Mumbai - true magic!
The moment you enter, the surroundings and people remind you of childhood memories associated with the place. Its simply amazing just imagining how a place can give so much happiness to a person.
You really will always fall short of words, while describing Mumbai! The spirit - the life - the people - your people!
Seeing overcrowded markets, people crossing the streets without caring for vehicles, bindaas attitude of drivers in the city, real friendly shopkeepers and pani puri walas...
There is diversity of every kind in the city....from students to old men, all living together supporting each other in living the simplistic life in their homeland.
A cosmopolitan in its truest sense, Mumbaikars live, work for their daily bread - "vada pav", enjoy with their families, fight for common or societal issues - feel for the community.
Only thing that hurts me is to see the beggars on the street, or the old men who lay unattended for days. Despite being affluent in spirit, there still exists a lot of suffering in different parts of the city. It is surprising that man is unable to bring up the people along with him.
The politically motivated groups worry about issues concerning people who are well off to fend for their daily bread. What about those who do not have the strength of body or mind to even fight the basic survival issues.
On the simplest roads of lives, lies the discovery that we are much more lucky than those around us.....we just have to look and have the eyes to appreciate the suffering of others.
thats my serendipity - the realization that i have been lucky to be brought up in a lovely city which teaches self-respect and celebrates friendship and service to others. We do not need to be very patriotic, simply being grateful is enough for us to understand the value of things in our lives. We are then left with nothing but plain love - not for one but all people in the world alike...
Jesus rightly said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself"....man has grown to love himself so much that he has completely forgotten the beauty of others around him. He looks at everybody with his own selfish expectations, and when unsatisfied, blames or spurns hatred around.
Finally, I would also say, place doesn't matter, its always people who matter! People maketh the place. Even if you go to a completely new place, if you are awed by the service or the acceptance that the people of that place provide to you, it gives you enough strength and motivation to continue living and loving the place.
This I say in remembrance of my alma mater, Bloomington, Indiana.....as also the people I interacted with .... for showing me some good sides to myself and for bringing out the best in myself in their company!
Love..
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Power of Appreciation
A simple word - appreciate. How difficult or easy it is to appreciate some one...lets see.
There are two ways to look at the same glass - either half full or half empty. Similarly, there are two ways to look at the same person, either you appreciate him/her for the qualities they possess or criticize them pointing out their weaknesses.
No body is perfect, its an accepted fact. Yet we all strive to achieve perfection atleast in some aspect in our lives - be it fitness, cooking, coding, dressing, driving, and so on.
In the pursuit of achieving perfection, just like in the pursuit of climbing that hill, sometimes we arrive at a plateau. We fail to see that there is more to the hill than this flat piece of land. Similarly, we are unable to perceive and appreciate the current moment. Be it in our lives or that of others.
Another parallel to this fact is that "faith" is something that allows us to be able to perceive that little something, which we perceive to be missing, but is actually a boon in disguise.
To further clarify my thinking, let me give an example.
You have a good friend. You enjoy spending time with that person. However even as friends we fail to appreciate each others presence in our lives. It may be as simple as saying, thanks for being there... I appreciate your supporting me on this one...
Such words are very rarely found and the more rare they are, the more precious they become to you.
Use some kind words of appreciation in your life today and see the difference it makes, may not be in your life...but surely in another one's.
There are two ways to look at the same glass - either half full or half empty. Similarly, there are two ways to look at the same person, either you appreciate him/her for the qualities they possess or criticize them pointing out their weaknesses.
No body is perfect, its an accepted fact. Yet we all strive to achieve perfection atleast in some aspect in our lives - be it fitness, cooking, coding, dressing, driving, and so on.
In the pursuit of achieving perfection, just like in the pursuit of climbing that hill, sometimes we arrive at a plateau. We fail to see that there is more to the hill than this flat piece of land. Similarly, we are unable to perceive and appreciate the current moment. Be it in our lives or that of others.
Another parallel to this fact is that "faith" is something that allows us to be able to perceive that little something, which we perceive to be missing, but is actually a boon in disguise.
To further clarify my thinking, let me give an example.
You have a good friend. You enjoy spending time with that person. However even as friends we fail to appreciate each others presence in our lives. It may be as simple as saying, thanks for being there... I appreciate your supporting me on this one...
Such words are very rarely found and the more rare they are, the more precious they become to you.
Use some kind words of appreciation in your life today and see the difference it makes, may not be in your life...but surely in another one's.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Notes from a Diary
Its been a joy ride for me these past six months. I can now do things more freely. The hidden power of expression seems to have come out. The same things that scared me in the past, are now seeming less daunting to me. What is the change or rather where is the change?
Its all in the mind...
Some great person rightly said: "Man is what he believes he is".. Your own thoughts can trap you or set you free. You can be the greatest fools or the most intelligent person. You are what your thoughts are..
Sitting on my bed and sipping coffee, when I glance back at my past, I feel there is so much more I could have done better. Time spent well is a precious gift that many don't have.
Doing things that most interest you, proving to yourself what you could never do before, taking life as it comes and giving in to the adventure is the best part - what is called as life.
Self-respect comes not from demanding the respect from others...people may never realize the need for respecting individuals. The first step lies in understanding that you are unique in your own way. There is no second to you. Once we realize that, we begin to understand our own nature.
We look outside and simply observe people. People whom we call friends. We observe their behaviors, how they behave out of their notions. These notions are set in life at the very beginning. We do not have the courage to break free from them. A pessimist will always remain a pessimist, because he never dares to think optimistically.
The real essence lies in breaking that "set-notion". Doing what people believe to be otherwise. Put in another way, we need to develop newer and nicer habits. A habit - is a tendency to think/do something in a particular way. The way we have trained our minds, we are conditioned in some way, because they are habituated to it.
Break it just for one day n see the difference. Go fasting for a day and see what difference it makes to your ever-hungry stomach. Go take a walk by some place you never dared to go, just to see the difference.
Don't be too lame to follow the herd. Be a man of your own. Challenge these flock-following thoughts or patterns and you could be completely transformed into a new person.
Its all in the mind...
Some great person rightly said: "Man is what he believes he is".. Your own thoughts can trap you or set you free. You can be the greatest fools or the most intelligent person. You are what your thoughts are..
Sitting on my bed and sipping coffee, when I glance back at my past, I feel there is so much more I could have done better. Time spent well is a precious gift that many don't have.
Doing things that most interest you, proving to yourself what you could never do before, taking life as it comes and giving in to the adventure is the best part - what is called as life.
Self-respect comes not from demanding the respect from others...people may never realize the need for respecting individuals. The first step lies in understanding that you are unique in your own way. There is no second to you. Once we realize that, we begin to understand our own nature.
We look outside and simply observe people. People whom we call friends. We observe their behaviors, how they behave out of their notions. These notions are set in life at the very beginning. We do not have the courage to break free from them. A pessimist will always remain a pessimist, because he never dares to think optimistically.
The real essence lies in breaking that "set-notion". Doing what people believe to be otherwise. Put in another way, we need to develop newer and nicer habits. A habit - is a tendency to think/do something in a particular way. The way we have trained our minds, we are conditioned in some way, because they are habituated to it.
Break it just for one day n see the difference. Go fasting for a day and see what difference it makes to your ever-hungry stomach. Go take a walk by some place you never dared to go, just to see the difference.
Don't be too lame to follow the herd. Be a man of your own. Challenge these flock-following thoughts or patterns and you could be completely transformed into a new person.
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