Life

On the sea shore where a boy sat with his love, his hands around her waist and their heads taking support from each other to stay up in the air , Boy said ( thoughtfully ) we‘d go to Kanyakumari for our honeymoon. And then we would settle down in some metro city. We would name our kids Rishabh and Rishika and buy a Honda City right after our own apartment. In old days we would sit at our porch enjoying sun set with a hot cup of tea.
Girl ( with a sad expression on her face ) said that even she wanted the same and she took her head off his head or shoulder wherever it was, and resumed with a letter in her hand which was written in a neat hand writing and it read like this “ My Love!! Your plans are beauteous but I am getting married to someone else. So it is the time we depart.”

Friends!! Life is something that happens while you are busy planning it.

Funny isn’t it?
Or sad?
Please decide for yourself.

Now you are thinking that why on earth Rishi chose to write on such a serious topic like Life. Aren’t you?

That is because I could not find anything more entertaining than life in all I have seen in my life.
Life is full of fun, there are cheers,
there are tears ,
there is a friend,
there is an armed robber’s gun,
there are smiles
then there are married men’s wives
there is a mathematical miracle zero
then there are people with IQ tends to zero
we laugh, we cry,
we hold our spirits high
our loved ones smile like a bunny
and now would you say
that Life is not funny ?

Now coming to the John Lenon’s quote let me tell you a story, a story which is more or less every one’s story, it is my story, it is your story.

There was this man who was turning 30 the next day. And as the clock ran out on his 20s he wondered that not long back he was living with his friends in his college hostel room, single or probably temporarily coupled for a couple of months then single again, thinking about how the future would be, a little scared about the career yet to be made, uncertain about what he wanted to be and wanted to do with his life. And now where did a wife, 2 kids and tens of thousands of responsibilities come from?

What are you thinking? Have you been that man? For most of us answer would be – Yes.

And as that man tossed and turned in his bed the whole last night of his 20 something, he got worried that probably he would never be what he wanted to be. He would be never be the rock star with long curly hair and an electric guitar on his back. He would never have the luxury to spend his life on a beach with unlimited supply of Pina colada and his love of life.

His friends told that it happens to everyone and it would pass but he was anxious, so he rolled up his sleeves and started making a fresh Life Plan.

Ironical??? Yes it is.

He wanted to take charge of his life. But soon this feeling faded and the worries returned.
And as the worries started coming back he wondered why at the first place he wanted to have his life planned. And then the realization came along that this future plan protected him from the present or better to say kept him away from all what was boring in present and showed something nice to look forward to. But he soon realized that it kept him a prisoner of the future and he had never appreciated what he had because there was always something to be achieved. He was always running after something or the other. Worst that happened was that it kept him from appreciating spontaneity of life , the excitement that comes from not knowing what is going to happen next.

Imagine what would happen to the movie “Don” ( Sharukh Khan One ) if you had already known that the Don dying in the beginning of the movie is not the real don.
Would you like to watch it after knowing that, please don’t let Priyanka Chopra influence your decision.
: )

Now for once let go your life plan, in beginning you would feel like living on the edge but soon you would start feeling lighter, less burdened. You would start appreciating things that matter.

At the end I would like to quote Maureen Kennedy
Letting go of a life plan doesn't mean you don't set goals for yourself. But now you would know it doesn't matter when you achieve those goals, or even if you do, because ultimately, life is a journey, and what matters most is that you enjoy the ride.

Great Piece by Richard Lederer

During my omni directional and purposeless web surfing ( where there is no real surfing ) I came across this essay and its awesome:

Let's face it -- English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese... One blouse, 2 blice?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb through annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?

How can a "slim chance" and a "fat chance" be the same, while a "wise man" and "wise guy" are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while "quite a lot" and "quite a few" are alike? How can the weather be "hot as hell" one day and "cold as hell" another?

Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent? Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who are spring chickens or who would actually hurt a fly?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it?

Now I know why I flunked my English. It's not my fault, the silly language doesn't quite know whether it's coming or going.

I dream of a Jin

In my attempt to write a story I wrote this:

I:
Who are you??(With irritation on face)

And what are you doing on my shoulder?

Will you please speak?

And you are so heavy?
Get off me, get off, get off….

Jin:
I am a jin and please accept my greetings aaka.
< Jin Starts dancing >

I:
Aaka?a jin???? What do you mean by that? And Why are you speaking like me?
< Jin keeps dancing>
Stop it, stop it , why are you dancing?

Jin:
Aaka I am a jin and I am here for you? And I speak like my master. But you speak like this (imitating his Master’s voice) , so I am speaking like this.
And why m I dancing??? I ‘ll tell you later.

I:
Really?? MY Jin? And you would do what I want?



Jin:
Yes Aaka. I will do all you want.

I :
Go bring my bag?

Jin :
I don’t need to go anywhere aaka. I’ll get it in a fillip or a blink of eye.
< Blinks and gets the bag>
Here is your bag.

I:
Good Good!!
Okay..what is your name ?

Jin:
What do you want my name to be aaka?

I:
I want your name to be … hmmm … hmmmm…. Chinku.

Jin:

Thank God , you are the first man who has given me a name which is not ARAB. Why do every one think that Jins are found in Arab and there names should an arab one. Thank you master. I love my Name , Chinku. It is cute, isn’t it?

I:
Hmm..
But I had always wanted a Jeanny, like the one in that serial, the Sidney Sheldon one. A beautiful and intelligent jeanny.

Jin :
But aaka, there are no Jeannies now on our planet, otherwise what do you think we are so jobless that we would come to earth? I was dancing because after coming to earth I saw females after a long time. (Shyly).

(With a sad face) I was so happy till my last wife died.

I :
Last wife??? What do you mean? How many wives did you have ??

Jin : ( Shyly)Starts counting…
21

I :
Whaaaat ?
Tweeeeenty One?

Jin:

Yes aaka about a 100 years back sex ratio on our planet was very good. And I was the best looking Jin there so I got a couple of wives extra than others.

I:
Wow..
Can you get Katrina Kaif to marry me. ( Shyly )

Jin:
What are you talking about aaka…If I could .. wouldn’t I marry her myself.


I:
Oh.. You seem to be useless, you are good only for carrying my bag.

Jin:
No aaka I am good for many things. I can cook good food for you, do your laundry in a second and I can make you fly without wings.

I:
Alright alright but without Katrina its all waste.

Jin:
Oh aaka.. Please don’t worry. We will enjoy without Katrina.

I: Ok Ok.. now tell me what brings you on earth.

Jin:
Now things are not good on my planet. The sex ratio has gone down real bad and There are no girls up there.
( and he becomes sad ).

I :
Why what happened?

Jin :
We don’t have any now, not even one girl child on our planet.

I :
Whaaat? How did this happen?

Jin:

Aaka, We were very conservative people, we hated girl child, we all wanted all boys in our family, I have 75 sons. But no daughter.
Slowly slowly the ratio went down and we dint care about it. Now there are all guys.

I:
Oh that is very sad.

Jin:
Yes it is ,

I :
Good You came to Delhi, I heard here the sex ratio is 50 50. You can learn how to be wise and love girl child also.


Jin:
Is that possible? Who would show me that?

I:
Yes why not.
Let me call someone to tell you how to be wise.

< I woke up .. >
Chinku!! Chinku!! Chinku!!!.. where are you?

Oh… yawn.. CHinku.. Chinku.. Chinku.. where are you… was I dreaming ????

Oh I was, but Friends, This dream, if it comes true, ever for us, It would be a nightmare.
We should not discriminate between the girl and boy child.
Love them, love them all.

ARK - A Random act of Kindness Everyday

Do you want to change the world?

I do. And how I started doing it let me take you through it.

I was standing at my regular tea shop a couple of days back and there was this man who was selling patties, I asked him whether he would like to have a cup of tea, He smiled and nodded. I asked the tea shop boy to serve him a cup. A cup of tea meant nothing to my pocket if you see, but it brought smile on a tired face.

All the living beings!! I want to remind you of two things which have the power to make our lives better. They have the power to change the world; they possess the power to make it a better place to live. They possess the power to change You.
Love and Kindness.

When you get love it adds a reason in your life to live for and when you become kind and compassionate you will probably add one to some one else’s life. To be kind, I do not say that go out and do something big, a random act of kindness extended towards any one would be good to start with.

Sometimes smallest gestures touch our hearts. A smile from a stranger when you are lost in the crowd, a helping hand for someone in need, a flower for someone dejected, some water for the thirsty and leftovers for someone hungry at your street corner, a piece of bread for a hungry dog, some water for the thirsty bird on your roof, is it just too much to ask for?
No It is not and we all know that, I am not asking you to be exceptional in being kind, but atleast one random act of kindness everyday.
And believe me world would start changing the moment you start doing that.
Someone has rightly said “Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.”

It is out there you have to just take one step to experience it.

A little girl stood outside a small church from which she had been turned away because 'it was too crowded'. "I can't go to Sunday School," she said to the pastor as he walked by. The pastor carried the child inside and found a place for her to sit in the back. The next time the pastor met her he said "Hattie, we are going to have a larger Sunday school room soon. When we get the money with which to erect a school building we are going to construct one large enough to get all the little children in, and we are going to begin very soon to raise the money for it."

The pastor did not see Hattie again, until he heard from her parents some two years later. Hattie had sadly died her parents called for the kind-hearted pastor, who had befriended their daughter, to handle the final arrangements. As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled purse was found. Inside were found 57 cents and a note scribbled in childish handwriting which read: "This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday school."

For two years she had saved for this offering of love.

A little girl who could barely understand what this world is all about knew how to be kind. And we sitting here in this room just pass by some one in need and do nothing about it. Happily.
Because we are not bothered about anything but us our family our job our kids and our future.
Open your hearts for everyone and I promise you that your heart would be filled with joy and satisfaction.
Do you know the story behind Noah’s ARK?
Some time in the history of humanity God saw that people on earth had become corrupt and there was violence and all kinds of miseries on this planet. People were not happy and they were all suffering from one thing or the other. So he decided to destroy all the life on this planet. At that time Noah was the only man who was blameless and righteous. So God called him and asked him to make an ARK and bring two of every sort of animal on it, one male and one female. After Noah created the ark he boarded it with his family, 7 pairs of clean and unclean animals and birds. (Now what is clean and unclean? kindly use Google or bible whichever is easily accessible.) And then God asked his rain to destroy all the living beings on planet earth except the ones on the ARK.
We do not have a Noah among us now, and we do not have his ARK either to save us from the destruction physical, Moral and spiritual. For us it is
“ A
Random act of
Kindness”
Friends! This is Noah’ ark for us.
A random act of kindness everyday.
And at the end one quote from Dalai lama–

if you want others to be happy practice compassion. If you want to be happy practice compassion.

Are you happy?

Am I happy?
Am I the person I truly am or I wanted to be?
Or I am just a customized application running in a platform independent World? Trying to please everyone, feeding my family, fulfilling their basic needs, taking care of parents,
Fulfilling social obligations and minding in my own business.
Is this what I do?
Please ask yourself these questions everyday.
All the living beings on this planet!! These questions are not about finding out if you are happy. It is about showing you a mirror in which you would see what you have made of yourself. Some of you, hopefully, would realize that, yes I am happy and satisfied with the way I am spending each and everyday of my life, for others it would be, for sure, an eye opener.

I get up 5 out of 7 mornings each week get ready for office, spend my day facing challenges at work place, trying to cope up with them, then suddenly random personal life challenges which are to be taken care of immediately hit me right in face, I prioritize and I resolve, I find time to take a cup of tea with anyone who would come along, day ends with a random emotion, may be a small appreciation for my work would just make my day or a set back would screw it up completely. I reach home more or less tired, I eat and sleep. Some of you may add watching TV or listening to songs in this schedule and married ones may add a couple more things that they “Have” to do.


We spend time in criticizing others, blaming system for almost everything, procrastinating important things and a lot more which is “NOT important”, what we do not do is spend time with our own selves. How many times in a week, ok, not in a week, not in a month, but in a year do you sit with yourself, happily, thinking about yourself? How much time do you give to your family, your friends, your passion, your hobbies and yourself?

How many days do you get up in morning and as soon as you look at your face in the mirror, you say “Wow, another lovely day”.
Do you remember when the last time you felt that was?

That brings out another question:

Are you in a rut my friend?
Don’t you think in this struggle to survive you have lost yourself?

Introspection at all the steps of the life is very important to hold you on the right path. And please tell me why you can not even find time for that.
Some one has said “Had I known that I would live so long, I would have taken better care of myself.”
You want to be that guy?
If yes please go ahead and close this window. If not then here is something to help things improve.

I have already shown you the problem, this is the time for solution, not because you already do not know it, but because it is important to hear it sometimes, to get motivated to take a step towards improving the quality of life.

How important are you?

What are you thinking? Dumb question? Still answer it..

You my friend can you please tell me how important are you? Not for others, but for you ? Now answer all the questions that I asked in my speech. And answer one for me right now. How much time do you give to yourself?

Friends, this is not a personality development article, it is a reality check, it is to tell you that among all the things in your life, one thing that was most important, is the most important and will remain same, you have kept it at the lowest priority, that is, You, some of you probably wont agree with me, but for most of us it is true. We forget to take care of ourselves while taking care of almost everything.
I would like to remind you that spending time with yourself is the most important thing.
I read it some where on web -
It is very important to reflect on your past, present and future, to discover how you really feel, and most importantly, to realize that you can depend on yourself to make good choices for your life. I don’t care how old you are, teenager, twenty-something, middle-aged or a senior citizen you need time to listen to your thoughts, compare ideas, see what sounds exciting and what is just someone else’s idea for you.

Now my advice to you is “Stay alone for a while away from all the world, away from all the miseries, all the tensions and all the problems.”

I came across this amazing concept while looking for this topic. “Do Nothing “.
“Do Nothing” sometimes, Doing nothing does not necessarily mean that you have to literally do nothing, You may just walk around the house or office, doing what you think needs to be done , water the plants, look at your college pictures, watch an old video that you made with your friends, sit down close your eyes and just wander at all the places you want to go, imagine people you want to be with, enjoy Doing nothing, enjoy when someone asks “what are you doing? “ , reply with a smile and say “Nothing”.
Remember following: (from CP)
1) Pay attention to who you are and 2) take time to be alone, Try it you might just like it.

Now answer Do you recharge battery of your cell phone regularly?

Just like the battery of your cell phone – recharge yourself everyday.