I believe...........

My last read book was an collection of personal philosophies of Men and Women coming from all walks of life, some rich and famous others average like me, some old and many young like me. While the journey through the book was very intriguing and enhancing, it was also thought provoking and influenced me to think on what my beliefs are?? So here it comes but not limiting to.....

I believe in healthy relationships, maintaining healthy relationships is the key to me. Though unhealthy relationships are of less value but these are the ones that made me stronger and sharper. We humans are social creatures and no one can deny this, just imagine how dull, dark and lonely would you be on this planet with 7bn people and no real human relationships to share??? I strongly feel that human relationships are the basis of this world. In my growing years, I have learned from my relationships with parents, siblings, friends, cousins, and teachers and these relationships have an impact on me. These relationships have shaped me that way I am today.

I believe in the struggle to evolve ourselves better each time and challenge each other in the spirit, and not berate each other for failure, in the awareness that none of us knows for certain what happiness truly is, but each of us knows the importance to keep searching. I believe in hanging in till the end. “You just can’t. You can’t ever give up. No matter how hard it gets. No matter how it hurts.” If you give up, someone else will eat the last and only piece of bread. If you give up, you can’t win. If you give up, you only have yourself to blame. If you give up, you’ll live a life of regrets. Only the strongest, fittest, and ablest survive. Only those who go the distance, finish the race. Only those who work for it, earn it. Perseverance is everything, kid. It’s the only thing.” I believe in the possibility of miracle through hard work, of serenity through pain, of hope from despair, of homecoming through exile.

I believe in a system of government with transparency, that enforces the law solely to protect the freedom, that sides with the individual against the claims of family, caste, religion and nation, that sees innocence before guilt and dignity before stigma. Also, I believe that these days, daring to voice your opinion, daring to dig out information, is an act of courage.

Mind always tricks us, and we must be very careful in choosing what to believe. It took a lot of thinking and time to write something on what i believe, and even now when i am writing this I have this uncomfortable feeling that there are so many things that i do not understand, there are so many things that exist whether or not I believe. Ironically, out of such entropy i find order, out of such confusion i try to attain enlightenment of my non materialistic life!!!

P.S. I would really appreciate if you can share your beliefs in the comments, I am sincerely looking forward to read/learn them..

Merit is my CASTE!! Whats Yours???

Why for more than half a century elected Indian governments have failed to cater a great majority of Indians with the decencies of basic amenities - Potable water, sanitation, Health care, Food, Infrastructure, roads so villagers do not have to walk miles on foot to access the nearest stop of transportation?? Why does India lag behind so many other comparable societies in basic education, birth control, life expectancy, health care, income, foreign investments??

According to the 2011 Legatum Prosperity Index, a survey conducted in 110 countries. India Stands 91 (i.e. 19th in the 20 least prosperity country) because of lousy health care, ETHNIC STRIFE, and shockingly for the land most known for its hospitality only 21 % Indians feel they can trust others!! Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the three years of the Legatum Index is India. Since 2009 it has dropped 13 spots to 91st place. Per capita GDP is low at $3,600 as compared to the highest $59,124.00 (Singapore). Health care is extremely poor with high malnourishment and infant mortality and low vaccination rates. It lags in education with a literacy rate of 64%. In social capital, India ranks 104th; only 60% say they can rely on family or friends in a time of need. Only 21% find other people trustworthy. Social inequality perpetuated by a caste system means low levels of entrepreneurship and opportunity.

Compare that with China (No. 52), which this year passed the U.S. in Legatum’s economic subindex rankings for the first time. GDP per capita is $8,300. Vaccination rates and infant mortality are better. Primary education is widespread with a literacy rate of 93%. Social capital is stronger, with less inequality; 60% find others to be trustworthy. The drawback is that China is not free, birthrates are controlled and the authorities limit public discourse (though India increasingly censors the Internet too). The only areas in which India beats China are in personal freedoms and governance, though India’s legendarily thick red tape is a headache for entrepreneurs. Hence, One thing is clearly evident that POPULATION is not to be blamed for us trailing behind PROGRESS.

On this note many would feel that democracy have failed in India as the beneficiary have mastered the technique of milking the system, but its not the Democracy that failed India, its the politicians who failed both. For cash and caste, they help cronies, kept the economy and law in their hands. If polarizations starts taking place on religious lines, wont we have a first class debate or arguments on the reservations in Punjab and Kashmir?? We will not ignite the fires of reservations in the north east, where Christians (minority) are in sizable numbers?? And, If Secularism is the rock foundation of our unity and integrity. how can any politician or political establishment justify polarization on the basis of caste, religion etc??

Communism and fascism have timed and again proved us that tyranny can take birth under capitalism. And Democracy in India shows us that corruption, hypocrisy, arrogance and lifeless (meaningless) tenure of elected leaders can perpetuate destitution. The problem of caste prejudice here in India is as old as Hindu texts. For the government redressing the age old discrimination has become a mired in divisive politics. While caste (whether society hierarchical or religious) no longer determines a person’s calibre or magnitude of rise in their respective lives. Yet, after six decades of freedom we are still thinking in terms of reservations instead of expanding our resources and strategies overcome this down grade mentality.

Probably the biggest hindrance on our road to being a superpower and the favourite tool for the politicians looking to garner as many votes as they can is Reservation. Introduced when the constitution was formed by Dr. Ambedkar,reservation was meant for the oppressed and needy who couldn’t afford the cost of education.A great concept,one would say.But it had it’s terms and conditions,so to speak. It was made clear that this rule would be applicable only for 10 years as they thought it was enough time for those people to sort themselves out and start living a normal life.However,after 10 years the ruling party declared that they needed some more time and the rest as they say is history. Sixty Five years into our independence,we still haven’t sorted things out.In fact things have gone from bad to worse. People belonging to the open category are also trying all tricks possible to acquire a privileged caste certificate as they know what’s at stake. An SC/ST certificate can get you anything, at least in India. From govt jobs to tax benefits to house loans, life becomes so much smoother. The government instead of eliminating caste consciousness. it has further drenched it, making society more aware of divisions and more resentful of rival castes. (Eg. The Gurjars in Rajasthan are declared OBC and are yet fighting for the lowest caste reservations to get more privileges!!)

Don’t get me wrong, there are many needy people who may need support and the government must provide support in order to have uniform progress of the country and its people. This support must be true in all sense and by just dividing the total will lead to no where. In fact it will create more rift in the society which may some day lead to secession. So what’s the solution,one might ask. Eradicating reservation altogether would be foolhardy and unjust at the same time. However few amendments, for example, making reservations for economically backward class if we are reservation obsessive or design a plan that every child born in our land gets basic education. Ask private schools to volunteer their after school hours to conduct schools for the needy, and if need be make it mandatory. Increasing the number of seats in elite institutions which are federally funded will not only be helpful in accommodating bright future but also will create employment to many.

Most Importantly, We being responsible for the future have to own this responsibility and elect sensibly out growing the nonsecular within ourselves. I refer ourselves as nonsecular as in my thinking by privileging someone just on the basis of ones race, caste, creed is in itself racism and sense of treating him unequal as compared to others race. Its on us how we sow the seed of thoughts in the coming generation, do we want them to be castist, biased, prejudiced towards caste or are we preparing them for better future build on meritocracy?? Its about time that we adopt “Merit is my caste, whats your?”

****thanks to my Rahul Mukherjee, my friend and my mirror for giving me inputs which are the backbone of this piece 

Parked at the Right Place!!

Its quite obvious that India has now been the center stage in many world forums. Also, it feels proud that India gets coverage in many international media more often than before and at lengths that we might have never thought off! As my daily routine of checking news related to India there is one question that keeps me wondering most of the times. is it NOW OR NEVER MOMENT for India!!!

Not only do we have to boast about the highest degree holders and young population but also we have growing economy. The service driven IT industry is now focusing on Innovation. The young is now venturing in to entrepreneurship and not just conventional engineering and medicals. Parents are now promoting creativity and passion (not so widely though) and the rich is now not only trying to be more rich but wanting to give back to society. The mass is now getting more aware about rights and raising questions to the ruling party. And Bollywood our window to the west, is maturing and coming up with good subjects and show casing the world hence changing the prospective of India as not just a land of snake charmers, poor and a third world country but a land of glorified traditions and rich values. a land of belongings.

Now when we have all our right foot forward i just wish that we don't blow up these auspicious moment. Now its the time and lets do it and shift the global powers and show the world that when they ridiculed about our Ayurveda, Ahimsa, Atithi deva bhava, Spiritualism, and Vegetarian diets (all our core values) we were doing the right thing and now on basis of these values we can guide the rest the to humanity and path of progress and prosperity in the new millennium.

The Show Must Go ON!!

Except the Media persons, and few people at the top does these fast/satyagrah's by Ramdev and Anna Hazare mean anything to the common people. If any?? Do let me know, will love to learn.

I mean, if the common man really cared for his money (read problems), they would had traced it from the time it was extorted. In my view, you just cant blame government for looting you, after all this has not happened over the night. The money has been extorted in broad day light and in front us over the last 64 years. Hum sab 2 waqt ki roti kamane main lage they aur lootne wale loot rahe they. Only if we all had been aware of whats happening, we would had avoided this circumstances. If the common man was really concerned for his problems he/she would have not adopted it as a way of life, but would have done whatever little in his/her own way. If each one had given himself to the cause, India would have seen more than one solution to the more than one problem.

The biggest issue is that we the Indians wants some whom we can follow, and on the contrary the person whom you follow takes advantage of your patronage. The words like corruption, exploitation etc are not new to us, in fact our grandparents were living with it and today we are living with it too. This itself proves the point that common man have never cared for his money/problems. There have been so many socially awakening movies, songs, books and mediums none has worked so far but the ideology of following someone.

I am against it. Its quite sorrowful to see wisdom missing amongst us. Who would like to die for the betterment of nation today?? Answer this. Aur agar ek baba kum hogaya kisse farak padne wala hain, kaunsi government ko fark padne wala hain. There would be momentarily turbulence but then everything will be normal. In the past we have seen parties at the center and in state government orchestrating riots, what happen?? Nothing. People with bad fate and nothing to do with it lost life. But apart from that what happened. absolutely nothing. Its high time we leave riding on someones back and its time to take action ourselves. Stop paying bribe. Stand up for what u feel wrong. Today we all are equipped with media and social sites. We all must learn to use media, sadly its the other way around especially in India.

We don't need Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev to stand up and fight for our problems, all we need is self awakening. Unless each one of us is not awakened, is not aware of his ignorance towards his own nation, many people will come take advantage of your ignorance and leave. Today for me, sadly my nation seems to be like CIRCUS, and we all are the part of it. There are so bewilderingly laws in the world but our nations has only one simple and unfailing law- Show must go on. One Auguste replaced by another.

My Best Reads...

Hey friends, finally found some time for writing something,, however writing isn't an apt word for this post as i have none of my words here, but i could not resist sharing these beautiful short stories i came across in last few months while reading books, articles over internet and mags. Hope you guys enjoy reading as well and learn the practicalities highlighted in these short stories :)

Powerful Expectations

The famous French ruler, Napolean Bonaparte was given a star sapphire when he was a boy. The sapphire came with a prophecy that it would bring him good fortune and make him Emperor of France. Napolean believed in the promise of the sapphire and accepted it to be true. He was crowned Emperor of France in 1804.

Moral: Create powerful expectations for your life. Your beliefs about yourself are arguably the greatest determinant of your success.

Which Wolf Wins?

An old man is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves – a good wolf and a bad wolf.

One wolf is negative - he is angry, envy, sorrowful, regretful, greedy, arrogant, self-pitiful, guilty and resentful. He tells lies all the time and has false pride.

He continued, "The other is positive - he is encouraging, peaceful, loving, hopeful, sincere, kindness and humble. He is full of empathy, generous and compassionate.
The grandfather explained that “the same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too.”

The boy thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old farmer simply replied, "The one you feed the most."

Moral: Positive thinking is just as easy as negative thinking, but worthwhile.

From Fight to Flight

During nature class, a teacher was explaining to her students how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. She told to her students that in the next couple of hours, the caterpillar would struggle to come out of the cocoon, but no one should help the butterfly. She then left.

The students waited patiently, and just as the teacher had described, the butterfly began struggling to come out of the cocoon. One particular student couldn't bear to watch the butterfly struggle any longer so he decided to help the butterfly. He broke the cocoon and the butterfly was free, but shortly afterwards, the butterfly died.

When the teacher returned she heard what happened. The teacher then explained to her students that it is a law of nature. The struggle to come out of the cocoon helps develop and strengthen the butterfly’s wings. By helping the butterfly the boy allowed it to be free of struggle.

Moral: We need challenges that stretch us and help us grow.

Focus on What you Want

Will Smith says:
“People ask me about racism in Hollywood.  Why would I acknowledge racism?  When you acknowledge the obstacle you actually give it power.  I want to walk through it.  I want to walk over it.  I want to walk around it.  So my preoccupation is with the power that we all possess individually.”

There are 3 steps:

   1. Focus with clarity on the goal.
   2. Imagine your goal as if it were already happening.
   3. We commit ourselves to it. We know in our hearts that this will be. There is absolutely no doubt.

A quote from the movie The Pursuit of Happiness - "Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something… not even me.  You got a dream...you gotta protect it.  People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you, you can’t do it.  You want something?  Go get it.  Period."

Moral: The more you imagine you goal, the quicker you will accomplish it.

The Obstacle in our Path
In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a road. The king then hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.

Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. A peasant then came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road.

After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been.

The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.

Moral: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve.

Limiting Beliefs

Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.  He founded Grameen Bank in the late 70’s to help fight poverty after visits to the poorest households in the villages of Bangladesh.  Yunus found that conventional banks would not lend to poor people without any collateral.  He provided the first loan of $27.00 from his own pocket to 42 women in the village.

Today Grameen Bank has 7.61 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women.  With 2,535 branches, Grameen Bank provides services in 83,343 villages, covering more than 99 percent of the total villages in Bangladesh.

Grameen Bank has reversed conventional banking practice by removing the need for collateral and created a banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity.

More importantly we see not only lending but something else. We see that limiting beliefs have been subverted.

Moral: Challenge your beliefs and the beliefs of others. They determine how you behave.

Sharpen the Saw

There was once a woodcutter who was working feverishly to saw down a tree.  A young man came across the woodcutter and asked “What are you doing?”

“Can't you see” the woodcutter replied.  “I am sawing down this tree.”

The young man sat down and asked the woodcutter to take a break and sharpen his saw as he looked exhausted.  The woodcutter explained to the young man that he had been sawing for five hours straight and did not have time to take a break.

The young man looked at the woodcutter and said “If you sharpen the saw, you would cut down the tree much faster.”

The woodcutter said “I don’t have time to sharpen the saw. Can you not see I am too busy.”

Moral: Preserve and enhance the greatest asset you have – You. Take time refresh your skills,  your knowledge and your mind.
from "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" - Stephen R. Covey

The Boat Builder

A boat builder decided to retire to spend more time with his family. His employer said that he would be sad to see him go. One last request was before he went that he would build one last boat. The boat builder reluctantly agreed and rushed to complete a six birth cruiser to the luxury standard specified. The workmanship was poor and the finish was below standard.

On the day the boat builder was due to complete his work, his employer arrived. The employer handed the key to the boat builder saying “This is my gift to for!” The boat builder was shocked. He thought if I had to have known this was for me I would have built the boat perfectly. Now he was not sure if he even wanted this gift.

We do the same in life, we sometimes do not give ourselves, our families and our work the best effort and seem disappointed with our situation, when we realise we could have done it differently.

Moral: Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.

Expand your Comfort Zone

From birth a baby elephant is tied with a rope to a wooden post planted in the ground leaving it confined to very small space.  Soon the elephant learns that he cannot break the rope.  This space defined by the rope becomes the elephant’s comfort zone.

As the elephant grows up it could easily break the rope, but it does not even try because it was conditioned as a baby that it could not break free.  As a result, the large elephant remains restricted and confined in a small space.

This metaphor can be used to describe what happens human beings as we become trapped in a comfort zone.  The elephant can easily break the rope and we can easily leave our comfort zone.  Just as the elephants space determines what it can do, our comfort zone determines what we are capable of achieving.

In order to expand our potential and succeed in life we must expand our comfort zone into unfamiliar territory.
Moral: You will never realise what you are truly capable of achieving if you remain in your comfort zone.

Do let me know, how you found them...

Good Day :)

UPA II: The Common Man’s Nightmare

Kashmir, Telangana, Maoist attacks and now the CWG mess. These are just a few of the many problems that have arisen due to the ineptitude of the ruling government. Known, that problems exist in every country and during the reign of every government however it is the way in which all such issues being handled makes the common man angry, frustrated as well as insecure.

Not so long ago,truckloads full of wheat that was meant to be given to the poor farmers had to be thrown away.Why?.................... Because the supply could not reach them on time and were so rotten that it was deemed unfit for consumption even for the animals!!! This is what the farmers deserve after slogging day in and day out. In an another shocking revelation, a UN poverty index calculated that the country’s number of impoverished people was higher than the figure for the 26 poorest African nations combined. Nearly half of India’s young children are malnourished, and more than a third of the world’s malnourished under-fives live here. Despite soaring economic growth which we boast of, India has failed to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition.

Inflation is increasing day by day and the govt. instead of trying to bring it down takes a stubborn stand by saying that price hike is justified in today’s standard of living. True,the standard of living has improved in our cities but not much in the villages where still people have to think as to where their next meal is coming from. Its not unknown that the current inflation rate is double the "ideal" rate of inflation,, which dampens the excitement of the double digit growth rate.

Now if we talk about security, the less said, the better. Not only are we surrounded by enemies from all sides,what is worse is the internal security of the country. The Maoists are running their modus operandi as they continue to dismantle our troops by taking advantage of the plight of the villagers. one of the most worrying issues in India today is the growing Maoist insurgency that has carved out a so-called Red Corridor across poverty-stricken central and eastern India. The stated objective of the Maoists is to overthrow a government that they claim – with some justification, as even some of their most virulent critics will concede – has failed to deliver equitable development. They have gained such momentum in recent years that the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has described their rebellion as India’s greatest internal security threat. And what is the govt. doing to rectify the situation? Sorry nothing much. The Prime minister seems to be obsessed with the U.S. and in the process is turning a blind eye towards his own people.

People are starving, water supplies are scarce, power cuts are now a part of daily routine be it a mega city or a tier 1 or tier 2 city! As of August 2010, more than 90,000 villages (around 15 per cent of the total) remain un-electrified; there are just two years to go for universal rural electrification according to the target set by the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna launched in 2005. But who cares, not the government! Capacity has lagged demand form God knows when, during the last three plans, barely half of the targeted capacity was installed and with two years to go for the current plan to end, the government has already scaled down its power generation target to 62,000 megawatts (Mw) from 78,700 Mw.

The PM wants to be a good boy in the US books so he is only interested in offering aid to Pakistan. The money that was given in the form of aid could have easily been utilized to provide food and other basic amenities to so many deserving home people. The govt. has taken a very stubborn stance on all matters and not much is being done for the welfare of our own country.

The recently concluded CWG games gave a very good indication of what our country can achieve. Despite all the corruption in the lead up, India managed to provide one of the best organized events in the games history. It all remains to be seen as to what will be done to the culprits i.e. messrs Kalmadi and Bhanot. Who knows when are we coming out from labyrinth of the mudslingers and corruptions. As for the Kashmir mess, not all are to be blamed but the govt. The govt adopted such a casual approach in the beginning and the result is that our own kashmiri brothers are shouting anti-India slogans. And one cannot blame them. The separatists have played a very shrewd and calculated game and have managed to stir up people’s emotions in such a way that they have become out of control now. All of this suggests one and only one thing,That the govt. has failed to live up to people’s expectations and serious re-thinking has to be done or else people like you and me will keep on suffering.

The Gujarat CM Shri Narendra Modi made a very apt statement after winning the civic polls when he said that the congress should stop throwing mud at others and concentrate on it’s primary job i.e. the welfare of the nation.That is what Mr. Modi has been doing in Gujarat for the last 10 years and the results are there for all to see.Today Gujarat is a hub of all development activities. The country needs a strong willed, intellect and fore sighted PM like Mr. Modi not a puppet like……………you know who. By saying this, I, do not support any party in particular, what I do, like many patriots support the progress of my Motherland, INDIA.. and hope that someday the que sera sera attitute of the people changes and helps to progress the country in all spheres.



*special thanks to rahul mukherjee, my friend for helping in writing this post.

Happy Friendship's Day

Dear Friends,

Wish you all a Happy Friendship Day :)

On this day when the world dedicates to this most important relationship in every human kinds, a question arises in me "What is Friendship??"

The very first step that anyone would take for an answer is google it, and when i wiki search it, i see a definition of friendship as:

Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis:
-The tendency to desire what is best for the other
-Sympathy and empathy
-Honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart
-Mutual understanding and compassion
-Trust in one another; able to go to each other for emotional support

But when i stress upon my own grey cells, i think friendship is something that instantly bonds you and then over the course of time you develop the qualities mentioned in wiki.

I have always been lucky, for being around good friends throughout my life, so far i have many friends whom i met in school, junior college, degree college, post grad school, and near my surroundings.

All this while, i was thinking how to make this post a informative one. but now i think, i am no saint, nor am i an intellectual who can explain the term friendship to you guys, as i am sure all you guys know much more than me.

However, i feel there are certain instances which have their mark in my life's chapter of friends. For ex. recently, i was very much surprised to know that one of my junior college friend, who was totally out of touch after SYJC, out of the no where, she managed to call at my home, asking for me, it was well after 8 years, still remembered me, which makes me believe friendship never ends :), my classmate and good friend MOHIT G, has a remarkable record of never saying No, to any of his friends, be it anywhere, anything, anytime, he is always there, and he is the first one that comes to anyone's mind when they are in problems, Kuddos to this man. Other such guy with golden heart is MOHIT SETIA, who always tries to help friends with less marks to cope up in their studies, even without those guys turning to him for help, my friend NISHKARSH, who is a symbolic lion's heart have no words to explain him,My oldest and closest FIONA who has been with me in my every thick and thin situations, thank you!! My friend MR, SAMIT SHAH, who thinks for me more than i think for myself, thanks yaar :)DEVANG my friend since senior KG i meet him seldom but we never have to think where to start from, Gaurang Rangani... a guy who can go any extend to help me, JMD!! all my engineering friends Akki, LALA, MURGI, BABLU, JOBIN, VINESH, RAKET, GC LALIT,ANISH, NITIN, BENGALI,UDAY, PAWNYA all have deeply touched my life. even when i am writing this one i have guilt in me, that i am not able to accommodate all my friends as this would turn into a book :)

I wish to mention all my friends without talking much of their feats,Ravish, mamu, guddu, Manan, debu, rajesh, JD, asit, amit thakur, ankitbhai, pawan "anda" adhikari, chabbo, kanna, bandopadhyaya, puru, ved, chopra, ritu, rupali verma, ashita verma, neet kahlon, pooja, namrata, minal,jijesh, kushal, harrie, anish, abhinay, rahul, samrat, anis, mukesh, irshad, rohan, supreet, kartik, riddhi, sonam, preeti, yogita,anil samotra, shiva, vinod, shushant (anil i still remember how you thought a particular word to shiva, and our cricket sessions bunking GMS :P) my friends here, Shreyas, jainil, bhaumik, keerthi, ashwin, fazil, my friends at wipro pune, tushar and abhijeet, sumit datre. i have been privileged to share space with u guys, and i almost remember our moments together and are cherished.

I would like to thank each of my friends for being there always, whenever i needed them and sometimes when i dint too ;) I wish great success to all of you, may you guyz have the best of the best life always.

How much so ever i try, the words will always fall short for me to describe how important all of you have been for me, you all have contributed in making abhay a better person and the way he is today. For all you guys i just wanna remind a line from Beethoven "never shall i forget the days spent with you, continue to be my friend always as you will find me yours"

* i tried to include as many friends i could. for all those whom i could not mention in this post, i am sorry, though all u guys have irreplaceable places in my heart :) God Bless you All

South Asian Festival : Toronto


Hi friends,

Hope all of you guyz are doing fine!! its been a long while i wrote about something, but then the life is all mundane so dint felt like sharing much.. however we had an South Asian Festival on the famous Gerrard Street here in Downtown Toronto.

It was an amazing experience, the one which makes us proud of being Indian. I felt so Proud to see the native Canadians dressed in traditional Indian(Asian) wear, women dressed in silk kurta-pyjamas, and males in sherwanis, I had a part time job on this street and wasnt in the liberty to click these images as my boss was constantly around me :P, never the less i will try my best to get you in my shoes.

First, let me share some facts,
• The guys here like ThumpsUP more as compare to Coke (We get it illegally in most Indian and Pakistani grocery stores or restuarant)
• The gals are carzy for Fanta, they were craving for it as if it was some gold
• Chats are favored here too, i wonder, how Indian/Asian foods are fast accepted by Canadians.
• Naan was refered as special type of bread.
• Butter Chicken was on everyones mouth.
• Banarasi/Calcutti/Lahori Paans were asked by many, which again amazed me.
• Believe me I saw a long Queue for Kashmiri Tea (made with kesar/saffron and dry fruits)
• Pani Puri stalls were most busy for the entire festivals
• and the most shocking for me, was to see Asians showing more attitude/tantrums than the natives

The surrounding, settings and ambience were perfect, brightly coloured tents on street, the entire street full of crowd and both sides taken over by street food vendors. Not for an instance i felt outside India, the bollywood music of 80s and 90s, Bhangra beats, singing competition, young and beautiful children performing folk dances, there were Bharat natyam, Kuchipudi, Garba, Bhangra some canadians also went up to stage and tried learning these steps :)
The best part was that as we all know how concerned these natives are for hygiene and stuffs, but they act like asians on those days, they bought asian chats/foods and they sat on the brinks of road or wherever they found place some were sitting down on road too.
One thing in particular which was very fascinating was to see the native girls applying heena (mahendi) by professionals on the streets, buying colourful dupattas, bindis and bangles. I particularly could feel the amount of zest and eagerness in them to learn about our culture, our staying. The same kind of feeling was when i visited ISKCON temple here, which had the similar aura.

There were some sweets moments too... like a very young 2 year old girls were dressed in traditional wears with Indian Dolls in their hands, old ladies and gentlemen coming inquisitive to know about our cultures and various cuisines. Afghanis, Europeans, Middle East Asians and North Americans all people from different walks of life were present and enjoying this festival, which makes this festival even more realistic to our festivals as we have been like this.

All in all it was a very rich experience with a feeling of pride of being Indian. I guess its because of such diversity and unique tastes that we have a distinct mark in this World.

Memories

Its been 3 whole months in Canada now, and i have had a royal time since my landing in this so called advanced country. I am having a royal time as i dont have a job, studies are not as tuff as it used to be back home and have a lot of time to leisure.

Suddenly an irrelevant talk or thought sparks memories that influence an enormous amount of nostalgia. Thinking about the days of childhood, days in junior college and life in hostel. I miss the scoldings and beatings of dear mom, teachers. I miss the catch-catch sessions(with anything that comes in our hand) during school breaks, cycle racing back home, the festivals and most importantly the summer holidays. Ahh life was so LIVELY. And it does not take long to reminisce all that had transpired during the times and days of yore. They were little things, things that would never have any relevance in todays world. In fact they would be ridiculed and laughed at. But when you live those years again in today’s times they bring back such vivid and exciting memories.

Here are the few words which one of my friend recently posted on facebook, which touched my soft spot about the childhood days and my thoughts and actuated me to write this blog.

I Want To Go Back To The Time When INNOCENCE Was NATURAL, Not FAKE.
When GETTING HIGH Meant On A SWING, Not PROMOTIONS.
When DRINKING Meant RASNA ORANGE, Not BEERS Or WHISKEYS.
When DAD Was The Only HERO, Not DEPP Or TOM.
When LOVE Was MOM’S HUG, Not The GIRL-FRIENDS’.
When DAD’S SHOULDER Was The HIGHEST PLACE On The Earth, Not Your DESIGNATION.
When Your WORST ENEMIES Were Your SIBLINGS, Not Your MANAGER.
When The Only Thing That Could HURT Were BLEEDING KNEES, Not The TEARS Falling Down Your Cheeks.
When The Only Things BROKEN Were TOYS, Not The DYING HEARTS.
And When GOOD-BYES Meant TILL TOMORROW, Not For YEARS & YEARS...

We had little then, but we felt large. Today we feel large, but we get little. Little in quality, little in response, little in the way we conduct ourselves, little in thought and word … just little .. in everything we do and believe in. The large heart, the large feel and the largeness of being small has all left behind for the past. Today our perspectives have changed. Time and tide have brought in the changes we so fiercely protected when young.

Now i wonder, how things were taken granted, how parents were taken granted.

Only if we could travel back in time to ;
Wash that first bicycle once again,
Eat those mangoes and all the fruits till our hearts are not filled,
Sit around our grandparents to listen their stories,
Play more with our friends,
visit the native place with much excitement,

rolling our beds in open roofs and just counting stars in the summer night,
the aroma of fresh earth just after few drops of rain,

aaww and the list would never end...............................

As time and tide waits for none, and the morning alarm brings me back to where I am . And obeying the fact that change is name of the game, I am gearing up for the daily struggle, hardships, and staying in in the survival of the fittest world.... while not forgetting that each moment spend will be memory for tomorrow and hence living life to the fullest, and enriching my future nostalgia of memories... ha ha ha ha

Keep HOPE

hii folks,

This goes for my roommates and few friend going thru their trying times; i can understand that these world has not been rosy to u guyz however it was never always rosy for others as well, if i could cange the world for u guyz, i would have been more than happy to do so...... but somethings are better managed by TIME, all we can do is help ourselves in the best possible ways and keep HOPE... i sincerely request all u friends out there going thru bad times to keep HOPE as there is no other thing as good as HOPE, once you choose HOPE, anything's possible.

I am sure you guys have that thing in you and will succeed at some point of your life,,, just stick on and try the best u can... as at the end of the tunnel there has to be a light, and if there isnt we will bend the tunnel ;)

Its struggle that everyone has to pass through, so this a short example of butterfly which needs to go through so much of struggles before showing their beauty to this world....

Before a butterfly can emerge out of it’s chrysalis it has to go through a lot of struggling. Yes, struggling. Each time it lunges out to escape, acids are being removed from its wings. If someone were to come along and break the chrysalis open for it then the butterfly would die from those acids. In essence the struggle is necessary for the butterfly to survive. Then in the stillness, when the struggle is over, the butterfly can come out and share its beauty with the world.

We as humans are not any different. There are times that we need to struggle, to rid ourselves of the acids that make up sadness, fear, and anger. It is only at this time when we are exhausted and still that we begin to hear the Universe whisper to us.

So friends take heart and have courage to face the struggles they are temporary but hope is permanent, as i mentioned earlier hope will put everything in place......