Follow your heart, walk the invisible path
Set paths may give interim benefits
But its the path less travelled that takes you to a new world

Why Not This Way

Why is that for some the finishing line is more important than the thrill of the run

Why is that people look for a label for a relation instead of just enjoying the nameless bond

You talk about the materialistic things how about treasure hunting the priceless pearls of wisdom within and around

Why measure oneself on the weights recommended by society, how about becoming weightless in the world

How about for once living at the whims of heart instead of head

Kabir in Navadarshanam

Had gone to three day workshop on kabir songs, was sure it was going to be good..as i knew hearing Prahalad ji sing in person gonna be a great experience. What i did not knew then was how simple and frank he was as a person too...he is extremely warm and very down to earth. When i first saw him in the kitchen, i was not sure whether i would feel comfortable talking to him or not...but as the days progressed felt completely at ease to share my views and thoughts. Its amazing to meet people who walk their talk, he is a true follower of kabir.

Another thing that added to this magic was Navadarshanam, in specific Ananthu Ji. A place that follows the vision of the place to the core, teaching us all how to co-exist with surroundings and what we really need.

Being in the place itself, was an experience in itself. Eco friendly architecture, food, simplicity and warmth of people around just touched me so much. Coming to the place was like recharging oneself to full :)

Hearing Ananthu Ji talk is an experience in itself, he explained things so clearly...making us appreciate the poetry even more. Will always remember his child like laughter and the warmth he gave each one of us.

As a bonus, we got to hear some renditions of poetry from southern India by poets like purandara dasa. It was amazing to realize that all learned people, told the same thing. 

Overall it was a great experience, it was also nice meeting people from different backgrounds. Would like to thank Nikita and Anju for organizing it and giving me this great opportunity to experience this.

Double Trouble

The king and queen of Sumerkuda were staunch devotees of Shiva. Shiva was really pleased with their devotion, which was selfless and with no expectations.

One day, the king announced to his wife that, he is planning to construct a Shiva temple only for himself, wherein he only will be the priest and will serve his lord the way he wanted. Hearing this, the Rani said...what about me, even i would like to serve my lord the way i want too.  On hearing this, the king said, okay i will get two temples made side my side near our place. One will be your temple and another would be mine.

The next day, the king announced this decision to his ministers and asked the most skilled craftsmen in the kingdom to present their designs.  

Post 6 months, two grand temples which were replicas of each other were created. King and Queen were thrilled to see their wish fulfilled. Post that, both king and queen got busy with how they would like to praise their lords etc....Narada..seeing all this, came rushing to Shiva's abode and said, have you seen what your favorite devotees are doing, the king and queen have become the priests of their own temple. Shiva said, its just pure love and they are not neglecting any of their duties so let them do what they please.

Slowly, lot of ceremonies that were being held in the temples started happening at the same time and Shiva had to juggle his time between the two places...he always felt the guilt that maybe i am not doing justice to my devotees. Shiva shared his worries with his wife Parvati. Parvati said, why dont u just listen to the recordings using the time travel device. Shiva said, no no...i would like to give my fav devotees blessing at that moment itself.

Parvati knew how innocent her husband was and he will just worry about he not being able to do justice to their love. Parvati felt, she only would have to do something. She immediately called Narada and told him to keep her posted with latest developments in Sumerkuda and try to make the king and queen understand Shiva's plight.

Narada thought of an idea, he got two neighboring kings to invite the king on the same day and time.  Narada went to see the king to see what he will decide.The king was discussing with his ministers what he can do, he did not want to say no to anyone. Narada said, your deity is able to multitask between your and your wife's puja's i am sure you can also do something like this. Hearing this, the king said he is Shiva the lord, what he can do, i cannot do. Narada felt, he would have to do something else to drive the point.

After few months, Narada came rushing to Parvati and told her about the non-stop 24 hr celebrations being planned by king and queen on the occasion of Shiva Ratri...Imagining 24 hrs of non-stop celebration, Parvati felt she had to do something to put this to stop...she told Narada something in his ear, hearing which Narada smiled.

Next day, Narada went to the court, the king was thrilled to see Narada, while having lunch with Narada, King and Queen told him about their grand plan. On hearing this, Narada said, don't u know if husband and wife dont do pooja together on Shiva Ratri, Shiva is not pleased, he is after all a family man and represents an ideal household. On hearing that King and Queen got tensed and thought what they can do, as it did not feel good to neglect one temple completely after establishing the god there. Narada said, why don't you make one temple open for public and you both can do your puja together in one temple? Post marriage, you both resolved to live a single life, don't you think if you pray your favorite deity together, u will find greater joy.

On hearing this, the king and queen felt, it makes sense...instead of they thinking individually its better if they thought as one. They decided to do as suggested by Narada.

On the Shiva Ratri day, Shiva was pleased to see both of them praying together, he told Parvati, see how wise my devotees are. Parvati nodded and smiled.

Cracked Pots

Whom am i to pass a judgment on anyone
I who know the cracks in my own pot
though from outside it may seem all fine
The scars within and the recurring plastering
to keep on the surface smooth is only known to me


We all are cracked pots, with our own unique abrasions
Why this futility of finding faults in others
You cannot change a baked pot
but u can mold a pot which is still on the wheel of consciousness

No One killed Jessica

Saw the movie 'No One killed Jessica' today, also read an article in Tehelka on how actually they carried out the stings and unearthed the facts.

The first thing that stuck me was how aware was i of all this, i did hear about the case but did not follow the proceedings to that much detail. I just felt that, if we as citizens of this country, do not remain alert to whats happening around and voice our opinion, India will become a place were things run as per the whims of rich and powerful.

I know lot is wrong even now...BJP CM refusing to step down though there is so much of proof against him...land scams...victimization of people by police...the list goes on and on.

Will the educated masses think of relocating to other place as the only solution to deal with issues with the system? Who will clean the home then?

Tehalka magazine has definitely shown the power of media and what we as people can do if we identify with a problem...till we think of someone's issue/tragedy as just news to ponder for few minutes and move on in our routine drudgery, nothing will ever get fixed here....and we will just be living a life where all is happy and good, till nothing happens to me and my loved ones.

Happy New Year

New year...is like a new diary....each page is waiting to see what you write onto it.

I am really looking forward to this year and curious to see what i finally pen this year

Hope i have gone wiser with my past experiences :)

World....here i come :)

Wish you all a very happy new year...lets make it a rocking new year!

तुमने पिला दिया प्यार का जो प्याला
में हो गयी दीवानी  ए मेरे मौला
अब न भाये यह जग हंगामा
क्या अमर है और क्या है निश्छल
खूब मैंने जाना

अब में न चाहू रिश्तो के बंधन
कहो चाहे इन्हें किसी नाम से तुम
दोस्त, प्रेमी,  भाई  या मामा
अब तो  में मानु  सिर्फ  वो  ही रिश्ता 

जहा दिल से दिल की बात हो
न कुछ  पाने  की आस  हो

क्या है शोहरत क्या है कामियाबी
जहा दिल को सुकून हो की मैंने  फ़र्ज़ अदाया
में तो उसी संतोष्टि में  तृप्त  हो  जाऊ
अब न चाहू बहारी प्रशंसा
में क्या हु वोह में ही जानू

अब न सोचु की और क्या सोचे
अब ये चक्रवुयु मैंने  भेद  डाला

यह न सोचना की में बस सहती जाऊ
क्या सही है और क्या गलत है
यह फिर्क मैंने  जाना
अब तो में बोलू अडिग हो के
रख सच को सदा साथ
में यह खूब जानू  की जहा सच वह तुम 

अब तो हो गयी दीवानी  ए मौला
अब तो हो गयी दीवानी  ए मौला

Alone huh not Really

Imagine u want to see a movie desperately and u cannot find company  or you need to go to your friend's marriage and you know there is no one who can give u company there...what do you do?

In India, people have not yet come to terms with someone venturing alone to do certain things. Imagine you want to go on vacation, first question would be where are u going and then next with whom?

What can one do to avoid weird looks of people who seem to be trying to guess..why has this person come alone?

I have been in such situations couple of times...first person i would like to thank is the inventor of cellphones...i can always act busy checking messages or call up someone as SOS. As soon as u see someone with sympathy approaching you at function...call or act as if you are about to call someone.

In flights/trains, have met some people who would like to extract your entire bio data....at those times...i thank the inventor of headphones/ipod. I can always act as if i have not heard them...it happened to me once...i was flying back from Amsterdam to Delhi. The flight took off 3 times but because of some issue, we landed back at Amsterdam. Hence as a result, the two people who were sitting next to be on either side knew each and everything about me...when they started off giving me gyan...i realized its time to either act asleep or put on headphones :)

For me the next stage would be to not act busy but be amused by this uncalled for attention..it will take me a while to get there.

Nameless Bond

Some bonds are not explainable and do not need any conversation...the silence says it all.

The is a conversation happening in silence...have felt such a bond with my auto-wallah.

Every day when get i dropped to office, i give him a nod...a nod which a  6 yr old gives to her papa saying 'aap ab jaao'...and i too get a similar nod back from him :)

There have been time when i have called him from office at night asking me to pick up...always felt he could sense my SOS and ensures he or someone else picks me.

In the morning, when i call him..there is a very sweet voice which picks the call and when i ask her 'bhaiya ab aa sakte hai', she says 'ha aayenge'. Every day we just have the same conversation. I felt this must be his wife..who religiously picks the call for him.

Today, our conversation was slightly different. After my regular query, she asked me in proper english, Wanted to ask u something, are u veg or non-veg? I was surprised and impressed by the clarity of talk that too in english...i asked her why are u asking me this? She said, papa ne poochne ko bola hai...ramzaan aa raha hai na isliye. Asked my auto wallah today, kon si class mein padti hai aapki beti...got to know she is in 7th class.

Hoping to have more conversation with her next time i call.

Boundary less Home


Sneh, the young sparrow could not believe what he and his family had to go through, he was having a hard time in deciphering why behind the whole thing...he had lot of questions, somehow could not muster the courage to ask his father, who was sitting on the wire pole along with this friends and discussing the options available.

At night, when his mother came to put him to bed, in their new makeshift home, which was the old Ganesha temple, he asked ma, why did it happen, u always said it was our house and i know you and papa built it...how could then someone break it...ma was speechless, the papa sparrow heard the conversation and sat near his son's bed...He said Son, it was our house, all my fore fathers had lived in the same place which is now called Whitefield...but lately have seen lot of trees getting cut and then seen humans making their houses there with stone and mortar ....sadly they don't seem keen in enjoying nature and want all space for themselves...i can never understand why they need so much space...after all a home needs to have just sufficient space for one to eat/sleep....i don't know what they do with all that space..dont they want space for there kids to play and enjoy the beautiful creations of god?

For us, we want sun god to wake us up...and tell us that its a beautiful morning and its time to get ready and go to work....at evening...along with the sun...we also come home...to rest and relax....the moon provides us the night lamp...so that we can see the path in case of an emergency.

I don't understand what guides these humans...as i have seldom seen them follow something like this..they love to wake up on hearing some shrill sound which they call alarm rather than to the bird chirping....and they do not have a time to come back home on time...have seen them come at such odd times...i wonder why their lifestyle has changed so much.

But Pa...why do we have to pay a price? they have destroyed our entire community...everyone is scattered...i don't know where my friend muskaan is and when will i meet her again? They are impacting our lives...

I know my son..sadly we don't have the powers to force a change...just hope they realise one day that like them even we birds have a home/family...and how it feels when suddenly one fine day...u realise your house is getting chopped...they don't even see, if a nest has an unborn...they are merciless..they just want space...

Son, we birds have never believed in boundaries...where ever we are...we make that place our home..these humans have taught us one more thing...which is to not remain attached...if our home is taken away from us...we start our quest for a new home...and once again settle. Home is where we all are....and we can recreate it again and again.

Imagine me wearing a worn out but comfortable shawl with my hair dripping coconut hair

my face carrying a sad expression as if disaster has stuck

I might remind u of rajesh khanna in climax scene in anand movie or meena kumari in some tragic movie

What has happened to me..why have i turned like devadas

with nothing interesting me...neither emails nor facebook nor songs...

Guys, i have been stuck with dreaded cold

i am not giving build up less than of a cancer patient

Telling my mom again and again that i don't want to do anything

and telling myself i dont have any energy to do anything today

taking bath was the biggest accomplishment for today :-)

Can never underestimate cold...it kinda slows down all action

I am sure cold must have been the reason for lot of memorable sad songs :-)

It teaches you to appreciate health in a snap

I think have written enough of melodrama and i better stop now

Concert
Recently went to a carnatic classical concert, it was definitely great experience. Two things came in my mind...one a concert is a team work, all people involved must be immersed in the process and that’s it.just imagine if each person, the flutist, the mridagam player or the gatham player start playing such that they get the maximum time to play, it will be chaos...i know its very obvious...a concert where each person compliments the other and highlights the strengths of the other instruments the entire experience becomes magical. No instrument is better than the other, each instrument has its own specialty.

The part I enjoy most is when each instrumentalist plays a beat and the same beat is repeated in another instrument, I like to think of it as two friends teasing and making fun of the each other and at the end, all friends have a big laugh together.

I sometimes visualize the notes as people and when I hear something like this Sa Ni Da Pa, Sa Na Da Pa, Ma Ga Re Sa...it feels as if Sa is angry and his friends Na Da are trying to cheer up Sa and are calling him to come with them to play...Sa takes a long time to get better and the entire composition reflects the efforts made by his friends to cheer him and at the end. Sa finally feels good and hence, Sa Ni Da Pa Ma Ga Re Sa ;)

Renovation

Getting the house renovated is a pain as well as a joy....the joy of selecting the right color for the wall, the right tiles, right curtains...the joy one feels, seeing the imagination take life is amazing...u see one standing opposite the creation as if saying....did i feel it will look so good when i was selecting...i should be interior designing...what am i doing, wasting my time doing 9-5 job....if one always thinking in terms of ROI, that person will say...i got all this done in XX Rs can you believe it...i knew exactly where to get what and my bargaining skills are amazing...i could make the mistry do this work for me in just in peanuts...i should be in consulting. For some days, the talks would be just concentrated on talking on the work undertaken, the pains went through and the masterpiece created. Since most people they talk to have undergone the same phenomenon, they are empathetic and give it a proper hearing...

No one can undermine the chaos that exists while the entire thing is happening...you requirements are reduced to bare minimum...oh i just need a bed to sleep..does not matter if the bed sheet is clean or not....just need water to wash my face....need a loo...that's it.......that explains why people push for doing all these before a major festival or a celebration in the family. Billoo ki jab shaadi hogi, tab safedi karwaani hai. That's why one gets to hear remarks like...Lalitha Ji koi khush khabari, jo aap ghar mein kaam karwa rahe ho...bahu aane waali hai kya :D. That's why people don't get it...when u say you are getting it done just like that.

The contractor needs to be really good at PR, if he wants to ensure he can make the people get even their 'wish list' done in addition to the 'must have' list or elevate them to thinking at a higher level(higher should not be spiritual..else its all doomed). You need to become part of their family, and make them feel, you are thinking about their good and you have never felt so much at home at anyone else house..that's why the Mrs Bhatia becomes "mummyji" and Mr Bhatia "pappaji"...hence u r getting things done as a son..the aunty also gets carried away by saying "tum to mere bete jaise ho"...viola what started as a minor repair ended up being an entire redo of the bathroom...bhenji aap yeh bhi badla lo...phir aapka bathroom ek dum chakachak ho jayega.

On top of all these, there needs to be lines saying, bhaiya or bhenji aap bahut simple hai, jaroorat ki cheezo ko chod ke aap ne kuch nahin karwaaya, warna log lage rehte hai ghar ko tajmahal banane mein.

Its strange that every time renovation happens we forget the earlier lessons learnt and the same story is repeated.

Inspite all these, feel renovations are good for two reasons, the same house seems different with few changes and one learns to appreciate small things again....a big bucket of warm water in winter, bed to sleep, mom's food, floor you can walk on bare foot...

Ganesh Chaturthi

Tomorrow is Ganesh Chaturthi. Ramesh, who's favorite god is Ganesha looks forward to this day very eagerly each year. Each year, he will buy a new idol and for that he does not mind roaming on the streets of Ajmer till late. He does not stop his search, till he is able to see his god in an mud statue.

He will very religiously decorate the god with flowers and leaves and ensure his mother prepares Ganesha's favorite goodies.

He does not like saying good bye to his god and hence does not submerge the idol in water, instead each year he replaces the statue in his cupboard with the new idol he bought and puts the old one in the Attic.

There are currently 5 idols in the Attic. Its 12 pm at night, everyone has slept. 5 statues can see Ramesh sleeping peacefully, they know that the first thing Ramesh would do tomorrow is to go out and get an new idol. The Ganesha's in attic started talking to the Ganesha in cupboard, i wonder where Ramesh will make you sit, the attic is almost full. I hope he does not force fit you here, its already bit crowded here. Till now we managed, because we know how much he loves us. If tomorrow, he makes you sit with us, it would mean, he does not care for us.

The 5 year old Ganesha said, i don't think he will do that, i still remember when he put me here 5 years back, he was so sad to do that. He ensured the attic is all clean, he put clean paper to ensure i do not get any scratch. I am sure, Ramesh will figure out some other place.

The 1 year old Ganesh freaked out hearing this, you do not know these youngsters, their love is very superficial. For them we are just decorating pieces. Do they follow what we believe in? I remember someone gifted my statue to a couple on marriage, for them i was cute, something that would look good in their drawing room, i meant nothing more than that. I hate it when they call me the cute. They just know, how to do blind puja and at the end they always have a huge list of "wishes". God please take care of this/give me this, i will not ask you anything ever and the very next year they will have a new list, correction the next day they don't wait a whole year.

They make promises of fasting for a month, taking 100 rounds around my statue on bare feet, do i really care?

Once they do all this, its not that they stop there...they will tell about their great achievement to 100 people.
You know, my son fasted for 10 days, he is a staunch worshipper of Ganesh. Alas she does not know, her son is doing it for getting a promotion.

One hearing this, all other Ganesha's blasted the 1 year old, i know some devotees are like this, but our Ramesh is not like that. The 1 year old said, we will know tomorrow how good Ramesh is. It will be decided by the fate of the cupboard Ganesh and us.

Ramesh got up the next day at 6 am, 1 hour earlier than his normal routine, got ready quickly and rushed out of the home, told mom that he will have breakfast, only once he is back with the idol for this year.

1 year old said, see here he goes, he did not bother even to check if there is space in the attic. The other Ganeshas did not say anything.

Ramesh went to the Meena market, which was famous for murthies. In the market, he saw lot of school kids roaming around trying to find Ganesha of their liking. He felt good, seeing the enthusiasm of the kids.

Ramesh liked one Ganesh statue, in which Ganesh was depicted as writing the Mahabharatha. Ramesh called his father on cell and told him about the idol, his father was pleased and was bit amused at his son's childish enthusiasm, as if he has found some treasure.

The whole family did Ganesha Puja, the next day, time came for the Ganesha to be put in some other place. Ramesh came to his room, bowed in front of the Ganesh in the cup board, decided to make space in the attic and then shift the Ganesha.

Ramesh moved the 4 year old Ganesha bit closer to the 5 year, seeing that the 1 year old said....i told you. The other Ganeshas were still silent, as per them the agni pariksha was still not over. Ramesh realised after moving the 1 year old that the space was not enough for the Ganesha in cup board.

He put all the Ganeshas back to there older place and came down. The older Ganesha's gave a big grin to the 1 year old. The 1 year old said, the problem is still not solved, lets see what he does now.

Ramesh felt angry at himself for not having checked the space in attic, while he was walking to and fro in balcony, he saw a sparrow making a nest, he saw the sparrow gathering twigs from an abandoned nest and using it for making the nest.

Ramesh left the house without telling anyone, he came back in an hour, put all the Ganesha's in attic, the Ganesha in the cup board and the new Ganesha in his car and started driving. The 1 year old said, i think he has decided to immerse us in river....see i told you, for him also we are just pieces of decoration, which have now become not beautiful. To this comment, the 5 year old said, why is he taking the new one also then? The 1 year old could not think of why.

Ramesh stopped the car after driving a distance, the Ganeshas could see a person, making beautiful idols. Ramesh lifted each idol with care and put it on the ground and said, i would like you all to be remolded so that you can go to new houses, who need you for your blessings. I think i was stupid in trying to hold on to you. From now one, i will buy idol but return it back so that can be used to spread joy to others.

Driving Test
Last weekend had gone to give driving test, my teacher knowing that i am bad at doing reverse, took 1 hour class in the morning to ensure, i am all set. Won't say the practice classes went that well...i still ended up parking the vehicle near the gutter with little space to get out. He said no one asks one to do right reverse, and u r fine in left reverse.

I was confident it will all go fine...had to wait a long time for my turn to come...finally it came...the inspector asked me to do a right reverse.... It started well then the trouble started...i think i parked the car in the middle.

I was sure, i would have flunked...but hope is a very strange thing...it never gives up till the end...the person from driving school who accompanied us asked us to call later in the evening to know the result...i knew very clearly the inspector should have failed but still...i thought maybe the inspector has a tie-up with the school and will make me pass...i promised i will take extra classes to master reverse in any case.

I could not speak to the person for some reason, later went to the school to check the result..and got to know that i have flunked...it was not a surprise at all for me...later called my teacher and told him that i failed, he told me that even he had failed for the first, felt it was very nice of him to say that.

Next time i am gonna go to give the test...gonna do reverse in istyle :)

Trip to Munnar

Wanted to go on a trip with family for a long time...finally it materialised. I wanted to take care of all the bookings, so did lot of googling on the net and finally zeroed it on Destination Munnar, picked a hotel called Westwood which had amazing pictures of the views from the hotel, a dining area with a lake view...hotel surrounded by greenery...when i saw the site i could not believe i am gonna stay there...felt maybe they are just catering to foreigners.

My mother and brother finally came on sat and we left on sunday. On reaching the airport, a person from the hotel was there to pick us up...you can guess how they must have addressed my name on the board. Mr Madhu it read...i wondered, why they could not realise it was a woman and not a man. Was wondering if a guy corresponds to someone and the person assumes him as her, i am sure the guy will be offended while if its the other way round, a girl being assumed as a guy its not a big deal. Will say its because we(women) don't fuss over small stuff :)

The guy who picked us did not know hindi or english....so was interesting to correspond to him...our flight had landed in the afternoon, so we all were starving, hence asked the driver to take us to a good hotel that serves vegetarian food, the driver took us to the a hotel(i guess he had some tie up with that), the menu had all north indian dishes majority non-veg, my mom announced she will not eat and will have fruits instead, we can go ahead and have something there...on hearing her sacrifice we decide to go some where else...finally went to Sarvanana bhavan, had full meals it was amazing :) Eating on banana leaf that too food that too typical local food is awesome.

The route to munnar from cochin was amazing....did not think it will be so green...the mountains covered in a shawl of green of various shades was really beautiful...the tea plantations weaved an amazing pattern of Cris-crosses. Finally we arrived at the hotel, was surprised to find a building with not much space around..i wondered how they posted the pictures that were there on the site...on reaching the hotel room, found the room to be small contrary to how it appeared in the internet...we could all just sit or sleep in one place...no place to move...on top of that...got to hear TV from the neighbouring room...could feel the trip going on a negative spiral already.

Decided to explore some other hotels otherwise the precious vacation will be doomed..so i and my brother explored some other places...either they were too expensive or there was no room.

Decided to check places in the morning again in day light, if we do not find any other place by noon..promised to not crib anymore. With a sad heart came back...it was time to have dinner...in the menu, there were all north indian dishes instead of local specialities...who wants to eat dal makhani in kerela...felt i have become too fussy, my image of me adjusting anywhere shattered, i guess when it comes to vacation u do not want to adjust....the food was pathetic..the sambhar tasted like maggi noodles masala....could not eat anything apart from curd rice, decided that tomorrow we will definitely shift somewhere else, no one can rescue the trip from being a total disaster.

Next day, went to the tourist office, got to know about some cottages in cardamom's plantations, went there...was amazing to see the place surrounded by greenery, with no further thought...paid the advance and we rushed back to get our baggages. 

On coming back...felt now the vacation starts....felt great sitting in the balcony hearing the birds talk...there was one bird whose voice was sweeter than koel...the next day went along with the women who worked on the plantations to see how cardamom plants look like...though we could not talk...as had no common language...there was a bond. The guy who picked us from airport, accompanied me as he was worried i may get lost...felt nice realising his unspoken concern. One of the worker dropped us back else we would have got lost in the jungle. The next day went to the Tea museum which showed the history of munnar and the process of making tea. Before the tea plantations...this place was mainly inhibited by muthuvan tribe...the English bought the land and converted it to tea plantations to make the best use of the land...they left out some part of the forest to serve them for their recreation....hunting tahr, tiger etc...After independence, Indian govt. took over....apart from some schools, hospitals...the geography of the place remained exactly the same. 

A trip to Eravikulam natural park was very depressing...it did not firstly look like a national park...apart from the mountain goat, could not see any other species. I felt lot of the flora and fauna has been destroyed in this area....sadly things are just continuing.

Inspite of all this....loved munnar for the fresh air...the amazing greenery and the simple people of kerala. The driver as he dropped us back at airport...said for the 4-5 days he got a mother an elder brother and a sister...i knew he meant every word he said and did not say it for the heck of it...he also called us later to ensure we had reached safely.

Looking forward to another trip to Kerala, there is lot more to explore in 'God's own land'.

My Father's B'day

Today is my father's b'day.  Decided to take off today, as felt i should not let this day go just like an ordinary day.

When i was in school, we used to get our report cards today, this used to be the gift we use to give to father. He would always ask, mera asli gift kaha hai.

My father i would say was beyond his time, very liberal in his thoughts, who was ready to always support change.  He believed in doing and not talking. I have never ever heard him talk about anything he did, i always got to know about it from others in the family or friends.

I remember my dad as someone who was totally selfless, who always put others before him. For him everyone was equal. He did not believe in caste/creed etc, he used to make friends at the drop of a hat. Thats the reason, who ever knew him remembers him even now fondly.

I love you a lot Daddy,  hope some day i will be like you.

Susan Boyle
Heard Susan boyle sing in youtube, it was awesome. When she walked over and the Judge Simon asked her to introduce herself. On hearing she is 47 hears old and her dream was be on the Main Page. The judges and lot of people did not think she had anything amazing to offer and i think were wondering what is she doing at that age in a competition like this.
What i liked is the way she talked about herself, and she could take the comments and the body language of the judges and reply so coolly. She was at peace with herself, it did not matter to her what others thought.

When she started to sing, everyone was transformed and i guess, ashamed of their initial judgement.
I just felt that, everyone should just do there own thing. How the world/people around take it does not matter.

रिश्ते
रिश्तों की कोई सीमा नहीं
यह तो एक पतंग की तरह बस बड़ी चली जाती है
ईसे तो बस एक पवन जैसे साथी की जरूरत है, जिसके साथ मिजाज़ अच्छे से मिलते हो
फिर किसे फिकर, किस ओउर चल दिए
फिर तो बस, यह सफर ही मंजिल हो जाता है
पर जहा रिश्तो में कुछ पाने की आस हो या अपनी इच्छा थोपने की लालसा
जहा किसी और की भावना का तिरस्कार हो
वोह रिश्ते दूर तक नहीं जा पाता
मनो पतंग उडाने वाले ने अपनी ही नासमझी से पतंग कटवा दी हो
कहते है एक पाक रिश्ते में ईशवर बसता है
शायद दुनिया में एक सच्चे रिश्ते से जादा अनमोल कुछ नहीं
और एक ख़राब रिश्ते से बड़ी सज़ा कोई और नहीं