This could be a bit unsettling to read... but thats what reality is so many times...
Just happened to watch this program on Discovery the other day. They were showing a pair of twins who were born with their bodies joined above their waist and how the doctors saved their lives.
These twins were born with their bodies joined in a hugging position. If you can imagine two children hugging each other, the part of bodies from abdomen to the lower neck would come in contact, this was the area where these two were joined.
Doctors had to take up a process of surgically separating their bodies.
Before taking up the process, the team of doctors took all kinds of scans and x-rays and digitally created a 3D model of how their bodies, bones, organs, and each and every blood vessel was internally connected. With a 100% preparation and knowing everything about the childrens' bodies, the doctors started the separation process.
Somewhere halfway through the process, as they were about to separate the chests, they saw something, something that shocked their entire medical knowledge.
For the first time in the entire diagnosis, they noticed that the two hearts were beating in absolute synchronization. So far they didn't know why, but now they were able to see the reason staring at them.
The two hearts were connected. They were connected by a piece of flesh, it was not a muscle, not a blood vessel, nothing that could have shown up on the hundreds of scans taken. It looked like a piece of pink chewing gum stretched really thin and it was connecting both the hearts. This most insignificant piece of skin had kept the two hearts connected and they were beating as one.
Doctors did not know what could happen if they cut this connection. One or both the hearts could stop beating. Scared and praying (yes, doctors do pray), the doctors cut the skin and thats when it happened...
Just upto one second before the skin was cut, the two hearts were beating as one. The moment the connection was cut, instantly, the two hearts started beating at their own rhythm.
Thats where I think I saw God.
I don't remember much of the program after that scene, I know the children lived and are now healthy. I never watched that kind of programs before and have never seen it again, but somehow I saw it that day.
Even now if I recall, I can see that scene, two hearts beating as one this second, and are beating at two different tunes at the very next second.
What was that factor which had kept these two hearts beating as one? Infact, what is that factor which keeps our own heart beating? Agreed... the medical science says that there is an electrical current that gets triggered and so on.
But what on earth can create such electricity which we can carry inside us without getting electrocuted?
How is it that millions and trillions of electrical signals get triggered inside my head without me knowing about it?
What keeps the lungs pumping even when I'm asleep and not thinking about breathing?
What is it that repairs any cuts which happen on my skin?
What is it that somehow brings the right idea to my mind at the right time?
What an immaculate machinery has been created in form of human body.
And the best part is that most of us have not done anything in creating this body. It was given to us.
God is in this body... God is this body.
The most saddening part is when people start abusing this very body by drinking, smoking and taking all sorts of wrong things which our body is not designed for.
I realised that I have seen God and see him everyday when I look into my own eyes in the mirror.
Have you???
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Knowledge or Intelligence??
Red means stop… all of us know it. This is Knowledge. To stop at Red is Intelligence.
Speed limit board of 60 means I should drive within 60 kmph. This is knowledge. Driving within the limit is intelligence.
I should not get angry… this is knowledge. Not getting angry is intelligence.
Debit what come in, Credit what goes out… any accountant knows this. This is knowledge. Creating a proper accounting entry is intelligence.
I was clarifying the doubts of one of my students the other day. The way I normally do it is that I ask a series of questions back to the students and they end up finding the answer on their own.
The one thing that I have learnt through this approach is that most of the time the knowledge required to solve the problem is available with us. We are just not able to apply the knowledge correctly.
Either we don’t apply the knowledge we have, or we apply it in the wrong place in the wrong way.
Knowledge used in the right place, at the right time and in the right manner is Intelligence.
The same logic applies everywhere, at work, at home, in the kitchen, on the road… everywhere.
It doesn’t matter how much knowledge I have in my life. The pace of my growth is defined by my intelligence and intelligence is nothing but the ability to apply the right knowledge at the right time, at the right place and in the right manner.
Lets move towards becoming more intelligent rather than being knowledgeable.
Monday, December 13, 2010
The leaf
I went to pick up the bike I had parked under a tree this Sunday morning. As I started the ignition, a dry leaf floated down from the tree and landed on the petrol tank. The falling motion of the leaf was so graceful that I had to pause for a moment till it actually landed.
Looking up, I saw a huge tree. The leaves in this tree were of different shades between deep green and brown depending on their age. Some leaves were small, tender and fresh just a few days old and some leaves were totally dried up about to fall. On one end, this leaf had fallen from the tree, but somewhere else on the same tree a few new leaves were budding. All this time, some birds were sitting on the tree and some were flying away. In the process, they were breaking away some of the green and young leaves. There were a few leaves being eaten away by worms and insects.
All this time, the tree was swaying gently totally oblivious to what was happening to the leaves. Just because a leaf fell off, the tree did not die, it continued to sway.
Just because a leaf fell, the other leaves did not stop living.
My teacher once told me a story...
Just imagine - There is this train, the origin and the destination of this train are not known. All we know is that the train is going somewhere. We are already travelling on this train towards some destination. On the way, at some station in between, someone boarded the train and joined us in the journey. We get excited, we get to know each other and establish a connection with the fellow passenger. Now, his station arrives and he has to get off.
Now, just because this fellow passenger is gone, do we mourn forever? Do we go into depression? Does that mean the end of our journey?
NO... we continue to travel till we reach our station.
Now, just imagine that each station on the train is represented by a day. A date. For example, on 11th December 1929, a passenger ("X") boarded the train. Another passenger joined on 09th May 1960. Another passenger came on 22nd November 1982 and so many other passengers boarded the train.
26th January 2003 was the destination for this passenger "X" and she got off the train. For the second and the third passenger and for so many more, the journey is still on.
Another passenger boarded this train on 02nd October 1969 and got off the train on 30th January 1948.
Did the train stop going? No. Oh yes, the other passengers miss the passengers who got off at some station, but the train goes on.
Some people, some things, some relationships come to our life for a purpose, and they are destined to leave once the purpose is served.
Maybe one day, even my station will come, a leaf will drop from the tree. But thats the way it is meant to be.
The tree lives on...
The train goes on...
I do miss the passengers who got off during my journey... the leaves which fell during my lifetime... but there is no pain.
I don't know where I will use this learning, but what I do know is that this learning will make my journey a little more peaceful.
Looking up, I saw a huge tree. The leaves in this tree were of different shades between deep green and brown depending on their age. Some leaves were small, tender and fresh just a few days old and some leaves were totally dried up about to fall. On one end, this leaf had fallen from the tree, but somewhere else on the same tree a few new leaves were budding. All this time, some birds were sitting on the tree and some were flying away. In the process, they were breaking away some of the green and young leaves. There were a few leaves being eaten away by worms and insects.
All this time, the tree was swaying gently totally oblivious to what was happening to the leaves. Just because a leaf fell off, the tree did not die, it continued to sway.
Just because a leaf fell, the other leaves did not stop living.
My teacher once told me a story...
Just imagine - There is this train, the origin and the destination of this train are not known. All we know is that the train is going somewhere. We are already travelling on this train towards some destination. On the way, at some station in between, someone boarded the train and joined us in the journey. We get excited, we get to know each other and establish a connection with the fellow passenger. Now, his station arrives and he has to get off.
Now, just because this fellow passenger is gone, do we mourn forever? Do we go into depression? Does that mean the end of our journey?
NO... we continue to travel till we reach our station.
Now, just imagine that each station on the train is represented by a day. A date. For example, on 11th December 1929, a passenger ("X") boarded the train. Another passenger joined on 09th May 1960. Another passenger came on 22nd November 1982 and so many other passengers boarded the train.
26th January 2003 was the destination for this passenger "X" and she got off the train. For the second and the third passenger and for so many more, the journey is still on.
Another passenger boarded this train on 02nd October 1969 and got off the train on 30th January 1948.
Did the train stop going? No. Oh yes, the other passengers miss the passengers who got off at some station, but the train goes on.
Some people, some things, some relationships come to our life for a purpose, and they are destined to leave once the purpose is served.
Maybe one day, even my station will come, a leaf will drop from the tree. But thats the way it is meant to be.
The tree lives on...
The train goes on...
I do miss the passengers who got off during my journey... the leaves which fell during my lifetime... but there is no pain.
I don't know where I will use this learning, but what I do know is that this learning will make my journey a little more peaceful.
Help me to know that you know???
I know that quite a few people (known and unknown) visit the blog and find it useful in some way or the other, however, it will be more helpful for me to know who visits.
Please feel free to post your comments on the posts that you read so I know that you have visited. I have simplified the comments process and you no longer need any kind of login / verification for posting a comment.
You can post feedback / improvements / corrections / anything at all...
This is just a request :) . whether to comment or not to comment... the choice is entirely yours...
Please feel free to post your comments on the posts that you read so I know that you have visited. I have simplified the comments process and you no longer need any kind of login / verification for posting a comment.
You can post feedback / improvements / corrections / anything at all...
This is just a request :) . whether to comment or not to comment... the choice is entirely yours...
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Why is the last mile the longest???
You appeared for that exam and the result was supposed to come on the internet after 2 months. As soon as you came out of the exam, you knew that you have to wait for 60 days.
45 days passed by without much effort. From day 46 onwards you started checking the results page every day.
Day 50 onwards 3 times a day.
By day 55 you were checking the results every one hour.
Day 58 the results page became your home page.
Day 59 you had glued your bums to the chair, left hand to the keyboard and right hand to the mouse.
Day 60 you almost went to the place where the server had been hosted for the results page.
You fasted one of those days as it was a festival... the whole day... you were not supposed to eat anything from morning 6 o'clock to evening 8. It was no effort to go through the whole day. But somewhere around 7 in the evening, you started feeling hungry. The last one hour was the longest hour of your life. And the time from 7:45 to 8 was crawling so slow that you almost pushed the hands of the clock to 8 o'clock.
You were supposed to drive down from Bangalore to Chennai (350 kms approx). The first 200-250 km were a breeze, after that you actually started cursing "why is Chennai not coming yet"... as you reached the outskirts of the city you became more and more desparate, traffic starts moving slower, signals turn red and the last few kilometers seem to take longer than the entire journey...
You participated in a 10k marathon... the last kilometer was the most difficult to pass...
You got engaged to him / her... the wedding was supposed to happen 1 year later, first nine months went by and as you got closed to the D day, time seemed to slow down and you were waiting so desparately for the day to come.
In all the above, and many more experiences of life, the one thing that seems to be common is that the end of any process often seems to become more difficult, lengthier than the process itself.
In all the above examples, the last mile of the journey was the longest.
Seen carefully, in all these cases, the process has not slowed down, its just that we become more and more impatient and desperation seems to set in. This desperation is what makes life difficult.
Like my teacher once said - "Desperation is the cause of suffering, drop desperation and you can transcend suffering."
I don't know what intellectual or sophisticated lesson I will take from this post, but I know for sure that I will maintain my patience and go through the entire process without any desperation... be it exams, results, journey or waiting for my own marriage :)
45 days passed by without much effort. From day 46 onwards you started checking the results page every day.
Day 50 onwards 3 times a day.
By day 55 you were checking the results every one hour.
Day 58 the results page became your home page.
Day 59 you had glued your bums to the chair, left hand to the keyboard and right hand to the mouse.
Day 60 you almost went to the place where the server had been hosted for the results page.
You fasted one of those days as it was a festival... the whole day... you were not supposed to eat anything from morning 6 o'clock to evening 8. It was no effort to go through the whole day. But somewhere around 7 in the evening, you started feeling hungry. The last one hour was the longest hour of your life. And the time from 7:45 to 8 was crawling so slow that you almost pushed the hands of the clock to 8 o'clock.
You were supposed to drive down from Bangalore to Chennai (350 kms approx). The first 200-250 km were a breeze, after that you actually started cursing "why is Chennai not coming yet"... as you reached the outskirts of the city you became more and more desparate, traffic starts moving slower, signals turn red and the last few kilometers seem to take longer than the entire journey...
You participated in a 10k marathon... the last kilometer was the most difficult to pass...
You got engaged to him / her... the wedding was supposed to happen 1 year later, first nine months went by and as you got closed to the D day, time seemed to slow down and you were waiting so desparately for the day to come.
In all the above, and many more experiences of life, the one thing that seems to be common is that the end of any process often seems to become more difficult, lengthier than the process itself.
In all the above examples, the last mile of the journey was the longest.
Seen carefully, in all these cases, the process has not slowed down, its just that we become more and more impatient and desperation seems to set in. This desperation is what makes life difficult.
Like my teacher once said - "Desperation is the cause of suffering, drop desperation and you can transcend suffering."
I don't know what intellectual or sophisticated lesson I will take from this post, but I know for sure that I will maintain my patience and go through the entire process without any desperation... be it exams, results, journey or waiting for my own marriage :)
Saturday, December 4, 2010
I don't do things, things happen through me...
The other day I sat to write a blog on some topic, somehow I was not able to proceed beyond two lines. Finally I ended up choosing a different topic which came first to my mind and wrote about it ("Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa"). Next day, I spoke to a loved one and that person told me about something which was happening in that person's life and how relevant the post was. Maybe that day, the blog was meant to be a solution for somebody.
One of my students asked me a question on a problem given in the text book. Till now I had tried a few times but was not able to solve that one problem, I always used to believe that either the question was wrong or there was a misprint. When this student asked me the question, I still tried to solve it one last time. As I was explaining the solution, I saw something in the question, got some idea from god knows where and tried some new approach, and alas... the solution was staring at me, even now I don't know why I had missed that approach earlier or why I tried it this time with this student. All I know is that the student was supposed to get an answer through me and he got it.
In both the above examples and at many more times, it was not I who was doing something, but it was rather that something was happening through me.
I'm sure we all go through this experience when we do something which we know we cannot do otherwise.
One of my students asked me a question on a problem given in the text book. Till now I had tried a few times but was not able to solve that one problem, I always used to believe that either the question was wrong or there was a misprint. When this student asked me the question, I still tried to solve it one last time. As I was explaining the solution, I saw something in the question, got some idea from god knows where and tried some new approach, and alas... the solution was staring at me, even now I don't know why I had missed that approach earlier or why I tried it this time with this student. All I know is that the student was supposed to get an answer through me and he got it.
In both the above examples and at many more times, it was not I who was doing something, but it was rather that something was happening through me.
I'm sure we all go through this experience when we do something which we know we cannot do otherwise.
- You got some very difficult task in the office that day and you had no clue how to do it, suddenly you stumbled on some document, or somehow you figured out a way and the problem was solved. You still don't know how you did it, knowing yourself in all honesty, you know you couldn't have pulled it off.
- You went to write the exam and there was this googly problem which carried 20% of the total marks, having no choice, you started solving it and somehow you cracked it... later you see that this question fetched you those critical marks you needed in the exam. You still don't know how you cracked it.
- There were sudden guests in the house and you don't know what to prepare as nothing was there in the house. You scavanged the fridge to find a pack of krackjacks, two onions, a lonely tomato and some cheese. Helplessly and feeling afraid you prepared something like crackers with toppings, thinking that it would fail to qualify even as an appetizer. Guess what... the guests actually loved it more than anything you have ever made before... you still don't know how you did it.'
- The way you avoided that accident by some amazing presence of mind...
- Somehow you happened to be there and your blood group seemed to match and you saved a life.
Yes... there are times when we do things which we know we can't do on our own. The fact is that at all those times, we are not doing anything but the things are happening through us. In all such cases, there has to be some invisible factor that is working through us which we don't understand. Its just that we were supposed to be there at that time to do that act. If we had not been there, someone else would have done the job.
I know what your cunning mind is thinking "Gulshan, if we don't do anything and everything happens through us, then what is the use of running around so much and trying to do things, best is to sit in one place and do nothing... things will keep happening through us"
My dear, look back at all those experiences... whether it was workplace, exam, kitchen, road or any other place, it was always you who made the initial effort and then the actions happened through you. You started attempting the question paper and then the answer came through you, you started working and the result came through you, you started thinking and the solution came through you. It is always you who started and some force which finished the job.
If you had stopped even before starting, the answers could have been very different.
So, looks like the second and more important half of this understanding is that:
"I don't do things, things happen through me, provided I put in the efforts expected from me"
Now your cunning mind will say "So Gulshan, I really think that fellow is supposed to get beaten up through me. I will not beat him, he will be beaten through me."
All I can say to that is "BEWARE"
Friday, November 26, 2010
Its all about how I look at it...
Right now... as I write this post, its 21:30 local time...
I'm sitting on a piece of land...
in the middle of the ocean...
just about 60km x 40km something in size...
atleast a 1000 miles from the nearest landmass...
it is made out of volcanic eruptions...
a few dormant volcanoes are still around...
Not a very bright way of putting it... is it???
Now if I tell you that I'm sitting on one of the most beautiful islands on this planet... Mauritius... most of you will think "Wow!!!!"
All this time, I have been writing about the same place...
Its all in the way you look at it darling...
You can dismiss this post as yet another "glass half empty or half full" kind of motivational post and move on with life...
or you can read the moral of this post and ask yourself a question --- "I know it, but am I living by it?"
I'll keep this one short, but i'm sure you can spend a bit more time looking back at how you look at things...
I'm sitting on a piece of land...
in the middle of the ocean...
just about 60km x 40km something in size...
atleast a 1000 miles from the nearest landmass...
it is made out of volcanic eruptions...
a few dormant volcanoes are still around...
Not a very bright way of putting it... is it???
Now if I tell you that I'm sitting on one of the most beautiful islands on this planet... Mauritius... most of you will think "Wow!!!!"
All this time, I have been writing about the same place...
Its all in the way you look at it darling...
You can dismiss this post as yet another "glass half empty or half full" kind of motivational post and move on with life...
or you can read the moral of this post and ask yourself a question --- "I know it, but am I living by it?"
I'll keep this one short, but i'm sure you can spend a bit more time looking back at how you look at things...
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Its all about the Account!!!
When I was a small kid, I heard this story a few times. Still I'm only beginning to understand the full meaning of this story.
There was this princess who was very beautiful. And there was a prince who was equally handsome, brave, smart and an eligible bachelor in all aspects.
The princess got married to this prince and they were both very excired about their new relationship.
The first night of the marriage was beautiful, but things were about to change... change really bad!!!
On the very first morning of their marriage, the princess got up early. She got up even before sunrise.
As she got up, she saw the princess sleeping, he looked so good even when asleep. Next to the prince's pillow was a long sword which he always kept with himself. This sword was studded with diamonds and gems and looked so beautiful that the princess wanted to touch it... lift it in her hands.
She leaned over the prince and picked up the sword. As the sword was very heavy, she could not handle the weight and it fell from her hands... exactly on the prince's neck. As it fell, it severed the prince's head killing him instantly. There was blood all over the place.
The princess did not know how to handle the situation and started screaming in panic.
Immediately all the guards came running in and saw the prince dead and the princess in panic. They asked her what happened.
Obviously the princess cannot say that she killed her own husband otherwise she will surely be executed. So she bluffed and said that a thief killed the prince and ran away. To convince the guards, she pointed outside the window towards the direction where the thief ran.
The guards immediately ran in the pointed direction to catch the thief who killed the prince. When they reached the place indicated by princess, they found a temple where a priest was doing his morning prayers. They caught that priest and brought him to the king's court.
The princess was called in to identify the thief; to save her own skin, she lied that the priest was the thief. The king did not listen to any of the priest's pleas and wanted to execute him right away. Being a religious person, the king couldn't kill the priest, so he ordered that the priest's hands be cut off and he should be sent away from the kingdom.
Here was a priest, who was doing his morning prayers, and now has been kicked out of his kingdom with no apparent mistake of his. What went wrong???
Lets see the story further...
Now this priest was going from door to door asking for money, food and shelter and nobody was giving him any help. As he was crossing one house, he heard a man praying inside the house, immediately he went to the entrance of that house and started abusing god. He started saying bad words to god and even started saying the prayer using exact opposite words to show disrespect to god.
This house was occupied by a wise man. The wise man came out and asked him... "What great tragedy has happened to you that you are so angry with god? "How could someone ever use bad words for God?"
The priest told his complete tragic story to the wise man and at the end of the story asked him "I always prayed to god, never hurt anyone, then why did bad happen to me?"
The wise man had a power that he could see the past, present and the future. He used that power to see if he could find an answer.
He told the priest one more story which goes as follows:
"There was once a hunter who went for hunting. He found a very beautiful deer and wanted to hunt her, so he started chasing her. The deer ran deep into the jungle and crossed one man's hut. As the hunter crossed the hut, he asked this man about the dear. The man was praying that time and did not speak, but pointed his hands in the direction where the dear went. The hunter went in that direction, found the dear, killer her and took her head as a trophy."
Back to present tense:
The wise man told the priest - This deer was reborn as the princess. The hunter was reborn as a prince and the man who showed the direction was reborn as the priest. That explained a lot of things to the priest. He had used his hands to direct the hunter so he lost his hands. The hunter cut deer's head, so the dear was reborn as the princess and the hunter as the prince who lost his life in the hands of the princess.
The story goes on but lets stop here and think for a few minutes...
Aren't there times when we do everything right but still things go wrong???
Aren't there times when bad happens to us and we ask the question... why me? i've never done wrong to anybody, then why me?
Correct, you have not done any wrong to anyone... atleast not knowingly... atleast not in this life. But there is some sort of a higher intelligence... some higher force... Chitragupta... St. Peters... whatever you call it... and that force is keeping an account of everyone of us.
Looks like all the good deeds are deposits and all the "not so good" deeds are withdrawals. Whenever, the withdrawals are more than the deposits, we have to pay.
Going by that, what we are going through today is a result of whatever we have done somewhere in the past. That is why, there are some wrong people who keep growing and only good keeps happening to them... they must be having some past balance.
Then there are those dukhi (eternally unhappy) category ones, whatever good they do, only bad keeps happening to them.
So... It really boils down to the fact that my today is a result of what I did yesterday.
"Then Gulshan, If everything is a result of the past, then why should we do anything good today, because, whatever we do, what has been decided only will happen... so what's the point of being good???"
My dear, if my today is a result of my yesterday... then on the same logic, my tomorrow will be a result of what i do today.
So... If I want a good tomorrow, I have to helplessly be good today...
hhmmm... looks like I have figured out how this account thing works... and it looks pretty simple. You dont have to be a chartered accountant to understand this... really!!!!!!!!!!
There was this princess who was very beautiful. And there was a prince who was equally handsome, brave, smart and an eligible bachelor in all aspects.
The princess got married to this prince and they were both very excired about their new relationship.
The first night of the marriage was beautiful, but things were about to change... change really bad!!!
On the very first morning of their marriage, the princess got up early. She got up even before sunrise.
As she got up, she saw the princess sleeping, he looked so good even when asleep. Next to the prince's pillow was a long sword which he always kept with himself. This sword was studded with diamonds and gems and looked so beautiful that the princess wanted to touch it... lift it in her hands.
She leaned over the prince and picked up the sword. As the sword was very heavy, she could not handle the weight and it fell from her hands... exactly on the prince's neck. As it fell, it severed the prince's head killing him instantly. There was blood all over the place.
The princess did not know how to handle the situation and started screaming in panic.
Immediately all the guards came running in and saw the prince dead and the princess in panic. They asked her what happened.
Obviously the princess cannot say that she killed her own husband otherwise she will surely be executed. So she bluffed and said that a thief killed the prince and ran away. To convince the guards, she pointed outside the window towards the direction where the thief ran.
The guards immediately ran in the pointed direction to catch the thief who killed the prince. When they reached the place indicated by princess, they found a temple where a priest was doing his morning prayers. They caught that priest and brought him to the king's court.
The princess was called in to identify the thief; to save her own skin, she lied that the priest was the thief. The king did not listen to any of the priest's pleas and wanted to execute him right away. Being a religious person, the king couldn't kill the priest, so he ordered that the priest's hands be cut off and he should be sent away from the kingdom.
Here was a priest, who was doing his morning prayers, and now has been kicked out of his kingdom with no apparent mistake of his. What went wrong???
Lets see the story further...
Now this priest was going from door to door asking for money, food and shelter and nobody was giving him any help. As he was crossing one house, he heard a man praying inside the house, immediately he went to the entrance of that house and started abusing god. He started saying bad words to god and even started saying the prayer using exact opposite words to show disrespect to god.
This house was occupied by a wise man. The wise man came out and asked him... "What great tragedy has happened to you that you are so angry with god? "How could someone ever use bad words for God?"
The priest told his complete tragic story to the wise man and at the end of the story asked him "I always prayed to god, never hurt anyone, then why did bad happen to me?"
The wise man had a power that he could see the past, present and the future. He used that power to see if he could find an answer.
He told the priest one more story which goes as follows:
"There was once a hunter who went for hunting. He found a very beautiful deer and wanted to hunt her, so he started chasing her. The deer ran deep into the jungle and crossed one man's hut. As the hunter crossed the hut, he asked this man about the dear. The man was praying that time and did not speak, but pointed his hands in the direction where the dear went. The hunter went in that direction, found the dear, killer her and took her head as a trophy."
Back to present tense:
The wise man told the priest - This deer was reborn as the princess. The hunter was reborn as a prince and the man who showed the direction was reborn as the priest. That explained a lot of things to the priest. He had used his hands to direct the hunter so he lost his hands. The hunter cut deer's head, so the dear was reborn as the princess and the hunter as the prince who lost his life in the hands of the princess.
The story goes on but lets stop here and think for a few minutes...
Aren't there times when we do everything right but still things go wrong???
Aren't there times when bad happens to us and we ask the question... why me? i've never done wrong to anybody, then why me?
Correct, you have not done any wrong to anyone... atleast not knowingly... atleast not in this life. But there is some sort of a higher intelligence... some higher force... Chitragupta... St. Peters... whatever you call it... and that force is keeping an account of everyone of us.
Looks like all the good deeds are deposits and all the "not so good" deeds are withdrawals. Whenever, the withdrawals are more than the deposits, we have to pay.
Going by that, what we are going through today is a result of whatever we have done somewhere in the past. That is why, there are some wrong people who keep growing and only good keeps happening to them... they must be having some past balance.
Then there are those dukhi (eternally unhappy) category ones, whatever good they do, only bad keeps happening to them.
So... It really boils down to the fact that my today is a result of what I did yesterday.
"Then Gulshan, If everything is a result of the past, then why should we do anything good today, because, whatever we do, what has been decided only will happen... so what's the point of being good???"
My dear, if my today is a result of my yesterday... then on the same logic, my tomorrow will be a result of what i do today.
So... If I want a good tomorrow, I have to helplessly be good today...
hhmmm... looks like I have figured out how this account thing works... and it looks pretty simple. You dont have to be a chartered accountant to understand this... really!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
I'm not just an entry in your contacts list...
Phool ki shuruvat kali se hoti hai,
Zindagi ki shuruvat pyar se hoti hai,
Pyar ki shuruvat apno se hoti hai aur
apno ki shuruvat aapse hoti hai.
* Happy Diwali *
Zindagi ki shuruvat pyar se hoti hai,
Pyar ki shuruvat apno se hoti hai aur
apno ki shuruvat aapse hoti hai.
* Happy Diwali *
Sapney aur Khushiyan layi apne sang...
Apko Mubarak ho Diwali ki yeh umang.
***Shubh Dipawali***
And the one who sent me these messages doesn't even know that he / she has sent me this message.
I don't even know who sent these messages to me.
This is just one of the 180+ messages I got this Diwali season, and many more such emails. I don't even know so many of the senders' numbers / emails.
I open the greeting mail and see that there are hundreds of recipients in the cc field of the same mail.
I don't have a problem with the messages, I have a problem with the way these messages are sent.
The step by step process is given below:
1. You get 80 such messages.
2. You like one of them
3. You press forward button
4. In recipient field, select all contacts
5. Send SMS
Job done!!!!!!!
That, my dear, is the problem.
The whole concept of festivals is to send greetings. Yes... GREETINGS!!!
As per Wikipedia:
Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings (as well as other members of the animal kingdom) intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship of people coming in contact with each other.
You have 200 Contacts in your contacts list and it took less than 5 seconds to send a "greeting" to them. You don't even know to who all you have sent greetings.
If a person deserves to get your greeting, then he / she must be a person worth your time. If you can't meet in person, atleast take time to send a personal sms or mail or call up and speak to that person.
If you don't even have enough time to type a message or a mail for that person, then its better not to send a greeting at all.
"But Gulshan... Atleast I sent a message. Thats better than not sending anything at all"
My Dear, if you don't even know to whom you have sent... if the other person received a message just because he is on your contact list... if you didn't think of that person while typing and sending the message... then it is as good as not having sent a greeting at all.
"But Gulshan... This is an excuse to keep in touch atleast once a year"
No Dear, it is not. 80 more like you sent an SMS to that fellow and he / she just went on deleting them. Speaking or meeting is a much better excuse... that too anytime during the year."
"But Gulshan... I don't have time to do all this"
Then don't greet. If you don't have time for a person... then either you don't deserve that person or he / she doesn't deserve you"
"Its easier said than done. Its not practical to personally talk to everyone"
Darling... I started at 8.00 in the morning this festival and went on till 10.00 in the morning (thats it... just 2 hours). And it was the most beautiful experience I went through in a long time. I really think it was worth my time listening to all those responses, speaking to old friends, teachers, distant relatives... "Gulshan!!! whats up man" "Dude!!! are you even on this planet" "Man... your voice has changed" "Great talking to you man".
I didn't have very long conversations... these were short calls. Some picked up the calls, some didn't.. some called back, some didn't... But the best part of all is that I felt good at the end of the process.
I know I had not treated someone as just another entry in my contact list
I know that because of me someone felt good that day
I know I wanted to greet a person and spent time greeting him / her
I know that the people about whom I care are not just an entry in my contacts list
Finally, I know that for so many of them, I am back in their memories and no longer just an entry in the contacts list...
Happy Night.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Kabhi Haan... Kabhi Naa??? Phans gaye na!!!!
We were going home on his bike. On the way, we passed one Vada-pav stall and he asked me "Gullu... want to eat Vada Pav?"
Being a bit shy, I said "No", although I was feeling hungry.
He stopped the bike at the stall and ordered one for himself since I had refused to have it.
After watching him eat for about a minute, I couldn't resist and said "Okay... I will also have one."
He looked at me... top to bottom... without saying another word he turned to the vendor and order one more vada pav, with extra sweet sauce (he always seemed to know my choice).
I really enjoyed eating it that day.
After we were done, we sat on the bike and started riding towards home. He didn't say anything except just this one sentence:
"NA bolke HAAN nahi karna aur ek baar HAAN kar di to NA nahi karna"
"Never say NO and then say YES. Once you say YES, never say NO at any cost"
He didn't say anything else and we rode home in silence. I was maybe 7 or 8 years old at that time.
I didn't realise back then that he had given me a lesson to live by for the rest of my life.
Most of the time we keep falling in this trap...
We decide to do something and withdraw...
Join the gym... drop out after 2 weeks
Pick up a hobby... drop it in a month's time
Start a diet... don't last till the next weekend
Take up an activity and keep thinking... did I do the right thing???
Give up something and keep thinking... did I do the right thing???
What a tragic trap have we created for ourselves... Kya haalat kar di hai apni...
Liya to sochte hain kyun liya... Chhod diya to sochte hain kyun chhoda...
Say yes but not able to stick to yes...
Say no but not able to hold on to it either...
So much of indecision in life...
And the worst part is indecision even after making the decision...
And the samples are all around us... girls shopping for clothes / footwear... or guys shopping for electronics... jumping through jobs... thinking why did you get married...
Today he is not there... but I'm so blessed that I had a messenger early in my life...
He just gave me one message to hold on to and I know that all that I have achieved today is because of that one lesson...
Even today I have issues with the decisions I make...
but I never ask the question "Was it a right choice"...
The question I ask is "I have made a choice... now how do I turn it into a right choice..." --- Gives a lot of freedom
Think enough before saying YES or NO... once chosen... hold on to the choice...
Being a bit shy, I said "No", although I was feeling hungry.
He stopped the bike at the stall and ordered one for himself since I had refused to have it.
After watching him eat for about a minute, I couldn't resist and said "Okay... I will also have one."
He looked at me... top to bottom... without saying another word he turned to the vendor and order one more vada pav, with extra sweet sauce (he always seemed to know my choice).
I really enjoyed eating it that day.
After we were done, we sat on the bike and started riding towards home. He didn't say anything except just this one sentence:
"NA bolke HAAN nahi karna aur ek baar HAAN kar di to NA nahi karna"
"Never say NO and then say YES. Once you say YES, never say NO at any cost"
He didn't say anything else and we rode home in silence. I was maybe 7 or 8 years old at that time.
I didn't realise back then that he had given me a lesson to live by for the rest of my life.
Most of the time we keep falling in this trap...
We decide to do something and withdraw...
Join the gym... drop out after 2 weeks
Pick up a hobby... drop it in a month's time
Start a diet... don't last till the next weekend
Take up an activity and keep thinking... did I do the right thing???
Give up something and keep thinking... did I do the right thing???
What a tragic trap have we created for ourselves... Kya haalat kar di hai apni...
Liya to sochte hain kyun liya... Chhod diya to sochte hain kyun chhoda...
Say yes but not able to stick to yes...
Say no but not able to hold on to it either...
So much of indecision in life...
And the worst part is indecision even after making the decision...
And the samples are all around us... girls shopping for clothes / footwear... or guys shopping for electronics... jumping through jobs... thinking why did you get married...
Today he is not there... but I'm so blessed that I had a messenger early in my life...
He just gave me one message to hold on to and I know that all that I have achieved today is because of that one lesson...
Even today I have issues with the decisions I make...
but I never ask the question "Was it a right choice"...
The question I ask is "I have made a choice... now how do I turn it into a right choice..." --- Gives a lot of freedom
Think enough before saying YES or NO... once chosen... hold on to the choice...
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Behind every successful man there is a woman!!!!!
When he got her a Honda City... she complained that it wasn't a BMW...
When he was working like a donkey... she was complaining that he doesn't give her enough time...
When he was struggling with his limitations... she was busy calling him a useless fellow...
When he comes home... she is just waiting to complain and crib about the whole day...
When he was going through the toughest phase in his life... she came forward and started teaching to support the house expenses...
When his parents fell sick... she was at the peak of her professional life... she gave it all up and stayed at home to look after them...
When he proposed to her... she said "Right now I'm earning more than you... I think we should wait for some time"... and she waited... till he grew enough...
When he had to go away from his hometown to work and create a future for his family... she stayed back to take care of his parents and kids... for years...
When he had to devote his life for his students... she let him go ahead... knowing very well that each one of his students will get more of his time than she can...
Everytime he failed... she said "Don't worry... we'll make it"
When he could not get her a complete meal... She sat by his side and the two ate rice and pickle in the moonlight...
When he had to study further... she decided to work and support the family...
When he shouted at her... she thought "maybe he had a tough day... thats all"... and she took it all...
When he called up and said that he'll be late for dinner by 20 minutes... she waited... for 3 hours...
The "HE" here could be You or Me or Anybody around us...
The "SHE" could be you or anybody around you...
This "SHE" could be a mother... a sister... a daughter... a friend... a girl friend... a wife... or all these roles in a single body called a Woman who only knows how to love...
Our elders had a very cranky habit of being right...
These elders used to say --- "Behind every Successful Man there is a Woman"
They were so right!!! (either ways)
Behind every successful man... there is ALWAYS a woman...
to encourage... to push forward... to support... to drag... to pull down... to correct... to kick... to fire...
But above all... "To Love"
This being true... My teacher recently told me -
"Behind every successful man there is a woman, But behind every successful woman... there is a successful man..." because every ordinary man cannot have the maturity to help create a successful woman...
I think it will take me a lot more time and maturity to completely understand the last point I just said... maybe another post could help us seek the that maturity :)
When he was working like a donkey... she was complaining that he doesn't give her enough time...
When he was struggling with his limitations... she was busy calling him a useless fellow...
When he comes home... she is just waiting to complain and crib about the whole day...
When he was at the peak of his career... he had to give up his job to stay back in his town and sort out the Mother-in-law Vs Daughter-in-law wars...
When he was going through the toughest phase in his life... she came forward and started teaching to support the house expenses...
When his parents fell sick... she was at the peak of her professional life... she gave it all up and stayed at home to look after them...
When he proposed to her... she said "Right now I'm earning more than you... I think we should wait for some time"... and she waited... till he grew enough...
When he had to go away from his hometown to work and create a future for his family... she stayed back to take care of his parents and kids... for years...
When he had to devote his life for his students... she let him go ahead... knowing very well that each one of his students will get more of his time than she can...
Everytime he failed... she said "Don't worry... we'll make it"
When he could not get her a complete meal... She sat by his side and the two ate rice and pickle in the moonlight...
When he had to study further... she decided to work and support the family...
When he shouted at her... she thought "maybe he had a tough day... thats all"... and she took it all...
When he called up and said that he'll be late for dinner by 20 minutes... she waited... for 3 hours...
The "HE" here could be You or Me or Anybody around us...
The "SHE" could be you or anybody around you...
This "SHE" could be a mother... a sister... a daughter... a friend... a girl friend... a wife... or all these roles in a single body called a Woman who only knows how to love...
Our elders had a very cranky habit of being right...
These elders used to say --- "Behind every Successful Man there is a Woman"
They were so right!!! (either ways)
Behind every successful man... there is ALWAYS a woman...
to encourage... to push forward... to support... to drag... to pull down... to correct... to kick... to fire...
But above all... "To Love"
This being true... My teacher recently told me -
"Behind every successful man there is a woman, But behind every successful woman... there is a successful man..." because every ordinary man cannot have the maturity to help create a successful woman...
I think it will take me a lot more time and maturity to completely understand the last point I just said... maybe another post could help us seek the that maturity :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
That feeling of "Sometimes I just hate my job" - Part II
Continuing where we left in the last post...
Maybe... Just Maybe... our answer is hidden in this post...
That thought which comes once in a while...
All of us go through that phase at some point or the other.
I guess an occasional flash of such a thought is not wrong, it only means that you are being tested. But if you find that thought coming to you 3 times a day... then I think its not ok.
The question you should ask yourself is "Did you take up the job just for the monthly paycheck?"
I have done enough number of jobs starting from selling jeans and t-shirts to being a decision maker in top management and I know one thing for sure... everytime I took up the job just for the money... I found myself unhappy and miserable at the job. No matter how much I tried, I was unable to get that passion towards my job.
As a result, I ended up quitting and moving on for a better "paying" job.
One day my teacher asked me one question - "If you had all the money in the world... will you continue doing what you are doing right now?"
If the answer is "Yes", then you are in the right job. But if the answer is "No", then you really need to do some thinking.
(I know, the first answer your cunning mind will give is "If I had all the money in the world, I will not do anything at all"... be very careful and don't fall in that trap. A man's fall begins the day he stops working)
I think holding on to this question has helped me a lot in making the right choices.
Today if you ask me this question, I will probably say Yes because right now I really like whatever I'm doing... every monday I look forward to go to office... a new challenge every day gives me a kick... I'm learning something new everyday and I'm still in touch with the very roots of my professional qualifications... if I did have all the money in the world, I'll probably still continue to do what I'm doing right now.
Take some time for yourself, sit back, relax and ask yourself this question:
"If you had all the money in this world, will you continue to do what you are doing right now???"
Maybe... Just Maybe... our answer is hidden in this post...
That thought which comes once in a while...
"What the h**l am I doing here"
or
"I don't deserve to be in this job"
or
"Its not worth being here"
All of us go through that phase at some point or the other.
I guess an occasional flash of such a thought is not wrong, it only means that you are being tested. But if you find that thought coming to you 3 times a day... then I think its not ok.
The question you should ask yourself is "Did you take up the job just for the monthly paycheck?"
I have done enough number of jobs starting from selling jeans and t-shirts to being a decision maker in top management and I know one thing for sure... everytime I took up the job just for the money... I found myself unhappy and miserable at the job. No matter how much I tried, I was unable to get that passion towards my job.
As a result, I ended up quitting and moving on for a better "paying" job.
One day my teacher asked me one question - "If you had all the money in the world... will you continue doing what you are doing right now?"
If the answer is "Yes", then you are in the right job. But if the answer is "No", then you really need to do some thinking.
(I know, the first answer your cunning mind will give is "If I had all the money in the world, I will not do anything at all"... be very careful and don't fall in that trap. A man's fall begins the day he stops working)
I think holding on to this question has helped me a lot in making the right choices.
Today if you ask me this question, I will probably say Yes because right now I really like whatever I'm doing... every monday I look forward to go to office... a new challenge every day gives me a kick... I'm learning something new everyday and I'm still in touch with the very roots of my professional qualifications... if I did have all the money in the world, I'll probably still continue to do what I'm doing right now.
Take some time for yourself, sit back, relax and ask yourself this question:
"If you had all the money in this world, will you continue to do what you are doing right now???"
Saturday, October 23, 2010
That feeling of "Sometimes I just hate my job" - Part I
I was travelling from Bangalore to Chennai with a friend of mine (Lets call her "Rammy"). In the process of being smart she booked a wrong ticket and here we were at 12 midnight in a train without a ticket.
We tried to talk to the TTE (Travelling Ticket Examiner), negotiate and get atleast one seat.
While we were waiting for him to arrange for a seat, we had to stand at the door of the coach where a lot of people kept coming and going. There were a lot of other people trying to get a seat for themselves just like us and they were following the TTE everywhere through the coaches.
I being fond of talking was chatting away my time with Rammy standing near the coach door.
While we were standing there, we noticed that one small boy of age about 6-8 years was with this TTE. At every station, the TTE would get down with the boy, see all over the place and board the coach again with that boy. He was trying to talk to the boy but the boy was too nervous and didn't seem to understand any of the local languages.
By now we had figured out that the little boy was probably separated from his parents at an earlier station and the TTE was trying to help him but could not do much.
As every station went by, the child was getting farther away from his parents. The TTE was trying to find a station incharge at every station so he could handover the boy but at 1.45 in the midnight the stations were as deserted as a graveyard.
All this while we are standing at the door and watching.
Finally, he took the tough decision. At one station, he made the child sit at a bench and said something to him, probably asked him to stay there. He then boarded the coach where we were standing, saw me looking at what happened and said "Sometimes I just Hate this job"
Even today I can't forget his expression. There was pain, regret, shame, sadness, helplesness all at the same time and nothing I could have done at that time.
He arranged two seats for us at around 2 in the night. Yes... He had done his job of a TTE and provided a seat to the passengers.
Was that his job???
I don't know what happened to that child, but I just prayed that night that a good person finds that kid and takes him to his parents.
Are you stuck in that trap where you keep getting this feeling of "Sometimes I Hate This Job"
We tried to talk to the TTE (Travelling Ticket Examiner), negotiate and get atleast one seat.
While we were waiting for him to arrange for a seat, we had to stand at the door of the coach where a lot of people kept coming and going. There were a lot of other people trying to get a seat for themselves just like us and they were following the TTE everywhere through the coaches.
I being fond of talking was chatting away my time with Rammy standing near the coach door.
While we were standing there, we noticed that one small boy of age about 6-8 years was with this TTE. At every station, the TTE would get down with the boy, see all over the place and board the coach again with that boy. He was trying to talk to the boy but the boy was too nervous and didn't seem to understand any of the local languages.
By now we had figured out that the little boy was probably separated from his parents at an earlier station and the TTE was trying to help him but could not do much.
As every station went by, the child was getting farther away from his parents. The TTE was trying to find a station incharge at every station so he could handover the boy but at 1.45 in the midnight the stations were as deserted as a graveyard.
All this while we are standing at the door and watching.
Finally, he took the tough decision. At one station, he made the child sit at a bench and said something to him, probably asked him to stay there. He then boarded the coach where we were standing, saw me looking at what happened and said "Sometimes I just Hate this job"
Even today I can't forget his expression. There was pain, regret, shame, sadness, helplesness all at the same time and nothing I could have done at that time.
He arranged two seats for us at around 2 in the night. Yes... He had done his job of a TTE and provided a seat to the passengers.
Was that his job???
I don't know what happened to that child, but I just prayed that night that a good person finds that kid and takes him to his parents.
Are you stuck in that trap where you keep getting this feeling of "Sometimes I Hate This Job"
Thursday, October 14, 2010
To Accept the Pain or To Give up the Pleasure???
Was going through a crazy eye infection. Got the eyes checked with the Doc, she said that I should not touch or rub the eyes no matter how much they pain or itch. Once home, the eyes started itching again and the game of itch and scratch started.
The eyes would itch lightly, they feel better when I rub. As soon as I stop rubbing, they start itching even worse, I have to rub more and feel better for a few seconds. By now they are red and puffy and teary and I am rubbing the life out of my eyes.
This is the crazy game of pains and pleasures.
Way back in school, I had a fight with the class bully. I had only one thing on my mind... "I should land atleast one punch on his nose (pleasure)... even if he gives me 5 later (pain)"... I was willing to take the pain of beating just to experience the pleasure of punching the class bully in the nose.
You know that drinking at night will result in a painful hangover in the morning (pain), but you still go ahead and booze on all the alcohol possible (pleasure).
You know that a mishap would result in broken bones (pain) but you still want to rip and can't give up the pleasure of overspeeding.
That spicy food will give health issues (pain) but still you want to the pleasure of having it.
You know that you might end up with doctors tearing away your flesh in front of your eyes (definitely lots of pain) but you still want to have the pleasure of that one fag, that one sachet...
I know if I speak to her till 2 in the night, I will have a headache when I get up at 6 in the morning, but somehow I am willing to take the pain of headache but don't want to give up the pleasure of talking to her.
I guess as a human being, if I have to choose between giving up a pleasure and taking up a pain... somehow I am willing to take up the pain but can't give up the pleasure.
Looks like it takes a lot of strength to give up a pleasure when compared to taking up a pain. Guess thats what will make me stronger...
The eyes would itch lightly, they feel better when I rub. As soon as I stop rubbing, they start itching even worse, I have to rub more and feel better for a few seconds. By now they are red and puffy and teary and I am rubbing the life out of my eyes.
This is the crazy game of pains and pleasures.
Way back in school, I had a fight with the class bully. I had only one thing on my mind... "I should land atleast one punch on his nose (pleasure)... even if he gives me 5 later (pain)"... I was willing to take the pain of beating just to experience the pleasure of punching the class bully in the nose.
You know that drinking at night will result in a painful hangover in the morning (pain), but you still go ahead and booze on all the alcohol possible (pleasure).
You know that a mishap would result in broken bones (pain) but you still want to rip and can't give up the pleasure of overspeeding.
That spicy food will give health issues (pain) but still you want to the pleasure of having it.
You know that you might end up with doctors tearing away your flesh in front of your eyes (definitely lots of pain) but you still want to have the pleasure of that one fag, that one sachet...
I know if I speak to her till 2 in the night, I will have a headache when I get up at 6 in the morning, but somehow I am willing to take the pain of headache but don't want to give up the pleasure of talking to her.
I guess as a human being, if I have to choose between giving up a pleasure and taking up a pain... somehow I am willing to take up the pain but can't give up the pleasure.
Looks like it takes a lot of strength to give up a pleasure when compared to taking up a pain. Guess thats what will make me stronger...
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Why does life have to be like Sensex
Was just thinking the other day "It has been a long time since I have made a mistake in teaching... somehow the students are able to understand and pick the class content very well... looks like I'm growing consistently in this aspect...
BANG... the very next class I made so many mistakes that one of the students actually told "Gulshan... you need a coffee!!!" (yes, my students call me by name)
Have just been observant since then and somehow this seems to be a pattern in every aspect of my life.
When I think I have not gotten angry for a long time, I have gained control over my anger.... I land up having an anger burst on something very small within the next few days...
When I think work is going excellent... I might just make a very stupid mistake...
Everytime I pat myself for not having a wrong thought for a few days... I end up slipping somewhere in my thinking process.
Everytime I think "Kya bike drive karta hoon!!!"... I have a close call
In short... Every time the Sensex rises and we notice it rising... IT FALLS....
All of us at some point or the other go through this experience in different aspects of life... Dont we???
Looking back at it... I guess something like that is required to keep growing...
If I had not made those mistakes in the class, maybe I would have become overconfident.
If I dont make that stupid blunder at work, maybe I will become complacent and make a bigger blunder somewhere else.
If I had not had those close calls on the bike, maybe I will become careless and end up as a rash driver.
If Sensex did not fall... the markets will not go through a correction process and the true value of assets will not be reflected.
The one thing common in all these experiences is that whenever I deviated from the system, deviated from the rules, took a short cut... the correction happens...
Looks like thats what it is... a Correction Factor... to make sure that we dont lose direction and control...
Got a beautiful sms today --- "They say mistakes are the first step to success... Fact is... Correction of mistakes is the first step to success"
These corrections are what keep me on the guard... prevent me from becoming overconfident... make sure I stay on track... make sure I stay on the Growth Track.
BANG... the very next class I made so many mistakes that one of the students actually told "Gulshan... you need a coffee!!!" (yes, my students call me by name)
Have just been observant since then and somehow this seems to be a pattern in every aspect of my life.
When I think I have not gotten angry for a long time, I have gained control over my anger.... I land up having an anger burst on something very small within the next few days...
When I think work is going excellent... I might just make a very stupid mistake...
Everytime I pat myself for not having a wrong thought for a few days... I end up slipping somewhere in my thinking process.
Everytime I think "Kya bike drive karta hoon!!!"... I have a close call
In short... Every time the Sensex rises and we notice it rising... IT FALLS....
All of us at some point or the other go through this experience in different aspects of life... Dont we???
Looking back at it... I guess something like that is required to keep growing...
If I had not made those mistakes in the class, maybe I would have become overconfident.
If I dont make that stupid blunder at work, maybe I will become complacent and make a bigger blunder somewhere else.
If I had not had those close calls on the bike, maybe I will become careless and end up as a rash driver.
If Sensex did not fall... the markets will not go through a correction process and the true value of assets will not be reflected.
The one thing common in all these experiences is that whenever I deviated from the system, deviated from the rules, took a short cut... the correction happens...
Looks like thats what it is... a Correction Factor... to make sure that we dont lose direction and control...
Got a beautiful sms today --- "They say mistakes are the first step to success... Fact is... Correction of mistakes is the first step to success"
These corrections are what keep me on the guard... prevent me from becoming overconfident... make sure I stay on track... make sure I stay on the Growth Track.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Dhatad Tatad
"sun le shor chun chun ke shor bhi ek manzar hai..."
Translation --- from the noise, choose what you want to listen... the noise is nothing but a scene (alright i never scored the highest in language translations... but i guess you get the point)
During the song, this blind girl will learn to catch a hen just listening to its sound and ignoring all the sounds around including the sounds of the other hens.
These lines are from a song from Lafangey Parindey. The movie is about a blind girl and how a person teaches her to see by following sounds and smells (and they fall in love and the other hindi movie stuff happens)
Was just listening to the song other day while getting ready for office and something struck a chord somewhere.
We all do it in someway or the other...
On the road... among the group of those girls, somehow we choose to see the prettiest one.
In a store... somehow we manage to pick the best design.
In a packed traffic jam... somehow we find that gap just enough for the bike to go through.
While watching that program... we are able to concentrate on it inspite of all the disturbance around.
In spite of all the traffic sound around... I am still able to speak to my girlfriend on phone :p
I used to chase sunrises once... its a beauty only He can create... When the sun rises, I see the sun... Of course there are hills, birds, trees, stones under my feet, some traffic sound sometimes, and so many other things...
But among these all, I still choose to see the sun rising. All these factors come together to make the sunrise more majestic, but still I see the sunrise.
Knowingly or unknowingly we all do this (listen to the sound among the noises)
Once my boss told me when I was going on a project... "you will get a lot of issues and all will come at the same time... best way to handle them is to take one at a time and solve it. Never try to solve all at the same time."
Even in the class, I see my students struggling because they cannot handle the pressure of a regular college and professional course at the same time... recently I shared in my class this same thing. When going to college, think about the college, when in the professional course, think about the course... this is where we go wrong... as a result, our thoughts are nothing but a lot of noise inside the head and we can't focus on the thoughts that really matter...
In the house we think about work, at office we think about the movie coming weekend and so on...
My teacher keeps telling me time and again --- "A Time for Everything and Everything in that Time Only... A Place for Everything and Everything in that Place only"
It can be something so simple to implement and yet something so difficult to follow consistently.
I guess this song strengthens the message once again and I have once again found a key.
Key to what, don't know yet...
But i know that I'm beginning to hear the Sound among noises... after all noises are just a Scene.
Translation --- from the noise, choose what you want to listen... the noise is nothing but a scene (alright i never scored the highest in language translations... but i guess you get the point)
During the song, this blind girl will learn to catch a hen just listening to its sound and ignoring all the sounds around including the sounds of the other hens.
These lines are from a song from Lafangey Parindey. The movie is about a blind girl and how a person teaches her to see by following sounds and smells (and they fall in love and the other hindi movie stuff happens)
Was just listening to the song other day while getting ready for office and something struck a chord somewhere.
We all do it in someway or the other...
On the road... among the group of those girls, somehow we choose to see the prettiest one.
In a store... somehow we manage to pick the best design.
In a packed traffic jam... somehow we find that gap just enough for the bike to go through.
While watching that program... we are able to concentrate on it inspite of all the disturbance around.
In spite of all the traffic sound around... I am still able to speak to my girlfriend on phone :p
I used to chase sunrises once... its a beauty only He can create... When the sun rises, I see the sun... Of course there are hills, birds, trees, stones under my feet, some traffic sound sometimes, and so many other things...
But among these all, I still choose to see the sun rising. All these factors come together to make the sunrise more majestic, but still I see the sunrise.
Knowingly or unknowingly we all do this (listen to the sound among the noises)
Once my boss told me when I was going on a project... "you will get a lot of issues and all will come at the same time... best way to handle them is to take one at a time and solve it. Never try to solve all at the same time."
Even in the class, I see my students struggling because they cannot handle the pressure of a regular college and professional course at the same time... recently I shared in my class this same thing. When going to college, think about the college, when in the professional course, think about the course... this is where we go wrong... as a result, our thoughts are nothing but a lot of noise inside the head and we can't focus on the thoughts that really matter...
In the house we think about work, at office we think about the movie coming weekend and so on...
My teacher keeps telling me time and again --- "A Time for Everything and Everything in that Time Only... A Place for Everything and Everything in that Place only"
It can be something so simple to implement and yet something so difficult to follow consistently.
I guess this song strengthens the message once again and I have once again found a key.
Key to what, don't know yet...
But i know that I'm beginning to hear the Sound among noises... after all noises are just a Scene.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Why Seek??
Someone once asked me a question --- "Gulshan... Can you be a seeker for life???
Its a simple questions but opens up so many more questions... so many answers to find...
Even when I decided to start writing this blog... it took me some time to find a name for the blog... but finally i found it...
It was so obvious... it couldn't have been anything but "Seeking my answers"
Today we have Google, Wiki, tech forums and what not... Name a question and an answer is available on the net. We can find answers to any question on the internet... don't we??? Or... Do we really find all our answers?? Do we end up with more questions than answers??
Today I'm just an ordinary guy who goes to office, has a girl friend, plays computer games, learns, teaches... and yet... there are so many questions to ask.
A loved one once told me--- ask and you will receive... seek and you shall find...
I never understood how it works, but it has always been true with me... whenever i have a question, I just go ahead and ask someone... Very often I find the answer myself even as I'm explaining my question.
So here I start my journey, trying to seek... find the questions and then find the answers... and grow in the process.
Its a simple questions but opens up so many more questions... so many answers to find...
Even when I decided to start writing this blog... it took me some time to find a name for the blog... but finally i found it...
It was so obvious... it couldn't have been anything but "Seeking my answers"
Today we have Google, Wiki, tech forums and what not... Name a question and an answer is available on the net. We can find answers to any question on the internet... don't we??? Or... Do we really find all our answers?? Do we end up with more questions than answers??
Today I'm just an ordinary guy who goes to office, has a girl friend, plays computer games, learns, teaches... and yet... there are so many questions to ask.
A loved one once told me--- ask and you will receive... seek and you shall find...
I never understood how it works, but it has always been true with me... whenever i have a question, I just go ahead and ask someone... Very often I find the answer myself even as I'm explaining my question.
So here I start my journey, trying to seek... find the questions and then find the answers... and grow in the process.
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