Showing posts with label REFLECTIONS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label REFLECTIONS. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Take a turn at right angle from your path . . .
The fondness for nostalgia intimidate at times with thoughts that ignite, especially if such memoirs are familiar to failures and weaknesses.
I was requested as I alighted from a train that halted at Mangalore railway station by a co-passenger to help guide a person who was blind. Leading him through the platform till the auto-rickshaw stand I enquired whether he was blind from birth and he said yes. I made an enquiry whether he was missing something by not being able to see like others. He answered saying he do, as he has all other faculties functioning well and miss that link of picturing the whole world. He traveled from Chennai to attend a friend’s wedding and as I made him sit in the auto rickshaw, he thanked me and said – “I will find the rest of my way to the wedding hall”. He came to part in a wedding of his old friend’s daughter. I wondered then what my relative had asked me “why I undertake that journey after an accidental fall that injured me?” Hearing the blind man’s story made me realize how purpose defines path.
I use a video clipping posted on You Tube on Nick Vujicic during training sessions to demonstrate how obstacles can be visualized as challenges. Most of those who watched the video got charged. We all are luckier than many others. Another man, a double leg amputee made history recently by competing in an athletic event in Olympics with carbon fiber blades and thanked his mother Sheila for instilling values in him. The South African Pistorius watched his 89 year old grandmother flying the national flag as he ran. Sheila never took NO for an answer – “Looser is not a person who gets involved and comes last; but one who don’t get involved”.
The nature of habit is an automatic compulsion to do what one has become accustomed to. Habits want to repeat old patterns to stay within comfort zones. Edward de Bono is one who spoke about parallel thinking to find deviations in our life’s journey.
Tension can be classified in four type viz. of task, relationship, surprise and mystery. With demanding life styles we try to cope with tension as we are in confrontation with situations and yield in defeat, procrastination or surrender. This is where the familiarity of failure disallows parallel thoughts for improvised action to grow and sustain.
As a student of engineering, I studied surface tension and it is termed as the pressure difference between the inside and outside of a BUBBLE. Water strider an insect can freely run along the surface of a quiet pond. There is something we need to learn from the insect – to utilize the tension and move forward! Surface tension in simple terms is the balance between the inner and outer chores. And in a different concept it may be applied as our inner thoughts and environment we live. When the few of us who returned as NRI’s met at Wayanad for a picnic, Vijay Menon had lots of games in stock and if you click You Tube video you will understand his question “how many coins can that glass of water accept without water spilling over?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2mKpZHnEzw
Fact is that human resilience to motor through un-known terrains is huge, and we need to appreciate this as we encounter ups and downs of lives. Most of us won't approach problems, but we seek peace of mind. It’s written on Facebook’s walls – “done” is better than “perfect”. Our lives today place enormous demands on time and energy and these demands exceed our capacity to deal with them. We try to align and attempt to function. Too often, this underlying tension surfaces at slightest provocation, and we find ourselves in conflict. Our responses shift to tensions reflecting conflicts. We need to progress through change of beliefs.
I believe tension is a need to vibe to the music in our lives. Guitar makes wonderful sounds with tension in the strings. Like in a symphony, we need to learn and adapt to situations, to avoid tension. Happiness is all about harmony with creation; harmony is all about accepting life as it unfolds. Stretch is the elasticity of comfort zones that can redefine our identity bringing out hidden capabilities. Look at a child – he moves on and on. We should not allow the child in us to grow. Then we can participate in that grand orchestra of life.
Essentially, to turn sideways with parallel thinking is to reject mental blocks of conflict management. For most of us, we are so programmed either to submission or aggression. When in the journey of lives, the path is a dim and uncertain we need to take a right angle and yet reach the same goal; and get onto move ahead with life. At times behind a hidden door, the key to that door may have been temporarily misplaced but finding it by wisdom, compassion and enlightened thoughts makes it possible.
It’s possible with matured, balanced thoughts without breaking the envelope of water bubble that holds the phenomena of surface tension - Longing to seek peace result in belonging.
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.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
50:50 – In balance, seeking happiness
May be, I thought of the whole episodes on the Vishu day, the 15th of April this year, and that’s why I had a balance of mind while the flow of writing commenced. “Vishuvam” in Sanskrit means the day when the Day and Night are of the same duration, and in this month of Medam (in Malayalam) it happens to be today.
Life is a free way with lots of cross junctions and fly-over bridges, enroute. Our body is like a mini Cosmos, millions of dying cells being replaced by yet another million. We have been given the faculties and freedom to choose the way we want to live. Like on the roads, we too see signals. If we give meaningful interpretations as we drive, we enjoy happiness on the way, destinies re-shaped.
Almost everything we see around us are our own creativity, propelled by his/her thoughts. If we are able to generate a powerful thought and let it out, that will format itself in reality to be happy - happiness within and around us.
Story No: 1
Nambi is my close family friend and an active person while he was a professional textile designer. We have travelled life together on many occasions. Disciplined and focused to get results. He thinks to resolve rather than to precipitate, a rare breed of people who fought to make things happen. In that resolve he had personal tragedies to take care of, including a son who was nearly invalid and a daughter nearly the same, crippled to life. Choosing the right direction and finding grey paths was his forte. But then he too aged and contacted Parkinson’s disease. He hardly walks around the ground floor of his house. I met him recently and exchanged old and new thoughts and spoke about common friends. His memory still ripe, gave me new dimensions and channels of thoughts. I climbed the stairs to see his son. He was with his laptop and very active with his mind. With lots of energy he narrated the way he now leads his life on the free way with options still in his command. Two youngsters were waiting to be with him after I left his room. They were taught computer programming with his fingers moving on his laptop, he said. I walked down giving room for those to be taught. Back with Nambi, and about to leave, he said – “You know, in this house, me and my son live. I have not seen him and he has not seen me for many years. I sit here and he there. But we hear each other, speak on phone”. Spaces differ, but not far away from. They both operate on a single minded thought – to be happy with the God’s blessings. May be one day they merge and see each other at a destined place, unknown to us.
Happiness is what I have been in search of, the pure definition. To be happy we seek something. Our lives are spent preparing ourselves to be happy at the end. To LIVE, LIFE we need to find internal happiness. Happiness generates energy. The energy should flow in the right direction. For that you may not see what is ahead, and if one thinks about the way one want to be happy, he gets it. Commitment gives meaning to LIFE. Whether it is for a small or big issue is not the question. We need to think – what else, what more? If the body can move behind such thoughts, may be all the faculties God gifted us may not be needed. To think about and self pity is the last thing to do. Expanding consciousness to the wider canvas and sharing the joy as well sorrows of others we can leave the depressing thoughts. The river always flows to reach the destination, at times flaunting the destiny. That is probably we find that joy and sorrow is the same but two sides of LIFE.
Story No: 2
That was a wonderful re-union of the Alumni of my College that celebrated the 100 years of existence. Old, but nostalgia brought the oldest of the Alumni who was about 90 years old. We exchanged notes about the yesteryears of MCC. Amongst the attendees there were cine actors, ministers, judiciary, defense and other walks of life - successful, elite and speaking on traditions that melted over a period of time. Hearing my name being called out, one of my class mates spotted me. He asked whether I was the same person whom he knew. His wife was accompanying him, rather hand holding him. He was blind, but made his entry to be part and to share the joy of being with the past friends. He collected my cell number and insisted me to call him. Chandra Mohan spoke to me and came up to my residence assisted by his driver, later. Sat and enquired about many things and narrated his story how after being with the Bank job, he lost his sight due to nerves system failure. He knew he will never regain sight, but memories that are rich enough were fuelling his thoughts to make changes for the days he passed by. A while later he offered a signal to me - “Please say “YES” so that I know that you are listening, as I have a problem to recognize your body language”. And he moved to the next topic of how he spends time by selling an Insurance Product. He explained about the dual growth it gives an advantage to the policy holder, at the same time getting commission that otherwise goes to an agent. He projected the advantages he gets, by expanding his thoughts to reach beyond his capabilities and constraints. He did not show any lacuna of not being able to see me. He knew who I was from the recognized memory cells and celebrated happiness. He exuberated the charm and friendliness by not seeing, but with his feelings.
Life is about shifting from the comfort zones to un-comfortable zones. Yet another dimension of the nature provides us to appreciate this. Life flows at its own pace, holding on to pain and sufferings like in a pendulum. We refuse to let go with the flow. We tend to cling and hold on. Unable to change with the inevitable changes that embark on our freeway, we fear. We carry on with the work embedded on the karma path and fear to let go the results. We need to accept that as we play our part of realizing our dreams, He will do His – after all our dreams are His dreams. We tend to wait for the BIG events to shower happiness in us. Why? Why every day cannot be a sacred moment for being happy. I received a well meaning SMS – “Every sun-set gives us one day less to LIVE. But every sun rise gives one day more to HOPE!” Hope to be happy. I read somewhere a logical and mathematical analysis – H = R/N.
H, is for happiness; R, for resources in our command and N, for need. The more N, the less H. God blesses us with pleasure – satisfying physical senses, joy – from linkages and social need fulfillments and happiness. We sit back as we move on the freeways of LIFE only to receive and recognize signals that comes as soft whispers from above. Listen and proceed towards contentment.
Story No: 3
Rati runs her brush-works in Mumbai. She colors the whole ambience around her. She throws her paint all over the big canvas called her LIFE. She has so full of energy to be happy from the sun rise till she un-wind and go to sleep. As I saw her some years ago, I had felt that she be there in Mumbai film theatres as she grows up from the teens to an adult. Instead, being seen on the huge hoardings with her cinematic appearances, she now paints on canvas herself, teach youngsters to paint their lives. I learnt a lot from her, to choose the right color as I embark road blocks on my LIFE. I get my GREEN color signal when the RED color stops and confronts me at those cross roads and flyover diversions as I pass by on my freeway of LIFE. Rati is crippled for life at the age of 19, with a disease – But never failed to move ahead and forward and kept her balance in LIFE. Smiling always, painting the whole surroundings with all that she only can throw to make it beautiful. She is like a rainbow, on the dark clouds, finds opportunities where others fail to regain and recover. I remember an article that came in FAMINA, detailing about how she manages herself and others who attend her classes to learn painting on paper, canvas and on their lives. I being a beneficiary is aware of her un-dying attitude to enjoy on her highway of life, spread with thorns and blockades. When I give a chocolate, her eyes light up and provide me with a sense of satisfaction for having made her happier. I do not believe any moment is lost in her, though she needs to be fed, bathed and taken care of in all aspects of her physical needs. But for her, her own N (need) is limited because she knows her R has a limitation. She stretches her hands, holds on to a long brush at her brush-works and others follow her instincts. I follow her pattern of driving her dreams that she believe are His dreams as well.
On the VISHU day, we see KANI, meaning everything that brings in prosperity for the whole year. There is a symbolic representation in the KANI – with a mirror. As the sparklers cracked around, and lit the sky with colors bring in happiness to those who celebrated the festivities. I looked at the mirror and saw my image. I did a self analysis and found the real meaning of BALANCE, the balance between the day and night. The balance between sorrow and joy, LIFE and DEATH, ups and downs, pains and pleasures. It’s the way we think and respond, getting signals from nature around us as we move ahead on the freeways. The real you need to be identified.
I thought 50:50 is a concept to be in balance – 51 being excitement and 49 being depression - a mathematical expression of being aware to let go and witness LIFE and to enjoy His blessings that are much above the three stories that un-folded above for most of us.
Life is a free way with lots of cross junctions and fly-over bridges, enroute. Our body is like a mini Cosmos, millions of dying cells being replaced by yet another million. We have been given the faculties and freedom to choose the way we want to live. Like on the roads, we too see signals. If we give meaningful interpretations as we drive, we enjoy happiness on the way, destinies re-shaped.
Almost everything we see around us are our own creativity, propelled by his/her thoughts. If we are able to generate a powerful thought and let it out, that will format itself in reality to be happy - happiness within and around us.
Story No: 1
Nambi is my close family friend and an active person while he was a professional textile designer. We have travelled life together on many occasions. Disciplined and focused to get results. He thinks to resolve rather than to precipitate, a rare breed of people who fought to make things happen. In that resolve he had personal tragedies to take care of, including a son who was nearly invalid and a daughter nearly the same, crippled to life. Choosing the right direction and finding grey paths was his forte. But then he too aged and contacted Parkinson’s disease. He hardly walks around the ground floor of his house. I met him recently and exchanged old and new thoughts and spoke about common friends. His memory still ripe, gave me new dimensions and channels of thoughts. I climbed the stairs to see his son. He was with his laptop and very active with his mind. With lots of energy he narrated the way he now leads his life on the free way with options still in his command. Two youngsters were waiting to be with him after I left his room. They were taught computer programming with his fingers moving on his laptop, he said. I walked down giving room for those to be taught. Back with Nambi, and about to leave, he said – “You know, in this house, me and my son live. I have not seen him and he has not seen me for many years. I sit here and he there. But we hear each other, speak on phone”. Spaces differ, but not far away from. They both operate on a single minded thought – to be happy with the God’s blessings. May be one day they merge and see each other at a destined place, unknown to us.
Happiness is what I have been in search of, the pure definition. To be happy we seek something. Our lives are spent preparing ourselves to be happy at the end. To LIVE, LIFE we need to find internal happiness. Happiness generates energy. The energy should flow in the right direction. For that you may not see what is ahead, and if one thinks about the way one want to be happy, he gets it. Commitment gives meaning to LIFE. Whether it is for a small or big issue is not the question. We need to think – what else, what more? If the body can move behind such thoughts, may be all the faculties God gifted us may not be needed. To think about and self pity is the last thing to do. Expanding consciousness to the wider canvas and sharing the joy as well sorrows of others we can leave the depressing thoughts. The river always flows to reach the destination, at times flaunting the destiny. That is probably we find that joy and sorrow is the same but two sides of LIFE.
Story No: 2
That was a wonderful re-union of the Alumni of my College that celebrated the 100 years of existence. Old, but nostalgia brought the oldest of the Alumni who was about 90 years old. We exchanged notes about the yesteryears of MCC. Amongst the attendees there were cine actors, ministers, judiciary, defense and other walks of life - successful, elite and speaking on traditions that melted over a period of time. Hearing my name being called out, one of my class mates spotted me. He asked whether I was the same person whom he knew. His wife was accompanying him, rather hand holding him. He was blind, but made his entry to be part and to share the joy of being with the past friends. He collected my cell number and insisted me to call him. Chandra Mohan spoke to me and came up to my residence assisted by his driver, later. Sat and enquired about many things and narrated his story how after being with the Bank job, he lost his sight due to nerves system failure. He knew he will never regain sight, but memories that are rich enough were fuelling his thoughts to make changes for the days he passed by. A while later he offered a signal to me - “Please say “YES” so that I know that you are listening, as I have a problem to recognize your body language”. And he moved to the next topic of how he spends time by selling an Insurance Product. He explained about the dual growth it gives an advantage to the policy holder, at the same time getting commission that otherwise goes to an agent. He projected the advantages he gets, by expanding his thoughts to reach beyond his capabilities and constraints. He did not show any lacuna of not being able to see me. He knew who I was from the recognized memory cells and celebrated happiness. He exuberated the charm and friendliness by not seeing, but with his feelings.
Life is about shifting from the comfort zones to un-comfortable zones. Yet another dimension of the nature provides us to appreciate this. Life flows at its own pace, holding on to pain and sufferings like in a pendulum. We refuse to let go with the flow. We tend to cling and hold on. Unable to change with the inevitable changes that embark on our freeway, we fear. We carry on with the work embedded on the karma path and fear to let go the results. We need to accept that as we play our part of realizing our dreams, He will do His – after all our dreams are His dreams. We tend to wait for the BIG events to shower happiness in us. Why? Why every day cannot be a sacred moment for being happy. I received a well meaning SMS – “Every sun-set gives us one day less to LIVE. But every sun rise gives one day more to HOPE!” Hope to be happy. I read somewhere a logical and mathematical analysis – H = R/N.
H, is for happiness; R, for resources in our command and N, for need. The more N, the less H. God blesses us with pleasure – satisfying physical senses, joy – from linkages and social need fulfillments and happiness. We sit back as we move on the freeways of LIFE only to receive and recognize signals that comes as soft whispers from above. Listen and proceed towards contentment.
Story No: 3
Rati runs her brush-works in Mumbai. She colors the whole ambience around her. She throws her paint all over the big canvas called her LIFE. She has so full of energy to be happy from the sun rise till she un-wind and go to sleep. As I saw her some years ago, I had felt that she be there in Mumbai film theatres as she grows up from the teens to an adult. Instead, being seen on the huge hoardings with her cinematic appearances, she now paints on canvas herself, teach youngsters to paint their lives. I learnt a lot from her, to choose the right color as I embark road blocks on my LIFE. I get my GREEN color signal when the RED color stops and confronts me at those cross roads and flyover diversions as I pass by on my freeway of LIFE. Rati is crippled for life at the age of 19, with a disease – But never failed to move ahead and forward and kept her balance in LIFE. Smiling always, painting the whole surroundings with all that she only can throw to make it beautiful. She is like a rainbow, on the dark clouds, finds opportunities where others fail to regain and recover. I remember an article that came in FAMINA, detailing about how she manages herself and others who attend her classes to learn painting on paper, canvas and on their lives. I being a beneficiary is aware of her un-dying attitude to enjoy on her highway of life, spread with thorns and blockades. When I give a chocolate, her eyes light up and provide me with a sense of satisfaction for having made her happier. I do not believe any moment is lost in her, though she needs to be fed, bathed and taken care of in all aspects of her physical needs. But for her, her own N (need) is limited because she knows her R has a limitation. She stretches her hands, holds on to a long brush at her brush-works and others follow her instincts. I follow her pattern of driving her dreams that she believe are His dreams as well.
On the VISHU day, we see KANI, meaning everything that brings in prosperity for the whole year. There is a symbolic representation in the KANI – with a mirror. As the sparklers cracked around, and lit the sky with colors bring in happiness to those who celebrated the festivities. I looked at the mirror and saw my image. I did a self analysis and found the real meaning of BALANCE, the balance between the day and night. The balance between sorrow and joy, LIFE and DEATH, ups and downs, pains and pleasures. It’s the way we think and respond, getting signals from nature around us as we move ahead on the freeways. The real you need to be identified.
I thought 50:50 is a concept to be in balance – 51 being excitement and 49 being depression - a mathematical expression of being aware to let go and witness LIFE and to enjoy His blessings that are much above the three stories that un-folded above for most of us.
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