The Return !!!

May 6th 2009..... The last time i wrote something here. Frankly speaking it was also the last time I wrote something. This whole gap could be attributed to lack of time and motivation. However to tell the truth it was all because of my laziness.
One thing I have realized after working for nearly 2 years now is that corporate life is lazy and it always succeeds in rubbing off some laziness on you too. I am a victim of it. My mind revolts at the thought of doing something that isn't a part of my daily routine. It gives me hundreds of reasons for not doing anything extra and I must say the reasons are pretty creative and unfortunately most of the time convincing.
Lately lots of things have happened that made me realize that I am living a boring life which is a monotonous and uninteresting routine that I follow every single day. The zeal to pursue my hobbies and interests has disappeared somewhere. Every second day I plan and promise myself to do something new but I just don't do it. I found no answers when I searched for reasons that are responsible to this situation. In the end I realized that I am the culprit. I am responsible for everything thing that has happened. I let life, people and situations take control of me instead of the other way round. No one other than I can bring me out of this.
Yesterday a close friend Mithila called up and told me that she went through my blog and loved some of the posts. Then she asked me why haven't I written anything in the past year and a half and I had no answer. After the call I asked myself the same question and this post is the answer to that. From now on I won't PLAN, PROMISE or DECIDE. Instead I would simply DO because plans, promises and decisions usually do not succeed. This post marks my return to my interests and I would suggest you should also think about "The Return"

The Abyss

What is Abyss??

-- An immeasurably deep chasm, depth, or void.

But why am I interested in talking about it??

-- because it is related to each of us. There are many moments in our life when we find ourselves in an Abyss (I am in one right now). Frankly speaking it isn't an unfamiliar place but nevertheless it is pretty scary. Abyss is that time in life when we cannot see anything except uncertainty around us. It is that time when our future isn't in our control. But is our future ever in our hands?

I would definitely say Yes. My future is always in my hands. the only thing I need to do is to achieve what I want, from the place where I am. Confusing? to put it in straight words, Life would always put you in different situations. Sometimes you might be on top of the world and sometimes (like now for me) in an Abyss but no matter what you always have to keep your aim in front of your eyes.

As far as my Abyss is concerned, I am a little apprehensive about it. Tomorrow would begin a new journey on an unfamiliar road. I don't know where would this lead me. All I know I have to take this road and make it lead to things I have to achieve.

Its been very long since my last post. I didn't feel like writing anything. But today I needed some solutions to overcome my fear of the Abyss and this is the best place where I find all my solutions. Before writing this, I didn't know what to do, but now I can see light and the Abyss is no more scary

What if i can???

I don't want to save the world
I don't want to buy white pearls
I don't want to fulfill any need
All I want is to SUCCEED.

I don't want to own a car
I don't want to travel far
I don't want to do good deed
All I want is to SUCCEED.

Success..... What a beautiful word. Everyone wants to be Successful. But only few among us have the right to say "I am successful".Ever wondered what is it in those lucky ones that others don't have? I took some time out to do exactly that and came out with some ideas.
After a long research on this issue(that lasted for the past one hour), I came up with a term called as "What if I can" Attitude.

Some days back I had suggested a friend to pursue post graduation. My friend replied "I cant do it buddy! I don't think I am able enough".Most of us belong to the same category. Without even knowing what lies on the road to our destination we quit saying its not possible. Only the people who say "What if I can do it" actually succeed. The great inventors and discoverers were definitely of this breed. There were other people who consistently tried to prove these inventors wrong. However these achievers had the "What if I can" attitude that propelled them towards their achievements.

Upon facing a difficult challenge the easiest thing to say is "I cannot do it". Imagine if everyone does the same thing what would happen. We won't have heroes among us. Whom would we look up as our idols? We wont have any ambitions in life because fulfilling your ambition means facing difficulties and that cannot be done by saying "I cannot do it". But there are some among us who say "I can do it" and when others say "Its impossible for you to do it" these people say "What if I can". These few words can make all the difference between an average person and an achiever.

If "What if I can" is the first question you ask yourself before doing any seemingly difficult task then the last thing you say would be "Just did it".

Answers.....

We will hide bombs under your train seats and blow you off, what will you do?
We will blow up your market places while you shop, what will you do?
We will enter your houses and kill you all, what will you do?
We will walk out in the open and fire at you all, what will you do?
We will induce terror into your hearts, what will you do?

What are we doing after all? It began with the serial blasts, followed by the Hindu-Muslim riots. Then came a deluge of terror activities in our country.

Then came the Parliament attack. The prime accused was sentenced to death. Had he been in any other country except ours he would have been answering the Devil by now. But in our country we actually have people fighting to get him off the hook.

There was a train blast in Mumbai and people were back working the next day. We conveniently termed it as Mumbai's spirit. Whatever happens the Mumbai people are always back on tracks. But do they have a choice? It isn't the Mumbai spirit but it is the need for survival that makes them get back working.

We have been hit again and again. The boldest being this terror strike that is still going on as I write this post. Our country's weak response to terrorist has fuelled their audacity and look what is happening. A group of 10-20 terrorists are roaming in a busy city like mumbai and are shooting with AK-47s at anything that is moving.

I love my city and my country and it hurts to see it helpless in front of some cowards who call themselves jehadis. These sons of evil call themselves God's Army and are out to resurrect the world. All we need is our leaders should develop some balls of their own and muster courage to fight these people in their own land. We have fought enough on our side of the border. Its about time we uproot this tree of terror right from where it was sowed. Its time for our so called leaders to stop thinking about how to overflow their bank accounts and start working on how to finish the worst evil in the History of this Earth.

Unless this is done the only thing we would do is "Move on"

Later..........

Sometime ago......
Wow!! Nice goggles, whats the price??
Rs. 3500
Oh!! if i buy it now what will i do next month. How would I pay my rent?? How would I pay my phone bill?Lets forget it for now and buy it later.
Some years later....
Wow!! Nice bike!! oh 90000?? That would put my budget in deep trouble. I can buy it when I get my arrears. lets forget it for now and buy it later.
Somewhere else....
Nice dress!!! Oh whats the use?? I am getting married in 10 days. I cannot wear it after that. No point buying. Lets see if my husband is fine with it I will buy it later.
Year after year we keep having strong desires and we suppress them efficiently. All we do is satisfy ourselves by saying "lets buy it later" and eventually the "later" never comes.
I watched the movie Dasvidaniya today. It is about a guy who comes to know that he is going to die in 3 months and he sets out to fulfill all his wishes. Nice movie and I was deeply moved. I did identify with one thing that is killing our desires.
Life is so complicated. With so many things to do and so many people around us, we are always busy doing something or appeasing someone. Hardly anyone of us ever think what exactly do we want. Some fortunate souls do realise the things they want. But very few among them actually get their wishes fulfilled. Others usually put down their desires in big dustbin. People do come up with various but similar, reasons for not doing what they wish:
Its too costly......
Mom wont like it......
There is always time later in life....
What will people think.....
My girlfriend would get suspicious if i talk to you.....
etc etc.
We do fear lots of things and it is this fear that does not allow us to pursue our dreams. I have a friend. He was a great cricketer. A superb batsmen who could destroy any bowling attack in mumbai. His only weakness was that he was weak in studies. One day he got a call from an English county team to play for them. He asked his dad. Without considering for a minute his dad refused him. The reason given : If you don't succeed in it what will you do for a living. Stay here and study. I don't say his dad was wrong. He had full right to protect his child in case anything goes wrong. But what if, he had taken the risk. What if my friend would have become a great cricketer? Eventually my friend turned down the offer. He completed his 12th and is working somewhere but still loves to go and teach cricket to the young children.
What we don't realize is Life is unpredictable. You can get a supercomputer to plan out your life and still it wont be able to accurately predict the next second of your life. So if you have the capacity to fulfill your wishes, go ahead and do it. Worry about the consequences later. Actually you don't even need to worry about them. Nature has its own way of putting things in the right place in the end. The world follows such people because they are different. Such people are happy because by fulfilling their wishes they get rid of the frustrations of life. One word of caution though, what i intend to convey is fulfill your wishes and not do what you like. Doing what you like can turn u into a arrogant being. Fulfill those wishes that you have suppressed for some stupid reason. Don't wait till the end and say "I am dying and I haven't done anything I wanted to do".

A Journey called Wedding

I have Problems, so do you.
I have solutions, so do you.
I do things that irritate you,
I get mad at things done by you.
We fight and fight,till our throats go dry
Which ends up soon, after you cry
I wont say sorry, so wont you.
I wont talk and you don't too.
I cant imagine my life without you,
I know for sure,without me, so cant you.
I love you and always will be with you.

Well I believe that sums it all up when asked to describe the term "Wedding". When looked at it in a perfunctory way it appears to us as a ceremony which binds two individuals in a bond that should be only broken by death. But on a closer observation Wedding is so much more than that.
Wedding is a phase that starts right after you take the oath of living with your partner for the rest of your life and continues till one of you is on the doors of heaven. It is the phase when you learn so much everyday. It is the strenuous job of bullying your egos and aspirations to make the wedding work. It is the phase of adjustments and compromises never imagined before. The most important and difficult task is living with one person throughout your life.

Its impossible for a guy like me. I am not a commitment phobic, but what if I choose the wrong person. The thought of staying with a wrong person for the rest of my life is so overwhelming that it makes me very analytical and judgmental about people. That is why I was very scared of it until last Sunday 12th October 2008--My Parents Silver Jubilee Anniversary. I was in front of a gathering talking about my parents' journey of 25 years when it dawned upon me. They are two very different individuals. There is such a big crevasse between their personalities yet they managed 25 years together and are still going the same way. I have witnessed all of their ups and downs even though they have tried to keep us out of it all the time. They might be teasing and fighting with each other but whenever there is something wrong with either one of them, the other one transforms into an Angel from God and bolsters the needy one. Its amazing to see the speed at which this happens. It is said couples are made in heaven and I beg to differ. I say Heaven just makes normals human beings. It is they who make couples and work very hard in being couples and it is these couples who make happy families.

I know my parents are not unique. This is the case with every couple. This is the beauty of marriage. The couples are not bound by any outer compulsion to stay with each other but it is the hidden love among all the bantering that happens that makes them stick to each other always.

That's all for now guys. Sorry I am being irregular here. I am working hard to be regular. Till the next time.Bye bye

The Common tale of FRIENDSHIP

Disclaimer
The following story is a pure work of fiction and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. No similarity to any person either living or dead is intended or should be inferred.

This is story of two friends. I came across it a few days back. So thought of sharing with all of you. So here we go...

Once upon a time in a land far far away were two very good and close friends named Jack and Jill.
Jack was a happy-go-lucky guy who didn't have many good friends. He was never involved with anyone and was happy to be alone.Jill was a sweet girl who could be anybody's good friend. She was a dreamer. She always wanted to have some companion. They lived different lives but met once in a while and chatted for hours regarding various issues ranging from "some guy dating some girl" to "why God always tests our patience". Everything was going smoothly until.........

One fine day Jill met a guy Bob. He was a great guy and and perfect gentleman. He was quite an achiever in life and also belonged to a respectable family. He had everything that Jill wanted in her DREAM MAN. Bob and Jill got along very well. They spent lots of time together and when not together always thought of each other. In a matter of few days both were in deep love. A perfect made for each other couple. Bob even introduced Jill to his parents. All was going pretty well but.......

Somewhere in the story Jack was nowhere to be seen. As stated earlier he had no good friends and Jill was his only friend. He was there somewhere in the background happy because Jill's life was going great and sad because he was lonely. He tried to tell that to Jill many times but seeing how happy Jill was, all that came out of his mouth was a smile. He still met Jill but the topic of discussion was Bob. He hardly had those funny conversations with Jill. He was drifting apart and Jill was too involved in her life to notice anything. She always thought everything was going fine and nothing was wrong between Jack and herself. However she couldn't see the invisible gorge that was formed between them. She couldn't help the situation and neither could Jack. He simply remained there standing and staring at the sunset while Bob and Jill held hands and walked away never to return.

I came across this story and found it amazingly common in our day to day life. Jill is just a character but most of us become Jill when we find our Bob. Some of us are also Jack. This is for all the people who think they are Jack, please tell everything you have inside because its better to say it right when you can rather than waiting and letting those caustic thoughts burn your insides.