Why

I walk in the park and see many people. The faces tell me a story and I like to read these stories. 

The stories are regular features of hate, love, depression, sadness, remorse and the other parts of life. In one of my walks, I sat by a bench and was in my own thoughts when an elderly gentleman came to sit next to me. He was in pain and I could read the story on his face. Duty bound and looking to better the world, I ventured to speak with him.

"Good evening, sir! Isnt this a beautiful place to be"

I dont think he wanted to speak and shared a mute reaction to my statement. I also did not venture further as it was his choice to be on his own and I should respect it.

I sat there on my own realising we are the cause of the why!

Why did this happen to me? Why am I suffering? Why can't good things happen to me? Why am I always the loser?

The "why" in our lives is a place that we are not able to remove./We chose to make ourselves the victim rather than the winner. By questioning our situation at that moment, we forget to understand the universe and it's creation. And since we fail to understand the universe, we fail to understand ourselves.

The question we could be asking ourselves is, why was I born? why did I get to breathe life? why did the sun rise from the east and set in the west? why do plants have veins on their leaves? why do I have veins inside my skin?

Let your mind wander to the nature of truth and realisation. There is a lot, you and I can learn from nature and we can have ourselves associated with such beauty that we would realise how nature forms the part of our universe. In finding the answers to these questions, we will be better equipped to find the answers of life.

No, we do not have to become a sage or a sanyasi or wander off into the jungle to find the answers. All we need to do it take the time in the course of lives to notice people around us, notice the environment around us. See how life builds itself around us. We are part of the universe, there is a reason for our birth and our lives. Find the purpose of your life, and keep asking the why till you have a suitable answer to it.

The pursuit of the Why will bring you to the feet of your problems which you can dust and walk along with a smile.

Remember, all you need to do is ask, "Why?"

Understanding Who am I?

In continuation to my last post of who am I? I have come to realise my true self and my nature. My purpose and my goal.

How did I become so clear in my thoughts and my actions?

There is a way for all of us to understand who we are and why are we here on earth. What was the mission we chose to take when we took birth in the wombs of our mothers. What is the message we are to deliver to the world?

It took me a few years, but I think I managed to get an understanding my simple forms of knowledge and practice being put together and churning out the fog in my head about myself. Also, with a lot of divine help and guidance there was clarity in what I was supposed to do.

I would like to share with you my experience of what I went through to reach the state in which I am:

First Step (Peter Pointer): Change your surroundings
You can never be different unless you have a new place to be in. If the house/ apartment/ flat that you live in has been your place of residence for a long time. You may have to think of moving away from the place. Due to our energy being spoilt in the place we need to move away from the place in order to start the cleansing. As an example: How is the water in a swimming pool filtered. It is sucked away from the main pool, into a filtration system and then pumped back all clean into the pool. The process helps keep the impurities away from the pool and also cleans the pool.

In the same process, we have to detach our selves from the area where we were living with bad energy. Rejuvenate ourselves and when we have strengthened our bodies and our soul, we may make a choice of going back to the same place again to continue with our new found self.

Second Step (Middle Finger): Let go of your status
I don't think i really understood this statement till I actually understood it. To let go of ones status is to let go of all that you do without having the need to sneak back at it ever again. I let go of my status as a smoker and drinker in January 2014. Since then, I have not looked back or uttered a request to have a smoke or drink. It was my mind that helped me change my ways and my status. I am now a non-smoker and dont have any alcohol. Its been 9 months and counting.

Third Step (Ring Finger): Choose new associations.
This is the most difficult of all. We have had friends all our lives and we chose to have them as a part of our lives. In the process we did not know who are the vampires and who are the nightingales. There was no clarity of who is who and how we could understand if the association was a good or bad one.

While cleansing ourselves, we need to associate ourselves with new people. People who will not hold us for our past and make judgement based on our past actions. We need to be associated with people who will make a choice with our present. The same like minded people who are cleansed or undergoing the process of cleansing. This will help us better in our process of cleansing. How? When we are associated with the same thinking people, our confidence of our self and our belief of self increases. The sense of belonging and being able to make a difference rises. We feel whole again.

Forth Step (Little finger/ Twinky): Enjoy your life
Be careful of your finances, there is no friend in the world who would willingly give up their finances for you. You are the controller of your choice. Enjoy life within the means of your ability. If you don't have the finances to buy a product or service of your liking, at the moment. Then forsake it till you get to arrange for it. Do not get trapped by the greed or indulgence in credit card swiping. Learn from your mistakes of the past and make it a present occurrence.

Fifth Step (Thumb): If not of the steps above make any sense, go back to step one and start again. You have missed out something which still needs attention.

These 5 steps can be easily remembered in the fingers of your hand. Keep your understanding of yourself with you and look forward to keep improving yourself without any prejudice to yourself. There is a very little anyone can do for you if You don't want to do anything for yourself.

In getting up after falling, I Trust!

There is something happening in our lives everyday, sometimes we give credit to luck and the other times to destiny. The question that arises in my mind, is whether there was any destiny or any luck involved in the occurences of our lives.

There are instances in our lives when we are regretful of the actions of our past or present and the same actions result in something better happening to us. The act of loosing a friend or a spouse or a job or not doing well in the activity that we were engrossed in for a period of time. The loss of the moment creates a sense of despair in our minds which results in us being depressed and aloof from the world for the given or elongated period of time.

I dont thing this was the way it was meant to be. I have come to realise that the bad events in our life is a wake up call from the Creator/God, instructing us to do what we are here to do. We may be in a wrong profile of work which we have not been created for or we may be in a relationship that was not supposed to exist or we may not be saving a relationship that we were supposed to endure for a life time. The question of why are we here in this world and what is our purpose is made clear with all the bad events in our lives.

So if I am going through a bad phase in life, I think it would be wise to take a step back and instrospect into the reality of my strengths and the colours that need to be put on the painting. Dive deep into the realm of myself and study the creators engineering marvel and that is myself. I was not created to be a looser in any worldly sense. God created me for a better purpose.

For those who are happy in their environment, take time to look for a person who you can put a smile on. PAY IT FORWARD; do the good deed of making the next person happy. Unlike in the movie, do not stop at 3 persons but go forward to make many more lives happy. You never know when the favour will pay it forward, back to you. :)

For those who are in a place of doubt, look within and see the champion that is lying dormant. Awaken the giant and walk into the path of happiness. Remember, not all who are financially rich are happy and not all who are financially poor unhappy. Take your pick from the choice. :)

Tongues of Thorns and Petals

"Why are you getting disturbed with what I have said? It was nothing to get angry about." I didnt realise why would she get angry with me for something as trivial as a statement, " The rice was not cooked properly, maybe next time I should make it".

Have you ever thought of why the person would get disturbed by the words that are being spoken by you. There are times when we really cant understand why people are so sensitive to the words used in our statements.

Last year, we had a case in Mumbai where a political leader passed away due to old age and a couple of girls made a very daunting remark against him on facebook. It was surprising to learn that they were imprisoned and made to endure mental anguish over the comment. The followers of the political leader took it into their stance to ensure the family and relatives of the girls were subject to public humiliation.

Luckily for them, there were high and mighty supporters who supported their freedom of speech and had the case against them revoked. The said party also had the ire of the public when the whole nation was in uproar against the said act.

I am not condoning what the girls did or praising the followers of going the right path. It was a simple statement that should not have had anything more than request to delete the comment. But think from the point of the people who read the comment and made their actions follow. If the comment was not placed in the broad forum, maybe the girls would not have been subjected to the harrowing experience for themselves and their families. Especially in an emotionally charged society as ours.

An example of this isolated case maybe just the tip of the ice berg. There are many such instances that happen in our daily lives that dont lead up to such drastic events that have a dire result. We need to look at our daily lives and the conversations that take place in our homes, offices, malls, shops, road, etc.

More than the listener, I think the person who is saying the words should be careful and not use words that may hurt the sentiment of the other. Not because of what the other person may think, but just as a matter of respect for the individual. 

The other reason for one to be careful with their words is because once it is said, it can never be taken back. The wrong words can and will be held against the person who is saying it. Examples as mentioned above and  our very own politicians who say something in public but later retract their statement. Their excuse is that the media reported it wrongly and was misinterpreted. While their example is not to be followed it is an example to learn from.

A man/woman who says one thing and does another is a person of low value and principles. Such people loose faith and trust very often in their surroundings. In contrary, one who stands by what he/she says and follows it in principle is always worthy of the others trust.

While in college, I had a classmate who would boast of being good in every sport that one would speak of. His boasts were brought to light when there was sporting event and invariably he would hurt himself in the first practise session and would attribute his bad performance to the injury. While we didnt make much of it once or twice, the repeated action and motive of just gaining fame out of his boasts, the truth came to light at a later stage and he was humiliated when he never made the team.

We speak to share our thoughts but we never try to protect the words that are spoken. We fence our houses to be warded off by trespassers, we lock away our valuables to avoid it being stolen. We polish our cars so that it shines in the glorious view of the envious. Why can we not safeguard our words in order for it to be safe from the world and its abuse?

The world is a beautiful place but with people who are there to take advantage of what you say. If we were to churn the thorns from our words and turn them to petals would we not be altruist in our ways. Words of thanks, praise, appreciation, gratitude and honesty are often missed in a conversation.

Would not the world be a better place if we were to share kind words rather than harsh hurting words? If we start the practise at home it will spread its tentacles to the coffers of the office and the other places that we visit. 

Would the anger and hate that exists in individuals not be vanquished when these tongues of petal are not put to use more often? It creates a thought in my mind to why would we not be able to say such words of kindness and avoid the words that bring the confidence of people down or hurt their sentiments.

We then have a road to choose, do we want to use the tongues of thorns or of petals. The outcome is very indicative of what is to be.... It is your choice!

A Planned Coincidence

Has there been an instance which you felt was coincidental to what you were thinking? Or a moment when you thought of something and in due course you received it?

Was it coincidence that you meet an old friend in a restaurant that you are visiting for a first time? Is it coincidence that you meet your spouse when you knew them for years? Is it coincidence when you are working hard on your admission to the best colleges but instead get into a college where you have made the best friends for life?

What is coincidence then? or is it a plan that had been put in place when you were born or even before it? Who created this plan? Who ensured the players comply with the said plan and its success?

Questions of coincidence have long played in most of our minds but we have been avoiding it for a long time. A coincidence happens when you do not know what the future is going to be and when it happens it was just a coincidence. What if you knew the plan and saw the things happening before you; would it still be  termed as coincidence?

I have had an instance where I was longing to call on a friend for a long time and would always think about it but never really did it. And the day I picked up my phone to dial his number, I receive a call from him. And he says, he has been meaning to call you for a while but just did it. To your astonishment it was a call that was meant to happen at a time and place designated for it.

The thoughts in your mind were signals of its occurrences but it would happen only when it was meant to happen. I cannot believe that we as mortals are powerful to create such a plan of motion. I do believe that there is a greater power of strength that is guiding us through the journey called life and in this instance leading us to places that we never did imagine ourselves to be.

Often in times of stress we hear the quotes, "Just as good times dont last forever, bad times will also have a way of passing over." While it sounds motivational, the person going through the stress of bad luck in their lives would understand the situation that is and the future that lies ahead.

Its very disheartening to read in the papers or listen to the news on television when we hear of people ending their lives because of the pressures of society or life itself. Fathers and mothers killing themselves and their off springs to end their misery in this world. Why would people take such actions? Is it their destiny to die a morbid death and not see the rainbow that they were destined for? Did they not try to figure out how to see the light at the end of the tunnel?

The difficulty is in believing that everything happens for a reason and that the almighty power guiding us through this difficult times is also there to help you through it. Why then do people give up their strength in the hope of a better day?

I remember a time in my life when I was on the verge of taking my life and ending the misery but something just happened overnight where I was signaled to fight on, to get up and dust myself and run.  The night that I had thought of going through the dastardly act, a friend came by the house and forced me to join him and his wife for dinner at a local restaurant. I was very reluctant to join them being in the frame of mind to do the unthinkable.  Something inside me said I should go out with them and spend sometime. The evening was filled with memories and laughter, I didnt eat much but I did look around me and the people who entered the restaurant to have their dinner and then I would glance at my friends sitting in front of me. 

The thought, while I was at the restaurant, was of rejoice and breaking through the chains of frustration and sadness. It was like a phoenix of hope was rekindling itself within me and giving me the strength to move on. Its been 5 years since the event happened and today I can proudly say there are no difficulties that I cannot overcome with the light of hope hovering in the prayers and blessings of my near and dear ones.

I remember the day for each moment of my life and do not think it was coincidence for them to have to come at my house on a weekday to save me. It was their and my destiny to be with each other for the time and it was their presence to which I owe my happiness and joy.

I have been subject to many such coincidences in my life and many a times I fail to recognize the plan that is being followed to make me build my foundations of happiness. The times when I did turn a blind eye to it, I would be dejected and frustrated.

When I am alert and aware of the coincidental plans that happen, I see the signs that make me remember the plan that the almighty has in store for me and that I should ready for the good or the bad to come my way based on the circumstances in hand. 

Be aware, of the coincidences in your life. You may never know the plan that has already been put in place for you in the form of this coincidence!!!

When in Time...

There is a time… when you want to rhyme. A day in our lives and we feel the world is a bed of roses the path we take is laden with gems and jewels of all colours, the air we breathe is rich and full. The touch of people is obsolete and the taste of food is exaggerated in our tongues.

I am sure we have had this feeling at some point in our lives. It might have been towards another person, towards an achievement or towards some materialistic pleasure that we were gifted. The point of the matter is the feeling.

Now go to the time when you were completely dejected by a thought, a dream or an event. Can we replicate the same feeling when the world around us crumbles? When the walls of happiness start to fade away and the cracks in the paints are seen? Why do we feel bad and loose hope when the things around us are at its worst?

I have witnessed an elongated event that lasted for about 20 months in my life and the factors that seemed irrelevant in my life started to hit me and hit me hard.

I was subjected to being without employment for a while and in the start it was a welcome break as it had been a while since I had time out for myself and I made the maximum use of my time without a minute spent in wallowing my miseries. The months started to wear on and it had become a year that I was without any employment and the eventuality of getting employment was seeming like a distant reality.

The applications were unanswered or were replied with dejecting responses. Failure had become my bride and the world was not ready to accept me when I was down. The few close friends and well wishers would always say, “Don’t worry, everything will be fine. It will just take some time”. In my mind, I always wondered when will that so called time come for me, it was not that I was not qualified or experienced. I am a post graduate and have a string of certifications attached to my name.

The qualifications at time were the reason why the rejections would happen and sometimes it was a step in to the world beyond. The world of employment! It came to a point when I was dejected and depressed, various thoughts and options entered my mind on how to start earning once again.

I tried to become an entrepreneur but realized getting finances from well wishers or family was a task similar to going to the next galaxy. That bombed! Tried various other options and that too was left with little acceptability, it was a crazy world. All hell had broken loose around me and the feeling was of a looser.

The thoughts of suicide and the reasons of being drowned in alcohol had become eventual. I started to borrow money from the same friends and well wishers who were there to help me. Lies became a way of life. I was deep in debt and no revenue source was visible. I had become an alcoholic. I was in need of being in another world and the real world was disturbing and difficult to deal with. There was a slip in my thinking and there was no other way of living life. I knew I was letting go and had to get myself to get a grip of my life and get a way of living in the real world.

That’s when I remembered the times when life was breeze the good days that were lived and enjoyed. The reasons why the enjoyment had been so much more better than ever. When everyday was lived for the day and the tomorrow was a distance away. The thought of happiness started to creep in me. The memories of yesterday gave me the will to live and fight on. No matter what the world would say and how they would look at it. I had to make a way of seeing the things in my sight and not the worlds.

It took me a week to get out of the so called DEPRESSION and I was back on my feet. With the 19 months gone by, I took it in me that within a month I will get a deserving employment opportunity. And I ventured into the market once again. It took me a week or so to start getting interview calls and within two weeks I was in a soup of choosing between jobs. I was back in the game. The feeling and the attitude changed.

I chose a place where I felt I could be happy and wouldn’t feel like working anymore. I settled in it and now it has been 3 years, I have not worked a day in my employment. I enjoy each day as it comes, the weekends spent in the company of the friends and well-wishers who were there and supported me when I was down and out. The days are beautiful and nights a excellent. Life has its ups and downs but I guarantee that with the right attitude one can make the nights seem like day….

The Malady

I stop and stare

You stop and stare

Only our eyes meet

Its just no greet

For a moment I see

You seem to glee

I look you smile,

I am at a distance a mile

There is no way to break the dare

The world is all just bare

Your eyes are at a smile

If only you were just a while

Its just a thought a wish

a dream, it cant exist

for when I see you again.

This life will be again.

There is a moment and I am in the sky

There she stood and I don’t know why

I was in a freeze if not for the breeze

I kept staring and she was there

I kept staring and watched her go by

She was glimpse a glance

A smile a dance

It was a moment not a while

And she was gone without a dial

When will she be here, When will I hear

Time has no hands, and the days have no nights

For she is the breathe and the chant

That I could never have been mine. 

Die for Diet!

About 3 years ago, I would weigh about 112 kgs and standing at 6’1” I was a ugly shape of a deformed Goliath. Then something thing happened and I was motivated into loosing all the excess fat and managed to shed about 30kgs in a span of 6 – 7 months.

The regime was extreme, with a daily jogging schedule of 6 kms and skippings of about 1500 revolutions. It was a time of pure enthusiasm and the need to achieve this goal. The dream was achieved when my trousers started to fall off and my shirts started to hang on me.

Then came the phase of wanting to shape my body into something more appealing than what I was witnessing in the mirror (not that I had a bad body). So I joined a gym to start on the exercise with weights.

The next year was involved into getting myself into shape. The weights were fun and the time in the gym was more of a socializing event that of exercising but along with the exercise came the greatest test of all. The diet!

I was always a fan of good food and believed that good food should always be tasted and appreciated. Never let go of any opportunity of relishing the food at any point. But for this new need of getting the body into shape I had to forgo many occasions where the very smell of delicious meals would get me on a high and I was not able to cherish the food or get my hearts desire satisfied by enjoying the taste of it.

For more than a year, I subjected myself to bland high protein diet. The worst part of it all was that I barely achieved the desired look and my stomach was as large as it ever was. No matter how hard I pushed the stomach was here to stay.

Now, two years on. I have decided that the dream of a perfect body is far from achievable and I am not going to be part of the eat right regime. I love the fats and I love the foods, I am diving into the cholesterol to fight it head on. So its hello butter, ghee, cheese, pork, beef, fries, roasts, oil and all you loving food that I have missed all this while.

If I could loose 30 kgs in the past, I can definitely do it again…..!!!

11/7, 26/11 - A Powerful Thought with Action

It will be the first anniversary of the 26/11 blasts in Mumbai which rocked the country but are we really disturbed in the country with regards to security? There was such a hue and cry of the security last year that thousands gathered at Gateway of India to commemorate the death of the soldiers and the destruction of peace in a place like Mumbai. The city saw the same clamity in 2006 on 11/7 as well when the trains in the suburbs of Mumbai were bombarded and the loss of lives much greater than that at 26/11. Nothing was done to improve security in the city or the country anymore than what is being done to now. There were so many attacks in each part of this country and our elected supremos are sitting comfortably in their seats without doing anything for the people who got them there. I was discussing with a friend recently of the lack of security and the laid back attitude of people in India as compared to the USA. How the USA made the changes in its security programs and re-grouped with a will to protect its nation from the cockroaches of terror. What I failed to understand was what are we as Indians going to do to make a change to the society that we live in? When is our security going to be more important that the political and bureaucrats? Who is going to stand up to the corrupt politicians and the self indulgent bureaucrats and make them realise that we pay the taxes for our security and not only theirs? Or should we take the easy route of migrating from this country and contributing to the betterment of another society? I have been watching the various talk shows on television and am really surprised at some of the discussions that persist. There are ideas that can change the face of the security in this nation and how we as the proud citizens of India can be safe when travelling anywhere in this country. But at the end of the day thats all that we are capable of doing. We are all talk and no action. How can we stop the brain drain in our society in terms of quality professionals and good governance? I am trying to point out that we had a terrorist attack on our country by foreign players and we need to protect ourselves from such instances in the future. But we need to understand the cause of such occurrences and the instances that will lead to the day that we will have to kiss our loved ones good bye as if every day was the last of our lives. When are we going to recognise the internal terrorists and start our JIHAD against them. There are thousands of farmers committing suicide, thousands of children not getting proper places to stay or food to eat; illiteracy and diseases. So many problems that this one article would be insufficient to make a note of it. When are we going to terminate these Corrupt Internal Terrorists(CIT)? There are so many reasons for us to be proud of our country but when we hear that a leader elected to serve us has embezzeled us for more than Rs.4,000 Crore!!! Is not that enough to remove most of the farmers in debt? Provide shelter, food and education to atleast a million or more children. And then we also have the political leaders helping rejuvenate the East India Company's policy of divide and rule, with Hindu against Muslim, Hindu against Christian, Maharashtrians Vs Indians, etc, etc. Why are we waiting for something to happen? When are we going to realise that there is more to giving and than receiving? To all my debates on how to improve this country I was asked this question, "Who is going to bell the cat?" Who will take the responsibility of having the CITs punished for their crimes? I realised that I wouldnt be the one. WHY? Because I have spent so much of time in my education and would like to lead a decent lifestyle. Buy a house someday, then a luxury car, send my children for an expensive education and then lay down to rest after working my life away. That is the cycle of life for all of us and why should we bother otherwise. The most important part of it all, is that although I have the idea of a better India, I do not have the will to initiate the change and fight the all powerful and mighty CITs. We as a nation have been used to being oppressed and ruled over by foreigners for centuries. But now we are being suppressed by the very people who we have chosen to leads us into a path of success and peace. These very people are the cause of the doom of the country that once was our pride but slowly becoming our shame. But this has to change else we will be like one of the African states in complete chaos; ruled and haunted by terror. It is time we stop watching things pass us by and not turn a blind eye to the CITs. It is time we start to make things happen rather than wait for it to happen. It is time for us to take a stand and be proud of the nation that gave us life and a name to go by. It is time for us to be Indians!!!