Live life in 2 months....

To start with a disclaimer - This is not an excerpt from Baba Ramdev's Yoga Book, nor is it from Robin Sharma's latest self-help seminars. Its a thought.....

A thought that - Are we running too fast, after an illusion, in pursuit of making our careers?? Are we losing Life in the want of winning this rat-race?? Firstly let me get my basics right....I am not sure how can we define career?? Is it a money-making, man-tiring activity?? or doing what-we-like for entire life tirelessly with money being by-product?? What I found was people, eventually, opt for the 1st option, with me being no exception.

However, some do try to get out of this trance. Though i never found my job burden-some in last 3 years but gradually I realised that it was not my destiny. However, the calculation of how-long-can-my-savings-support-me was not very encouraging, and so was my job. Of the two non-encouraging option I opted sabbatical (atleast till all my savings are exhausted :D).

I remember how skeptical I was on the day I resigned and what a relief I had experienced was on my last day. But could not sleep that night as there always was an apprehension that; was I in right direction?? Next day woke up my changed self. Happy and free. Took enough rest to rejuvenate my self and within week i felt a different man of me (not to mention that my dark circle started receding and eyes looked less sleepy :D). Caught up with reading, which was long-lost since my job. Pursued hobby (learning an musical instrument) that I dream't since my teens.

It has been 2 months since my freedom and have devoured handful of latest novels along with timely home-made meals, made descent progress in my hobby pursuit, caught up with long-lost friends. In all, lived life in real sense. Isnt this what we want in our lives?? All it took was 2 months...

I agree that my decision is an extreme case and am still not sure of my destiny, but cant you guys out there take extended leaves and live life?? All I wanna say is....Slow-down a li'l...Live a li'l.....

Think about it.....

Is Mumbai still a "City where dreams come true"

"This town, is a Make-U town, or a Break-U town...,
Its a Use-U town or Abuse-U town, til.....u are down...

"Heard this song & the first thing that clicked in my mind was - Mumbai !!!

I have always found this city full of energy and dynamism. It has welcomed everyone and has accommodated them so well, that many aspire to migrate here to fulfill their dreams. It has provided loads of opportunities to the ones who are willing to work smart and has helped them rise from rags to riches. Nonetheless, Mumbai, like Mayanagari, has something different in it, something illusory.

Mumbai - the city, that hardly sleeps, is still called "The city of dreams", how ironic is that?? With the fear of inviting Shiv Sena & MNS wrath, I would say that life in Mumbai has reiterated Darwin's theory of the "Survival of the Fittest". But dont you think this theory has more to do with Jungles????

The situation has gone from bad to worse over last decade. Millions of people have come here with the aspiration of a better lifestyle, but a recent survey suggests that stress and poor dietary habits have reduced lifespan of an average Mumbaikar by 2 years (as such it was lower than the National average by 5 years)

We are happy living on the edge. Have we ever pondered over our claims?? People have no food to eat, so they convince themselves "Atleast our hearts full of love"!!!...No place to live, but persuade themselves "Atleast we got Bada Dil, you see!!! We dodge through potholes, rains and terrorists...& claim, we are resilient, we are united. BTW why are this 26/11s for?? to prove how closely knit we are!!!!! Lets accept this fact that we are resilient by force and not by choice....

Unfortunately, the fat pay packages have kept our dreams alive and has forced us to stick around. So the question still remains - Is Mumbai still the city where dreams come true??? might be......but at what cost??

Think about it.....

Is the festivity of our festivals dying??

We still have festivals, but wherz the celebration??? Why is it that the festivity, the charm of our festivals, dying?

Diwali days are on... I still remember, (may be a decade back) how enthu i used to be.. Diwali was synonymous to new clothes, sweets, fire cracker, writing greeting cards to near-&-dear ones. Diwali still remains, but wherz that enthu???

The retail stores which used to buzz with Diwali-Shoppers, are relatively idle. The Greeting-cards are replaced by eGreetings and now by SMSz...WOW, what a technological progress we have made. Our brains are expanding but our hearts, shrinking. Even the noise of crackers have come down (though the environmentalist would be more than happy), may be thats b'coz people have refrained themselves from spending due to (much talked about) recession in the economy, or is it recession in our feelings???

Or people have changed the preference of their spending. These days, they prefer to go for an outing in festivals. This serves 3 purposes...1. recreation...2. no hectic festival prep...& 3. no relatives to handle, but dont you think festivals originated to serve the above purpose but with relatives and friends....

However, no one is to be blamed. Our life has become so fast and busy that we are dragged with the time. We hardly get time for our loved ones and we spend festival holidays for outing. But this is at the cost of being self-centered, restricting ourselves to our immediate family.

May be this is my illusion, may be not....

Think about it

First Kiss

Those who know me, would be surprised by this blog; as I never share such intimate stuff in public. Nonetheless, i thought the incidence would force u to think....

Recently, while gossiping with frens (believe me, guys do gossip :D), one of them came up with this Q.... "How does the first kiss feel?" & everyone was to describe their encounter. I donno what made me close my eyes & waft away in past memories.

I could imagine those soft hands, warping me like a precious gift. Those moist eyes just cant get off me. That warm breath as she brought her face near and a gentle peck on my cheeks with a fear that she might hurt me.... I must not have been more than 24 hours old.....

Guys.....if u were expecting an erotica, i must say, i would disappoint u... as here I have a pt to make.

Why is it that when we talk about love, it has to be your GF / BF or your fiancee or spouse. Ever thought about your parents who have been loving you unconditionally, since birth.

Its your fiancee's B'day...how enthu u would be; planning a nice surprise gift....have we spared a thought on giving our parents a lovely surprise? How many times have we reciprocate with the same magnitude of feelings & love that they have for us?

Think about it...

Viscous circle of "perceived" poverty

Lemme not get into economics fundaz as except me everyone hated it since my school day. Here I want to bring out the mind-set of the typical Human being.

First lemme talk about myself then we can talk about Humans [:D]. Off late, I have been getting this internal pangs to buy a house for myself (not that i dont have one now) - pangs to own a better house. So more often than not I have these feeling that "Y M I SO POOR, that i cant afford a descent house for my family"....

I am sure many of us wud be getting such feelings, though it might not be for house but for Pair of Wrangler jeans or Merc S-class or pataofy new richie rich chic u have known offlate [;)]. We often "perceive" ourselves to be poor & thats wer these viscous circle starts....

According to me poverty is "lack of enough income and resource to live adequately by community standards" so its not just lack of resources, but its the "persception of inadequacy"

Remember those school days, Rs 100/month meant so many candies, sandwiches, so many icecreams & above all that happiness to have this all. Those college days, Rs 100/ week. One 4 year old faded jeans was still part of our wardrobes, 1 cigarette 4 friends still was fun, tapri-cutting was more soothing than CCD frappe. Now at more than Rs 100/hour we are "poor". Here, I dont ask you to dwell in past (atleast I always luk forward for future), but to demonstrate that present is not all that gloomy. Our flawed internal thinking ensures that we are not able to enjoy the fruits of our labour.

Just take the e.g of Slumdog Millionaire's (Slum-M) child fame Azharuddin. He lived in slums for 10 years, luck changed & had this opportunity to be in a 5-Star hotel in Hollywood for 5 days during Oscars function & on his return to India he felt India was hot & full of mosquitoes. Just imagine 5days changed his persception to such an extent that he wont enjoy playing with his frenz in those dusty grounds they used to before Slum-M, nor would he cherish sleeping under the moon as before. He has suddenly turned "Poor".

Another thing I dont understand is about people in perpetual "Middle Class".... Inspite of double income, 2 houses, 3 cars they still call themselves "Middle-Class". Behaving like a middle-class seems like a taboo and can be a big put-off. It also hurts the person and restricts progress and enjoyment....resulting to poverty...

But think about millions who are deprived of daily meals...ARE WE really poor???...I guess not...

Think about it......