Beyond "Me and Myself"

How many times have we all read speeches from celebrities claiming they want to give something back to the world.? The moment we read about that, we turn the pages around to check out the juicier gossips and trends. Right?

Well, an instance happened lately, and it changed my behaviour since then. Would like to talk about it, in case there are any readers...because it is one of those "boring" things we prefer to skip reading about.

I was purchasing vegetables from a vendor near my house. A lady came along to buy something. She looked in her fifties. Wizened more so due to her circumstances than her age. She wore a simple saaree and her appearance left nothing to imagine about her humble background. She somehow had a very kind look on her face. I still don't know why I felt so. Anyway, she asked the price for 2 pieces of bottlegourds she picked up. The vendor weighed them and told her it's going to be 20 bucks. She asked him to give her the quantity that might come for 10 bucks. He picked up one piece and gave it to her after which he got interested in weighing the vegetables I had chosen.

She kept staring at that piece and mumbled, "Isse toh jyaada chahiye, yeh kam hai". Then she looked at the vendor and asked him the final price for 2 pieces of the vegetable and he said it will be 15 bucks. She still thought for a while and in a very faint voice requested him to give her 2 pieces of bottlegourd in 10 bucks. The vendor just refuted her plea without even bothering to look at her.

Meanwhile, I kept thinking in my head if I can help her. "It's a matter of 5 Rs. Just buy that stuff for her." "She might get offended thinking I am doing charity" "I can ask the vendor to simply take 5 bucks extra from me" "It's about her meal, she will be able to eat a one time meal if you do it"

May be I felt reluctant about something, I kept on having those thoughts but didn't act. She stood right next to me staring at the vegetables and I, while thinking all these things, was about to pay for my vegetables. Finally, when I took money out of my purse, I decided, "Yes. I am doing it. I have to help her." I look around and don't find her.

I tried looking everywhere and realize that the lady had left the vendor and I saw her faint figure walking away, quite far now, into the shadows of darkness. I forgot everything about paying for my vegetables and kept staring at her. I realized how I failed today in helping a person. I realized while I will be having a nice meal, she somewhere might not be having so, just because she was short of 5 bucks. I didn't know what to do now. If only I could decide quickly. If only I would have not given a damn about what she thought about my act and just played my chances.

I haven't forgotten her figure disappearing into the shadow. I will never be able to do that. I won't be able to forget the fact that it was only about 5 bucks for me. On the other hand, those 5 bucks decided a meal for a person somewhere.

I realized I shouldn't whine about things unnecessarily. Seriously, whatever you have is a blessing because there is someone somewhere who doesn't even have that much.

I also realized, that a small favor from my end can do wonders for others. I don't need to approach an NGO or a high profile institution. All I need to do is to NOT THINK before helping people who are in need. That in itself does the job!

Because 'Life' is like that!!

One of my friends wrote a nice piece on his views about how people try and personify life. I liked what he wrote. Not only it's a nicely written piece, but also it's true. We all personify life. "Life is good". "Life is bad". "Life is being nice" and "Life is being really mean". 

I do it too! And now that I am trying to contemplate what I really feel about it... I think, I personify life because I always feel it's my constant and at times the only companion. I have my debates, arguments, allegations and thanks giving moments with it. Yes, whenever I am alone, contemplating things and introspecting, I feel I am into a conversation with 'life'. 

I visualize this entity  to be constantly watching all my moves and ready to scold me the moment I goof up. I feel being put to tests by it all the time. I always feel it gives me signals when something is going wrong. The same entity also peps me up when something is going right. When I fail, I talk to it and tell it how I will show it the next time when I do it right! When I succeed, I just talk to it and say, well..."You ought to appreciate me...I was good!" 

Well, all in all, I feel I am a much smaller person in front of this being called 'Life'. No matter how much I try, I can't beat it. But it's a friendly comrade of mine. Though a very blunt and strict friend. I try and take its criticism positively and its gifts gratefully. I have always been in awe of 'Life'. I have never won over it. I am still trying...though I know I might never succeed because DAMN that thing is always ahead of me and always always right! 

I am 25 and am HAPPY!

I have seen people freaking out about turning 25. For me, it is bloody fantastic!

AS I cross this milestone, I would like to join my hands and bow down to the ALMIGHTY and thank him for this amazing life he gave me. He has blessed me, in every way possible and I couldn’t be happier! He gave me parents who are the world’s best parents one could ask for! I can’t thank God enough for the gift called ‘Family’ he blessed me with.

As of today, I feel happy with the person I have grown up to become!

The best part: NO REGRETS! Life has been a superb roller coaster ride and today I am in love with every bit of it. I have got a lot of amazing people around me I call friends. They have made life absolutely beautiful. Words will never suffice, I just love them.

I also had a lot of jerks who came along. But then, they were fun too. Who doesn’t like to say “f*ck off” to someone’s face and mean it?? I got a chance to kick them out and that was a pleasure in itself.

Also, life gave me a chance to live and experience ‘love’ and mean everything to someone. It’s precious. I know it and I value it a lot!

Looking back at past 5 years of my life, the things which I did RIGHT were to make choices. I chose my current career for myself, against my family’s wishes. Today, they are proud of me for where I stand and I am in a profession I love. I chose a person for myself perhaps against everyone’s wishes. Today, I am proud and confident about my choice and I know that a man for me better than him DOESN’T exist!

I might sound getting too overwhelmed, but I know I am one of the most privileged ones when it comes to the kind of life I am living. This is something I can’t take for granted. I dare not say that “I” achieved everything for myself. I guess lady luck did support me at numerous instances. A lot of blessings and lot of love has made me become what I am today!

My 25th Birthday was a day of celebrations and a lot of happy moments, a day truly symbolizing the spirit of my life! All in all, for me this day was truly a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Cheers to life!

Star(e)s in the space!

I love the movie Inception. Thanks to the movie, from now on whenever I find everyone around staring at me, I can just imagine myself being in a dream and not bother that something is obnoxiously wrong with my looks or attire!!

Honest. What is wrong with everyone? Why do people stare so much? Imagine. You are simply crossing Andheri Overbridge and suddenly realize all eyes are on you including a kid or a beggar. DAMMIT! You can't just ignore that moment. You have a firm belief that something has gone drastically wrong with you. You stop in the middle of the crowded bridge try and gauge what's wrong. Listen to everyone cursing you for stopping in between, because it disrupts their speed to reach wherever they are reaching. Waste those precious 10 mins just to find out nothing is wrong! You know how important those 10 mins are? I missed my AC bus today by 1 minute and had to wait for the next one for another 25 mins! And this 'Everyone's staring at me' phenomenon happens way too much with me. Does it happen to you guys as well??? Please let me know, I am turning paranoid!

As such the lost staring look is really a part of my life. I witness it all the time. All of my friends tend to have it on their faces when they are with me. Especially when I talk! So I am used to it, but strangers doing that is weird. And everyone around you doing that is weirder! :-S 

And it's not just that. I have been caught in weirdest of confusions earlier. Thanks to our cell phones. People just put on their headphones. (Which you haven't noticed) Then sit at a corner and enter into a very animated conversation on their phone. First they just sit there, staring at you. In a strange and lost way, they just blankly look at you. Obviously the look confuses you. Then, they start to nod, smile and make facial gestures as if they are speaking to you. Why do you get confused because they are bloody staring at you! And after much contemplation about whether you know this person or not, you wave back just to realize he is getting his headphones off and looking at you as if you just violated some rule and must be imprisoned.

I don't know where to go when these stares and looks meet me. To begin with, I am planning to avoid looking at anyone specially in the mornings while commuting to my office. Rest, your suggestions are welcome.

Silence fills up my mind

Silence fills up my mind as if it's the only thing that was to stay...


It gripped me yet again, a lot I tried to escape it and wander away.


I dread this silence, because it speaks to me the most,


It asks me to admit defeat and marks my struggle lost.


I try to utter words in vain, to tell it that I am not done trying,


It says, "You lie as you say that, why else would you be here alone, crying?"

"Like" it or Not!

I am seriously amazed. The way the internet revolution brought so many changes in no time. Facebook, Gtalk, Orkut are the wonders which have paved their ways to our lives without any warnings. If not a red alert, at least an alert should have been issued!

I remember how writing a "testimonial" on orkut was the proof of true affection from someone. It meant so much, I had to bribe/ issue warnings to so many of my friends to write one for me! Those were the good old days when Orkut was the in thing and the madness was controlled to a large extent! Now that Orkut is passe, Facebook has taken over with fiercer effects!! 

Take for instance; I have people who are so addicted to Facebook that they can't stop uploading status message and then commenting and replying to the comments. Nothing wrong in it...what's really frightening is they are actually people sitting right next to each other in my office. They won't talk to each other because they are glued to the screens replying to each other's comments.

Facebook has recently come up with the concept of having Groups. Initially it was fun. But now I can imagine a gigantic machine somewhere and these groups being churned out of it every nano second. There is a group for everything and anything under the sun!!!

And then, people keep joining them...I don't know for what. 

• For instance this one girl joined the group "I hate Facebook groups with grammatical errors in their names" and then later on joined "I love wehn it rains in Mumbaie." (Ahem! 'Correct spelling OCD' over!)  

• This other person I knew joined " I still remember the first time we met...you're not the same anymore" "I don't miss you, but the person you used to be" and then joins " I love the times we spend together...just you and me!" (Madam, either you are dating a bunch of guys or you just suffer from multiple personality disorder! ) 

I have seen couples fighting with each other because they didn't change their status from "single" to "committed" on Facebook! Obviously when you finally find a person who can put up with you after you hitting on every guy and being rejected by all of them, you gotta show it to the world! How dare he not change his status? How will the world ever know??? 

Have to mention other "Couples" fighting on why the boyfriend didn't 'like' the girlfriend's status and the vice versa! "Look how many people liked my status...just you didn't...you don't love me!" I am telling you love stories are getting difficult to sustain if you both are active on Facebook!

Talking about status messages, people bombard your Facebook walls at times. Yeah...now what the hell is that about? They need to update the world about everything and anything they do! "In the kitchen...trying to make tea" to "Watching TV" etc. And to all such messages, there will be people just casually commenting things like: "All the best" and "Enjoy" and "Have fun". They aren't thinking, they just comment finding it to be their moral duty to do so. After all it needs motivation from your acquaintances to accomplish deeds like that! Why the hell don't these people also update as to when are they going to the loo? I am sure they will get all the "All the best", "Enjoy", "HAVE FUN" comments out there too. I would also like to check how many click on the "Like" link there!$%!#%&(#*$

The craze is going out of hands. IT department of companies are actually demanding security arranged for themselves because they run the perpetual risk of being beaten up. Blocking Facebook in office is their job after all and nothing gets employees more irritated than this. The day it was banned in my office, a day long silence was observed! We observe 2 minutes silence when a national leader dies!

I am not talking for everyone here. But I am sure...most of our worlds have entered Facebook. We have to get Facebook savvy if we want to live a normal life. After all, if you ain't on Facebook, you can't expect people to wish you on your birthday. Your closest friends these days rely on Facebook birthday updates and don't bother to remember it themselves. You can't expect people to know what are you upto because your friends keep a tab on your life through your wall posts!

If you’re still not a part of this crazy world…get going people! It's the digital era after all. If you are not on Facebook, you're not in! 

The Immortals of Meluha - The book I just read!

I am not an avid reader. However, being surrounded by ultra passionate readers is always an advantage. One of such avid reasons and a treasured friend recommended the book to me. 

There is something different about this book. As far as the premise of the book goes, it simply is based on the belief that the Gods we worship as per our mythology aren't some fictitious characters imagined by some great writer of the past. This book says they existed, and lived on this very earth as mortals. Like you and me. They got elevated to Godhood because of the extraordinary deeds and accomplishments they carried out.

Now wait. Before you start rolling your eyes and cringing your nose, let me mention that the story is no typical philosophical ramble and NOT AT ALL BORING. Our generation is born in an era where philosophical and spiritual content is simply taken as the next worst thing to read after our Course books for exams. But this book is not about any "gyaan". Trust me the language is so simple and modern that I actually took time to imagine lord Shiva using the expression: “Dammit”! So now you know how easy the book actually is to go through.

Basically it's a work of fiction, several mythological beliefs put together weaved into a story. But the way they're brought together is what I was impressed by. 


The book is a story of a tribal, Shiva, who lived on Mount Kailash in Tibet. He comes to the land of Meluhans, the empire of Ram. The book describes his journey as to how he is led towards his Karma, as he becomes The Mahadev, The Neelkanth! 

A splendid story, this book showcases each and every aspect of Lord Shiva we know, a ferocious warrior, an ardent lover and a skillful strategist. I couldn't help smiling every time the time Lord Shiva's character unfolded as this carefree person with a wonderful sense of humor, tremendous strength in his personality and a big heart. Not forgetting how the author intertwines all our mythological character right from Nandi, Veer Bhadra, Sati and carves out the story!

The story is really fast paced. Once you start to read, you can't wait to know the rest of it. Every now and then, you come across a fact and you immediately relate it to some mythological aspect that you have heard about earlier.

Now it's not about justifying if the faith in Shiva is absolutely right and other faiths aren't. No. It's about getting our minds open to the fact that the lords we worship today are worth worshiping because of the rarest of strength, power, and greatness they showed.

I am not really a religious person. I don't believe in worshiping idols either. But I do believe, that supreme power exists somewhere which leads us all towards the path that is right. 

The story goes on to tell you that several 'Avatars" of Lord Vishnu and Lord Mahadev were actually titles given to people who rose to supreme levels of excellence. As per the author on the website “I believe that the words Vishnu and Mahadev are not individual names. They are in fact titles, given to those persons who are the greatest of leaders, who become god-like." After reading the book it dawns upon you that the near perfect empire of Meluha – the Ramrajya is actually the Indus Valley Civilization that we know. Every fact is simple and so believable.

It actually tells you every one can become God. Each one of us can be a Mahadev. Yes, there is where “Har Har Mahadev” phrase actually emerges in the book. “Har ek mein hai mahadev”. Nice!

The author, Amish, struck a chord somewhere in my head through this book. May be because his beliefs are absolutely like the ones I have. I am happy I was forced to read this book. Thanks Irfan! :)