Miles to go before I sleep!!

Jeewan kya hai, koi na jaane , jo jaane pacchtaye!!

I remember hearing this song many years ago. But the truth behind the words has started hitting me now in full blast.

As I go through my daily chores, my responsibilities and duties, life is what is passing by. I really dread the time, when I would have time at hand to think about the years gone by.

Would I have lived a worth while life by that time on which I would be able to look back with a sense of fulfilment and pride?

I have a long mental list of things I would want to do before I die. Other mundane activities keep me occupied all through the day. Days pass by in a haze turning into weeks and then months and soon years will fly by without my notice.

This list will keep growing and I will keep putting off things till a time when I would no longer be able to do them. That is my greatest fear.

I have devised an alternate game plan though. Deriving small pleasures out of my daily acitivities has become a way of life, rather I like to take it that way.

A beautiful sunset over the horizon of a polluted city, a smiling cherubic face of an infant among the hordes of daily commuters, a weirdly shaped cloud striking a beautiful contrast with an inky blue sky on a cloudy day, colors of buses forming a kaleidoscope of sorts in my office bus parking are some of the things that often leave a smile on my face making me wonder how many other such beautiful sights and sounds I had missed when I simply wasnt paying attention.

Code Name God

I live in what is known as "The fast lane" always rushing , hardly stopping to "smell the roses".

There are millions like me who have come to believe that religion is the forte of old ladies who dont have the energy left for other mundane activities of life.

Such residents of the fast lane, why , even me, are advised to take time out to say a little prayer or visit the temple.

But, I often wonder , is prayer a tablet? Well, good enough for me, good enough for everybody doesnt hold here.If it is, its not prayer.

It can hold different meaning for different people.I , for one, regard it as a conversation with a higher power who I know is silently watching over me, who knows my deepest fears, my darkest secrets. who shares my moments of despair and euphoria.

Its a part of me that has the ability to stand apart and judge me like another person would. It could be my conscience, my critic, my best pal.We dont have the ability ,(rather we don't believe that we have this ability), to question our judgements or to stand apart and appraise our actions, which we take it upon us that a higher power will one day do just that or is constantly doing that according to some religions.

I may even consider him to be my imaginary friend who is there whenever I need company. That too, is a manifestation of my mind, a part of my being.I feel religions are right in pointing out that god resides within us. He is a part of our existence.I am all for it.So, saying a little prayer is akin to having a conversation with your God your way.

Volvo A380

The best reason for having dreams is that in dreams no reasons are necessary.

Just Imagine .. young amitabh bachhan in hypothetical Deewar .. standing right in the middle of a cricket stadium.. after shashi kapoor leaves him and goes away with the 'MAA' in tow...grinning, pleased with himself, thinking 'mere paas maa hai'..AB fretting and the events of the day coming back to him all at once.. us admi k sign lao .. wo admi tumhara kaun lagta hai ... bhai sign karoge k nai .. maan tum mujhse bahut pyaar karti ho .....he is trying to shrug it all off by screaming at the top of his voice 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!' with the deep baritone echoing in the stadium in the dead of the night,...Weird. no?

When a thousand thoughts hit you, it leads to strange dreams like the one I had last night....It was a weird ensemble of snippets of information I had collected in my mind over the past few days.....I live in a place not too close to the airport, but, Hyderabad Airport is bang in the middle of the city and you see and hear airplanes taking off and landing every few minutes from every nook and corner of the city.

Being from another corner of the nation, the noise of an aeroplane fills my heart with a longing to get home to my loved ones. So the thoughts that lingered in my conscious mind as I fell asleep thinking of my next trip home was aeroplanes , the familiar air that fills the lungs as i alight at the Delhi airport, the joy in my heart everytime I see the runway at IGI from the plane anticipating the comfort and warmth of home. I was also thinking about how it would be to fly in the airbus A380, all I had seen so far were the cramped cabins of Boeing 747s,737s and Airbus 320s...

The thought of A380 brought the images of the first flight of Singapore Airlines' priced possession A380, the perfect take-off from the freeway in Singapore( I was told by my brother ,who has been to Singapore, that the freeway is actually a highway which is sometimes used as a runway when there is a dearth of taxiing space on the actual airport).

And the cramps in my legs were constantly reminding me of the journey from Hyderabad to Bangalore and back by Volvo bus just last week. I was transported to the wonderful world of dreams , drifting into sleep with these things on my mind.

I woke up next day grinning from ear to ear thinking about the dream I had. Usually, I dont remember the dreams vividly the morning after, but this one I can narrate scene by scene..Here it goes ...I dreamt I was travelling in an A380 from Hyderabad to Delhi with my family...The A380 was exaclty like the numerous pictures I had seen of it in the mails doing the rounds ever since its launch, but there was a strange twist to it. It was as high and wide as an A380 should have been. But was as long as a Volvo coach :-D...the window panes could be opened just like those in a Volvo.

There was no cockpit and I could see the pilot sitting right in a front like a bus driver(told you , it was really weird!!) donning the controls and muttering things in the radio endlessly.

I have travelled a lot by train too...People getting into wrong coaches and then arguing over seat numbers with people already ensconsed in their coupe is a sight I am too familiar with...So here, in my dream too, I witnessed such a sight- a family coming to us with boarding passes bearing the very seat numbers we were occupying. After a long argument, the stewardess intervened and asked them to occupy other vacant seats...

As soon as the pleasant sight of the IGI airport materialized into view, there was the much-too-familiar-now announcement about the congestion on the runway. While we were all waiting for the pilot to announce our rank in the landing queue, we were surprised to hear him announce that the plane was going to land on a newly constructed freeway instead of the usual runway....

Now this being an Indian freeway, it was crowded with commuters, rickshaws, cars,trucks, DTC buses et al...The A380 landed safely, right in the midst of the sea of traffic on the freeway with the pilot constantly blaring the horn ( u might be thinking I've lost it completeley by now, but a dream is a dream!!) at slow moving rickshaws and pedestrians crossing the road. it finally screeched to a halt near the airport.

Right at this moment I was woken up by the blaring of my wretched alarm clock....On other days, I wake up cursing my poor clock that goes off much too soon, but this time, I woke up refreshed from my first trip aboard the airbus A380, with a strange twist but pleasant none the less.. :-)

Living next door to....

I am reading Robin S. Sharma's('The Monk who sold his Ferrari' fame) 'Who will cry when you die'.

The author asks his readers to make a list of people who they wish were their neighbours and with whom they could share their thoughts whenever they felt like. He says the list of people a reader is going to make will reflect the qualities he wants to imbibe by interacting with these people.

Here is my list:
1. David Schwartz: The author of 'The Magic of thinking Big'. He has been a big influence on me ever since I read this magnificent book. This book deserves to be included in required readings in every school. How I wish I could go to him and listen to him narrate his wonderful ideas in person!

2.Vijay Mallaya: This guy truly knows how to live life kingsize. though his larger than life image doesnt really go down well with me, but I admire him for his attitude.

3. Thomas Alva Edison: This guy stuck to the fight in the hardest of times. A living example of oft-repeated yet seldom followed 'Failures are stepping stones to success' .

4. Narayana Murthy: He is an epitome of humility. His achievements are many and his business sense shrewd, yet this man manages to keep his feet on the ground and his heart in the right place.

I intend to update this list as I come across more such people. But for now, this is it. I know I can not get these people to live next door but I hope I am able to imbibe all that they stand for.

P.S While I am at it, I might as well include the "Common Man" to this list on the insistence of a friend N.B.
The india Today this time features a caricature of the common man as the eighth new wonder of the world for going through all that he has to in India and yet for voting every year.

Hats off to you Common Man!!

The all-powerful "Belief"

If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning

Thus said Mahatma Gandhi.

You are what you think you are. If you think you are capable of achieving the impossible then, impossible is nothing.

Belief is a very powerful tool and can take us to dizzying heights if we choose to make it an ally.

If you think you can. you are right. If you think you cant, you are right again.

Tell an average person that you can run an empire one day, he would laugh it off. But tell it to a business tycoon, he wont laugh because he knows it is possible as he has done it himself.

Little children know no limitations. They are explorers. They dont know what obstacles mean and single mindedly pursue what they set out to. Despite falling, they ultimately are able to achieve what they wanted to.

Children think they can take on anything and so they can. But as a child grows up, he is told what not to do and what dangers and obstacles lurk at every corner of the world. He is told dreams are but dreams and nothing else. Elders advise him he cannot achieve the impossible. Impossible is impossible after all. These elders get their idea of the 'impossible' from their elders in turn.

Such ideas get passed on from one generation to another like a heirloom and ultimately take the shape of belief. And what was just an idea before, becomes reality. 'Impossible' actually becomes impossible.

How we stare in amazement when we see people of some communities doing things like walking on fire. That is because what is slated to be impossible for one community is deemed to be possible for another depending upon their beliefs.

Had we continued believing in our dreams like we did as liitle children, we could have long achieved what we consider impossible today.

Hypernationalism:Give me a break

Are we prepared to be global citizens?Have we truly evolved as a tolerant society? The answer to these questions unfortunately is, not really.

A few days ago, one Mr. Narayana Murthy decides to play the instrumental version of our revered National Anthem when Dr. Kalam visits him in Mysore. He is made to apologize for disrespecting it. He is labeled "unpatriotic".Is that called for?

The media and our "patriotic" politicians are viewing the whole national anthem episode in the wrong light. The rendition of national anthem in the presence of foreigners would have embarrassed them indeed as Mr. Murthy clarified.Picture yourself in say, the US of A, with natives singing their national anthem with a hand on their hearts, would not you feel out of place?Atleast I would. Plus , I would not know how not to offend others or their anthem in any way .For instance, Some of the foreigners in Infosys, Mysore might not have known that we stand in the attention position while singing the national anthem.

Had any of them failed to give our national anthem the due respect, it would have fueled a debate of another sort and Mr. Murthy would certainly not have liked any disrespect of the "Jana Gana Mana".

During international sports events, only the instrumental version of the winning country's national anthem is played for the same reason.Mr. Murthy may not make the best president but calling him unpatriotic is not fair to this son of the soil. Only a person of flawless character and limitless strength of mind could have reached where he is today from his modest background.Only a person who holds his country in the highest esteem can make foreigners want to join Infosys in the first place.

Sachin Tendulkar, is being condemned for reportedly cutting a tricolour cake. Isn't cake cutting an integral part of celebration? It is just a manifestation of joy. Dont we all cut cakes on our birthdays with our names written on it? Then why this furore over a non-issue?Sachin has given 18 years of his life to the country.He has done nothing wrong and even if he has, do heroes have to be perfect?

Then we have the Richard Gere- Shilpa Shetty controversy. Kudos to the so-called moral police for creating a mountain out of a molehill once again.Nobody seems to notice why Richard has come all the way to India. He is here to help spread AIDS awareness among capital's truckers. This contorversy has hogged the limelight while the cause has taken a backseat, proving India media is still a lost teenager and has not matured yet.

Nobody has the right to invade celebrities' private space at all. Where does the moral police go when a woman's modesty is outraged? We never saw them take to the streets when so many children were brutally killed in Nithari. Doesn't that hurt national sentiment?We should stop creating 'much ado about nothing'. Let's show to the world that India has truly come of age and is ready to play in the global arena. The media should also understand that promoting such controversies is doing us no good and is earning them a bad name world wide.

Solitary Reaper

That's the title of a poem I read in my english reader in junior school.

Its about a solitary reaper tilling her fields. I dont remember the name of the poet but this title has kind of stayed with me.

The meaning of the poem or the poet's message in it was not at all what I intend to write about here, poetry is a matter of perspective.

We all need to have a sense of security and belonging. This sense we derive out of people around us. That is the biggest reason of our insecurities as well, as we always fear losing loved ones.

If We start relishing moments of solitude and try to enjoy our own company. We can get better of all our insecurities.

There is comfort and freedom in solitude.

We need to get over the fixation that we need to belong to a group even if we dont believe in its values or agenda.

I have been a loner most of my life though I love all my friends and truly cherish all friendships and associations that I have made along the way. But friends need to move on.Relationships evolve over time. There is one thing that never changes- solitude.

There are no expectations, no justifications , just freedom.

I dont intend to say that one should not bond with people, love is after all the most wonderful thing in life, but one should not be afraid to let go. That needs sense of detachment over and above attachment.

Thought Power:Its all in the mind

Thoughts surely maketh a man. Most of us have always believed that our actions are governed by our thoughts. We tend to shake our legs nervously when we feel restless, we pace up and down when we are anxious, so on and so forth. But it's actually the converse that's true. Our mind is governed by our actions.

Our mind as we know it is a repository of thoughts and feelings. It doesn't have a mind of its own. It is but a dumb warehouse and retrieves only that information that we ask it to retrieve.

The attendant of this warehouse is a very dedicated and dutiful employee and tries his best to please his master, that's us.It goes out of way to serve our whims and fancies.

When we are feeling low, it retrieves sad thoughts, paints gloomy pictures in the mind, taking us deeper into that depressed state. it retrieves all information stored in it over the years from experience and learning that matches our mood.

It would remind us of times we have experienced such sadness. it would bring back all memories of loneliness and abyss. These thoughts would then start multiplying and in no time hog all mental space leaving no room for positive feelings ultimately affecting all our other motor activities (our actions).

On the flip side, if we are feeling happy, it would retrieve all happy thoughts from the repository bringing back all happy memories it can find in the warehouse. Just like gloomy thoughts , happy thoughts too multiply many times over at mind boggling speeds and occupy our entire being. The result? No marks for guessing , it reflects in all our actions.

Try observing people around you and try guessing the mood they are in. Happy people seem to be in control of everything they do. Their actions and movements are well calculated.While people feeling low tend to be clumsy, forgetful and nervous.

Such people try hard to hide their feelings but the harder they try, the more they seem to fail that aggravates their postion further.Imagine, if these people knew that the root cause of their suffering is their mind which is not a whimsical, unpredictable weirdo but a servile handyman.

If you get up telling your mind ,'Its a lousy day'. It is going to be a lousy day for you, indeed.

Your mind, your docile, eager-to-please manservant would soon produce 1001 reasons for it to be a lousy day. The weather would be either too hot or too cold, your neighbour would ignore you, your spouse would be in a bad mood, your boss would cancel your upcoming vacation.

But if you decide to make each day a pleasant experience, so it will be.Period.

After all, as i said ITS ALL IN YOUR MIND.

As soon as you decide its going to be yet another wonderful day. Your mind would furnish the same number of reasons to make you believe there can never be a better day in your life.You would feel grateful to be alive, thankful to God for the wonderful family that he has given you, the perfect health that you have that makes it possible for you to enjoy all the wonders of the world.

Just a small thought , but think about the difference it could make to you and to the world around you. The magic of your thoughts would not only be constrained to you but would also affect the people you would meet.

Just think about the way you speak with your spouse or your parents when you are in one of your bad moods. This behaviour sets their mood for the day too. If you greet them pleasantly, they too would start their day on a happy note.

I remember reading about a guy who would greet each and every person he met on his way with his best smile. On being asked the reason, he would say it was his way of makng a difference to the world.

His friend asked him one day , "What difference can a small smile make to the world? you could smile to say, maximum 50 people on your way to work. How does that matter when there are around a million in our city alone ?" Our guy in the meanwhile was smiling to a pretty lady round the corner who was obligingly returning the favor by bowing graciously. He then turned and said to his friend, " If that lady happens to be a school teacher, her class is in for a good day".

That's the power of a small happy thought :-).