Wake Up Sid !! Are you reading it Sid?? Really??

Day Monday the 20th of May :

6.00 am.. Buzzzz.
That ray of golden hope rising from earth up into the sky.
Here it comes, radiating from window of Sid's room, with all its shimmer and happiness  to wake him up to a bright new exhilarating moment of Life.
Buzzzned.zzz.Sid Wakes Up. Brushes his teeth.
Gets ready. Fully keyed ,like the mechanical toy lost in that robotic routine of morning.
 Poor radiating ray of sun, specially arriving for Sid goes back.
A heart remains unlightened.

7.30-7.45 am... Horn.
Chirp chirp. Cuhoo. Cuhoo.  That mist in the air. Refreshing. Wow, that smell. That must be jasmine.
The giggles and happy innocence of that small child hopping and jumping around the puddle waiting for his school bus.The smell of that Chai. And garam poha from that busy tapri.
Nature ready to make Sid happy by arousing his  all senses of  listening, seeing,smelling and touch.
But, " that meeting in afternoon. I dont know how boss will react. That stupid junior. Always trying to outsmart me..This job, really sucks. I better get promotion this increment or I am going to switch" Thousands of thoughts busy crossing Sid's mind just like Monday morning traffic .
Very fast and uncontrolled. In that fast traffic, again, a opportunity  to live the moment is missed.
And unaware of it, Sid boards the bus.


11.45 am.
Chilly Corporate atmosphere. That smell, that color, that tak tak. All same. Every day. Every moment. And I spend 1/3rd to 1/2 of my day here. This is so depressing, always same people, same boring faces, not a smile to make anyone happy. Sid sighs.
And Sid sees him. Ohh. Here comes that fellow, always smiling. It feels good to see at least one smiling face in bunch of plain faces. But how the hell can he remain happy and smiling in this depressing atmosphere? They say he missed the promotion this year. But still he is so happy go lucky. Alas! Only if I could think like him or forget bads going around and be happy and contended. But I cant. You know, forget it. Let me complete the worksheet.

5.00 pm.
Suddenly, Sid feels relieved. Gosh.. One day completed again. He feels merry a little. But not long.
He remembers, the deadline for cross country project is approaching. And that he must setup meeting with clients soon , otherwise it will add latency. .And ohh. that plumbing work pending..Shit. When the hell will I get time to  do incomplete work at home.And I was dreaming to create a little garden in balcony..I do not get time to spend with my kiddo.. and I am dreaming of garden.and bla bla.. the cycle starts again. Here comes the Bus. The robot enters bus and Sid, all lost in his own world again.

7.30pm
"Ohh, I must make him a cup of Tea, he always loves that. May be I should make fritters. He will be little happy. And kiddo.. he is waiting for dad to come, he won in that drawing competition today. he will be happy.. Ohh, and how nice it will be if he notices the new flower arrangement I made today.
Hope he likes it." - Sid's wife.
Sid enters home. Here comes cup of sizzling hot tea. Wow! Refreshing he thinks. The home is smelling too good today.Seems some change in home. May be curtain. May be flowers.  He can hear that tempering in kitchen, as he does daily. TV switched on. Ohh.. India lost that match again?  Here comes my darling. Ohh. won a competition .good ..good..May be I should come home early, and play with him a little. He is so happy to see me.. But, but.. I cannot afford wasting time. I need to  check mail,see if client has responded, so I can be ready for tomorrow. If that presentation is not sent by 9 pm, boss is definitely gonna screw my promotion. Here goes Sid to laptop.

And the people around Sid, trying to feel the happiness in his company are sad again.


9.40 pm
Dinner Done. It was delicious. Rumi cooks really good.Well, I should tell her how well she cooks. But why tell her. She already knows from how I eat everything licking my fingers. Let go. I must sleep now.
Again a big day ahead. Ohh. I am really tired of all this routine. It really sucks , doing same things again and again. feels like robot. But what else to do? I cannot change my routine!! Lucky are those people who can do what they wish to do. and are not bounded by any routine.. I wish I could be so lucky to do things that I like,and  that  I am surrounded by people and things that will brighten up my life.
Alas ! I am a common man, earning hard to live so that I can retire happily and pursue my passions and be surrounded by good happy people and things. God. Why this to me???

This is not fair. But, it is the way life works.And we can do nothing to change it.So, lets work hard, do some good saving. At 45, I am going to retire, put up my own restaurant. Go trekking, do some gardening. Spend time with my kiddo, and do all the things I love. Till then , I have to do this. No choice.
Sid sleeps off.

And the stars and moon, trying to make a meager try to free up Sid from everyday worries,  yet failed again today.


Sids story. Pretty much sums what happens to us daily right? Same daily boring routine, the world outside, the atmosphere, the worldly worries,ambitions, dreams, so much to accomplish and comprehend, we get so much exhausted in the cocoon of our problems and rat race to reach the destination  that we  cannot see those little joys, beauties and thrilling moments just this very moment happening around us.

There is a notion in the world,  taught to us from her childhood : that life is a very serious thing. In order to be happy, you need to work very hard. You need to make sacrifices, that you should be serious, play little, have less fun ,so that you get more time to work hard. Then you will achieve your ambition. And once you achieve , become successful (which is often measured in terms of money and status), then it is assumed that we are happy.
But you know , the years proceed, you keep working harder and harder , bringing in all worldly things like a smart tv, s4, mercedes , beach home , supposedly to make you happy. But, not long after intial joy, you will start craving for something more to bring real happiness to self.. And you start working harder to bring in more.. And ultimately, you are not satisfied.. not happy., coz You have beach home, but no time to have sun bath. A room full of toys for that kiddo, but hardly aware of what happened at his school today.

So, what if after that all hard work, we are not there to enjoy the fruits of gain??  Then what is the worth of that life? ? Forget world, forget society, forget family, What is the worth of your struggle if you  are not able to make yourself happy?

It will seem like, ohh, are you saying stop making ambitions? stop achieving?? No, no. Dont get me wrong.
Its not about leaving your ambitions or dreams. Dreams are what give the energy to live. They are hope for future, which makes our stay in this world better. Without them we will be animals just like other animals.

So, dreams are essential. But,  the way that we are taught to achieve dreams is not correct.
It is not right to sacrifice little joys of life, that little fun, that play. Its totally wrong, to blind our self from beauty of current moment in order to make some random moment in future beautiful and memorable.
Well, strive to make moment in future beautiful, but do not forget to enjoy beauty of current moment. Coz, you dont even know, if the moment you are trying to make in future, is really there in your future or not and the beauty of this moment once gone is gone. It will never come back.  So dont let  away moments just like that in search of that perfect moment.

You will say, well sometimes I try to look around for inspirations. For some fun moments. But you know ,when we do try to look around, we see only wars, terrorisms, inflations, corruptions, jealousies, competition rat race, depressions and all the bad things surrounding us , So I  feel like its better to remain in cocoon and concentrate on self  rather than enduring and thinking about more atrocities.

 They say, as people see the world, so they behave.So, If people see the world, in such a way that life sucks,then their behaviour will follow automatically from that.
So, when you look from lens of  negative emotions, you will find and automatically notice all bad things happening around. Just like Sid.
Have you seen that ad of sunshine wali asha? It says the same. Its the way you choose to see the world.

So, Imagine Sid noticing that ray of golden light or those aromas and gigglings or that happiness on face of his kiddo for winnning. He would have felt so much better. and may be looking at smiling face of his happy go lucky collegue , he would have remembered that he too  is a face in herd of serious faces. and that if he smiles, he will make some one feel a little up just like his collegue's smiling face did to him..Imagine that moment when someone came to you saying, heyy thanks a lot. that day because of what you did, I was able to achieve that thing. And that moment , dont we feel good? good that we were useful to someone, and it meant a lot to that person even though what we did was not adding any good to us?Like helping that old autny cross a road?
But if that person never told you, how much your help meant to that person, would you have been able to enjoy that pure joy of being useful? So .. why not tell the people who had really helped you , that you really appreciated their help? why not tell your spouse that how much it means to you that he/she supports  you? why not let that friend know , how much it meant to you he giving you that car when you really needed?or like Sid appreciating his happy go lucky collegue for his smiling face which makes him feel little bright in boring office atmosphere?
And you know, the effect is cacading. Once you start noticing and appreciating good things around you, you will find more and more of them. And suddenly, world starts seeming a much bright and happy place.

So,  Routine.. needs to be followed .. True.. very true.. but small small changes will make you
feel up.. Take a different route to office.. Get up early someday.. and spend 10 minutes watching sun rise with a hot sipping tea. Watch those birds chirp. And yes.. you will  be able notice the beauty even through window of Chawl of crowded mumbai.. if you desire to feel it from inside..
Someday, bring in some fresh flowers on your office desk.. Feel its radiating beauty.
Just take a day off.. and go.. and admire nearest creek.Read that long desired book. For a change when you go home, take a chocolate or ice cream with you and surprise your spouse.
Suddenly, when you feel Go and cuddle mom or dad.. just like that.. See how the spirits are uplifted..
Listen brightening music. happy songs.. that will boost you.. play games.. physical if possible.. have you ever noticed .. that whenever we are playing .. automatically we are smiling .. laughing.. thats because playing makes you feel good from in because naturally our body is designed for playing .
Hang on with buddies. Play those little non harming pranks , make someone laugh. Do try some weird things. Try and do something out of the box. Do things you dont do because you sometime in childhood you failed at it. Do things which seem childish, but give you immense pleasure and happiness. So, you really liked playing hide and seek? Gather friends one weekend and play hide and seek with buddies. See how much immense pleasure it gives you..

Try it.when you feel happy, you will start feeling better and optimistic. And guess what, the once you start feeling happy and positive from inside, you will suddenly start finding solutions to so many problems bugging you. And you will find that office politics or that plan of collegue to outsmart you , no longer matters you or bugs you anymore. In fact, such thoughts, will start becoming a rare occurance.

So, all in all, What I am  trying to say is, the secret to make happy life is not achieving something significant, but to open our vision to simple beauties and pleasures of every single moment that comes in path of trying to achieve that something big.

So, Wake up Sid !! Are you reading it Sid?? Really??

Do you want to be a river and child?

You  want to be a river and child?
Weird?? Whats it to be a river? and what is this child thing to do with me??
Wait up. We will come to that.

But firstly, Rivers in the world..  Niles,Ganga or Amazon ..the great rivers. But what makes them as great ? Their vastness probably? And what makes them vast? Think think.. Yes, you said it correct. its the smallest tributaries , streams that join the mainstreams from time to time at various points. The tributaries that bring in along with them different flora,fauna.. and silt.. that makes it richer..
Now analog our mind to a river. It has main stream of thoughts based on our beliefs, faith, culture, teachings from parents and society. Now it can be a river or a poodle.. Difference in two? and how to find out? you will know shortly ;)

Have you seen a poodle? Its stagnant. So what happens is, after some days, it just starts stinking.
Our mind is full of thoughts.Ideas.But,  If there are no new thoughts, new perspectives of looking at a thought/incident/event/object/ person.. then more than often thought process will become a viscious cycle.No matter what the incident , problem or event .. you will end up thinking in the same way for each thing.
 So basically,  mind without those new thoughts will be stagnant poodle which may stink after some time.
Which probably is a big problem, coz being stagnant , is being stinky and rigid..And believe me .. being so rigid is not good at all. That sad colleague of you.. always talking about how things arent good.. You dont feel like going in that person's company. It makes you feel pessimist. You avoid him right? why? coz he is being rigid.. stuck to thought that all's not well. and he cannot break it..So dont be that collegue..And  Darwin has already said it. Survival of the fittest...  So,Learn...Adapt..Change.Be flexible. And not just once. Do it continuosly. Till end of your days.

Now, not wanting to be a poodle, how can our mind become a flowing river?
To become a river you need to have a thought process which just flows.. its not restricted..
 Eg? you know that puzzle? there is a line drawn on sand. and your task is to make it big without touching it in any form.  Puzzzled??? Well, draw another line in the sand which is smaller than current line.. The designated line becomes automatically bigger .. easy solution.. isnt it? but you will get such out of box solutions only if your thoughts are not rigidly bound to thinking in same way. And how can you change this thinking?
Its in finding the the tributaries that will join your river and make it rich and great.
Now where in the world can you find such tributaries??

Well,  they are all around you already.. ready and bustling to join you. Only you need to allow them to join you.. Really? Then how do we dont know them? See.. same rigid thoughts. You must be thinking, if it was so simple, all people would have mastered it already.Again the same rigid thinking pattern.
 Its because you think so rigidly, you dont see what lies out of the box.

If you start looking out of the box, you will find numerous of them..Actually, they are not in specific forms.. They may be In form of  a good movie, a documentary.. in form of arts. in form of books.. in form of internet..form of good movies...in form of  some inspring person.. or an incident.. sayings of Grandma... the old folk song.... or any way you never imagined..

Well well, so go - find them !!!  reading a book ,or go for a art concert. try painting, drawing.. try composing .. try listening music, try stitching.. try cooking.. try playing badminton.. or golf.. visit different places.. understand different cultures..read some good articles on any random subject right from micro biology to astraunaut...understand, how successful people think or how unsuccessful people think..there are so many.. did you know that there is a profession in world called FRUIT HUNTER?? and that there are 45 thousand different types of fruits in this world?.there are so many amazing things around just happening this very moment... Once you open up your minds to these tributaries.. you will find more and more .. and way to access some more.. Yes people may call you jack of all trades , master of none. But it does not matter.
Coz.. every skill, every thought, every article is making you a skilled and thoughful , out of box person :)

So, you allow these thought tributaries in your brain.. and you will find your mainstream thoughts reviving and bustling with energy just like that, breaking of that vicious cycle of repeated thought pattern...
Now next thing, you started allowing tributaries by starting to do different things. But do not limit the tributaries. Now, What do I mean by that?
Let me take an eg . Suppose you like  reading books. But you will be like, you know.. I like reading only marathi literature.. or i like only fictions..  But that will be like saying .. hey only the tributaries from plains can join me,.. the tributaries from rockies.. I dont like you.. Its a grave grave mistake.
Do not.. do not at any cost limit yourself to particular things. Keep on finding and doing new things.

Sometimes you will be extremely tied up with responsibilities or work. And you may not find time to do things you started or may be those things are time consuming in hectic schedule.. Then what to do? well...Keep exploring. yes.. find out something(s) which will take less time or can fit the schedule and let the flow go on :) And guess what.. once you taste the fruits of being liberated, you will start finding your own ways and time in out of box ways ;)

They say.. sometimes we ourselves dont know what we want deep down.. and you will agree this. Sometimes you may feel, i really dont know what makes me happy.. May be exploring continually will one day perhaps let you find what you really LOVE doing.. what makes you really HAPPY..
So..nothing you do or see or read or experience is worthless..  Now you will say heyy.. but i may be dragged towards a thought cycle or thing. and i may start becoming more like it..

But See, mainstream of Nile chooses its own path.. it does not flow towards its tributaries..
Same is with your central mind.. What you read or gather will  teach you. and help you find your way. Even if you feel you are stuck in something, if you continue exploring new ideas.. some day you will get out of that pattern...All in all it adds to you making you more  authentic yourself..build your persona. So, if you explore and you find..wow trekking makes me happy.. Great !! Good..
Then you do it more often, master it (may be after all you will not be called jack of all trades,master of none).. But even after mastering a thing, do not limit yourself to that. Go further. find new limits.
do not stop exploring new things ..

There is so much to learnt and explored in this world..  and life is too small ..
And you know what, when you start doing .. you will find yourself liberated.. Liberated of ugly thoughts, jealousies, sadness, depressions.. negations..

One last bit. Be a child.You may say shut up. We are grown ups. already come of that way..But believe me. its not at all easy being a child.. Look at a child.. Its full of enthusiasm.. full of energy.. ready from moment it wakes up till moment it goes to sleep.. Trying to explore simplest of the things.. and learning from it.. gathering knowledge..like how ball falls.. what happens when we touch a soft toy or hot pan..Its so curious and ready to learn every single moment. And we all at some point of time  were same. Same curious, same enthusiasts..Alas! could we have been like that for entire life.. I dont know, when such creative process stops.. but.. atleast we may attempt ourselves to be more like child again :)

So..I ask you now.. You want to be a river and child?

Margaret Thatcher - A thought - A Power !

Today was the day of  Iron Lady - Margaret Thatcher !
Movie was wonderful.. so was marvelous her persona .. so powerful.. such crystal clear thinking ,her staunch beliefs... and her inner strength to stand and endure for results of her decisions ..

Wow.. Truly an Iron Lady..
I am not here trying to make any statements regarding her political career or decisions made.. I was
just amazed and truly inspired by the enigma of this woman, who in such a conservative society not only stood , but firmly rooted and fought all the allegations, on what a WOMAN can be, how powerful and strengthened she can be, inspite of being a common man grocer's daughter.

Looking at pressures and situations around her, it was easy to succumb to the pressures, but she stood against all the odds, and stood firmly and beheld her belief .

It teaches us something. Stand by what you believe. Not always will you triumph.. But surely, you will be happy that you atleast were true to self and thats the biggest triumph !

Some of her provoking thoughts really needed by us,(especially women - who are trying to give 100% on each front of life, trying to be perfect - be perfect wife, perfect mother, perfect professional , perfect home maker all at the same time. If you try to achieve perfect balance on all fronts (believe me, if you are able.. then you are GOD), you will find yourself stretched, exhausted ..beating head against the mountain.. and yet .. some front or the other will blame you for not doing job properly.

So, decide your own priority. The things that you are really passionate about . And give 100% there.
Its not to say that leave other responsibilities, you will still need to carry them out, but do not exhaust your energies on being perfect..If sometimes, you dont cook or cook only one dish its fine..
Or if you dont get Best apprisal its fine.. dont run. Just do what you believe in. And take your stand.
You will be opposed, baffled.. but unless you take a clear stand.. you will reach no where.

Just like Margaret Thatcher said :
- If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.

So wake up ! Make up your minds. be strong. Not being able to decide which saree to choose , or which earring to wear is just a sign how unstable our thoughts are..

- Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.

May be choosing saree is an insignificant and non impacting decision for world. But for you, making that decision right in moment and sticking to it , is a big triumph remember. If you inculcate this habit, I am sure one day you will be able to take big decisions with ease and will be able to stand the consequences of it with all its strength. And believe me you wont regret.

-Watch your thought, it becomes word. Watch your word and it becomes action.

Watch your action and it becomes habit. Watch your habits and it becomes you.

WHAT YOU THINK, YOU BECOME. 

Every small decision , however insignificant will slowly build and shape you to who you are.

So beware, watch your thoughts. 

I conclude, with her thought below : which sums what I am trying to say :

-Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.
   

Happiness??

A wonderful short story :: How Can We Be Happy? (Must Read)

Once a group of 50 people was attending a seminar.
Suddenly the speaker stopped and decided to do a group activity. He started giving each one a balloon. Each one was asked to write his/her name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room.

Now these delegates were let in that room and asked to find the balloon which had their name written, within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for their name, colliding with each other, pushing around others and there was utter chaos.

At the end of 5 minutes no one could find their own balloon.
Now each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it.
Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

The speaker began— exactly this is happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is.

Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their happiness; you will get your own happiness.
And this is the purpose of human life.

Is this not what you are looking for?

- A post from WhatsUp :)

After the Break !

Four Years after last post on this blog of mine..
Actually.. Change is only constant they say... So, I thought I had moved on.. and  this blog was a past thing. And here I am again, back to it again after 4 long years. In todays world, 4 years is a long long period.

It takes hardly a moment to change view of world .. and we are surrounded by so much information today, all the expert opinions, media and all sort of advices thanks to technology and internet that it is very easy to be influenced by constant bombardment of views.

So, today when I look back to 2009, when I started this blog .. my motive and thihing, thinking was very simple. To write about what I think .. about anything.. right from slippers fashion to spiritual enigma.. Anything , any thought I feel like writing. But being a naive simple girl with few experiences in life, I thought Life was beautiful. Life is a miracle. Hence , the name of the blog.

But five years later, I am still naive. But simple? I dont know. I have had my share of different experiences. Many good and not so good things have happened in this timeframe. It may seem ridiculous , but I think my thinking has grown(compared to 5 years back), I am a bit matured in my thoughts (this is what my perception is atleast )   than I used to be 5 years ago. I have changed opinions on many things.

  But stilll I was amazed that, My basic thinking.. about Life hasnt still changed. I read a lot. Different authors, articles etc. They have such detailed study of life and its various aspects , the authors, their words, their thoughts, actions are so so powerful. They surely influence the thought process, increase breadth of views of looking at life, experiencing life from different perspectives.. But at the base.. the thought .. the root still remains the same.

Life is a miracle.. I still believe its miracle.. And I am thankful to God, that he has considered me worthy of
such a worthy gift.  I wish you all do too..
And to continue this faith and belief, I am starting back again. Whatever I feel is worth sharing -may be article by that author  or may be my cents on those thoughts or maybe just a random topic I feel like worth sharing, i will surely do..

And hope , it will help in adding 0.00001% into positivity.. towards a "MIRCALE CALLED LIFE !!"

sunder he jag maza

sunder he jag maza,,,
gadbadi cha.. dhandlicha,,
aaramat pahudlelya sakalcha..
masti chya sandhyakalcha..
damlelya ratricha..
hotel madhlya jevnacha..
garam waran bhatacha..
weekend chya susticha
monday chya blues cha..

chotya ruswya fugwyancha..
chotya chotya anandancha..
itkulya dukhacha..
dhaga evdya sukhacha..

adhir mahinyachya pagaricha
shant mahinyachya shewtalcha
devawarchya shraddhecha
swapnatlya raksha sancha..

sunder he jag maza..
devane dilela.. bhar bharun jagaycha..
hasat khelat ghalwaycha...

Dont Quit!

Again a poem by anonymous.. But good one :)

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.

"Don't Quit,"