Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Live Life Baby Size !!!

Have you seen seen a small baby smiling to the apex of his/her capacity. How do you feel at that moment. Frankly speaking for me, it would be the moment when I just forget everything and observe the sheer simplicity in the smile. I feel good by myself for having seen this simple gesture from a life form so small.

Why, in fact, just the other day, I was brushing my teeth and opposite to my flat was a scene which was quite hilarious. The terrace of the other building had 4 small kittens who were playing with themselves. All were running after each other, mauling and biting over each other, stopping every now and then, and starting all over again. And in between if they happen to discover some noise or a living form, they would jump at that instance and try to figure out the meaning of it. There was this empty Coca-Cola bottle which moved by itself owing to suddent gish of wind and all our 4 detectives were circling around it to discover what it is.

After seeing them, I was wondering that if we happen to see clearly all around nature, we would have ample proof and solutions to our problems. Everything seems to be saying to us as to what is right and how it all should be, how we should be always active, how we should be just inquisitive about everything, and see the bright side of everything, and the dark sides which will always be there, should be forgotten as fast as possible and learn the lessons that come with them....the thing is we should have our ears and eyes open to engulf the real meaning.

Keep your eyes and ears open for there may be countless such instances for us to make us learn the chapters of life. Happy viewing !!!!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Chhuck Chhuck Kartee Railgadee

"All the passengers pay attention. Train No. 3210 is due to arrive at Platform No. 2 at 10:10 AM"....Sounds familiar, right. This is the usual bhavishyavani which reverberates in railway platforms when we are about to travel to distances in chug-chug railways. Of course, nowadays due to the ever-increasing lack of time, we are presented with other alternative, thanks to the Oliver and Wright brother's invention.

For me, travelling in a train, always carried that oomph factor. The excitement and fingers-crossed environment which it carries had been second to none, till date. Right from the time I leave my home, following events consistently unravels itself --- searching for an auto, letting him fly his three-wheeler, coming to the platform, first thing to notice whether the train is on time by seeing on the display board, checking the platform no., going to the destined place where my bogie should ideally come.

And then, when everything is settled comes the great commentary --- "Train No. 3210 is running late by 2 hrs. It is expected to arrive at ...." We take a huge sigh, not sure though whether of relief or no-idea-what-to-do-all-this-time. Youngsters pick up their best friend (mobile) and then call their supposed-to-be-better-half and would be stuck to them. Families would get time to discuss about their hierarchical structure taking each family member's context one by one. Loners would be left with a couple of choices -- either stroll around as if to measure the length and width of the station or take a magazine/book to read.

But after 2 hours and of course, if everything goes well planned, we abode our vahana. First there would be a sudden hue and cry to sit in the alotted seat. And then after that, we would all be settled. Some take the avatars of kumbhakarana....some take the avatars of sorry-limited-stop talkers....some would be the audience, smiling every now and then....of course not to miss the little angels for whom its the play-time.

And not to forget the chai-chai's, bread-omelette's, samosa's, pakoda's, bisleri's, biscuit's, ice-cream's all coming in regular intervals to let us deviate from our avatars. And of course, the Ticket Collector entry to verify our ticket's identity. And then finally, we reach our destination....if we are going for a vacation, we would be full of energy but if we are coming back, we would be thinking "alas...Back to pavilion...".

Somehow this travel machine always carries with it the spontaneity and excitement of life with itself, which never ends and goes on and on and on.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Stay Connected

An old farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavad-gita. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavad-gita just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagavad-gita do?”

The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went outside to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house.

The boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See Grandpa, it’s useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.

“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bhagavad-gita. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out.”

This story really heightens the necessity of keeping ourselves surrounded by layers of good vibes and sources. What I mean to say here is there may not seem any necessity to persist doing the right thing every time but you know what, one day we would realize that all of the righteous things which we did, had made us shine in our endeavours and at that point of time we would be endearing the fruits of our toil and hardship. Stay positive and stay connected to the right things for our own good.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Letting Others Decide Our Reactions

I walked with a friend to the news-stand the other night, and he bought a paper, thanking the owner politely. The owner, however, did not even acknowledge it.

"A sullen fellow, isn't he?" I commented as we walked away.

"Oh, he's that way every night," shrugged my friend.

"Then why do you continue being so polite to him?" I asked.

And my friend replied, "Why should I let him determine how I'm going to act?"

Simple, yet meaningful theory...isn't it? It doesn't matter how others behave to you....what matters is how you behave to others and how you react to them...stay on ground when you are up and when you are down.....and dont let others decide as to how you should react to a situation.....