Don't forget to count your blessings

This title here , it seems so familiar. Maybe I read it on the blog I have taken to following off late. But it just seems so apt for what I am saying here that I decided to use it anyway. Just this morning as I made my way from home to work, a task that is absolutely uninspiring and a source of irritation everyday of my life, I was absolutely distraught with the amount of work I had left to do, how I was going to get it done, how I needed a new job, how my life was falling apart in terms of my career. Apart from this, I was obsessing over my health as I always do, worrying about how much I eat and spend on food, worried about my parents - ok you get the picture. So basically I was worried about everything under the sun and I started to feel a little suffocated.

Then suddenly, something hit me and I paused to take in the setting around me. The sun was up and about, nice and pleasant. There was a gentle breeze as the branches of the trees above my head swayed. I took a deep breath and I realised that I had lived another day in peace and the comfort of a proper home, with proper food and good clothes. I had slept for a good 8 hours, woken up to another amazing day on this planet. What more, I could speak to my parents whenever I wanted to and I have great friends who I can turn to at any time of the day. Suddenly the air was fresher and I saw that the possibilities/opportunities were plenty. It was just a matter of me pulling everything together and working towards what I want or what I think I want and need. And in that moment, all the worry left me and I felt relieved.

 I just wanted to share this experience because sometimes we are all so absorbed in what we think are the worst problems in the world that we forget to look around and appreciate the smaller and more important things. Maybe if we all took the time out to see the positives of everyday gone by, life would not be half as hard.

Inspire Me

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
― Mahatma Gandhi


 “Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.”
― Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum LP

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
― Mahatma Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth


“If you meet a woman of whatever complexion who sails her life with strength and grace and assurance, talk to her! And what you will find is that there has been a suffering, that at some time she has left herself for hanging dead.”
― Sena Jeter Naslund, Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer


“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
― Marcus Aurelius

“Listen to the people who love you. Believe that they are worth living for even when you don't believe it. Seek out the memories depression takes away and project them into the future. Be brave; be strong; take your pills. Exercise because it's good for you even if every step weighs a thousand pounds. Eat when food itself disgusts you. Reason with yourself when you have lost your reason.”
― Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

“Life is filled with unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek those answers that continues to give meaning to life. You can spend your life wallowing in despair, wondering why you were the one who was led towards the road strewn with pain, or you can be grateful that you are strong enough to survive it.”
― J.D. Stroube, Caged by Damnation


“You almost have to step outside yourself and look at you as if you were someone else you really care about and really want to protect. Would you let someone take advantage of that person? Would you let someone use that person you really care about? Or would you speak up for them? If it was someone else you care about, you'd say something. I know you would. Okay, now put yourself back in that body. That person is you. Stand up and tell 'em, "Enough!”

Travel Diaries - 1

Saturday arrived with all its fanfare and glory. The sun was up, the birds sang and everyone was walking around whistling,smiling and feeling good about the next two days. I was excited too, but for different reasons. We were to go on a trail in Changi that was called the Changi Coast Walk. Now, it didn't look like anything extravagant. It was just a 2km walk along a beach, but it had been a while since I stepped out into nature and really enjoyed it. So it was something I was really looking forward to. 4 o clock came and went by the time we left. The journey to Changi took us close to an hour and a half as we trudged along talking about everything under the sky. When the destination finally arrived, we got off and started to look for the point where we had to begin the trail. Once we knew where we had to head, we stocked ourselves with some water bottles and took off. I must say here that the entire path was man made, so there were no surprises. It wasn't strenous, so we weren't sweating and panting either. We walked along at our own pace taking as many pictures as we could at all the places. Some of the sights were beautiful, but one wouldn't say from breathtaking. The sunset was worth it though. As the sun went down, the rays on the water gave it a pinkish tinge that was absolutely stunning. We walked past a few dark places, a few stairs, a sailing club and a few families that were staying in the Aloha resorts. I have heard rumours about the resorts being haunted, but we just moved along. After 2 hours of walking a stretch that should have ideally taken us half an hour, we sat for a bit at the point which we thought was the eastern tip of Singapore. It was our tiny little break after which we walked back quickly to the where we began to get home. Like I said, it wasn't the awesome-est trip, but i felt giddily happy for having reached out to nature after so long. Also, I was with the most controversy free, fun people on the trip , so yes, it was totally worth my Saturday evening. 

THE MIRACLE THAT HE IS-

Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives - BBC on Sachin Tendulkar

I'm writing this post one day after India beat New Zealand in a 2 match test series at home. I was just reading the news and I am absolutely baffled and anguished by the number of people asking this man to hang up his boots and walk off from the game he has contributed SO much to, over the last two decades. I mean seriously, are you all out of your mind? Who are we to ask him to retire or walk away? Have you played the game ever? Even if you have, have you played like him? HAve you shouldered the hopes and expectations of over a billion cricket crazy fans? Have you been as consistent and fit as he has? If you haven't, you have no right to question his ability or decision to continue playing.

Before we go any further, I want to emphasize that I don't think Sachin is GOD, I don't think he is the greatest cricketer to have ever played the game (simply because I haven't watched every generation and I can't say that unless I have seen all of them, even then I may not be knowledgable enough to make that call). Hell, he's not even my favourite-est cricketer, that would be Rahul Dravid. Then why am I so pissed about all
this news? Because you cannot, absolutely CANNOT deny his contribution to this game just like you cannot question his brilliance and amazing talent. He has been a worthy role model for many a kid. There is a Rahul Mehra, from Times Of India asking this question. "what does he get out of playing now, he has almost all the records, he won the world cup, he has scored so many centuries, what has he got left to prove"!! You NITWIT, you've touched upon the answer yourself, he has nothing left to prove, or nothing left to achieve. Yet he plays the game because he believes he can contribute further to Indian cricket. With all the legends like Dravid, Laxman retiring one after the other, have you thought of the consequences if Sachin were to retire now? This was New Zealand, who don't have extraordinary bowling or batting. Next to come will be England followed by Australia and I don't think your 'youngsters' alone are going to be able to handle that. If you give me shit like he's playing for money, one SLAP on your face is all you will get. What money does he not have that he will possibly get out of putting his body through more torture. Give him a break. The man is almost 40, and cricket requires training hard, he is not going to put himself through that kind of physical stress for nothing. So instead of yelling for him to leave, sit back and enjoy while he still plays because when he does decide to retire (which is not too far away), you are going to miss him, Indian cricket will miss him and world cricket will say goodbye to one of their most precious gems.

As Mathew Hayden put it -

His life seems to be a stillness in a frantic world... [When he goes out to bat], it is beyond chaos - it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man.

The chaos WILL come to an end one day. It will be a sad day because you are never going to find someone to fill the void that he is going to leave. So until that dreaded day arrives, let him be. Your Sharmas, Tiwaris and Rahanes can wait. Of all the people that have been unceremoniously kicked out, at least this man deserves to go out on his own terms!

A little Koffee anyone - No? Really? Not even a little bit?

Just the other day, when I was sitting in my room absolutely bored, I turned to YouTube for some much needed entertainment. I spent half an hour going through a lot of crap before I chanced upon an episode of the show 'Koffee with Karan'. Now, I am not a huge movie buff, I don't really give a shit about most of the movies that are running in the multiplexes. But I like filmy gossip,again not to the extent that I sit over it for hours and ponder and worry about it, but just generally, I like to watch chat/talk shows with different famous people in them. Now don't get it in your head that this is the only reason I watch these shows, I am not that shallow either, but it is definitely one of the reasons when it involves film stars. I am not looking for any kind of 'gyan' from them, obviously.

So for those of you who are not familiar with the show itself, Karan Johar is a director in Bollywood who most of the actors would die to work apparently. Lets not get into that kind of logistics for the time being. He hosts this chat show where he gets all the biggies from the industry to come by and chat with him in a 45 minute episode where they discuss everything from the actor's journey to stardom, new movies,ex relationships and current flames on an apparently steaming couch ( Don't blame me, I borrowed the cliche from Mr Karan himself). Despite how cheesy and terribly annoying it sounds here, it is actually quite nice. As in, the show is well hosted and some of the movie stars are really funny. You wouldn't want to watch this if you are in the mood for something useful because this really is utter nonsense. But sometime utter nonsense is what you need for entertainment.If you can watch movies like Shivaji or Dabangg or Ready which is actually mindless shit, this should be OK too. You watch it for 45 minutes,smile and laugh wit them and then you let go. You don't ponder over what they said and what they are doing because the truth is that you don't care. Neither do I. Nor do we have that kind of time in this age. So for all those who keep bitching about talk shows like this, go get a life. If you only wanted to do something useful in life everyday and nothing else, you wouldn't be doing half the things that you are actually doing.

Life is not meant to do only useful and awesome stuff. Take a break once in a while, do some nonsense, it helps :)

TIRED and CRABBY

Working and studying simultaneously has to be the worst thing on the planet. Bleh. Sitting through a lecture now trying very hard to keep my eyes open. CANNOT understand a word of what my professor is saying. Panic is happening. Bleh

The best days of the week

I have been a happy kid these last two days :) So what has been driving me... Some good work at office and a lot of cleaning at home. I don't know what it is about cleaning, but it makes me so happy after I've done it. I like to think I'm like Monica from F.R.I.E.N.D.S who has the obssesive need to clean. The sad part though is that after I'm done cleaning, I find it that much harder to maintain. But its good in a way because then in a couple of weeks, my room's messy enough to warrant another cleaning session. Ok, I'm just babbling about something here that has no connection to the topic posted above, so lets get back to that. The best days of the week for me are always Fridays and Saturdays. Yes, that's all. In a week of 7 days, I only find 2 days of true happiness. Now if your curious, here are my thoughts for all days in the week -

Monday - Oh no! Its Monday again. Not only do I have to be at work for the entire day, I have to worry about not getting my Monday headache (If you've read my older posts, you know what this is)

Tuesday - OK, 4 more days for the week to come to a close. 4 days-4 days-4 days-4 days (chants in the head) . Its going to be ok. (Then the realization) Shit, I have to get up early tomorrow because I have to be at work by 8.30 :(

Wednesday - Ahhhh! Class.. Trust me, nothing is more painful than having to work all day from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm and then having to head down to school to attend a lecture taught by an innocent looking albeit cunning professor for 2 hours. ( But yay! he lets us go at 8.05pm instead of 8.30pm)

Thursday - Week's coming to a end. Muhahahahahahaha ( I wish I had class on Thursdays instead of Fridays so I could truly enjoy my Friday, but its OK I guess)

Friday - If your happy and you know it, clap your hands . *Clap-Clap* :D Even the class in the evening does nothing to dampen my spirits because I know I have two days up ahead to laze around and chill and do more cleaning. :P

Saturday - Yawn. Best day of the week. Knowing that you don't have to do anything for that day and the next is  pure awesomeness. Its that kind of a day where you can lie down doing nothing the entire day and still be smiling!

Sunday - Sunday I think is a holiday to make you do all the tough physical work that you diligently avoided over the week. Cook,do the dishes,the pile of laundry and not to forget, the gloom that hovers around you because Monday is fast approaching.

And that is how my week goes by. No prizes for guessing what day of the week it is today. :)

If your happy and you know it, clap your hands *clap-clap*
If your happy and you know it, snap your fingers *snap-snap*
if your happy and you know it, and you really want to show it
If your happy and you know it, tap your feet *tap-tap*

YES! Its Friday and I'm a happy kid who's anticipating the weekend. :D :D

Theory of Relativity?

How is it that weekends go by so fast even when you are not doing ANYTHING fun.. (like you know even when your absolutely bored to death)
As for the weekdays - well, every second seems like an hour.  And yet, when I have tons of work to do, time seems to be in a hurry on weekdays too. 

The thrill of competing

The spectacle that London 2012 was is finally over. Personally, I did not watch anything other than the terrfic gold medal badminton match between Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Lin Dan of China (both, being players who I had never heard of before, but then again I don't follow the sport, so yes, its alright). So what am I writing about here? No! Not about the 6 medals that my country won. As proud as I am of our athletes, I am also miffed by the fact that 6 medals was all a country with over a billion people could manage. So then what is this about?

The other day, purely because I was bored, I watched a video of Usain Bolt's 200m race in the Olympics. It was a 20 second affair, but an absolutely gripping contest. At 150m , Blake and Bolt were running head to head. The fastest man on the planet was being challenged at that point! It is of course another thing that he eventually pulled away and won comfortably with Jamaica taking silver and bronze as well . So excited I was while watching this that it brought back fond memories from my own life. Long long ago, when I walked those tracks, when I could hear my heart beating as fast as I don't know what.. at the start line while I tried to listen to the person yellin Ready...Set...GO, when we celebrated victory like it was the most important thing on the planet. I don't compete in this sphere anymore, but what fun it was in those days, training together, the team work and effort, cheering for team mates when we were not competing in that event. It is definitely one of the things about my life that I miss a lot - the thrill of competing.

THINGS THAT MATTER

To you, I owe my life
You taught me right and showed me wrong
You broke my heart a countless times
Yet I could not turn my back to you.
You failed miserably in a few important things,
But you also taught me to be strong, to take failure in my stride
You showed me early that this life would not be an easy journey,
But you taught me not to give up too.
You may have been harsh at times,
And I might have been mad at you more often than not
But I love you so just the same.

To the two people I owe my life to,
I miss you terribly, I wish I did not have to grow up,
I wish you did not have to grow old,
I wish you'd show me some more love,
And I wish you were here!