Thank you!

I never knew, I was never alone...
I never knew that I would be so happy ever again...
Your mere presence makes me happy,
I never knew someone could do that for me...
You made me feel me,
You made me realize my soul...
I feel I am again what I was...
And never to be worried for what I am
Never to be ashamed of what I am
But that I am a wonderful person.
You hardly speak much
Your peaceful serene and quiet smile says everything to me
Your presence in my life has changed me...
Changed to a human being who loves for what he is.
And I would continue to love myself.
Thank you for making these moments memorable.
Thank you.

Taare Zameen Par.. And tears in the eyes

A simply superb movie. Clean, true to its heart and very very close to reality. Thats 'Taare Zameen par' in short for you. Be prepared to re-experience your school days, those memories
which you normally would have forgotten by now.
The movie was an honest attempt by its team to bring people close to reality and thats just not it! It is just the beginning.

The story is about a 9 year old dreamy, creative and dyslexic boy, Ishaan, who enjoys being himself. The problem is, as per the societal norms, he is not performing well in his studies. Poor boy even remarks that "The letters are dancing, I can't read them!" and the teacher thinks it as ridiculous. That results in everyday scoldings & bad remarks from his teachers, constant comparison with his intelligent, all rounder elder brother, disappointed parents, humiliation and shameful remarks from his friends. The parents are unable to accept that their kid has some problem. Like every other parent, they can't see their child as called as "Mentally Challenged", which is not even the case in the story. One incident leads to another and in an attempt to bring discipline in him, they put him in a boarding school, where life is no different for the poor boy. The new change is: lack of his mom, family love and affection. Deeply impacted by the change, the boy stops painting(his solace and passion), stops even talking.
Enter the new temporary art teacher who immediately recognizes the shortcomings and the rest is how the teacher with Ishaan himself, bring a revolution in Ishaan's life.

The story looks too simple, but its presentation made my heart cry out many times. The story is not only about autism, but also about how insensitive we are turning to every child's emotions, their joys in this madness of competitive world. If permitted, I would have sobbed endlessly for all those moments. There are so many special moments in the movie like, how 3*9 is 3 for the kid because 3 is one planet, while 9 another and * represents a war between them and how 3 wins. Or how insensitive the teachers can become to any child's emotions. The movie also reflects deeply on how today's fathers need not play the same old definition of fatherhood. Being soft, gentle and loving makes a huge difference in a kid's life.

The best part of the movie is when the teacher is educating the entire class on autism through a story. Throughout the narration, Ishaan, along with the entire audience thinks its his story, while it turns out to be story of great people from history. That was really well crafted scene. Just explains subtly that all of us are special!
The role of Aamir khan is very special and today, we need teachers like his character, who are sensitive, strong, have interest towards children and their needs, who are interested in bringing out the specialty in each kid.

The music in the movie is apt and the Song, "Maa" just wringed out all the emotions from my heart. Acting is superb by the new child artist, Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan and Tisca Chopra.
Overall a superb movie and a must for all parents. Great job Aamir!
Indeed, every child is special.

Me and my break-less bi-cycle

Hey guys... I think the holidays are definitely having an effect on me. Otherwise, I am quite immune to these bouts of nostalgic attacks. Anyways, back in my childhood, I used to hire the only bi-cycle (whose breaks never worked) which was owned by the only cycle store in our locality. During those days, an hour costed me Re.1.50. There was a unique thrill in riding that bi-cycle those days which apparently gave me a great sense of independence too. Although the seat cushion was bit torn, the paint on the cycle was quite faded with the most unreliable chain, I still great pride in owning(Always hired actually) that cycle.

So, that day when I was returning back home on that break-less cycle, when the cycle decided to act funny. I was wearing my favourite pair of trousers(The one and only pair) I owned in those days and suddenly I realize that its struck with the chain. The cycle had gained enough speed and I am unable to pedal further. I am not even able to stop the cycle in the middle of that heavy traffic. Beads of sweat soon trickled down and I knew I was doomed. The very thought of injuries was horrifying! I was praying hard for some quick miracle, when I saw a big fat aunty waddling her way on the road! Without giving another thought, I directed the bicycle towards her and just allowed the gravity to take over.

With one big fall, I crashed over the big and soft bodied aunty who was shocked and scared at the same moment. I was afraid of being slapped but I think she pitied my small, petite body. Out of anger she shouted and asked, "What is happening?" I replied in a meek tone that my pant was struck and could fumble out a "Sorry". Without giving her much time, I quickly picked up my bi-cycle and rode away.

Today when I share this incident with my trainees, we laugh our hearts out and pity on that fat aunty. But back then, I was relieved that I wasn't injured at all! I actually thanked God for sending that Aunty at the right moment!

Bus rides in the college days!

Something that I wanted to say for a pretty long time. It just happened that today morning, my cousin and I were discussing on some ideas for his multimedia project when this idea struck me. Bingo. I immediately thought of posting my experiences. Have you ever travelled in the RTC bus where the conductor doesn't mind shoving you in the dense crowd? Or those mindless senior citizens who don't mind sounding stupid when they force you to go inside the already crowded joint.

Man, back in my college days, watching a 16A bus approaching the bus stand (Rathifile Stop), could challenge every ounce of courage in my body.The very sight of that bus in the evenings would cause an uproar. My inability to catch a running bus would cause me to curse myself everyday and look down upon myself. Now when I think about those moments, it sounds so stupid and unnecessary.

Coming back to 16A, I believed and implemented on the philosophy that "Strength is in the mind, not the muscles" and used to act street smart! Never mind if you can't board a running bus, but at least your bag can! I used to take the biggest risk of my life by throwing my bag on the vacant seat in the running bus and then struggle to find a way inside the bus. Imagine, my assets in that bag: Rs.350 worth book on Computer Hardware and Rs.150 worth C++ book , the precious Rs.300 EDP book and an entire year's hard worked notes, all lying unattended in that bus. On top of that, the risk factor increases multi fold if the driver turns out to be a psycho, who wouldn't mind starting the bus before all the heavy aunties are safely parked in the bus.

My heart always pounded hard during these moments when your bag is inside and you are outside. The next step in the mission was to get inside the bus as quickly as possible. I am sure even Indiana Jones would have been afraid taking up this task looking at those determined and bone-strong uncles, whose sole purpose in life is to stop anyone getting inside the bus while they struggle amongst themselves to get inside. And to add to anybody's fury is the presence of those big butt and beer belly uncles who are too heavy to drag their body to the first step of the bus, and too strong for a feeble and not-so-strong guy like me to push them aside to get in. Being short and lanky always was an asset as it made my path inside the bus a little easier compared to others.If there was a competitor in this fight, God save the others, we would never mind flexing muscles of people to be inside before the other. At this time, I always prayed that the heavy bulldozers, a.k.a. Aunties take their own sweet time to board and the men in the rear end at least get time to get inside the bus.

Once you are able to get to the 1st step of the staircase, the goal becomes closer, yet toucher to reach. Why? There are 10 other(honestly, God-Promise) men who want to get in before you do. This fight is worse than a rugby game, where you (at least) have an opportunity to run away from the game. But here, when the warrior uncles have surrounded you by all sides and you have no alternative but to fight. In case you want to act humble and wait till everybody gets in, then be ready to wait for at least 2 hours before your patience breaks down and you accept the fact of life that its the same case with every bus and you finally jump in the crowd to get in. Anyhow you enter the bus successfully complete phase one of this long, enduring mission.

After boarding the bus, the next challenge is to locate the bag. I could sense every emotion of fear, anticipation, trauma during this faith testing time, where you would struggle to find your way to your bag. If some selfish dude (Of course who is as smart as you) decides to act smart, you can find that dude sitting on your rightfully(???) owned seat and holding your bag. Often, I would suppress my rage and travel the entire one hour journey standing and cursing the guy with murderous looks.

And sometimes, in a meek courageous tone, challenge the authority of the seat. Somehow, in this hard, laborious and sweating battle, where every centimeter of my shirt has turned into a crease, I sit down and feel triumphed.

I wait for the breeze(hot most of the times) to cool the jittery nerves and wait for the bus to finally move. After few long awaited moments, when the driver turns the key around, the sound of the bus starting is the best stress relieving music. You can actually hear all the uncles, aunties, wailing kids, college girls and sweaty men heave a sigh of relief. The bus starts on its own sweet pace, and in the jungle of heavy traffic, when the bus finally meanders its way out, you start easing into the seats. You start drifting into the sweet and much deserved sleep, waiting for the dreams to take over the reality. The warriors and ememies are no longer traveling with you, their faces morphing from cruel, fist crunching competitors to just the gullible, innocent aam janta who has completed one more day and waiting hard to hit the sack.

P.S. Photographs courtesy: www.Flickr.com and its members.Owners: zhengkun_li, ConfessionalPoet, preachercasy, izumiflowers fnmgkl in the order of the photographs' appearance

Holidays Ahoy!

Ever wondered why do we celebrate holidays every year? Why is it that all religions have some celebration reason? Take Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or any other religion?
Of course, the word is HOPE. The hope that all of us deserve to be happy, deserve to be cheerful, feel good.
In this grit of life where you face challenges everyday, disappointments, problems and failures... It is a welcoming change to leave everything aside and just be joyful, happy and relaxed.
Its not necessary that you celebrate only the festivals designed by the religions... In fact in the 20th century, another religion emerged, which people failed to recognise as "RELIGION".It is the "WEEKENDS".
You work like a dog throughout the week and then you party like a manic. Celebrate every moment of the weekend. (Of course not all.. remember the hangover moments :D)
Well, coming back to the issue, lets keep that HOPE alive. Lets ensure that we don't forget that this life is also meant to be enjoyed. You have a heart, so enjoy.
In case you are unable to enjoy, just follow these instructions:

• Take a deep breath.
• Isolate yourself from this world, imagine you are at your favorite location.(It could be anywhere)
• Take a deep breath again and feel the air. Feel the joy, visualize all your loved ones smiling and filled with happiness in their eyes.
• Now open your eyes and you are already smiling.

No matter which religion(s) you follow, what is mandatory is that you have holidays, celebrate the festival and enjoy the day because "YOU DESERVE IT"
Enjoy the holidays.
P.S. The photo is by Ted.Sali on Flickr.com

One thing I don't like about me

On my path of self discovery, I realize that I have to overcome lot of my weaknesses. One of those is my inability to handle anger.
Exactly like the Instant coffee that you get to make. Immediately hot and instantly cold. For a second, I am brewing with anger and just dare to tease me at that moment and you'll see the ugliest side of me(I do have :D). And the irony is that it doesn't stay for long. I spit my anger on my loved one and immediately the next moment I regret it. And then my mind is filled with guilt and I am angry on myself for being such an idiot. I hate myself for saying things to that person and feel very bad for those sharp comments. Of course, I am myself surprised with my ability to be such a quick thinker and hitting exactly the bull's eye. Trust me, people have been brutally wounded. I then wonder why did I behave in that manner? Now, I think I have the guilt because we told in our childhood that expressing anger is bad and you should never be angry. I know the intention was to instill control over one's anger. But, today I think differently. I think one should express anger and should vent out their feelings completely. In my view, anger is like an atom bomb. Either suck it up or throw it out. Anyways it will explode. If you are not strong and you suck it up, then God save you. Be prepared for innumerable health problems. It will make you a boring person, and you might be holding grudges forever. If you throw it out, then, relationships are in trouble. Maybe you will lose a very good friend/relation. There is risk in both the ways.

What do you think? How do you handle anger?

Why the hell are you reading my blog?

Yes. Why the hell are you reading my blog? Of course the greatest piece of articles are not posted here. Hey... don't get me wrong. I am not angry/frustrated now and I am not venting out my anger through this blog. I got this thought today morning, "Why should people read my blog? I mean why should people be interested in my thoughts, opinions or emotions?" Honestly I currently think I am smaller than the atom is this universe, who God has provided with a strong body, God's master piece invention, the human brain, and blah blah blah. Everybody undergoes through problems, situations, experiences emotions. So, why should you be interested in my life?
Is it because you need that assurance you are not the only one who faces crossroads of decision making everyday? Or is it because you want to pity yourself thinking the entire universe is enjoying while you are not. Honestly, answer the following yourself. How many times did you care to read blogs when you were happy? If the answer is rarely, I think, you know the answer lies in my question. What do you say?