I thought for a second time, about what should be the caption for the contents of this essay and thought of a Sanskrit word meaning “travel” is probably apt. The thoughts that were provocation behind the attempt to write on my journey to work is just that. “YANTRA” the machines with which I am associated at work and in synonym with “YATRA”.
It’s about the road less traveled. The clogged roads that were affected due to rains were being blocked to erect huge drain pipes. The mess created in traffic jams is in the city of BARODA known as Vadodara. The meaning comes from VAD, the banyan trees. The detour made us deviate the way we traveled to work. Changes have always given challenges and that makes good reasons to think different.
The new path passes through the villages and I spotted indicating boards of Karali and Chansad villages. Karali village reminded me of Kairali and Kerala where I grew up. As the road winds up from my house at “Aiswarya” in the town to nearly 27 km away to Por village where I work.. I switched off my urban thoughts by clicking the mouse of my mind to “sleep” and used the rest of faculties and cajole with the childhood times as we deviated the path.
Sounds that reach my drums recall the old memoirs of Bharata Puzha, the river that has a bridge at Kuttipuram, a village those days on way to the Guruvayoor temple. Here on the way to Por, I heard parrots and some other birds singing, some even flew close to the windshield of the car. I thought of the meditation practices when you calm your mind and observe your thoughts & you listen to many sounds. Bids flew out from where they hang around in the bushes and sat close to the trishul on the temples. As I crossed the temple, I observed the bells ring at the temple, no bird flew out. They probably knew it was serene.
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It was interesting to watch groups of girls and boys not in uniform running around and falling in line for the morning prayers during school assemble. In one school, I watched them play in comparison to carrying heavy loads of books by urban children. The bullock carts that roll out on the one line road carried some of them. I was reminded of the times when I used to ride a cycle to the college of engineering that was close to Malampuzha dam. Seeing a wheeled shop that sold sweets brought in the memories of the ½ “a’na” (those days, 16 a’nas made up for one rupee) priced ice candies and ground nut toffees that we bought during school intervals from a close by shop in Calicut, near Malabar Christian College School. Passing on the road were squirrels and mongoose, in a hurry to meet their needs! Once I saw an elephant unable to give way for the car, we moved and parked aside. Seeing monkeys (?) in their natural habitat was another dot that made my day from the animal kingdom. That day I remembered the grand building that is called HABITAT, on the Al-Khobar road in Saudi Arabia. Within HABITAT, humans were aping and here on the road less traveled monkeys were in their own field, displaying probably contempt for the passers by. I was thinking of the HSBC, advertisement “Culture or fashion?” when I noticed one youth riding a cycle, with a stud on his ear lobe. Did I see goats around the KARALI village? I went back years behind in thoughts when my mother took out leaves from the jackfruit tree’s branch and followed to beat me for a fault that I did that day. In our house hold, much before the sachets of milk came in home, we had goats to milk. Thereafter we had a herd of cows. Here on the way, it was more of bullocks than cows. Bullocks, I believe takes about seven years before they are used to work. Some of the bullocks plough fields; carry loads of materials in carts. They walked in elegance with their huge horns matching those of tuskers. It was needed once to protect the bulls, but now within the surroundings they work, these horns appear as un-used ammunition, resembling a sign of peace. I wonder how by listening to the car, bullocks moved away to the sides of the thin road, accepting natural ways of giving ways! A deer with its head up was on the side lanes, out of the woods and close to us, one morning.
My mind signaled, yet another forgotten story of plucking flowers for the Onam festivities during child hood. Fiery red and yellows are most of the wild flowers seen on the way. The green arch that formed on the thin stretches of the road made a contrast to the blooming flowers of the spring season. I was thinking then of the pure white thin small “thumba” flowers that once upon a time decorated Onam flower decks. Those little ones had no fragrance to throw out. It represents the moon light soothing the nerves and creating an atmosphere for love to flow freely. The indigos that lined some where close to the railway tracks was yet another variation identified with my keen eyes, that wandered to find newer and different flowers species on the way. Curious is what I have become all of a sudden. I even compared the sand dunes that change colors as I used traveled through deserts on my way to work in the Gulf. Up in the sky here the blue is bluer. And as I return home, I watch with gratitude the amber streams that comes out through the dawning skies. Between the sun and me were green bushes that prevented me to have a full sight of the setting sun. Alas I thought, I could see the sun sets on my way from work and enjoy the gifts of the day. As the window panes were open the wind whispered in tandem with my breath. As I listened to these sounds and colors, I was reminded of His unity in nature.
Thank God, that the Municipal corporation at last decided to cut the roads and burry the pipelines to carry the rainy water. Thanks are for those who drive madly on the roads to make sure that each one of them in that process made the rest to get stuck between those many and reach destinations late. Thanks to Sanjay my driver who opted to deviate and suggest a new Yatra to the Yantras.
The whole episode helped me to reinvent the child in me to become enthused about looking beyond to witness some of those unique frequencies in sound, variations in color, un-masked human beings that represented nature, animals in their habitat, purer air to breath and scenic sequences without the hassle and bustle of routines that have embedded in work life for such a long time. I even felt that a stream that now flows under a bridge that spans huge may once get enough water for me to I step out and watch the river that would have some of the species of fish. Did I become a child for a while? Are we in a hurry to grow up and then we long for our lost child hood? Do we ever step out and look at nature and life as we focus on the work front?
My car, thus celebrated the drive in an unknown path and I appreciated God sent beauty of nature. All because, we deviated from the urban path until then, I had felt was within the comfort zone of travel to work. We just deviated and made a change and then had loads of surprises that were in offer and to our heart’s content. At times we must be prepared to get rid of the lives we plan, so as to have the life that is waiting for us on the side lanes.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
IMAGINARY Boundaries
A wanderer was jumping out on the leaves of a coconut tree to the other and was nearly one month old. The mother squirrel was only watching the sibling perform that jump. From the terrace of my flat the coconut tree that had flowered a thousand odd bunches of flowers was being watched by me all the mornings that I went out and stretched out before we embarked on a walk on the streets on the Balaji hills at Seethammadhara, a foothill in Vizag. I had always a liking to these wonderful and picturesque surroundings that lay stretched just close to the Bay of Bengal on the East and mountainous terrains on the other side. Vizag was a fishing village now embracing high tech and priceless possession of agri-lands giving way to multiplexes and prestigious corporate. This land that I came across to be with, after initial encounters of a stay during early seventy’s provides me with a load of nostalgia and memoirs.
Sooner or later, the little squirrel will jump more obstacles and the mother squirrel will forget the first few strides of the child. The flowers of coconuts will fade away and fall leaving a few to become tender coconuts and become seeds for yet another coconut tree to grow up to repeat natural habitats function on a time scale.
I looked around and probed what to write? Instantaneously an idea was generated and here I go.
The thoughts went through transformative years that passed by, and memoirs flooded in the process and my mood froze to pen down the thoughts.
I was not destined and born with a mission, neither I was a “No body’s Child” as the good old song that Usha, used to sing in solitude. I discovered a mission on the way, early in life. I still find time to look back and enjoy the tracks that were probably littered with thorns and flowers and recollect with gratitude the heavens showered upon me as on today. Some one put it well, when he said –“Dreams are not that you see when you are asleep, but they are what makes you not to sleep”. For, those born before the Independence, and those who still are able to recollect the rationing times, can well afford to visualize limitations of even imagining and dreaming. For me, the inner self compensated for the lack of everything else including the financial needs. I dared to look at a future not with the glare and glitterati but a quiet search to find “happiness”, a mission that I am still holding.
Distance wise, the barrier for me at those times was the 5th railway gate close to my house, but many times I used to walk or cycle across the imaginary boundary that lay in front the 5th railway gate and went about to see the limitless frontiers as I visualized beyond the Arabian Seas. I vividly remember narrating a short story in Malayalam that I had written for the school magazine, attempting to count the number of stars commencing with the first one that rose up high on the sky on the sea shore. It was magical to visualize and look beyond and enjoy without a “paisa” in the pocket.
The wealth within reach was limited to thoughts that catapulted me to horizons to reach above. Unknown were the issues and problems as these are two sides of the same coin. Winning was a need and loosing was not a problem, as there were hardly anything to loose. As the Malayalam proverbial statement –“Poyal poyi, kittiyal Ana” – meaning – If you loose you loose, but if you win, you win and elephant” was the drive behind all action. The wisdom within the shadows catapulted the thoughts to reach destinations crossing the imaginary 5th Gate.
First it was to get admission to the professional college, then to find a job and at those times it was a Herculean task for me. And when I got a job, I had to work for sixteen hours a day where the Western Ghats ends at a place called Mavoor. River “Chaliar” was around with contaminants from the industry I worked. The river still flows . . . . still and I take stock of my roots back to that river from where I started looking beyond about life, in late sixties.
Those were the days when we just had five engineering colleges in Kerala and only about a two hundreds became engineers to the nation. There were no jobs for those who passed out, and India was well within the number of 50 crores of people. Pizza and Chinese noodles were unheard of and forget -“sari” and “mundu” were the basic dress for people. I used to buy one dozen of Mysore Bananas for less than 50 paisa, in school days. The radio transmitted news from AIR. Some of us went about thinking, sereing the exhibition of photos displayed at the Christian College where Yuri Gagarin was shown on the Moon. We felt – it was possible, if our minds lead us to for-see and the body accompanied.
“Nadakkav”- where we congregated in the evenings with friends bear the brunt of the history that passed by. Though new mindscapes and ideologies have emerged, the term “I” can be seen as finding links with the past and look around to future for progress. On the side lines and margins one can find “scripts” that may develop into actions as one goes through the pages of past times. The river, “Chaliar” still flows……
As on date, with the technology that is leading most of us to live the way we live, we still need to buy candles from the shopping malls to light when the power cut is imposed. We look for the matches that I once used to light the lamps at the “SANDHYA” time in prayer. Technology alone cannot lead us; they may provide some solutions to some issues and problems that we encounter every day. But most of the solutions have to come about from the human spirit. We need to open up the “BLACK BOX” of our mind and use the left brain that stimulates feelings. We need to sympathize with the not-so-wealthy and interpret the speed at which we want to progress. We need to STOP, divert thoughts and take a diversion from the cultural high way that is impeding the righteousness of the purpose of our very lives. We need to probe when the candle burns on our table tops. We need to reach out, we need to think beyond, need to plan and see what makes us “happy” and what “not” and generate action that will please us, so that we please many more like us. Inspection may throw light on what happened, but introspection may give insight to what should happen.
We need to introspect and find answers like some of those, quoted as below and locate our position as of now so that we traverse and set our course and chart our own destinies. See some of the points as expressed below:
In a comparative note I quote the interviews with three eminent personalities. Vijay Mallaya was asked “what will be your rating on a scale of 1-10 on your evaluation of your persona?” and he said – “I do not rate me; I leave it to people.” A similar question posed to Simi Grewal and she replied “10, because I am doing what I do to the best I can do”. Nandita Bose replied – “I do not follow any image, image follows me.”
It is time that we pay attention to the things that are critical to our happiness. Spend time with children and with parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to enjoy an evening. Play another game of cards. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first --- the things that really matter. The rest is just sand.
Some one in a Call Center asked – “Can I have a few minutes with you, please? We are glad this happened. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of minutes to be with a friend." Do look up your old friends, associates and family members.
It’s just because, the river “Chaliar” still flows….. and it will …
Floating on the flow needs hardly any effort, but swimming across need talents. So let us not take the easy route the way life takes us, but pave the way you like to live.
It was on 10th of August, 1945, when an atom bomb exploded in Japan, killing thousands of innocent people. The cycle of violence repeat itself even today. The cycles of revenge destroy the fabric of the society where we are part of. The mechanism of revenge works on the principle of treating a wrong with a bigger wrong. We need to look at what is meant by forgiving. We have to identify the trauma that inflicts the children who undergo the vagaries of revenge. It is better to prepare than to repair. River “Chaliar” still flows ….
Heraclites, the Greek philosopher said – “Everything flows”. He stated that “you cannot step into the same river twice” as it keeps flowing, changing the courses and contents. With the constant changes, continuous shift of qualities also takes place. In everything there is a play of opposites, he says, “without which the world will collapse”. Sea water is a must for fish and for us fresh water. It’s like the beginning and end of a circle - can be, at any point of the circle.
“Naranathu Brandhan” took up huge stones up-hill on a mountain and left it free to fall off – just to show that “the road uphill and down is one and the same”. It’s about accepting the midway path that is gray and not pure white or pure black. That’s the way many have traveled. The invisible harmony that exists between relationships is better than the visible”. We should dismiss using masks to feel good to ourselves.
In his book “The last lecture” Randy Pausch gives some inner meanings of desire. We need to have the desire to live the full life and at the same time loving each other. This is the recipe for making our dreams come true. As we embark upon our tasks we come across brick walls some times. Brick walls are not there to keep us out. They are there to provide us a chance to show how badly we want something. Destiny cannot be changed, it is our choice either to moan or accept things with an attitude that will scale us further. As we pray and move ahead let us understand that prayers are not for God to change His mind but is to let God change ours. Every day we look at things with a new look, lest past be there to teach us not to deter.
As we pass through the nodes in our lives, let us thank God for His blessings and thank Him for the mercies He has given us.
As the river “Chaliar” moves ahead with time, let us look at the Borrah Caves that was developed by the Gosthani River by testing the slow path of the more simple watery form that penetrated and created caves of such a large dimension over a million years. Patience and focus makes things happen and we remember these as we encounter smaller block walls as we move ahead in the path of time. It is the belief that we can do that primarily makes things happen.
Incidentally the 5th railway gate does not exist these days and as the road over-bridge has substituted the small imaginary block wall.
The 5th Gate like that of the PANCHBOOTHAS is a reminder to us that the ATMAN will provide us with energy and stamina that will help soothe the strains and stresses that we may come across. Things change, the river “Chaliar” will continue to flow….. watch out and be a witness to events.
Sooner or later, the little squirrel will jump more obstacles and the mother squirrel will forget the first few strides of the child. The flowers of coconuts will fade away and fall leaving a few to become tender coconuts and become seeds for yet another coconut tree to grow up to repeat natural habitats function on a time scale.
I looked around and probed what to write? Instantaneously an idea was generated and here I go.
The thoughts went through transformative years that passed by, and memoirs flooded in the process and my mood froze to pen down the thoughts.
I was not destined and born with a mission, neither I was a “No body’s Child” as the good old song that Usha, used to sing in solitude. I discovered a mission on the way, early in life. I still find time to look back and enjoy the tracks that were probably littered with thorns and flowers and recollect with gratitude the heavens showered upon me as on today. Some one put it well, when he said –“Dreams are not that you see when you are asleep, but they are what makes you not to sleep”. For, those born before the Independence, and those who still are able to recollect the rationing times, can well afford to visualize limitations of even imagining and dreaming. For me, the inner self compensated for the lack of everything else including the financial needs. I dared to look at a future not with the glare and glitterati but a quiet search to find “happiness”, a mission that I am still holding.
Distance wise, the barrier for me at those times was the 5th railway gate close to my house, but many times I used to walk or cycle across the imaginary boundary that lay in front the 5th railway gate and went about to see the limitless frontiers as I visualized beyond the Arabian Seas. I vividly remember narrating a short story in Malayalam that I had written for the school magazine, attempting to count the number of stars commencing with the first one that rose up high on the sky on the sea shore. It was magical to visualize and look beyond and enjoy without a “paisa” in the pocket.
The wealth within reach was limited to thoughts that catapulted me to horizons to reach above. Unknown were the issues and problems as these are two sides of the same coin. Winning was a need and loosing was not a problem, as there were hardly anything to loose. As the Malayalam proverbial statement –“Poyal poyi, kittiyal Ana” – meaning – If you loose you loose, but if you win, you win and elephant” was the drive behind all action. The wisdom within the shadows catapulted the thoughts to reach destinations crossing the imaginary 5th Gate.
First it was to get admission to the professional college, then to find a job and at those times it was a Herculean task for me. And when I got a job, I had to work for sixteen hours a day where the Western Ghats ends at a place called Mavoor. River “Chaliar” was around with contaminants from the industry I worked. The river still flows . . . . still and I take stock of my roots back to that river from where I started looking beyond about life, in late sixties.
Those were the days when we just had five engineering colleges in Kerala and only about a two hundreds became engineers to the nation. There were no jobs for those who passed out, and India was well within the number of 50 crores of people. Pizza and Chinese noodles were unheard of and forget -“sari” and “mundu” were the basic dress for people. I used to buy one dozen of Mysore Bananas for less than 50 paisa, in school days. The radio transmitted news from AIR. Some of us went about thinking, sereing the exhibition of photos displayed at the Christian College where Yuri Gagarin was shown on the Moon. We felt – it was possible, if our minds lead us to for-see and the body accompanied.
“Nadakkav”- where we congregated in the evenings with friends bear the brunt of the history that passed by. Though new mindscapes and ideologies have emerged, the term “I” can be seen as finding links with the past and look around to future for progress. On the side lines and margins one can find “scripts” that may develop into actions as one goes through the pages of past times. The river, “Chaliar” still flows……
As on date, with the technology that is leading most of us to live the way we live, we still need to buy candles from the shopping malls to light when the power cut is imposed. We look for the matches that I once used to light the lamps at the “SANDHYA” time in prayer. Technology alone cannot lead us; they may provide some solutions to some issues and problems that we encounter every day. But most of the solutions have to come about from the human spirit. We need to open up the “BLACK BOX” of our mind and use the left brain that stimulates feelings. We need to sympathize with the not-so-wealthy and interpret the speed at which we want to progress. We need to STOP, divert thoughts and take a diversion from the cultural high way that is impeding the righteousness of the purpose of our very lives. We need to probe when the candle burns on our table tops. We need to reach out, we need to think beyond, need to plan and see what makes us “happy” and what “not” and generate action that will please us, so that we please many more like us. Inspection may throw light on what happened, but introspection may give insight to what should happen.
We need to introspect and find answers like some of those, quoted as below and locate our position as of now so that we traverse and set our course and chart our own destinies. See some of the points as expressed below:
In a comparative note I quote the interviews with three eminent personalities. Vijay Mallaya was asked “what will be your rating on a scale of 1-10 on your evaluation of your persona?” and he said – “I do not rate me; I leave it to people.” A similar question posed to Simi Grewal and she replied “10, because I am doing what I do to the best I can do”. Nandita Bose replied – “I do not follow any image, image follows me.”
It is time that we pay attention to the things that are critical to our happiness. Spend time with children and with parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to enjoy an evening. Play another game of cards. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first --- the things that really matter. The rest is just sand.
Some one in a Call Center asked – “Can I have a few minutes with you, please? We are glad this happened. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of minutes to be with a friend." Do look up your old friends, associates and family members.
It’s just because, the river “Chaliar” still flows….. and it will …
Floating on the flow needs hardly any effort, but swimming across need talents. So let us not take the easy route the way life takes us, but pave the way you like to live.
It was on 10th of August, 1945, when an atom bomb exploded in Japan, killing thousands of innocent people. The cycle of violence repeat itself even today. The cycles of revenge destroy the fabric of the society where we are part of. The mechanism of revenge works on the principle of treating a wrong with a bigger wrong. We need to look at what is meant by forgiving. We have to identify the trauma that inflicts the children who undergo the vagaries of revenge. It is better to prepare than to repair. River “Chaliar” still flows ….
Heraclites, the Greek philosopher said – “Everything flows”. He stated that “you cannot step into the same river twice” as it keeps flowing, changing the courses and contents. With the constant changes, continuous shift of qualities also takes place. In everything there is a play of opposites, he says, “without which the world will collapse”. Sea water is a must for fish and for us fresh water. It’s like the beginning and end of a circle - can be, at any point of the circle.
“Naranathu Brandhan” took up huge stones up-hill on a mountain and left it free to fall off – just to show that “the road uphill and down is one and the same”. It’s about accepting the midway path that is gray and not pure white or pure black. That’s the way many have traveled. The invisible harmony that exists between relationships is better than the visible”. We should dismiss using masks to feel good to ourselves.
In his book “The last lecture” Randy Pausch gives some inner meanings of desire. We need to have the desire to live the full life and at the same time loving each other. This is the recipe for making our dreams come true. As we embark upon our tasks we come across brick walls some times. Brick walls are not there to keep us out. They are there to provide us a chance to show how badly we want something. Destiny cannot be changed, it is our choice either to moan or accept things with an attitude that will scale us further. As we pray and move ahead let us understand that prayers are not for God to change His mind but is to let God change ours. Every day we look at things with a new look, lest past be there to teach us not to deter.
As we pass through the nodes in our lives, let us thank God for His blessings and thank Him for the mercies He has given us.
As the river “Chaliar” moves ahead with time, let us look at the Borrah Caves that was developed by the Gosthani River by testing the slow path of the more simple watery form that penetrated and created caves of such a large dimension over a million years. Patience and focus makes things happen and we remember these as we encounter smaller block walls as we move ahead in the path of time. It is the belief that we can do that primarily makes things happen.
Incidentally the 5th railway gate does not exist these days and as the road over-bridge has substituted the small imaginary block wall.
The 5th Gate like that of the PANCHBOOTHAS is a reminder to us that the ATMAN will provide us with energy and stamina that will help soothe the strains and stresses that we may come across. Things change, the river “Chaliar” will continue to flow….. watch out and be a witness to events.
Yume no chikara
In January every year the earth shifts it’s rotation from South towards North in its usual course. “Makar Shankranthi” coincides with this. To be in Gujarat and here in Vadodara, is yet another connotation with that day. I have been seeing shops coming up on the road side selling kites of all kinds. Informed of this earlier by my cousin here, I was looking forward to see the skies with kites during day and some one else said that even at night, candle lit kites fly the horizon. Along with that is a business that runs in to crores selling dreams of flights driven by the passionate with kites in to the skies. There are kites that have pictures of celebrities like Amitabh and Aiswarya right back on some kites. I started fantasizing about the “UTTARAYAN” festival that lit hope for many including elderly to have the kites fly with their anchored eyes behind each of them. Dreams are all about that. To have the thread in one hand and the flight stimulating paper kite that is driven by winds up in to the skies!
“Yume no chikara”; sounds weird? Must be – it is Japanese. But if you understand the meaning of this, it’s simple. That’s what adds passion to our lives! The meaning is - “ability to make our dreams come true”.
When we read about any achiever’s biography or their interviews on TV, we get one feeling – they all pursued their own dreams! The paths may differ, but focused were them in order to realize their dreams.
How do one dream? “Dare to dream” has been an axiom for the marketing slogan of one brand, and it is true. To dream is to have a passion for life! Whether it is President Abdul Kalam, M S Dhoni - people from various fields or for that matter Mother Teresa whose idea of life was devoted to the downtrodden, they all had dreamt of their paths.
As the kite fly, the hand behind is the driver. But kite is not focused with a destination.
Apply the same thread that dips down water, the driver is focused to get his find in the fish. When it comes to an aero plane flight the pilot knows the destination, time target to reach his destination. Whereas in a flight of dream sequence related to life – it’s a long term wish, a desire to make things happen and an action plan that follows.
Like in any journey, there are road blocks to reduce speed, take alternative routes and OR stop and wait enjoying the nature on the way! For a dreamer, though focus does not get shifted; direction is changed but put on course again, and speed is in the hands of the dreamer. Road blocks should not deter focus and direction. You’re also aware of the fool’s paradise, where dreamers have decided no flight paths! Of-course no plan of action too to be followed with fools dreams! Result - like the kite stuck on the TV cable extending from the 10th floor of Ellora Park building downwards to some other roof – unable to fly anymore.
Change is part of growth and achievement. Winning and loosing are part of the same proposition. But what remains at length is the journey to reach the goals, un-deterred.
There are combinations that get across as you traverse to making a dream come true. It’s the health, a sharp and clear mind, composure and calm, willingness to laugh on the way, to be playful and serious enough to come back after you drop down and fail at times, drive & passion, strength of conviction and enthusiasm till you finally reach your goal.
My solo dream was to be happy! This is where the body – mind combination works together. Rest of the activities and goals are meager merged acquisitions of the solo target. That meant that on a day to day basis, I strived and worked to be happy. If I lost and failed, these were taken as a teachers black board from where I could learn lessons! While on this pursuit to find happiness, the very meaning of happiness took turns as I moved on the scale of time. What I used to be happy with once is not what makes me happy now!
Coining the meaning of happiness is what I have spent my life on! Consequences of this venture that I took underwent some adventures in life – paining at times, retarding at some other. Turning points are when you see something, read a book, witness something else or experience life’s turbulences. Few years back, driven to the back yard of life under the hospital roof in Mumbai, stuck with the disease called Transverse Mylettis, I was re-creating dreams against odds to survive the onslaught of the severity of the health problem that nearly crippled me. That was when I introspected to understand and appreciate that while one is on forward gear, the use of rear gear should be as fluent as that when you drive a car. With a crippled body and crippled hopes, I woke up and started lifting the leg from the bed and later walked only forward (not backward and side ways, initially) inch by inch after nearly 25 days in the bed at Hinduja hospital.
As I read the book – “A history of time” written by Stephen Hawkins, I was fascinated with the dimension of time. More than that, it was the author, who had caught my whole attention. Crippled at the age of 22 with a deadly disease called motor-neuro deficiency and stuck to a wheel chair from then, is still unable to talk and uses a computer and voice modulation to communicate. He on his 65th birth day was planning along with Sir Richardson of Virgin Airlines to make a flight in to skies where the weightlessness as in the outer space could be felt. That’s about life driven with a passion to achieve own dreams.
To be happy is what it means when you are able to make your dreams come true. “It’s good to be just happy. It’s a little better to know that you are happy, but to understand that you are happy and to know why and how and still be happy and be happy in the being and knowing well that, is beyond happiness - is bliss”.
While we dare to dream, preferences come in the way. Likes and dislikes are mental orientations and influences thinking and behavior. Value based thinking help ethical goals in life. Life with the ingredient “dharma” attains a mind poised in balance. Love is the outcome. To free from obstacles of life, we stand committed to righteousness with backing of the mind and intellect to rise above likes and dislikes. Internal resistances to fly with dreams of your choice tend to flow joyously to the ocean of divinity. We then accept people as they are as nature accepts everything. “Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding”.
Looking at the kites that fly in the skies above on “UTTARAYAN”, I am thrilled to foresee the strength of the threads that hold the kites of various shapes, colors and styles. We also see those futile attempts to take on to skies and let go down the roofs and the backyards of our compounds. It’s the never-say-die attitude that still linger in many of us, that sell the kites, buy kites and fly kites in spite of the fact that the festival bring in an opportunity to learn the handling of making a dream come true! And it’s the child in us that make us feel good to fly our dream paths. It’s also when we are children that we form our attitudes and start pecking on our own dreams! “We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. Let us dare to dream”!
“Yume no chikara”; sounds weird? Must be – it is Japanese. But if you understand the meaning of this, it’s simple. That’s what adds passion to our lives! The meaning is - “ability to make our dreams come true”.
When we read about any achiever’s biography or their interviews on TV, we get one feeling – they all pursued their own dreams! The paths may differ, but focused were them in order to realize their dreams.
How do one dream? “Dare to dream” has been an axiom for the marketing slogan of one brand, and it is true. To dream is to have a passion for life! Whether it is President Abdul Kalam, M S Dhoni - people from various fields or for that matter Mother Teresa whose idea of life was devoted to the downtrodden, they all had dreamt of their paths.
As the kite fly, the hand behind is the driver. But kite is not focused with a destination.
Apply the same thread that dips down water, the driver is focused to get his find in the fish. When it comes to an aero plane flight the pilot knows the destination, time target to reach his destination. Whereas in a flight of dream sequence related to life – it’s a long term wish, a desire to make things happen and an action plan that follows.
Like in any journey, there are road blocks to reduce speed, take alternative routes and OR stop and wait enjoying the nature on the way! For a dreamer, though focus does not get shifted; direction is changed but put on course again, and speed is in the hands of the dreamer. Road blocks should not deter focus and direction. You’re also aware of the fool’s paradise, where dreamers have decided no flight paths! Of-course no plan of action too to be followed with fools dreams! Result - like the kite stuck on the TV cable extending from the 10th floor of Ellora Park building downwards to some other roof – unable to fly anymore.
Change is part of growth and achievement. Winning and loosing are part of the same proposition. But what remains at length is the journey to reach the goals, un-deterred.
There are combinations that get across as you traverse to making a dream come true. It’s the health, a sharp and clear mind, composure and calm, willingness to laugh on the way, to be playful and serious enough to come back after you drop down and fail at times, drive & passion, strength of conviction and enthusiasm till you finally reach your goal.
My solo dream was to be happy! This is where the body – mind combination works together. Rest of the activities and goals are meager merged acquisitions of the solo target. That meant that on a day to day basis, I strived and worked to be happy. If I lost and failed, these were taken as a teachers black board from where I could learn lessons! While on this pursuit to find happiness, the very meaning of happiness took turns as I moved on the scale of time. What I used to be happy with once is not what makes me happy now!
Coining the meaning of happiness is what I have spent my life on! Consequences of this venture that I took underwent some adventures in life – paining at times, retarding at some other. Turning points are when you see something, read a book, witness something else or experience life’s turbulences. Few years back, driven to the back yard of life under the hospital roof in Mumbai, stuck with the disease called Transverse Mylettis, I was re-creating dreams against odds to survive the onslaught of the severity of the health problem that nearly crippled me. That was when I introspected to understand and appreciate that while one is on forward gear, the use of rear gear should be as fluent as that when you drive a car. With a crippled body and crippled hopes, I woke up and started lifting the leg from the bed and later walked only forward (not backward and side ways, initially) inch by inch after nearly 25 days in the bed at Hinduja hospital.
As I read the book – “A history of time” written by Stephen Hawkins, I was fascinated with the dimension of time. More than that, it was the author, who had caught my whole attention. Crippled at the age of 22 with a deadly disease called motor-neuro deficiency and stuck to a wheel chair from then, is still unable to talk and uses a computer and voice modulation to communicate. He on his 65th birth day was planning along with Sir Richardson of Virgin Airlines to make a flight in to skies where the weightlessness as in the outer space could be felt. That’s about life driven with a passion to achieve own dreams.
To be happy is what it means when you are able to make your dreams come true. “It’s good to be just happy. It’s a little better to know that you are happy, but to understand that you are happy and to know why and how and still be happy and be happy in the being and knowing well that, is beyond happiness - is bliss”.
While we dare to dream, preferences come in the way. Likes and dislikes are mental orientations and influences thinking and behavior. Value based thinking help ethical goals in life. Life with the ingredient “dharma” attains a mind poised in balance. Love is the outcome. To free from obstacles of life, we stand committed to righteousness with backing of the mind and intellect to rise above likes and dislikes. Internal resistances to fly with dreams of your choice tend to flow joyously to the ocean of divinity. We then accept people as they are as nature accepts everything. “Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding”.
Looking at the kites that fly in the skies above on “UTTARAYAN”, I am thrilled to foresee the strength of the threads that hold the kites of various shapes, colors and styles. We also see those futile attempts to take on to skies and let go down the roofs and the backyards of our compounds. It’s the never-say-die attitude that still linger in many of us, that sell the kites, buy kites and fly kites in spite of the fact that the festival bring in an opportunity to learn the handling of making a dream come true! And it’s the child in us that make us feel good to fly our dream paths. It’s also when we are children that we form our attitudes and start pecking on our own dreams! “We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. Let us dare to dream”!
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