even fought my father to get my hands on it first, but these days I just let go of that most coveted paper…..

I just read the headlines a few days back and didn’t feel like reading the newspaper any further, that was because of the Varun Gandhi saga. I’m not a very fervent follower of news, especially political news, but this one news is all over and has seriously disturbed me.

I feel sorry for his thought process, at this young age he carries so much venom in his heart and what is worse is that he is giving words to this venom, worst still, he is giving such statements while addressing public rallies, which is has an audience of thousands. Most of whom are gullible, uneducated and some even young; by far the most lethal combination. How badly can such speeches influence those naïve minds is the question…

Mr. Varun Gandhi even discarded the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, though even I don’t quite agree with his thoughts, but that certainly doesn’t mean that I practice violence instead. Everybody is entitled to a viewpoint, but when you are a public figure one needs to think twice before venting his thoughts. If the young leaders of the nation have such heinous thought process then we can very well understand, in what direction we are heading and in how safe hands the nation is…

Something that’s more alarming is the support he is getting, not only from his fellow workers, but also the general public, I read some students even saying that there was nothing wrong is what Mr. Gandhi said.

Today I recall an article by Vir Sanghvi stating, “when you target an entire community or religion, then you needn’t bother with the ‘war against terror’-because then, the terrorists have already won”, now I know how true it is.... Mr. Vijay Mallya might have bought back the spectacles of Mahatma Gandhi, but we have lost the vision…Money can’t buy everything…. We harbor terrorist in our own country and still peep into neighborhoods for evidences.

GEM

“Some people succeed because they are destined to, but most people succeed because they are determined to”

This encouraging quote in a leading daily, reminds me of a batch-mate from class 12th. Of all that I can recall, I remember him as a guy who used to stand last in the row for assemblies, looking really sheepish…not because he was that tall, but because he was late to school without a day’s exception. He was one of the most good-humored and jocular person and usually the target for most of the gags in the bus. Incidentally we shared the same coaching class also, where again he was a declared hope-less case. None of the faculty members expected anything for from him…but all this didn’t rob him off his trademark smile and jovial spirit. At that time, I didn’t give this guy any heed; I simply didn’t know him well enough to comment on him.
With time he became a friend rather than an acquaintance, thanks to some common friends. That’s when I actually started understanding this guy and realized that he was far more talented than what he portrayed himself to be. His thoughts and deeds had a lot of depth and what was most striking was the way he kept back his thoughts to himself and never made them evident. He never gave word to his emotions. I don’t recall any moment except one when he spoke what he felt. He was never an emotional fool (as he puts it), but I know he is emotional. Our common friends always thought that he would never keep in touch and his principle in life was, out of sight and out of mind, but I always knew that he is the only person who can maintain the integrity of the bond called friendship and he proved me right.
When people thought that he was a hopeless case, he had a hope ignited within him, I could sense it. Somehow, after I started understanding him, I was confident that he would be successful but I couldn’t ever justify it, though now I can. He is not one of the most intelligent people I have come across, but he certainly is one of the cleverest people I have come across. He always knew what exactly he wanted from life and I loved the fact that he steered in every possible direction to reach where he wanted to. He never bothered as to what people had to say about him, because he knew that he was nothing short of the best. Today he is much more successful than many others because while others were involved in petty issues he already was working out his plan of action. He was determined to make a mark and he has succeeded in doing it…at least to some extent.
There are very few people apart from my parents whom I really respect and he is one of them….and as I always tell him that “he is a GEM of a human being”. I’m and will always be proud to have a friend like him.

THE COST OF LIVING

There is a voice deep inside me that says that I’m blessed to be living, that I can witness the world created by the Almighty, but there is also regret that I can’t witness the world as created by him.

So much has changed since this universe was created, though changes are inevitable, but the changes for good should be inevitable, but as it is said where good prevails evil also does exists, so we have to live with both good and adverse changes. To the extent where Good and Adverse strike a balance it is easy to cope, but sadly so, there is never a balance. The Adverse always overpowers the Good, rather the consequence of Adverse overpower those of the Good.

As much as I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, I can’t help such thoughts from flowing into my mind. The world appears to be a graveyard of dead souls rather than a consortium of lively spirits. We are increasingly swaying away from humanity and allied virtues.

In these times people see each other as crutches rather than a fellow human being. Every relationship is a means to reach some destination….wonder what is the difference between the local trains and our relationships, we leave one, hop into another and so on…

In today’s ambitious world people feel its better to work for few more hours and gain some fiscal benefits and improve the quality of their life rather than sitting peacefully with their family for at least sometime.

We are all running a big Marathon in which everybody wants to win. In doing so we forget about all that is around us and all that we are leaving behind…We are not even concerned with what is happening to the people around us we are just running…

At the dawn of each day we think about all the work and commitments lined for the day…when did we last think of ourselves and everybody we truly love the first thing in the morning…everybody is in search of ‘something’ and this something seems to have no end….we run and fight against ourselves just to get close that virtual something, without realizing that, that something is within us. We are just like the musk deer which could experience a sweet smell but couldn’t reach it…it kept running and running in its search and finally in its blind search fell from the mountain and lost its life just to realize that the sweet smell was coming from within him…

We are all paying the Cost of living which includes our mental peace, our strength, our happiness, the smile on the faces of our loved ones, and the most important ourselves, we seem to have lost the track of ourselves in this Marathon…Living is rather expensive in today’s times…because it involves living at the edge everyday and sacrificing all that is priceless…

Sometimes I ask myself why are we living and then I get this reply “We are living because there is still some trace amount of humanity and Good alive on this planet, and we are living so that we can propagate this trait and make the lives of our subsequent generations worth living, so that they never have to pay the cost of living as we do”.

When a smile from a stranger works miracles…

There was a restless kind of silence around me waiting to engulf me into its dark dungeon. Things were not going the way I had planned them, on the contrary diametrically opposite things happened…and when they happened I felt as though the whole world was conspiring against me. Dejection crept in, a sense of solitude filled my mind, and I felt alone in the crowd and failed to listen to the many people around me. I was feeling sapped out of my energies and cognizance….
With turmoil inside me I stepped onto the lanes outside my college, with a friend. She took me to a park nearby where there was not even a bench for us to sit. So we dug up our bags to find papers to sit on, finally settled we looked around aimlessly laughing at ourselves…suddenly from nowhere a gang of kids turned up…they were from families of slum dwellers…they had some of the dirtiest faces I have ever seen, yet the most beautiful smiles. They were playing with a Latto (Top). I have never seen such a defunct toy in my life…but they seemed to derive immense pleasure out of their toy. I exclaimed at my friend when one of the toddlers managed to spin the toy like an adroit, my exclamation brought a smile on his face and an expression as though he had achieved something out of this world…
He then came up to me and demonstrated all his tricks he could perform with that toy, noticing my cell phone he said in the sweetest possible tone “ Didi meri photo pahado na” which I gladly did…on looking at his photo he broke into one of the sweetest and purest giggle I had ever heard…he posed gallantly for the camera and called all his friends for a group photograph…one of them even rushed home and called his sisters and introduced them to us and asked us to click their pictures also...all of them saw the pictures, enjoyed them for a moment and then dispersed to play…suddenly two youngest boys from the gang came from nowhere and asked us to click their pictures and the striking salute pose was the highlight…the kids laughed and giggled and went on to play…
They went off and left their smiles on my face…I felt rejuvenated and complacent as though I had achieved something…had I ?
Yes I had…I regained my cognizance back, that my smile had never gone anywhere it was there with me, within me…the only thing that was lacking was the will and the reason…now I had both…
The kids had given me the will to smile even in the most excruciating circumstances like they did and the reason to smile being their infectious smiles itself…
All this thanks to my friend who took me to that park…..Thanks Sangeeta.

JIGSAW PUZZLE
A few days back I was at my cousin’s place and was helping my nephew solve a jigsaw puzzle. Every time we were able to settle a piece, his face would exude joy and satisfaction, sometimes we joined mismatched pieces also and the displeasure was also evident on his innocent face. That 20 min game made me realize and understand some of the most important lessons; our life is also a jigsaw puzzle, just a bit more elaborate with some more pieces but the rule is the same…..you keep configuring it correctly and you will be happy.
Like in a puzzle game the company provides us with all the pieces required to complete the picture so also God has given us all the pieces, they are just scattered and it is left to us, how to assemble it. The only difference is that the company provides us with a blue-print of the picture but God does not.
The best lesson I learnt from the game is no part of life is useless or bad….it may be a misfit but certainly not bad…it will fit somewhere else in the larger picture. Also if we try to forcefully settle a part somewhere it only leads to ruining of the piece and the picture both which is bound to give us displeasure.
But the beauty and complication of this game is that all the pieces unfold gradually they are all clandestine pieces…when the right time comes they will unfold. We have to just wait for the right time but be vigilant enough to know the turn of time and to act quickly and locate the pieces an organize them this is the second lesson I learnt.
The third and the most important lesson I learnt was, we can never grow if we can’t be childish. Like it is said there is only one way to understand a game…play it, similarly there is only one way to understand life…live it. So live life before the last piece unfolds.