Mumbai Meri Jaan!!

As I get ready to relocate to Bangalore to work with HP (Hewlett and Packard), I am having mixed feelings leaving Mumbai. I remember the days in school and college when I used to dream of flying to different parts of the world but now I realize that I have become so much attached to my motherland. 

Growing up in Mumbai is one of the most cherished years of my life. I wouldn’t have played the most enjoyable games of the world like Saakli, Laghori, Kho-kho and Lappa chuppi if I was not brought up in Mumbai. Those interesting and hard fought cricket games after school under the hot afternoon sun are truly unforgettable. Mumbai invented words in cricket like kaccha limbu, sarpatti that even Bradman was unaware of. Did you know that when a batsman screams “Fast” before the ball hits the bat he cannot be given out? Imagine Dale Steyn steaming in to bowl and Sachin screams “Fast” and refuses to leave the field even if the ball hits the stumps. Steyn will be left fuming. It happens only in Mumbai!!!

The day starts pretty early in Mumbai and ends very late. You can see people running to railway station during the morning hours. During this time the ultimate goal is to catch the 8.30 am local. The Olympic race starts with quickly gulping down the breakfast and running like a hare towards the station. If you get late by 2 minutes, your eyes start searching for rickshaw. If the rickshaw driver doesn’t agree to come, you start emotionally blackmailing him ” Chalo na bhaiya, late ho gaya hai”. At the end when you miss the train by a whisker, the expression on the face is worth seeing in the mirror. It feels like you have lost the battle of life. You say to yourself “ Mere saath hamesha aisa hi hota hai”.    

The food here is something to die for. There are many Khao gallis in all corners of the city. All working people jam pack the roadside thellas (shops) during the evening time. You can see people sweating and eating  hot dosas and Chinese food. It is commendable to see their resilience to eat even under such unfavorable conditions. This is what is called as Mumbai Spirit!! During the cricket match people gather in large numbers near a TV shop and cheer for every wicket and run. O Mumbai. I am going to miss you!!

Apart from Mumbai, I will also be missing my family and friends. They have made me what I am right now. Although I am sad to leave Mumbai, I am quite excited to meet new people and exploring Bangalore culture. Wherever I go, I will always be called a “Mumbaikar”.

Unpredictability of life

Yesterday I was reflecting on Yuvraj Singh’s life over last one year. He was on top of the world after receiving the Man of series title in World Cup 2011.  He had the whole world at his feet and everyone was raving about him. Nothing seemed to going wrong with him. On February 5^th, disaster struck and he was diagnosed with lung cancer. The world had turned upside down. From the epitome of success, he slipped to the lowest depths of misery. I just wondered about the unpredictability of life. You don’t know what’s going to strike you next – fortune or misfortune.

One of my friend’s dad had a paralytic stroke and has been bedridden for 5 years now. My friend was in a state of shock as his dad was hale and hearty when he left for work that morning. Now he has been seeing his dad motionless on the bed for past five years without any improvement. He told me yesterday that he has developed such a physiological fear for this unpredictability of life that he was considering consulting a physciatrist.  As I was trying to console him, one thing struck me – unpredictability of life has its own pits and falls. Though it shocks us sometimes with extreme grief and happiness, it also emphasizes us that life is short and to live it 100% each moment.  

Now what is living 100%? A commitment to wear a smile on your life even during the most turbulent times is living 100%. A life without any grudges or complaints is 100% living. A life spent on bringing smiles on people’s faces around you is 100% living. Unpredictability dawns a sudden realization that we need to keep unnecessary emotions at bay and work on priorities in life. We realize life is too short to cry and crib over trivial matters.  It encourages us to give our best effort on every job we do. With death we realize that we can be remembered after our death with our good deeds not by our bank balance.

I would like to quote one of my favorite guruji’s (Sri Sri Ravishankar) quotes

The realization that life is very short brings dynamism in your life. Unwanted things will fall off as well as distractions. When you have to be acting or putting out effort, know that life is short. When you are expecting a result, then you are often frustrated. The ignorant person does it the other way: He hurries for the result and is impatient. Impatience goes away when you know that life is eternal. When you are looking for a return of a favor from someone or a result from your good deed, you want it quickly. When you realize life is short, procrastination falls away. But when you know that there are many lifetimes, you realize that if you don't get it sooner, you get it later. Wake up and see your life is too short. Time is running so what are you doing with your life? Is it being useful to you and the world around you? Realize life is too short. WAKE UP! LIFE IS ETERNAL!

Run with your mind, not just your legs

Sometimes a single line you have read somewhere or a line said to you by someone spurs you to do some extra ordinary things in your life. Similar thing happened to me when I had been to NES college Bhandup to organize “Yogathon”. I had read an article of Prakash Iyer – the author of Habit of Winning wherein he recollects a story his friend from army had narrated to him a few years ago.

His friend had just completed engineering and was in his first week at an army school. He was joined by fit and healthy young men who had just come from the National Defence Academy.  During the morning warm ups, they were assigned a stiff task of running 10 miles.  He started the task rather enthusiastically but was exhausted only halfway through. He started feeling a strong pain in his knees and felt he would collapse. Seeing his condition the commanding officer said a famous line that shaped up his life ““Come on, young man. Up till now you’ve been running with your legs. Now run with your mind!”

These lines worked like a magic when I was doing the Yogathon challenge at NES College.  When I started the challenge I was unsure of even doing 20 rounds. The maximum I did at home was 15 rounds.  I had come to the event wearing a jeans pant – the most uncomfortable attire to be in to do Suryanamaskar.  I was first in the mindset that I would be only demonstrating a few rounds of Suryanamaskars to the students. The atmosphere in the auditorium in which we were doing namaskars was so charged up that it spurred me on to continue even after the initial rounds.

When I reached the 30th round I knew I had broken my barrier. Now everything I was doing was pushing my body beyond limits. Whenever the thought of giving up arrived in my mind I said to myself “The accomplishment of this task would be reference point for me that anything is possible for me if I am ready to stretch a little extra”.  I tried to keep negative thoughts away from my mind. The number of counts were discouraging me and just reminding me that there was a long way to go, so I stopped listening to the counts. I kept concentrating on my breathe and my body. I took some deep long breathes to keep myself energized. 

The lines from Prakash Iyer’s article kept ringing in my ears. I could see some people giving up and complaining about the humidity in the room. I stopped looking at them. I could see some people doing the asanas rather effortlessly. I looked at them and gave them a bright smile. They smiled back and that gave me lot of confidence. Finally the teacher announced it was 90 rounds and only 18 rounds to go. Now I said to myself no use of giving up. I have reached so far now I have got to get to the shores. I started to think that so many of friends will be shocked to see me complete the challenge. That urge to see shocked faces on my friends faces egged me further. I reached 108 and I fell bang on the floor. The satisfaction I felt when I fell on the floor was unbelievable. The feeling that you gave it your all is so relishing. 

This experience I realized that mental strength plays a key role in defining success. It also proved that refusing to give in to negative-minded people (like in this case who started complaining and gave up) and following your goal with one-pointed focus is the only way to success.

Yogathon 2012

http://www.yogathon.in/

On 7^th April, on account of World’s Health day, the Art of Living foundation had organized an event “Yogathon” to create awareness about Yoga – an age old Indian practice. Similar to the Marathon where the participants have to complete the challenge by running a fixed number of yards, the Yogathon made the participants execute 108 Suryanamaskars to conquer the challenge.

Though the event was happening on a large scale in Thane, me along with a teacher and 3 other volunteers were entrusted the responsibility of conducting this event in Laxmibai school in Mulund. The thought of handling kids in school sent shivers down my spine. I started thinking “When I was in school I never listened to my teachers, why the hell will these kids listen to me?”

Expecting a lot of chaos we reached the venue at around 6 o clock in the morning. The event was supposed to happen in the auditorium. We met the physical trainer of the school who told us that the students where in the classroom and would come down as soon as the arrangements were done. I saw the empty auditorium and said to myself “is this the lull before the storm? Oh God save me from these children!!” 

Me and couple of other volunteers finished arranging the sound system and told the trainer to bring in the children. Down walked the children amidst lots of noise and chaos. Arranging them in a row according to the height was a herculean task. No student is ready to believe the other one is taller! Then started the usual cribbing the students do “Sir he is kicking me, Sir he is pushing me, Sir he is beating me”. It was fun to listen to their complaints though.

Before starting the event, the trainer had told us that it would be impossible for children to complete 108 namaskars .It was then amicably decided that students would be doing only 10 rounds (20 Suryanamaskars). I was assigned the role of a photographer. That role gave me lot of attention from the children. Whenever i held the camera near my eyes, students would pose unknowing that they are not even the frame. It was quite funny to watch children push each other to get into the frame. 

As soon as the trainer blowed the whistle, suddenly there was pindrop silence in the auditorium. Then the teacher started giving the count for suryanamskars. The students looked with curious eyes as me and couple of other volunteers demonstrated the entire exercise. The students picked up the exercise quite quickly and completed the intitial rounds quite easily. As soon as the number of rounds increased, the grimaces on their face and the moaning started exponentially increasing. Finally after 10 rounds, when they were on the verge of giving up the students gave a sigh of relief after the teacher told them to relax and lie down on the ground. The torchure was over!!!

After relaxing for a while, the students gleefully told us that they were feeling energetic much to the joy of our organizing team. The trainer congratulated and thanked us for organizing such a great event in their school. He told us that the Yoga is skill that originated in India and we are slowly losing it to the Western countries. He was happy to see us take initiative to make people aware about the power of Yoga.

When I started the day, I was kicking myself for getting up so early on a weekend, but when I saw student’s faces and heard such good things from the trainer it really made the day worthwhile.

Demystifying Steve Jobs Statement

The man behind Apple Computers -Steve Jobs

”You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle”

 “Thank god it’s Friday” people in office yell out gleefully when the weekend mood sets in. It feels like prisoners will be out of jail for 2 days to enjoy life. The anticipation is so much that the happy feeling starts half a day early – Friday evening. People wish each other “Happy Weekend” and on the journey back home start deciding what they are going to do over the weekend. After a fun-filled Saturday and a lazy Sunday morning everyone starts to brood over the coming week. “No holidays this week!  Damn all public holidays this year have come on weekends this year!!” I have heard people saying this every year since I am born.

All my colleagues and friends complain that after coming back from office they are so mentally discharged that they can’t do anything but doze off to sleep. At the most what they can do is sit in front of the idiot box (TV) and gaze at the worth for nothing daily soaps. So how do we get rid of this energy sapping schedule and enjoy our life each day, each minute. Steve Jobs statement gives us the answer. Let’s go statement-by-statement.

Love is a feeling that blossoms creativity in us.  Creative intelligence is a part of every human soul and it can be tapped only through love. When you do something that you love, the work becomes effortless as it no longer remains work and becomes an activity of joy and happiness. Imagine you are setting up a birthday party for a close friend. Would you feel tired and drained at the end of the day? Just imagining the smile on your friends face when he comes to know about the party lifts your spirits.

Work becomes an important part of our life as it provides respect to the individual in the society. You will be always remembered in this world because of the work you have done not by how much money you possessed. Of course money is a byproduct of immaculate work but the work done with utmost sincerity, honesty and integrity wins you many hearts. All the genius scientists like Newton, Wright brothers, Charles Darwin were passionate and loved their work. It invoked their creative intelligence that led to great invention and discoveries. Their works have made them immortal.

It’s never too easy to find what you love. It may happen tomorrow, it may happen after a month or it might happen even after a year or a decade. Keep faith in yourselves and carry on the hunt because the diamond which you will get at the end is truly rewarding and worthwhile.

 

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

“Diye jalte hai, phool khilte hai, badi mushkil se magar duniya mein dost milte hai”

Tears roll down my eyes in gratitude when I hear this song and think of friends who have come into my life and influenced it in a positive way. Who do we want to be with when you are going through major crisis in life? When you want to rest your head on somebody’s shoulder in some of the darkest moments of your life whom do you look out for? Be it gossip about a colleague or complaints about your life friends are always the garbage bin you’re looking for to throw these litter in.

True friendship is built on two major factors – trust and unconditional love and acceptance. In fact it is the basis of any kind of relationship. I knew two best friends in school – Ramesh and Suresh who were really inseparable from each other. They even went to the same college and hanged out with each other even after college. Ramesh was dating this beautiful girl in our college. She was rich and snobbish and spoke only to a few of the guys in our college. One day the couple had a major tiff and was on the brink of breaking the relationship. Ramesh was totally upset and confided in Suresh about his problems with the girl. Suresh did his best in consoling and cheering him up but to no avail. Even he started feeling down and shared this problem with another guy from our school. Suddenly this story became the talk of the town. When Ramesh came to know that Suresh had spilled the beans he was totally irate and swore never to speak to him again. A friendship 10-15 years was broken due to breach of trust.

 I and my collegue Sanjay were discussing something about trust when he came up with a story. He and one of his childhood friends Vijay had a major argument over a money issue. The fight became so serious that they almost had a street fight. Whoever saw that fight believed that their friendship was over and could kill each other if they met next time. Both were naturally very upset about the whole issue. Sanjay tried calling him but Vijay was not ready to answer the phone. Sanjay knew he had to do something drastic to regain his friendship. He made a collage of all their childhood photos and left it outside his house. When Vijay saw this he broke down and called up Sanjay. They met, hugged and patched up easily. At the end of this story Sanjay told me very important thing. “Trust is like a bank balance. When you break the trust you withdraw from the bank balance and if the bank balance goes empty you break the friendship”. In this case Sanjay deposited trust again by reminding his friend about the childhood friendship. In the first case (Ramesh and Suresh), the bank balance went nill and friendship broke off. Suresh never tried deposit the trust again by trying to resolve things between him and Ramesh.

Unconditional love and acceptance is telling your friend “In whatever circumstances you are – bad or good, however annoying or irritating you became I will be there for you”. In this fast paced life and hectic schedules, it becomes really difficult to catch up with the friends on the regular basis. Some people have to relocate due to their job and lose touch with their friends. This is where technology comes into the picture. A SMS or a call would remind your friend that your still there for him. Remembering and wishing them on their birthdays, anniversaries go a long way to prevent empty emotional bank balance. Facebook has made our life easier to remember birthdays so pick up the phone and call!!!I started with a song and will end with a popular song that totally defines friendship

Yaaron dosti badi hi haseen hai
Yeh na ho to kya phir
Bolo yeh zindagi hai

Koi to ho raazdaar
Begaraj tera ho yaar
Koi to ho raazdaar

Yaaron mohabbat hi to bandagi hai
Yeh na ho to kya phir bolo yeh zindagi hai

Koi to dilbar ho yaar
Jisko tujhse ho Pyaar
Koi to dilbar ho yaar

Teri har ke buraai pe daante woh dost
Gam ki ho dhoop to saaya bane tera woh dost

Naache bhi woh teri khushi main
aree Yaaron dosti badi hi haseen hai

Yeh na ho to kya phir
Bolo yeh zindagi hai
Koi to ho raazdaar
Begaraj tera ho yaar
Koi to ho raazdaar

Tan mann kar tujhpe fida
Mehboob woh
Palkon pe jo rakhe tujhe
Mehboob woh
Jiski vafa tere liye ho

Are Yaaron mohabbat hi to bandagi hai
Yeh na ho to kya phir
Bolo yeh zindgi hai
Koi to dilbar ho yaar
Jisko tujhse ho pyaar
Koi to dilbar ho yaar

Buried Down Under

From the winning the World Cup 2011 to loosing the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the Indian cricket team has seen it all within a span of one year.  The team which was showered with financial rewards and trophies is being given strong backlash in India after loss in Perth test match. Even the Australian media has harshly criticized Indian team by calling it“useless rubble” led by a “passive captain”. Is this team really worthy of being ranked no 2 in tests?  Did India win the World Cup because of home advantage? These are the questions lingering in the minds of cricket enthusiasts.

At the start of the tour, people were expecting India to steamroll the inexperienced Australian bowlers and win the series for the first time in Australia. This series was much hyped because of Sachin’s 100^th century.  After a disastrous England tour which India lost 4-0, BCCI had taken some corrective measures and kept some practice matches ahead of the Boxing Day test match in Melbourne. A lesser known cricketer Ed Cowen hit a century in the practice match and got selected for the MCG test match. Ed now you know whom to thank when you retire.

The MCG test match got underway and the Indian batsman were dancing to the tunes of Australian bowlers. India’s famed batting line-up produced another spineless display to crash to an embarrassing 122-run defeat and handed Australia a 1-0 lead. Dhoni gave an excuse that they are poor starters and would produce better results in the next test match.

The situation got much worse in Sydney. India gave in to the disciplined bowling by Ben Hilfenhaus, James Pattinson and Peter Siddle and lost by an innings and 68-runs. Australia had taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series. Michael Clark was declared man of the match for his unbeaten innings of 329.

You think this was worst then you have underestimated the clumsiness of Indian batsmen. The Australian bowlers were too hot and fierce to handle. The match finished within 3 days!  None of the Indian batsman were able to stand up to the Australian bowlers. The Indian strong middle order consisting of Sachin, Dravid, Laxman were expected to deliver the goods but they have let down in a big way. Talks about them retiring are already doing the rounds.

Now what do we expect from Adelaide Test match starting from 24^th January? Can Indians save themselves from another whitewash? We need to wait and watch. Hope they can at least carry on the match until 5 days to keep the sponsors and broadcasters happy.

Art of Writing

Ever wondered what would have happened if there were no formal communication between Romeo and Juliet? Would this greatest love story ever taken place? They stayed far away from each other and had to use written form of communication to convey their feelings. Through those times till the present age of digital marketing, the importance of art of writing has been on a steady rise.

Written communication plays an important role across all corporate sectors. Whether it’s dealing with clients or internal employees, you need to communicate your ideas with the right set of words to avoid any clashes. All contract papers, legal documents, business proposals need to be properly documented and signed to prevent breach of faith between any two parties.

A career in writing is also a viable option for the current generation. Gone are the times when a writer was supposed to write only books. With the advent of online advertising, the companies need writers to promote their products on the internet. There is a growing demand for technical writers to create technical documentation such as online help, user guides etc. Companies are always on a look out for good instructional designers to create online courses with clear and informative content.  In addition there are myriad of career opportunities in writing such as copywriting, proposal writing, content writing, SEO etc.

What makes writing doubly important is that it is the only portable and permanent type of communication. It makes your thinking visible and expresses the kind of person you are. It promotes your ability to pose worthwhile arguments and questions on different web portals. Writing allows you to step into readers shoes and think from his perspective.

Thus from movies to poetries, from great books to the finest news article, writing has helped to unleash human thinking and creativity.