Perfection Personified!

Something really really interesting for Dancers! I loved everything about this performance: presentation, choreography, dancers, rigour and lastly perfection to the core!!

p.s: It feels nice to see others a la indienne!!! :-)

A new way

This medical break has given me so much time that being idle, all I can do is think all the time!! I used to wonder how can people day dream, or lie around doing nothing at all!! And being a hyper-active person, I never really liked it..

But after these weeks, for the first time I feel it is not really bad (to do it once in a while!) Of course I do not wish to take away the credit of all those who actually got me convinced about this! I am happy they are successful!! For me, it is indeed a new way of recovering! :-)

Thanks to everyone!!! :-)

p.s: Dedicated to respond to Infinite's statement! Your point has been noted! :-)

Deserving

I abide by a principal of being able to deserve returns by means of achievement. It gives a mysterious pleasure and a sense of accomplishment, when you have worked hard and then had a deserving celebration!

For the past 2 weeks I have been on strict rest (read "no work") prescribed by doctor. Details of health are too frustrating to pen them down. Its just that, when you are doing nothing, a medical rest seems to be undeserving too! Is it wrong to think this way?? What is better? To deserve the rest and recover one's health, or to take the undeserving rest and compromise on the peaceful nights sleep? I am still confused!!!

Its easy when said and done!

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

- P. B. Shelly (from-Ode to the West Wind)

I admire this ode for the positive vibes it gives out. The quoted sentence is the concluding line and it induces peace of mind! For me, this over powers the proverbial statement "Its always easy said than done!" I say, "If its easy to say, then better get it done!" :-)

Last Concern

"... It was drizzling enough to make the roads slippery. At sunset, just before darkness completely sets it, a Volvo was speeding to reach its destination. For some unknown reason the speed manifested urgency. And on a risky turn, the bus skid from the track. The layer of mushy land accumulated against the tyres stopped it from toppling. For a second nothing was in place!"

I was one of the passengers. At the time we went off the road, I wasn't sure what was coming! At that time the only thing on my mind was, if I die, let it be a peaceful death! It is difficult to accept that I didn't think of anyone else. All the relationships, commitments, responsibilities seemed to be so trivial to even come to my mind!

I am still not sure if its nature or instinct to be concerned about only oneself at the end or is it pure defence mechanism?

Re- al/ bel

What is better? Being faithful to your partner because of the conventions, or because of your virtue? Fidelity in our society leads to obligations in a relationship rather than choices. An act contributing to a relationship out of choice gives it a profound significance. Actually this is a rhetorical question. What I fear is the point where it will be difficult to identify an act’s motive and the apprehension of a beautiful reason to become doubtful. I don’t know the reason behind this feeling, but it is difficult for me to come to terms with the social rules for relationships. On a second note, I strongly believe that social norms of fidelity suck out the genuineness of a relationship. So I CHOOSE to not abide by them!

City of Fast Life

The richest man stays in this city,
So does a beggar who dies of hunger,
Somewhere an entrepreneur sets leading examples
And somewhere a gangster plans destructions.
Here, some give life and some take life,
Because; anything is possible in the city of fast life!

Dear ones are not known by their presence in the heart,
They exist because they need one’s income’s part.
Gone are the days when there were gentlemen’s words,
If you want to win the race, grab all the loop holes;
Here, the key to success is nothing but bribe,
Because; anything is possible in the city of fast life!

Distances in hours, meetings in minutes,
Expressions in seconds and interactions in fractions!
Where the rate of marriages equals that of divorce rates;
Living together but cannot define the relationship’s fate,
No one shudders to be with someone else’s wife.
Because; anything is possible in the city of fast life!

Too much time goes in coping with the speed,
Families become burden and children become liabilities;
When this momentum applies to these childhoods,
Young boys transform into men, and girls into women,
Innocence is lost to the pace of this life style,
Because; anything is possible in the city of fast life!

Living in one of the tallest buildings,
You still don’t know the names of your neighbors;
Travel for longer hours and compensate working hours
To land up home only for dinners.
One can’t help but wonder; how can they possibly thrive?
Because; anything is possible in the city of fast life!

Simple

So simple it is to live,
So simple it is to love,
So simple it is to smile,
So simple it is to win,
But the fact is it is so difficult to be…
So Simple!

p.s. Isn’t it true? I still fail to understand how we land up complicating simple things!

Best

"It is a funny thing about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."
-Somerset Maugham

One of the reasons why perfectionists are so is because they can’t settle for second best. They focus and accomplish smaller goals to cumulatively achieve more every time. And success for them is a never ending process. In fact, for them success is a by product of incessant progress. Even though these statements seem to be mundane, they indeed qualify as an example for “Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently!” We seldom realize that mediocrity in our life is only because we compromise on the unavailability of the best. And winners go on to become the mile stones in that domain just because they hold on further where we give up.

I wish to conclude with one of my favorite quotes by my guide, “Knowing and not doing is not knowing!” :-)

Google Rocks

There has been weird turn of events lately. It all began with my mail getting hacked. I wasn’t super upset about it because I knew I have a parallel account from where I can retrieve my Gmail password within no time. But no, it gets even worse. My parallel account has been hacked too…

By the time I had digested this, I was struggling to convince myself that it’s not the end of the world if your password is cracked. The option of ‘forgot password’ was still in my hands. But the real joke begins here… with my security question changed there was no way I could get thorough the other account as well! This was the last straw. I felt as if been slapped across my face!!!

The thought of not being able to access my own account wounded me. Besides, my professional correspondence was locked. And the impending doom of retrieving all the lost contacts shook me to my foundations! I am not a technical person either to understand what exactly could be done to get through. (Not that the techies can! :-P But still I give them the due importance they ask for! :-P)

With the user friendly support system, I followed every step asked by them scrupulously and got my account functioning again. This all happened within 36 hours! As for the other account, well, I am still hoping to get it back. Like it’s said, “hope for the best, prepare for the worst”, I am already prepared!!! :-)

A take away for all the non-techies, use Google as if you have made it! It actually gives you that impression and you get paralyzed if you can’t access it. (This is indeed experience speaking!) I am back in form with the potion called as ‘Google’. Google rocks!!! I love theeeeeee!!!! :-D

Financial Year 2008-09

“Small minds talk about Sales,
Average minds talk about Business,
Great minds talk about Growth,
LEGENDS never talk,
They only perform!!!”

-Anonymous

P.S: This is my first experience of a financial year-end and New Year beginning. Had heard a lot about such changeovers; apart from a few mistakes that I made, it was an experience to be celebrated! The targets for sales and production, all the statements and mainly the New Year plan was really interesting. :-)

I love or don’t, is the question…

Adhering to the promise I made to Infinite (the one who commented on Sarabhai…) I am trying not to sound sarcastic or offensive. :-)
Following is an absolutely atypical and one of the most beautiful definitions of love I have come across. AK said this complicated thing (perhaps perceived!) in such a simple way that simply bowled out everyone present at our simple get together. It’s indeed true that, often-superlative things emerge from simplest sources or situations.

“Love isn’t a feeling, it’s a state of mind. And a trigger is required to transpire into that state. And that trigger is no more than grief. To put it in a cause-effect structure, if one feels sad because he cannot see someone in pain, then he is in love with that person. For e.g. if an infant’s death (grief) makes the parents sad because they cannot see the other in pain, they fall in love. Following this theory, the frequent question asked ‘do you love me?’ actually sounds irrelevant. It could better be, ‘do I love you?’ And instead of analyzing if someone loves us or not, isn’t it better to begin with self? To make it finer, every time a couple survives a grievance together, they fall in love with each other. Now, how long this state would last depends on how complementary they are to each other. Two parallel lines never meet; similarly, two identical people would have a hard time maintaining this state. But opposites attract, likewise, complementary people sustain that state longer because one lacks what the other has, fitting the jigsaw all the time. To conclude on this, love cannot happen when everything around is happy. For the only reason, who wouldn’t want to be with someone who has no worries? When someone wants to be with you even when you are in the worst of your phases, then it can be termed as love. If its love, it means to be together forever in the real sense of the term!”
- A.K.

I realized how this theory perfectly fit to all the real life successful relationships as well as the miserably failed ones. The relationships I look up to are of those who have survived several difficult times together. After all a person who has seen life for more than 65 years would state only time-tested things! :-)

The Mind of a Parent says “…

How I wish to hold your hand,
And take you out for a walk,
Play your favorite music band,
And have a long night’s talk.

How I wish to lull you to sleep,
To help you solve the math sums,
And plan my days and keep
For you, the next holiday that comes.

How I wish to see your face,
When you walk without fear,
And I am sure you’ll win the race,
To make me proud of you my dear.

How I wish to not accept this,
And never want to give it up.
But I have to face the truth that is,
My child is now a grown up!

Vipassana

Vipassana is a technique of introspection preserved by monks. This Indian origin type of meditation has been used and passed on for years together. Its detailed history is available on any search engine and if anyone wishes to take this course, you can log on their website http://www.dhamma.org/.

Its main branch (referred as “Pagoda of Dhammagiri”) is at Igatpuri: a small town between Mumbai and Nashik cities. This technique requires minimum of 10 days stay away from your routine life. Out of curiosity and honestly, to some extent because it was totally non-religious and non-traditional, I choose to take this course.

One has to resist all types of communications and keep mute during all these days. Those who know me are in for a shock! I did that!!! I didn’t utter a word, nor did I communicate through actions for all the 10 days. You start your day as early as 4.30 a.m. and have only one meal per day. It sounds difficult but when you have nothing to do, even this is at times more than required. In my opinion, no activities, no communication, 10-12 hours meditation per day leaves you with nothing but introspection.

They say vipassana is so powerful that when you get it right, your concentration doubles, your endurance for physical pain increases and your temper gets chilled. I would be lying if I refuse even one of these effects. And in case there has been a guilty past, or unfortunate tragedy, or a failed venture, one finds solutions because of thorough peace of mind.

I am too young to experience any of these possibilities. But now am not apprehensive about any if at all it happens. I could inculcate very positive changes in myself after this course. I would recommend everyone to experience the happiness you get when everything seems so clear and simple even if it isn’t! :-)

In Search of Innocence…

One of my interests lies in upbringing, be it in anything. I love to take care of pets, kids and to the extent of grand parents also… I think it’s more to do with compassion than patience. But yes I love to indulge myself with care taking during my leisure time. My experiences in the past few years actually got me frustrated with the new generation kids. Initially I thought it was due to an over dose of baby-sitting. But then realized that it was the kids not my lack of interest!!!

If the attributes to children, adolescents, teenagers, and later age groups get miss matched, its sinfully nauseating. A snobbish kid is as intimidating as a kiddish grown up. In case of an adult, you can at least hold him responsible. But in case of children, it’s only their parent’s failure. It is depressing how today’s upbringing systematically destroys the innocence. Given the justifications that come while explaining the nuisance created by their kids, I can only wish that that time could be used to impart a bit of discipline in them!!!

Love Story

On a morning in summer,

It smelt fresh hay.

The first meeting with her lover,

It did the same way.

Was it the golden light?

Or was it the glowing peeks?

That made the country sight,

Look like it speaks?

Sitting under the darkest shade

To hide from the rays,

“For this time, I shall trade

Even a fortune”, he says.

Thanks to the sheep

And thanks to the season,

That lets us keep

Meeting for a reason.

I wish to grow old

With you by my side,

Life will unfold,

And shall be our guide.

In search of joy

Together we’ll find a way,

And pass it to our boy,

On a joyful day.

So I say this to you my dear,

Loving is the only way

Success is always near,

Only a fraction away…

Happiness is not in the air,

It’s in the mind.

Feel it if you may dare,

And make it your find.

Make an effort together,

And pass your story on,

Coz nothing lasts forever,

But generations go on.

There should remain a trace

Of your existence,

Welcome your end with grace,

And let go without insistence.

During the last moments,

Don’t count your years.

Count all the moments

That made these years.

If the moments are more

You are always alive,

With the memories so pure

In the relations that survive.

Different Strokes!

All those who know me can vouch my weird connection with animals. I can communicate, understand and relate to them with an ability that can be considered above average amongst people who are animal friendly. This is one of my innate interests, so considering pets as family comes to me too naturally to term them a liability.

I never knew I could be taken as a master till my latest pet did. My limited time at home because of work got me involved more into his training. Perhaps, that’s the reason why he took me as a master. It was when he attacked my relative who was hitting me (In fun), that it was confirmed I was the master to him.

It just makes me feel special!!! :-)

A Visit to the Central Jail, Nashik

Part II: Sensation

Like mentioned at the beginning in part one, am juxtaposing the events and commotion it caused in my head at that time.

Meeting room: The emotion of interacting with your people at the mercy of others is something, we, who belong to the other side of the fence won’t be able to empathize at all. Confronting this lifestyle calls for a high level of acceptance and courage. But the one convicted goes through this for his proved crime. It’s a horrendous anguish for the one who comes to visit him. To not touch your loved one, to see him through blurred glass, to talk only for 20 minutes, to see his deterioration by every meeting, to encounter the humiliation for being associated with him are few of the obvious inevitable repercussions that innocent has to wrestle with all the time…

Work Stations: Prima facie, the use of man power instead of machines seems to be a very backward management approach, but after knowing their logic behind the same, makes it the best way. To keep the time and minds of 2500 prisoners occupied in it self is a crucial assignment. The implementation and effectiveness of this logic-based Strategy is impeccable. The production techniques go through research and development with an approach of utilising maximum man power and generating more demand for it. It is very impressive the way their training is conducted; top class house keeping is maintained; ‘store to ware-house’ circulation is established; inspection techniques for the quality assurance is determined and sales is generated for their payments. Rightfully it makes an impression of one observing a large scale industry. The most formidable aspect according to me is to set up a productive organisation with the people who are sentenced by the court as harmful to society!

The Food: The given quantity is sumptuous in all possible ways. But there is no say for the menu. They have to accept whatever is given. The coupons and the allowance limit highlighted very sad facts of today’s lifestyles. People have very bad food habits, they throw tantrums at the table, and they waste food. There is no limit to their expenses (applicable to the youngsters who spend at their parents cost.), 1500/- is spent at one entertainment centre! There is a certain amount of responsibility that goes when we have all these things, a sense of accountability when we have parents to support us, a limit to our behaviour and egos when we have all the freedom around. Sad but true, this is really missing in our society today.

The Show: The performance was a tight slap to all the supposed singers who have an air about themselves. In a hall with open windows for ventilation, a stage with an obsolete sound system, 3 musical instruments collected from discarded materials and singers condemned for life sentence created a magic that, an a/c studio designed with acoustics, installed with the most modern sound systems and all the possible musical instruments with the glamorous singers, can create once in a blue moon. I was stunned to see the prisoners’ drive to enhance themselves with these leisure activities while coping up with the depression of being cut-out from the outside world. It was then it struck me that the time most of us spend claiming to be busy could be utilised for self enhancement by indulging in our hobbies…

The life in cells: To live life at someone else’s will, is the worst form of demoralisation. The reason why lions of the outside world lead a life of a mouse can only be the helplessness that comes with the boundaries. We all are too fortunate to be on the other side of this world. It was after the visit that I realised the emergency to kill the sympathy seeking syndrome in our world. My mind was screaming out loud in response to some evident symptoms of sympathy seeking: “I never get what I want.”- Be happy about what you have, is not snatched from you; “The mistake I make and the sufferings I have to face are just not fair!”- Did you choose to make a mistake to demand for a choice for its repercussions? At least you don’t have to pay for what you never did; “Life has been cruel to me”- Not at all, you are one amongst the most fortunate to get what you have today; “I need a break from the turbulence in my life”- Don’t wear it on your sleeve. At least you have the option to take a break; “I am trapped in my own house”- Freedom is an understatement to what you have. You are rather surrounded by your loved ones. And the list can go on and on. I seriously fear Sympathy Seeking Syndrome reaching the list of fatal psychological disorders in the near future.

A visit that lasted for a few hours made me numb for a while, because even I was in that premises. We had guards around us everywhere we went. They had continuous attention and they never let us alone even once. It was obviously for security purpose but was enough for me to feel what it must be to live without privacy. My oh-so-claimed-strong-mind failed to stop it from affecting me, there must be something incomprehensible in the management system to make such circumstances successful!!!

A Visit to the Central Jail, Nashik

Part I: Narration

Following is the exact sequence of my visit to the jail. I have tried to the best of my abilities to remember it as an episode and pen it down. It was an experience of a lifetime that shook my outlook of life to its foundations. And to give justice to it, I wish to divide it in two parts. Part one has the actual events. Part two will depict its impressions on me...

We began with the meeting room. The room was divided in two parts with a partial glass framework. And the prison’s side had small cubicle-like structures for security purpose. Both the sections were connected through telephone hand sets with intercom. There was a woman on our side weeping and talking to her husband. Just then another woman came in running with a baby in her hands. She was holding the baby and describing its developments. The convicted on the other side was pressing the glass with desperation and trying to hold back his emotions. We were told the frequencies of such meetings are: for convicted its 20 minutes per month and for under trails its 20 minutes per week.

Next we went to see the actual interiors. They have made a small remembrance out of the cell where Sane Guruji was imprisoned and wrote the famous novel, ‘Shyam chi Aai’. We stopped at all the places where the prisoners worked. We started with kitchen, barracks, furniture shop, handlooms, leather shop, bakery, chemical department, tailoring department and farms. There are only those jobs that demand human labour. They work from 7.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.

There were over 2500 prisoners when we visited. They require 600 kilos of vegetables daily to support this number. The measurement of dough of breads and rotis, recipes and quantity is standardised. The quantity fixed per person is 2 rotis and 1 jug of vegetables or curry. If they wish they can buy from the canteen with the distributed coupons. Every prisoner is entitled to spend only 1500/- per month. They cannot have anything from outside. It is mandatory to eat the food made in the prison. They have library to read books, all the gym equipments for exercise, regular and emergency medical check ups and bank transactions to save the earned money or send it to their families or relatives outside.

The attendance is conducted thrice a day. First is in the morning during the wake up call, and only when everyone is seated not asleep. Second one when they are sent for work. And third is when they get back to their barracks. There is a colour code for different categories in which the prisoners are identified. Amongst them some branded as high attention are the ones who have tried to escape the jail once or more. They are called as ‘Lal Patta’ (Red Tagged). This identification is made in such a way that it should be visible from far away. These prisoners have red tags tied on their sleeves which make it possible for the guards to notice them from any distance.

Towards the end, the prisoners who were convicted with life imprisonment put up a show of music and mimicry. The way they sang proved they had inherent talent. They knew the fineness of variations in vocals. It was a fabulous well rehearsed performance.

We left with the view of high security cell from the CC TV. It’s called ‘Anda Cells’ (Egg Cells). It is a round structure which has cells around its circumference and has a grilled opening in the ceiling for sun light. The prisoners who are kept there are never allowed out but for their trials, that too only with high security. They are usually the criminals who are categorised as impossible to be rehabilitated.

The initial 10 days of imprisonment are used for strict observations, counselling sessions and medical check-ups. A report based on this study is submitted to the Superintendent where his barrack location is allotted. According to the staff, they come to know if the condemned can be rehabilitated or not. From the criminals who prove to be harmful to others in the jail as well, to the prisoners who accept everything and transform totally stay under the same roof here. The only difference being, everyone is equally helpless once jammed between the walls.

Unwanted Advice!! ;-)

Why to say I hate or I shall never meet or it’s a time out with…etc (A person)? In other words, mean to cut someone out of one’s life. Firstly, there is always a reason for any association. There is something in that person which sort of fills the jig-saw puzzles within us. Of course this applies to the connections which stick on to us since donkey’s years. And secondly relations are not child’s play that ends after you grow out of its novelty.

If there is a fundamental flaw in the purpose, it has to lapse. Like, if the motive is selfish, intentionally temporary, replacement of someone else in ones life, etc. it ends. Reason for the correlation defines the end.

People, who claim they have forgotten someone, often talk more about them since their stated split up. Or worse, a sense of retribution gives their happiness to that person. Indeed an associate, friend or foe is never forgotten.

It affirms one thing. There is definitely some reason why people never forget a person once associated with. It is advisable to forget the past in stead. People stay forever, times change! So blame it on the past and start afresh if there comes a time when one reconsiders the association.

Choice

There is a slight difference between being born matchless and conditioned to be matchless. To subjugate them one needs to focus on self. Sounds very self-absorbed, but a dear friend thought me how important it is to begin from self. He was born with a handicap, so no conditioning could alter that fact. His focus remained on what he can do to overcome the effects of the handicap. And today he is indeed matchless at it. He exemplifies the worth of choices. No wonder he says, “Our choices make a difference!”