Dor aur Patang !

Tum ho ek azaad udti hui patang aur main hoon tumko thamne ki koshish karti hui ek dor,
Ehsaas nahi iss baat ka ki hum miley kaise thhey aur jaa rahey hain kis oor!
Pata nahi kisne kab banndh diya humein aur maine pakad liya tumhara sang,
Yeh shayad iss liye hua ki main tumhare sang udd sakoon aur dekh sakoon aasman ke kai rang!
Abhi yeh aasman khula hai aur hawa beh rahi hai, udo jitna ud sako aur lehrao jitna lehra sako.
Jitni oonchi tumhari udan hogi, utni hi meri bhi hogi, aur main bhi utna hi lehraooounga jitna tum lehraogi!
Naa tez hawa ka hai dar naa shaant hawa mein tum aur main beasar
ab udd hi chale hain toh hain toh ho gaye hain sahi galat se bekhabar!
Jab tumhare saath udta jaata hoon toh apni uljhanon ko suljha hua pata hoon
jitna kheechogi mujhe main khincha chala aaounga
rokunga na udne se kabhi tumko par saath hamesha nibhaoounga
tumhari udaan hi mein meri udaan hai
jab tak hum udenge tab tak hi mujhmein jaan hai!
iss khule aasman mein kismat humein naa jaane kitne pench ladwaegi
aakhir in palon mein hi toh kismat mujhe aazmaegi
thaame rakhoonga tumhein tab tak jab tak mujhe koi kaat nahi deta  ya tum mujhe chhod nahi deti!
tab reh jaogi tum bina dor ki patang si aur main dor ek kati patang sa berang!
Main tumko thaamne ki zurrat karti hui dor aur tum mujhe suljhaati hui patang!

Same Hour-Same Minutes !

20:20. This is not about cricket here. It is the time that I just saw in my cell phone. And I have been seeing this same hour and same minutes (for eg: 20:20, 21:21, 23:23, 10:10, 9:9, 22:22 and even 0:0) this since when? December, 2011? Oh yes! I guess since December, 2011 only. I dont know what is the indication,  what is the reason for this and what will be the consequences of this. And I dunno till when I shall continue to see this. Let us see what happens.

P.S.- Coincidently when I picked up my cell phone while publishing this post, the time was 0:00. Now that is really weird. I am haunted.

A Fool Only!!

Dear Blog,

This post was written the next day I met robin and somehow I forgot to post it. Anyways, here it goes:


I have made a very good observation in life which I have already shared with you all sometime back. It is that whenever you have a question about anything in your mind, you get the answer from the surroundings very soon without even asking any human being for a reply. Surroundings include people and media. So like you all know that I had a question in my mind that whether I was myself or was a fool?? (see last post). I got the answer from the surroundings. Today I had gone for our football practise sessions and when it got over and I was coming back from the filed, guess what do I see? I see our gentleman Robin in same clothes but slippers too walking towards me (ofcouse he did not realise that I was there on the foothpath). And then we saw each other. The man had guts to tell me that the amount of Rs. 650/- that I gave him was not sufficient for going to Goa (Non-AC buses to Goa have a fare of Rs 250 only) and that he found someone with whom he was planning to share a cab. The moment I saw him in the foothpath, I got the answer that I was a fool and he was a cheat. May be someone in my place would have slapped or at least abused him for cheating and saying a blatant lie. He had guts to tell me that he will give me a call. But I do not think I can  ever do that. Beating him up wouldnt have changed anything. He has to be accepted as a Trickster and I, as a Fool.

A FOOL AND ROBIN

Robin is the name of the person I met today on my way to the Bombay (soon going to be Mumbai) High Court. I must be meeting quite a few people in a day but this small story needs a specific mentioning here in this blog because I intend to know sometime in my future that whether I am myself or I am a fool. I am not confused but I need to know whether I should be what I am, or do I need to change.

When I left from office today, I thought I was already late for an appearance before the Prothonotary. But then when you are running late, then everything else has to fall apart. So, on my way I am stopped by a lean guy wearing a brown nike cap and a black t-shirt having a message that “I do not work here, I just a consultant”. He asked me (in a very good british accent), “Are you a lawyer?”. I looked at him and told myself “don’t I look like one having wearing the black jacket, white shirt and the band?”. But then I told him yes I am a lawyer. Then very hesitantly he asked me if I knew the address of tourism bureau. He then explained that he is looking for a tourism bureau like they have it in England (I do not know if they actually have it) through which he can ask his brother to wire some money. I said you have western union money transfer and all but there is no state agency through which you could do that. Later on he told me that he too was a solicitor and was robbed yesterday by a bunch of guys who tried selling “Hashish” to him and took away his wallet, passport and every other thing he was carrying. I first thought if the man thought I was a fool and would believe in his story. But if he thought so, then he may not be wrong. I asked him how could I help? To which he said if I could message his brother Kevin that he was in trouble and if kevin could wire some money for travelling to Goa by bus (I do not know to which account) and that he would call him later from some other number. And then he told me his name –ROBIN. I messaged his brother and wrote down my number in a slip for him to contact me later to find out if his brother had replied. Then I rushed for the court, attended the matter and came back. His brother did not reply.

 At 2:30, I got a call from unknown number and it was Robin. He asked me he could call his brother from my mobile if I could help him in getting money through western union money transfer as he did not have any identification proof. I gave him my office address and asked him to come. In the mean while I thought that the man is really in need and I should help him atleast by buying him a ticket for Goa. I searched and found details. When he came, we tried calling his brother who, he said, was a forensic scientist. His brother disconnected the call. Then I told him, “Look Robin, I believe that you are genuinely and I need and so I will help you. I told him that either I could give him cash or book a ticket for him. He said he was good with anything. I then decided to give him 600 bucks cash and plus 50 bucks extra if he needed to make a call or use internet from somewhere. He asked me if he could make arrangement for returning money to me tomorrow. I bluntly told him that I do not care about money and that it was important for him to reach his friends/folks at Goa. He thanked me and once again told me that he shall arrange for returning money to me tomorrow. And then he left.

This may not be a very interesting story. I know 9/10 people would not have believed Robin. I know I may be (am) a fool. A very big fool who can be fooled very easily. I can buy any story or even silliest of arguments. And the best thing is that I and always conscious and realise when I am being fooled by someone. I always find out when someone is lying to me. But still I do not confront the person. In case of Robin, I knew there was a huge possibility that Robin would be lying that. I had no reason to believe him. But then I thought what if the man was really in need? I would prefer losing 600 bucks to a liar than not helping someone badly in need. I do not know where Robin is and if he is really on a bus to Goa. He may have lied to me. Those 600 bucks may neither make him rich nor make me poor. If he lied to me then he would be rolling a joint somewhere, but will be happy. And irrespective of then fact if he was lying or not, I am at least satisfied. I am waiting for tomorrow to find out whether I am a fool or I am myself. That whether should I change, or be myself !

August !!

All is well here ! I have been more careless than busy for not writing for almost two months. I havent even taken a vacation this year till now. I havent done so many things. But I have a solid reason for not writing a post for two months and which is that I thought I will give all you some news about me shifting to another city. But that is not happening anytime soon, so I thought I shouldnt keep on breaking my promise and write back before this month ends. I have a couple of stories to write about. One of them I narrated in School and another similar one which I read somewhere recently. But that is not happening today. May be as soon as I get some more time (as I am writing this post from office and I believe its a crime if you do not justify your pay and pass your time in office).

Okay ! Updates n information now.....

• I have bought a Digital Single-Lens Reflex Camera (Canon- 600 D) and have been trying random stuff in random settings. It makes a person switching from the traditional camera to a real SLR camera that how personalized and detailed a picture can be. If you have a taste and vision for clicking good picture with more details, then surely buy a DSLR camera whenever you have some extra money lying in your account. But on tours, if you strictly believe in living in present and admiring the beauty of a place than capturing it in your camera, then a DSLR would be a liability rather than being an asset for you. And you will have to be extra careful while handling this.

• We have shifted to a new rented flat this month which is smaller, less airy but cozy.

• I am going to visit Bhopal on Rakhi and will be flaying to Delhi from Indore on August 16;

• I have booked a car but there is some waiting period. This is that phase of life where most of the things that we do are the "First Time Things on your Own". This is one of them. And an emotioanl person like me shouldnt get emotional, attached and obsessed about these things (Like Subodh in DCH).

• A trip to Lakdakh-Leh is on cards from Sept 3 to 9, 2011. Damn excited about it. Am going to switch off my mobile during this trip and enjoy it to the fullest.

• I joined a gymn after realizing that some of my muscles got degenerated. However, it continued for a period of three weeks and then I realized a couple of hour extra sleep in the morning is better than going to gymn if you are draining your brains out the entire day in office.

• An article says that Intelligence is in genes. And which means that if i wish that my kids be good in maths, I may have to marry a woman who is brilliant in maths coz I badly suck in higher standard mathematics. One day I was trying to add two different fractions and i had to stress upon my memory to recall how do you add two fractions. It becomes difficult if figures are like for eg. 31/831 + 43/1457. I was stumped and i googled to confirm if the method i recalled was the correct one.

• I have filed IT return for the third time and my feeling that "why should we pay tax to such a corrupt government" is becoming stronger.

• I have a stong feeling that notion of patriotism is fading day by day. A food for your thought - What makes us Patriotic? Is it only Cricket/Sports/Oscars ???? Thats it? Since the scenario in this country has become so adverse, I have to count the number of reasons that why am I living/want to live in this Country.

• Football season is going to start soon. I am damn excited about it. I will dedicate one full post explaining why I support Liverpool FC. People who dont knowabout/or like football can never understand it.

• Despite of dismal performance in England. I have full faith in M S Dhoni and the Indian Cricket team. Just that we need R. Ashwin,Pujara and Kohli in team very badly. I see shadow of Anil Kumble in R. Ashwin and yeh overseas matches Bhajji ke bas ki baat nahi hai.

•  I am back on facebook. And there is a reason for that. However not so active. Still prefer twitter. And a friend of mine has logged my phone on whatsapp as well. Still figuring out how to use it. I preferred being in my own world and blogging to write my mind, being away from facebook and chats and other similar stuff, being detached than being too much in touch. Let us see how long this lasts.

Thats it for today. Shall see you all again soon. Take Care till then and live your life to the fullest. Life changes its colour and character in seconds and the time you are spending now is never going to come back soon. Make yourself appoachable and helping.

Samay aur Taqdeer

These two shers from movie sajan describe samay and taqdeer so well and they compliment each other even better. Sometimes you come across shers which fit exactly into the situation of your life. My life too is revolving around these two:

Falak Ke Teer Ka Kya Nishana Tha
Idhar Mera Ghar, Udhar Uska Aaashiyana Tha
Puhunch Rahi Thi Kinare Pe Kashti-E-Umeed
Usi Waqt Is Tofaan Ko Bhi Yahaan Aana Tha

Taqdeer banane wale tu ne kami na ki, kab  kisi ko kya mila yeh toh muqaddar ki baat hai !!

My friends, waqt se pehle aur kismat  se jyada naa kisiko mila hai aur naa kisiko milega.

Meaningful things in life !!!

I have a question for all of you that what are meaningful things in life?? And this question itself generates so many other relevant questions like what is purpose of your life? What is the real truth behind our lives??? So many people have, in their own words, given answers to these questions and they seem to be very convincing too. All those who think a lot about their lives must have, at some point of time, thought that Is what they are doing is a meaningful thing??? You may find nothing new in what I am going to write. It’s a caveat before you read this further.

I will start with discussing about a close friend of mine. He is hereinafter regerred to as "X". X is a kind hearted person and is really a nice human being. He believes in realtionships, respects them and cares about his loved ones and those who love him. X is a man of his words, very hard working and dependable. And by god’s grace, his luck and hard-work, he is very well placed in life at the moment. X is working at “his type” of place, with a lot freedom in terms of work and is earning well too. But he did not land up in this place because he badly wanted but because of his destiny. In fact, he says that he is in his profession not because he wanted to, but because he simply went with the flow in life. He sincerely believes that he is moving in life with the flow of life but not with any big ambition in his mind about being superb, excellent or at the top. However he has a target in life. He told me that his life is going pretty smoothly with a good job in hand and without any fear or risk of any sort and that he is kind of satisfied with the way the things have shaped up so far and are happening in his life.

But as you know, life isnt simple. Its damn complicated. A man is not satisfied by what he has. But he is satisfied by having what he wants. Rest is a compromise and his bad luck that he couldnt get what he wanted.

One day, X mentioned to me that he keeps asking himself if this is the ultimate satisfaction??? He told me that his own self answers in negativ to this and says that things happening in your life may be good and must be giving a lot of comfort, but they are not meaningful things in life. X says that he has made his parents, friends and everyone around proud so far. He does things to make everyone happy. He always wants to help people and thus believes that his satisfaction lies in helping people and thus wants to leave his “golden” job. On this, I told  X that he can help people even by continuing in his present job. But he convincingly reasoned that he wants to focus only on one thing and when you do multitasking, you are not focussed and your jobs aren’t done with perfection. I believe he is right when he says so. Surely if X quits his job, he will not have any source of a good income. So he will have to deal with that and manage it somehow. Secondly, X's parents want him to get married in 2-3 years or so. He doesn’t want to get married until he is prepared for it and even if the marriage is forced on him, he will not be able to provide a luxurious life to his spouse or kids. On one hand, he presently has a good secured life and on the other hand he wants a satisfied but risky and uncertain life. Any sane person would say X would be insane to quit is present job. But then such is life. We crave for things/person who are not with us. We take for granted and do not value things/people that we have. But this is not the point of concern in this blog. Issue still remains what are meaningful things in life. Let us take a break from X’s life and focus on our lives.

I have some questions for myself and all of you. Please ask youself that when you were born and were crying, were you doing any meaningful thing in life? Or when you started going to School, were you doing any meaningful thing in life??? (I would also say yes but let us still examine). Then when you learned and developed the skills of playing sports or the art of debating or painting or singing, were you doing any meaningful thing in life? When you liked a girl and subsequently had a relationship, were you doing any meaningful thing in life?? When you broke up and went on a drinking spree, were you doing a meaningful thing in life? When you chose the stream of a particular subject in school to proceed with, were you doing a meaningful thing in life? Or when you started consuming alcohol and drugs, were you doing meaningful things in life?? Then when instead of attending lectures, you preferred bunking and going on bike rides or playing cricket, were you doing meaningful things in life? When you loved a girl who did/could reciprocate or love you back or did not want you, were you doing a meaningful thing in life? Or when you are sleeping for extra long hours, are you doing any meaningful things in life??? There is a never-ending list of such questions.

You may have answered in either yes or no but the common feature is only one awnd which is that at all these times, you were living your life the way you wanted to and were beahving naturally. We spend alot of things in our life without even thinking if these are meaningful things. And our life is a sum of such small things. The way of doing each and everything defines your approach towards life and it also affects the way you live your life.

Therefore, I suggested X that no matter what he chooses to do in life, he will be living his life the way he wants to. If he stays back in his job, he will be a happy, secured and a content guy. Ek din uske paas gaadi aayegi, phir ghar aayega aur phir ek din biwi aur baad mein bachhey. Wah Suneel Babu ! Badhiya hai.  But if he leaves his job, then shayd hi gaadi aayegi, shayad hi ghar aayega aur aise nikamme nakaare se shaadi kaun karega???? But then he will be able to succeed in his objective of helping people. He will be the most satisfied then. What is stated above may bring some clarity in your thoughts. However the moot question is still not properly answered.

For that I have to say that meaningful things in life are those which make you stand out from the mob, bring satisfaction and make you feel proud about yourself. The answer is also somehow linked with the talent you have. It could mean being a terrific scientish or an engineer or a lawyer or a doctor or even a mechanic. In short every work can bring you the feeling of doing a meaningful thingin life. Acchi Ghaas katne wala can also be doing a meaningful thing in life. Even being a nice human being is a talent and is like doing a meaningful thing in life. Knowing your talent and still not pursuing that due to fears you have in life is living a compromised life. I am not saying it is bad. It is your choice if you want to live a compromised life. Because if you life a compromised life, then there are always some voids and one persistent though that - "Wish if i could have". It is simply a matter of your choice.

Therefore dear people, my perspective is that, no matter wherever you reach in life and what you do, you must live your life on your own terms and try to live each and every moment. I believe that the art of living in present and tackling things are they come must be developed by a person. No matter how we structure our lives and no matter how many good habits we build and precautions we take, there will always be things that we cannot control. Going with the flow invloves acceptance of the facts and changes happening in our lives. A change may affect you to be either shocked, baffled, sad, happy or amused but the strength lies in how quicklly you recover and accept it and go on with the flow. And yes the "Jaadu ki Jhappi" and "All is well' work. Once a part of your life is distorted and dismantled you must accept such distortion and then improvise things with the resources available to you. Keep it cool. A source of inspiration lies everywhere. Always remeber that the match was not over when Sachin and Sehwag got out so early in the final, as much we thought. But the situation was tackled and pressure was absorbed by Gambhir and Dhoni. This just a small example. There are no so famous but bigger sources of inspiration. Please note that whether you are rich or not-so-rich or poor, you still can live a very happy and satisfied life and can do meaningful things in life. And if you keeping complaining and crying about things you couldn’t do or you could have done, you are wasting and destroying the charm of the moment you are living in.

. Let me also realte this with a popular saying that - “kisi ko mukammal jahan nahi milta, kisi ko zameen to kisi ko aasmaan nahi milta.” Lekin meri nazar mein agar mukammal jahan nahi milega toh job hi jahan milega who hi mukammal ban jayega. Jo zameen ya aasman milega who hi jahan ban jayega.Nothing and no one is indispensible in life. Life goes on.

I told you, there is nothing new in what I wrote. But I will be happy if even one reader is inspired by what is written above and I will feel that I am doing a meaningful thing in life.

Love,

Gaurav

P.S:  Since I do not edit or re check my posts for spelling or grmatical errors, so those who finding such errors should ignore and be concered about other things. There are bigger and serious concerns to address and worry about.