M I N D S E T

As my friend was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a rope tied to their legs. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they could not. My friend saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

"Well", he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free". My friend was amazed. These animals could at any point of time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were. The powerful and gigantic creature has limited its present abilities by the limitations of its past.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life holding onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? How many of us refuse to attempt something new and challenging because of our so called M I N D S E T?

Ghadyalaat vajle ...

Lahan pani shalet asatana shikavaleli kavita ... one of my favs :-)

Ghadyalaat vajala 1, aaine kela cake

cake khanyaat ek taas gela me nahi abhyas kela

Ghadyalaat vajale 2, babancha aala phone

phone var bolnyat ek taas gela me nahi abhyas kela

Ghadyalaat vajale 3, taichi haravali peen

peen shodhanyaat ek taas gela me nahi abhyas kela

Ghadyalaat vajale 4, aaine dila maar

musu musu radanyaat ek taas gela me nahi abhyas kela

Ghadyalaat vajale 5, taine kela naach

naach baghanyaat ek taas gela me nahi abhyas kela

Ghadyalaat vajale 6, aaine kela chaha

chaha pinyaat ek taas gela me nahi abhyas kela

Ghadyalaat vajala 7, aaine kela bhaat

bhaat khanyat ek taas gela me nahi abhyas kela

Ghadyalaat vajale 8, futla aamcha maath

pani pusanyaat ek taas gela me nahi abhyas kela

Ghadyalaat vajale 9, khidakitoon ali mau

mau shi khelanyaat ek taas gela me nahi abhyas kela

Ghadyalaat vajale 10, amacha abhyas paha !

Welcome 2010?

This year new year eve was a special one. Very different from all others. I was in the bed at 10 pm and didn't even bother to welcome the new year.

The next day I was wondering why would I ever do that? I am a lively person and would not leave any chance of celebration. This made me think for a while. And I realised that I would actually love to celebrate my every new year in the similar way, no music, no celebration, calm and quiet.

What is so special about the eve? Its just that the calender changes. My life was the same on 1st Jan as it was on 31st Dec. So why treat 31st eve so special? Some people might be making new year resolutions and yes, that can be one reason to celebrate. But resolutions is not my piece of cake. So why should I be so happy about the new year huh? ...

Still thinking ...

UK-Part 1

On the 12^th Sept 2009 I landed on Gatwick airport. The one thing that immediately caught my eye was that it was filled with 80% brown people which made me more relieved.

I went to the immigration counter and was ready to answer hell lot of their questions, but I was surprised to be wrong. The officer over the counter seeing my Indian passport started talking to me in Hindi! I answered him in Hindi while looking at his name on his uniform. He looked English so there was no scope of him being a desi! I was correct in my analysis as his name turned out to be Jeff. He was ok with all my documents, allowed me entry and to my surprise came out of his cabin to have a chat with me. He handed over his job to some lady.

Jeff had spent his quarter life in Calcutta, India. He was brought up in MP and loved India like most of the Indians do. He escorted me to the baggage claim and then to arrivals. For the next 30 mins he was reciting his life in India. This is was first impression of UK and I rated it per my analysis. Wow! I was never given such a warm welcome anywhere neither in my country and of course nor in the US.

We came out of the airport to ride a bus home. The bus was due in 3 mins and it arrived in 3 minutes. I was awestruck. The next day I was gathering information on the local public transport and realized that these guys have a really really strong public transport network.

The house that we were staying was a duplex with kitchen and living room on ground level and bedrooms on the first. Most of the houses provide piped gas, which is actually good for Indian cooking. The trend is to rent a furnished apartment which is a boon to the tenants as they have to buy hardly any stuff. A lot many people have more than one apartment and are generally into estate agency. Recently we moved into our new apartment thru a similar guy. He owns 5 apartments and rents all of them. He’s making big money out of it.

Where ever I go, it’s critical for me (being a veggie) to check out the food stuff. UK surprised me with that too. A branch of WAL-MART called ASDA is widely spread all over UK. You get besan, lentils, papad and what not in this store. Even the Pizza hut serves a wide range of veggie pizzas. I am lovin it!

You ought to see lot of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in this country. A lot of Europeans too. With what I have seen until now, I am not yet ready to conclude anything about this country, but would definitely pass a comment. This country will make you comfortable to live in from day 1. Let’s hope the comment becomes a conclusion as days progress.

Make over

Make over?
You might have heard this term numerous times, especially from the female crowd. A Girl/woman will say that she needs a make over in umpteen situations, and I tell you, you will never be able to understand when :) …. that’s her!
So let me tell you some of the many situations that make us feel that we need a make over …
1. We realize that we are not being as much attended as we used to be.
We know when we are paid attention and when we are ignored and mind it .. we are very meticulous about it. We know how to grab attention. So … we will go for a make over when we want a change in our selves … for you ppl to notice us … Ya I know… but we do pay attention to what people think about us.
2. We are too much engrossed in some deep but silly thinking and even if we want we are not able to come out of it. In a nutshell, we are thinking so much that we decide not to think and go for a ‘make over’.. :) . This is just another way for us to divert our thought process. We feel that we are too much busy with so many things and are really not taking care of ourselves. Hence we think the make over will change our thinking.. hehe .. that’s silly I know .. but ya … that’s us again … But you know what .. sometimes it really works.. and we are out of our weird thinking ..
3. We are in real sense tired of being the same old us. We realize that just visiting a beauty salon once a while is just not what we want. We are actually taking care of ourselves, but still we are bored of the same look. This is the most common case. So what do we do? We decide to change ourselves head to toe. And once done, we like the changed us :) . The feeling is just too awesome to describe. When we get a new look we are full of energy, zest and pep.

The make over for us is just not the physical change .. that u ppl notice. It’s an utter transformation for us. As much as we look ‘changed’ from outside, we feel healthier and better-off from within. Just to let you know … I have recently had one :)

Man ....

Eka haravalelya mitrala saad mhnaun ...

------------------------------------------------------
Man hota kadhi itka sunder .. ki pahat basavasa vatta
Man hota kadhi bandakhor ... ki gappa karavasa vatta
Man hota kadhi itka mau ... ki radat basavasa vatta
Man hota kadhi mastikhor .. ki bebhaan houn jata

Man hota kadhi itka shahana .. ki 'shabbas' mhanavasa vatta tevhach
Man hota itka vait ... ki chidoon ragavavasa vatta
Man hota kadhi itka kadak ... ki mukatyane aikavasa vatta tevhach
Man hota itka chanchal .. ki door door gheun jata

Man houn kadhi guru .. khup kahi shikavoon jata
Man neun kadhi swapnaat .. thodasa virangula deun jata
Man athavoon gamti jamti ... thodasa hasavoon jata
Man sangoon kadhi chuka ... ragavoon, bajaoon jata

Man maagat asta sanwaad ... pratyek kshan
Manala hava aahe pramanik ... pratyek kan ....
Mag ... Man deil apli saath .. paus ani oon
Man dharel apala haath ... kateri rastyatoon

The game of mistakes

There are many times in our life, where we feel that we committed a ‘mistake’ and then we repent for doing it. No one escapes from such phases of life. It can be a very small fault or a big misstep.


Whenever we do anything, right or wrong, there are two players that control our actions. Mind and heart. The dominance of one over the other, decides the destination of our actions. Mind thinks practically and is generally the unwavering of the two. Heart is emotional and fragile and gullible. To make things work correctly, these two should portray their authority in the respective situations.

So what should be categorized as a mistake? There is no such rule which will say that if I do this then I am at fault or if I do not do this I am wrong.
By the end of day, if I stand in front of the mirror and I am able to make an eye contact with my image, without fear, then I say that I am safe. But if I fail in that, then there’s something fishy.


What if I did something wrong today and it is bothering me a lot. What should I do now? Should I sit and cry for doing it …. Or I should just forget it as if nothing had happened … Again come the two players of the game. Your heart says that you have done something incredibly wrong whereas the mind is smart and tries to save you from the sin.

But there’s a fork to the situation, which is I think a mean of the two. Don’t get drowned in the so called ‘sin’, nor be too casual and relaxed about your action. Try to find out the root cause. Try to know the reason behind your action. No action is done without a reason. So try to reach the root. Once you do that you will be definitely be satisfied and relieved. And once you realize the reason, you are in a better position to guide yourself. When I sit down and know the trigger of my mistake, I am half relieved. At least I know the reason of my fault. Now the next step is not to think over it again and again. What you do is thing over it only once, full fledged. Cry if you want to, but only once. Make it clear to your mind and heart that ‘boss you have done it once, it has cost you like anything. If you do it again, you know where you will end up. Come what may you will never ever repeat it’.

Your heart and mind, both are sensible enough to understand the intensity and importance of this talk. And they will take care that you never fall in such a painful situation again!

Try it once ..

Will

We all know this proverb 'Where there is a will there is a way' ... but in modern times this is obsolete ... Now we should say; 'Where there is a will, I would want to be part of it' .. :)

Namesake

A Mira Nair film. I think there are a number of take homes ... Mira Nair is a very focussed director. Nowhere in the movie, we thought, was anythig that was not a part of the movie. May be this kind of a topic is touhced upon earlier .. but not so powerful and thought provoking ...

How much ever far you are fome your home, you will have the urge to come back one day. There may be some things that are holding you now from coming back .. but nothing else will set you free ...

Do watch it ...

Trust

I read this somewhere and believe it now. ...

When GOD leads you to the end of the cliff,
Trust him fully.

Only one of the two things will happen;
either he will catch you when you fall
or
he will teach you how to fly.

I have been thru this phase and also come out of it ... thats y the intense feelings ...


Want …..

Life is full of desires and wants
Some you get but some you cannot
You are happy with the ones you got
But the unfulfilled ones, forget you cannot

Initially, Desire is at its zenith
You see it, like it and want to want it
No other thought comes your way then
You want it and want it, even if it pains

Only the desire hovers on your mind
Nothing else makes you happy, no one of other kind
You heart demands and you try to obtain
You don’t think of the loss or gain

Time passes by and you are still struggling
To get ‘that’ thing, which made you swing
Hope is still filled in your heart
Coz From ‘that’ thing you don’t want to depart

All the things change around, but you
Just because you don’t want to
You keep on following your heart
Not realizing that it is a brat

Your heart waits, your heart cries
Still to the fullest it tries and tries
You keep on running behind it like hell
Till it is lost and begins to fail …

Ceases down slowly now the feel for the desire
Your heart is fed up and is tired
Your want for ‘that’ was just an image
Nothing was true, all was a mirage

Don’t succumb to your heart when it wants something
Wait for a while and let it shrink
The world will change with just a blink
Accept your share of what the destiny brings

ये हौसला कैसे झुके

This is one of my inspiring songs ... Movie: Dor

ये हौसला कैसे झुके, ये आरजू कैसे रुके
मंजिल मुश्किल तो क्या,
धुंधला साहिल तो क्या,
तनहा ये दिल तो क्या ... हो ...

राह पे कांटे बिखरे अगर,
उसपे तो फिर भी चलना ही है,
शाम छुपाले सुरज मगर,
रात को एक दिन ढलना ही है,

ऋत ये टल जाएगी,
हिम्म्त रंग लाएगी,
सुबह फ़िर आएगी ... हो ...
ये हौसला कैसे झुके, ये आरजू कैसे रुके

होगी हमे तो रेहमत अदा,
धूप कटेगी साये तले,
अपनी खुदा से है ये दुवा,
मंजिल लगा ले हमको गले,

जुर्रत सौ बार रहे,
ऊंचा इकरार रहे,
जिंदा हर प्यार रहे ... हो ....
ये हौसला कैसे झुके, ये आरजू कैसे रुके

Sabra ka fal ...

Kehete hain ...
Sabra ka fal meeta hota hai, par agar sabra hi meeta ho, to uske fal ka intejaar kaun kare ?

Once in a life time!

"Let’s go to sleep now" she said, "You have an early morning flight tomorrow". It was 3.30 a.m. She and I were enjoying the new relation that was built in the 3-day stay at Bloomington, IL. I had to board 6.00 am flight on the 2nd Jan 07. We lay down to sleep at 4.00. I knew I had to get up in 30 min to reach the airport on time, but I needed a power nap too. We set the alarm to 4.30 and went to sleep.......

The phone rang and both of us got up. "Did you reach Chicago?” asked Naveen assuming that I have. "I just got up", I said and looked at my watch. It was 7.30 am and I was still in bed. It took me a while to realize that I HAD MISSED MY FLIGHT’!!!

Pallavi and I drove to the airport to get the boarding pass for the immediate next flight. I was so sleepy that I did not think missing a flight was much of a deal. The next flight to Chicago was at 11.00. That’s ok I said to myself. We went home. I slept for half an hr more while she went to office. At 10.00 she came to pick me up and we went to the airport. 15 min to 11 and the lady at the United counter said that the flight was overweighed and that thay can’t put me on the flight. They will try to get me a seat on the next flight. I saw the flight..taking off...without me...The next flight to Chicago was at 3 pm~


4 hrs to go for the next flight. I started realizing that this was not going to be as simple as I had thought. Missing a flight can me messy. I tried to concentrate on the Alchemist. At that point I felt that my journey was like the boy
who did not know what he would be facing when he went to look out for the treasure. I made all my frnds in Bloomington to search for alternative commutation options. I even decided to catch the next day flight. I was really frus waiting on the airport. Naveen called me to check if I was doing fine. I was not, but had to give him an affirmative answer. This was not how I wanted my sweet trip to Bloomington to end.
Amol and Prasad also made sure that I was keeping ok in the situation. May be I was so much attached to my frnds that they did not want me to leave Bloomington :-). Just kidding ...

Finally, at 3 pm i was asked to board the flight. At least I am traveling towards my destination I thought.

4.00 pm
I was at the Chicago airport, waiting at the gate where I saw the Chicago-Minneapolis flight. I wanted to get on the plane. Desperately. I was totally exhausted. I was on a can of Fanta and potato chips for the whole day. To add to it, the lady over the counter said that I was on standby which means I had to wait for them to find a vacant seat for me. So I had to wait for someone not to turn up.

5.30 pm
The boarding began. All the confirmed seats were on. I was left out at the gate, with some more ppl of my kind. I called Pallavi and said "I am still not sure about my status. Will come to know soon". "Ask them to give you a first class or Business class seat" she said. I was even prepared to do that. I would end up paying extra money, but that was not important at that time. If this flight was full, I had to wait for 2 more hrs hoping that I would get on the next one. The game was of hope against truth.

'Kulkarni Sangeeta' she said and asked me to get aboard. I was relieved with a sigh. My heart was beating 5 times faster. I thanked God for not pulling it long. I sat on the designated window seat. I called Pallavi and said smiling "I am on". She was much relaxed on hearing that. I could make that from her voice. The flight took off and so did I.

Thanks to all my 'Bloomy' friends who were with me throughout. May be I will laugh at this incident 2-3 months down the line, but it made me place these charming friends in my garden.

More to come.... keep visiting...

The US of A!

Whenever I think of the US of A, I remember a fastactic movie; 'FLAVORS'. It's a parallely running story of 4-5 guys in the US. Let me introduce them to you;
Rachana, Kartik, Rad, Jenni, Candy, Vivek, Ashok, Jas and Sangita @ http://www.flavorsthemovie.com/synopsis.htm