HOPE

.

 

In the vacuum of dark nights ,

I dream of scarlet evenings being caressed by sandy winds... 

In the opaqueness of absolute darkness,

I dream of the rising sun burning away the absolute darkness ...

In the singularity of  the infinite black cover,

I dream of a rainbow gifting colors to the black and white world  ...

In the prison of the longest  nights,

I dream of  flying above blue waters soaked in the rays of the rising sun ...

In the  confinement of my shadow,

I dream of  being free in the arms of my love...

In the madness of  distant fond memories,

 I dream of a future, a future of eternal peace ...

In the state of toxic high from being suffocated,

I dream of wings to break free..

दुनिया का दस्तूर,

जिन आँखों में सपनो कें अंगारों की चमक होती थी,
उनमें आज कोहरें का धुंधलापन क्यों हैं ?

जो बाजूं कईयों का सहारा हुआ करते थे,
वोह आज खुद सहारा क्यों तलाशते हैं ?

जिस आवाज़ के दाहाढ़ से चट्टानें भी काप उठती थीं,
आज उसी आवाज़ की पुकार पे कोई क्यों नहीं आता...

जो आसूं पहले आँखों के कैदी हुआ करते थे,
वोह आज कैद से भागें क्यों हैं?

जिन हाथों ने हमें चिल्लर का खज़ाना दिया था,
वही हाथ आज बेबस क्यों हैं ?

शायद यही हैं दुनिया का दस्तूर,
शायद इसी का नाम हैं जीवन चक्र
जो जैसे शुरू हुआ वोह वैसे ही मिट जाता हैं !

अगर इसे ही कहते हैं दुनिया का दस्तूर,
तों क्यूँ हम अपने आँखों में सपनो के अंगारों को बुझा देते हैं ?
तों क्यों हम अपने बाजूओं को कमज़ोर समझते हैं?

अगर इसे ही कहते हैं दुनिया का दस्तूर ,
तो क्यों हम अपने ही आवाज के गूंज से डरते हैं ?
तो क्यों हम अपने आसुओं को अपनी ही कमजोरी बन्ने देते हैं ?

अगर इसे ही कहते हैं दुनिया का दस्तूर ,
तो क्यूँ चिल्लर के खजाने को हम बेच देते हैं?

शायद यही हैं दुनिया का दस्तूर ,
की हमें खुद की कीमत हमारे मिटने के बाद ही पता चलती हैं
शहद यही हैं दुनिया का दस्तूर..

अर्नव चत्तेर्जी

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Duniyai ka dustoor


Jin aankhon mein sapno ke angaron ki chamak hoti thi,
unmein aaj kohre ka dhondhlapan kyu hain?

Jo Baazoon kaiyon ka sahara hua karte the,
woh aaj khud sahara kyu taalastein hain?

Jis awaaz ke daahaar se chattane bhi kaap uthti thi,
aaj usi awaaz ki pukar pe koi kyu nahi aata?

Jo aasun pehle aankhon ke kaidi hua karte the,
woh aaj kaid se bhagen kyu hain?

Jin hathon ne humein chillar ka khazana dia tha,
wahi hath aaj bebas kyu hain?

Shayad yehi hain duniya ka dastur,
shayad isi ka naam hain jeevan chakra,
jo jaise shuru hau woh waise hi mit jata hain..

Agar ise hi kehte hain duniya ka dastur,
taun kyun hum apne aankhon mein sapno ke aangaron ko bujha dete hain?
taun kyu hum apne baazoyon ko kamzor samjhte hain ?

Agar ise hi kehte hain duniya ka dastur,
taun kyu hum apne hi awaaj ke gunj se darte hain?
taun kyu hum apne aasuon ko apni hi kamzori banne dete hain?

Agar ise hi kehte hain duniya ka dastur,
taun kyun chillar ke khazane ko hum bech dete hain?


Shayad yehi hain duniya ka dastur ,
ki humein khud ki keemat humare mitne ke baad hi pata chaltee hain!
Shahad yehi hain duniya ka dastur!

Maine haar nahi maani

Nahi maine haar nahi maani ,
maana tujhe ek jhuka hua mastak dikh raha hai ,
lekin tujhe us jhuke hue mastak mein mera shaurya nahi dikh raha !


Nahi maine haar nahi maani,
maana tujhe mera behta hua lahu dikh raha hai ,
lekin tujhe us behte hue lahu mein mera tej nahi dikh raha !


Nahi maine haar nahi maani,
maana tera chehra harshit aur mera chinteet dikh raha hai ,
lekin tujhe iss chinteet chehre ke piche urjaa se bhari meri ruh nahi dikh rahee !


Nahi maine haar nahi maani,
maana tere hath mein talwar hai aur mein Nishastra hun,
lekin mere soch ke pankh ki shakti se agyat hai tu !


Nahi meine haar nahi maani,
maana tuh andhero ka shehanshah hai aur mein ek bhatakta hua raahi,
lekin apne sapno ke prakash se mein apna raasta khud bana sakta hu ,
is baat se anjaan hai tu !



Nahi maine haar nahi maani !

Khushiyon se guftagu

Na chand apne chandni se andheri raat ko saja raha tha, 

   na suraj sharma raha tha aasman se,  

bus sirf hum aur tum the, aur sath thi humari uljhi hui parchhaiyan. 

Na panchiya pyar ke nagme gaa rahee the, 

   na samudre kee lehre gungana rahi thee,

bus sirf hum aur tum the aur sath thi khamoshiya. 

na phul apni rang se jag ko rangeen kar rahe the,

 na titliya rangeen udaan bhar rahi thi, 

Bus sirf  hum aur tum the safed aur kale chadar ko odhe hue .  

Na paiso ka raub tha, 

     na suandarya ka ghamand,

Bus surf hum aur tum the aur humare beech the shikwe .

Kab tak rehte hum ese aamne saame , 

          sath hoke bhi meelo alag . 

Kab tak ek dusre ki aankhon mein hum dard ki parchai ke kajal ko niharte ....

kajal ko to behna hi tha,

  sholo ko to barasna hi tha,    

   sannata to dur hona hi tha, 

    hume alag to hona hi tha ... 

Chal diye hum ek dusre se alag kahi dur, 

   jahan hum dono ko shikwe na ho ,

   jahan hum dono ne sirf safed chadar odha hua ho ,

   jahan hum dono ki aankhon mein khushi ki chamak ho, 

   jahan hum dono ko hi chidiyon ke meethe nagame sunai de, 

   jahan hum dono ko doobte suraj ke lalima  mein khuda dikhe,

   jahan hum dono ko chand kee sheetal parchai mein thandak mile,.

   jahan phool rangeen ho aur titliyan rang baant rahi ho, 

jahan hum dono saath bhaleh hi na ho lekin humari rooh muskura rahi  ho,

jahan hum dono aamne saamne bhaleh hi na ho lekin humari manzil ek ho, 

jahan bhaleh hi hum ek dusre se na mile lekin khuda humari  khushiyon se guftagu karwa de ..

..........................................................................................................................................................

My Ma- My Goddess

When I was one I could barely walk and
          you held my hand with patience and carried me around
Today I am 26 and I promise to hold your hand and help you walk that extra step.

When  I was one I could barely talk  and
          yet you understood me perfectly and we spoke for hours
Today I am 26 and I promise to speak to you and understand you forever

When I was one I use to embarrass you in all public places yet
           I was your pride
Today I am 26 and I promise you that you are and shall always be my pride.

When I was one you always protected me and held me tightly
Today I am 26 and I promise you I would be there by you always


When I was one you always looked after me and could not let me go away from your sight

Today I am 26 and  am far from your sight  and I so wish I could be there with you ...

When I was one you used to knit my clothes

Today I am 26 and I buy my clothes but I miss your choice ....

When I was one you, your touch used to be the blanket of comfort 

Today I am 26 , and I would do anything to keep my head in your lap ... 

No one is as beautiful and graceful as you Ma,
No one is as caring and protecting as you Ma,
No one is as important as you Ma,
You are the best gift God ever gave me Ma.
I love you Ma.

The choice

A man is truly powerful ! 

If he has the power to create life 

    he also has the power to snatch it 

If he has the power to bring a smile 

   he also has the power to haunt 

if he has the power to make millions our of a cent 

   he also has the power to snatch millions and give a cent 

If he has the power to feed his family 

    he also has the power to starve his neighbour 

if he has the power to heal a wound 

    he also has the power to create another 

If he has the power to build a society 

   he also has the power to destroy another

 If he has the power to protect his country   

   he also has the power to sufficate his country 

 If he has the power to love a fellow human 

    he also has the power to imbibe hatred into an entire community 

its but upto a man to decide what he choses to do - to create or to destroy !

The Journey called MBA

25^th March 2010, A day when my academic student life came to a full stop,  although I would remain a student forever as I strongly believe in Steve jobs famous  statement, “ Stay Hungry stay foolish” and moreover the wise men have always said that Life is the greatest teacher J Yet my student life has come to an end in the sense there shall be no more of the students privileges like

No more bunking classes

No more partying whole night almost every day (especially semester 4)

No more sleeping the whole day, knowing that someone would have marked my attendance

No more carefree attitude

No more No accountability ... 

During the thirty four hours journey from Pune to Howrah , the past two years reflected in my mind like thoe flash back movies often seen in Bollywood. I was bound to notice the transition in me during the last two years . The tenure  of MBA has definitely transformed me into a much better person  professionally and personally.This blog is about those leanings . No don’t worry this is not about the academic learning one has but it’s about the other learning’s which are not to be found in books aka tacit knowledge :D

The best  part of these two years was the interaction with a varied mix of people , we had students  who were right out of college and also students who had up to four years of rich corporate experience.Students were from varied backgrounds ranging from psychology to engineering- medicine to fine arts. This fine blend of a varied background helped us understand  varied perspectives, it made us realized that each one us has a unique talent . We need to focus on each other’s talent and learn from them and absorb their rich experience and at the same time share the unique talent which we have.

I being a fresher was new to a lot of things one among them was working “efficiently “ in a team. During Engineering there were very few group assignments  hence I was not used to working in a group. Whereas during MBA most of the assignments  were to be done in a group, whose team members were selected by the professor. Such teams seldom had homogeneous members and as such one had to deal with issues like the ignorance of a fresher , the attitude of a experienced  among other things J It was truly very painful initially to work in sync with other team members. It is only at the end of these two years I realized that working in a team actually is more efficient resulting in achieving goals in a shorter period of time with high efficiency. A team can do a lot of things which one single professional cannot do ever, this is something which I took a lot of time to imbibe. Moreover  I am told that in organizations all projects are done in a team which always have people whose mind is completely out of sync with us.Thus this habit of working in new varied teams has prepared me be a efficient team member in future. Moreover I have had the best of memories  while working in such colorful groups and it is during such group activities I have found friends which made my stay @ SIMS full of fun .

In MBA we learned to prepare presentation at very short notice, in life we do not always get a lot of time to win an opportunity  and MBA has taught me to do any kind of assignment at short notice and at minimal given time. This was realized specially in the fourth semester when although we were given sufficient time to prepare but we always prepared  important presentations only a night before J - which led to this eureka moment. Initially I found it extremely difficult to make a presentation if I was not given all the relevant data but today I am confident that I can deliver an hour presentation based only on a few words of data, rest I have learned can be safely assumed :) 

Professional life is to be kept separate from personal life this was told to me during my  engineering days , but its actual importance has been learned only in the last two years. This lesson was learnt when I had to complete assignments in a team whose members I did not like personally yet I had to professionally acknowledge him/her and work in sync with that person.  This taught me that one needs to learn to work with team members whom we may  loath personally yet who is our professional  partner. This is one of the major learnings and now I am confident to work  with any kind of team members without having a grin on my face .

The last two years also has changed my thinking perspective. During my graduation days I used to look at any business/professional situation from an employee’s perspective but today given any such situation I think from the management’s perspective , I think about the benefit of the organization and how  the shareholders wealth can be maximized. The basic functionalities  of an organization as taught in  MBA, namely  Finance, Marketing and Human Resource are as important and applicable to our own life as they are to an organization 

Let me elucidate –

Finance –The basic concepts of Finance like cash management and asset liability match if applied to our own personal  finance would enable us to manage our own finances more efficiently. Concepts of Balance sheet, P & L account  and Cash flow analysis can be applied to our own life and would enable us to manage our finance in the most optimal way.

Marketing -  This is something which attracts and retains customers which are the blood line of any firm. Similarly if such marketing concepts are utilized by us it would enable us to attract and retain the figurative customers  of our life . For e.g. when we appear for an interview we need to know how to sell our personality and retain the job .  Similarly our reputation is similar to the brand of a product.  We need to know how to manage our reputation similar to managing the brand equity of a product or a firm.

Human Resource – This is to acquire and retain the right talent in an organization and ensure that its employees are satisfied.  Similarly we need  to identify the right people as good friends and we need to retain them forever. A poorly performed HR could result in having the wrong people in an organization leading to increased dissatisfaction among employees and would be detrimental to an organization  the same can be applied to personal life also .

Most importantly MBA has equipped me  to face the unexpected with a smile on my face. 

The last two years were the most fruitful time of my life till now and at the same time has given be memories which would bring a smile on my face always.....

DEATH - Inevitable

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Some things in life are beyond our control, things which are planned by someone  powerful than us. Of all such things "Death" is something which is unpredictable and inevitable. It would come to all of us in ways we are not even aware of. Death is scary, am sure to all of us; it would wipe the very existence of us one day. I don’t know and do not want to know also, what life is after death because it is the life which we are living now that’s of concern to me.

I don’t know how one feels to be dead, but the people around the deceased definitely are disturbed , they are the people who suffer, the ones who would have to move on, who would have to live life as if nothing has happened because life does not  stop for anyone.  We need to understand and accept this that life is not a birthright but a blessing. It is not something we can take for granted because it can expire anytime. This acceptance is something we all need to imbibe and the moment we do that we would realize that life is a gift and is too short to be wasted.We spend a lot of time "hating” others, but is it really worth it?? If we were to die would it all matter? 

We have this habit of complaining about almost everyone in our life. We are not happy with our parents, we are not happy with our friends actually we are not happy with ourselves. This leads to constant suffering beneath a smiling face. We start hating people who are perhaps much more than, what we see in them. 

I have seen people who complain that their childhood was not how it should have been. They keep complaining about their parents. Their myopic view prevents them from understand the pain and suffering their parents must have had. The care and love which their parents have for them. Their sacrifices made . These are the children who suffer the most when their parents die. Because it is only when we  lose someone , we realize their importance in our life. Nothing can be done then , the person is dead and one can never again show the love and respect the deceased earnestly deserved. 

People keep complaining about how their friends/Lovers do not understand them and waste a lot of time fighting with them over things that do not matter. What if that one friend/ lover dies, would we be able to thank them for the thing they did for us. Would we be able to ask forgiveness for the pains we gave them? Since we would  not be able to that ,we would spend the rest of our life suffering with guilt.

Life is unpredictable,  we are not in a position to know what would happen next.  People die  suddenly and  with them goes the opportunity to make them feel special or happy , with them goes the option to make them smile. What is left is but remorse and guilt. 

The only choice we have is to enjoy the little we have . Make the most of what we have. We meet a number of people every day in school, college, office everywhere. We need to decide if we want them to associate the word "hate/ Greed/Rude" with us or associate "love" with us. Life is too precious to be spend hating people, we need to find a reason to love/ like people around us. 

We all being humans have a range of emotions from loathing someone to being madly in love with someone. We have it all, we have the power to be kind and cruel. We have the power to make a fellow human being shed tears of Pain or  shed tears of joy. Emotions make us  humans right.

Death despite being scary is one of the greatest teachers God had gifted us with .It teaches us the greatest lesson of life, "Life is but a synonym of change.. We need to imbibe this and learn to live the moment because this moment may not be forever" .

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Friends close your eyes for some time and think, if you were to die tomorrow would you be treating people around you the way you are doing now.... 

Parasites

They say we are Humane
but do we deserve to be labelled so?

It is the tree
which gives shelter to the very man that cuts it,
which is humane.
We are nothing but parasites leaving the father who supported us, to die in an old age home.

It is the Swan
which stays loyal to its partner for an entire life time,
which is humane.
We are nothing but parasites loyalty for us is just a label.

It is the Flower,
Which leaves fragrance on the very hands that crushes it,
Which is humane,
We are nothing but parasites vengeance is but our birth right.

It is the Dog,
Which remains faithful to the person who loves him,
which is humane.
We are nothing but parasites embarrassed of the old mother, who loves us despite all the pain we give her.

It is the Whale,
which always supports a sick member of their pod,
which is humane.
We are nothing but parasites completely ignorant of the fellow humans who suffer everyday.

It is the Monkey,
which picks through the fur of other monkeys,
which is humane.
We are nothing but parasites we help only if we see a future gain.

They still say that we are humans,
but I refuse to accept it for I now know, we are but Parasites,
feeding on everything around us,
Killing the very thing that supports us.

Two sides of a Coin

Krishna came to the terrace as he felt suffocated in the hostel room. As he entered the darkness of the terrace his mind was filled with thoughts of Rupa the girl he loved since school days, and so did she till recently when she broke up because she fell in love with Harsha. This incident had shattered him completely. He and Rupa had planned their admissions to this college, so that they could study together. They had sacrificed their parent’s dreams of them becoming Doctor’s, so that they could be together but now all seem meaningless to him, all the 4 years they had spent together seemed a waste of time. He had come to terrace to get a gush of fresh air, but then he saw Arjun and felt suffocated again. He knew that Shilpa and Rakesh were going around for a year, those were the times when Rakesh and Arjun were the best of friends.Now when Shilpa and Arjun realized that they are madly in love, Rakesh cried fouled on Arjun accusing him of nasty things, revealing the secrets Arjun had shared when they were best buddies to everyone in the college. Krishna felt Arjun deserved this, today no one spoke to him and this gave Krishna a sense of sadistic pleasure as the same was happening to Harsha After all how could they be at peace after falling in love with someone else’s girlfriend.

He knew Arjun way before the situations became dark. He had always respected Arjun’s ideology. Arjun was one of the top performers of the batch, a keen learner and had been a great friend to Krishna in the past two years. Now there was this fight going inside him, friend vs angry lover- The friend wanted to know what happened and the angry lover was deriving sadistic pleasure from Arjun’s sufferings.
Minutes later he was there in the dark corner of the terrace, sitting beside Arjun, with eyes reflecting both anger and compassion. Arjun was more lost, he was not sure how to react, he could see the anger in Krishna's eyes, he knew the pain Krishna was going through was the same Rakesh was going through too. Krishna saw a bottle of vodka in front of Arjun, he couldn’t but help himself, after all some discussions are possible only after a few doses of intoxication. “Arjun, why are you doing this, Why did you have to come in between Shilpa and Rakesh? Do you even know how it feels when A guy sees his ex girlfriend walking hand in hand with another guy? Life becomes hell?” Krishna spoke with disguist in his voice.

Arjun knew that Krishna actually wanted answers to the puzzle of his life. He knew that Krishna actually wanted to know why did Harsha do this to him. Arjun knew Krishna and genuinely wanted to explain his position, specially since no one else cared to ask him, no one else cared to understand what was happening in his mind. Krishna was the first person who asked him these questions.
Arjun kept staring at the empty sky perhaps avoiding direct contact with Krishna as there are certain things in life which cannot be justified, ”Krishna, there are certain questions in life to which we do not have answers. I don’t think I cannot give you any logical explanation as to why things happened in such a bizarre way. I just fell in love with Shilpa, and so did she with me . If she was happy and satisfied in the relation with Rakesh , I would have never articulated my love for her. I saw her suffocating, I saw her in pain. I could see all these.” He looked at Krishna, and saw him listening to all this with utmost attention.
Krishna was wandering whether Rupa left him for the same reason. He always thought that he gave her all the space, he did all that she wanted him to, than why? What did Harsha have that he lacked.

Arjun knew that Krishna was trying to fill the gaps of his life’s puzzle with his answers,“She found in me what she searched in Rakesh but could not find. It took a lot of thought to take a step like this, but Krishna isn’t it better to tolerate pain for some time and happiness for a lifetime, rather than avoiding this pain and living a life of pain ?” Arjun now was getting answers to his own questions. He wandered how the human mind functions, his mind was blank when he was all alone, but now when he is answering to Krishna his mind has all the arguments in place.
Krishna spoke, “but Arjun , isn’t is unfair to Rakesh? C’mon he is heartbroken. What about him? he may not find love forever? He may not trust anyone else again.” His voice was heavy reflecting his intense emotions. Arjun realized that these are the very questions Rakesh must be having . These are the very emotions Rakesh must be filled with. Though he still failed to understand that if Rakesh loved Shilpa so much How could he defame her now? How could he make public the secrets shared between them as couple and also his secrets which he had told him when they were the best of friends.

“Krishna yes perhaps it is unfair, but even if I had not been in the picture, their relations would have been called off, they simply did not share the necessary chemistry. Even if they managed to get married they would not have been happy as they were so opposite in their thinking, their priorities in life were all mismatched. Isn’t it better that they part ways now for a better future.” Arjun wanted to continue, but Krishna cut him , “ Yaar it could have been just a bad phase, may be they would have tided over it”.

Arjun was at peace in a way as atleast he could have conversation with someone who reflected the same thoughts as that of Rakesh and at the same time Krishna was trying to understand the entire situation through someone who was in a place similar to that of Harsha. He had nothing but hatred for Harsha and although he could not hate Rupa, he could not wish her well either, after all he was a mortal.
“Krishna, I do not know if I can answer all your questions but I am glad we are having this conversation as I can now understand the pain and agony of Rakesh, I wish someone would talk to him the same way I am talking to you .” Krishna was not in a mood to appreciate these words, he wanted answers to the injustice that happened to him.

Arjun continued,”You know people change over time, all of us do. We evolve with the situations we are put into. Only those relations which change their chemistry in accordance to the change in the couple, survives, rest either perish or suffocate themselves. Over the past 2 years both Shilpa and Rakesh changed, but their change was not synchronous, their change was not acceptable to each other. They did try to work it out but things didn’t work as per their wish. They were both not really happy with the relation, and when I realized that I and Shilpa shared a relation which was beautiful which brought happiness to both of us ? We could not but carry forward this feeling. Krishna, feelings are not switches which can be switched on and off, neither are they easy to tame.”

Krishna was getting uneasy, he wandered what changed in him and Rupa that led to her falling in love with Harsha. He wandered where did he go wrong? It had been more than 2 months since Rupa had told him about Harsha, but he still could not find the answer to what kindled this, what forced her to leave him after 4 years? What is that one thing that he lacks and harsh has? He spent sleepless nights comparing himself and Harsha. He now thought perhaps Arjun was right, perhaps Rupa is happier with Harsha than she was with him. But in the entire episode he is the loser, atleast they both are happy but what about him? He looked at Arjun, and realized what Arjun had said that they actually were getting their answers from each other. He saw shades of Harsha in Arjun and he knew that Arjun was understanding the agony of Rakesh through him. He said ,” But what about Rakesh, great to know that you and Shilpa are happy with each other , but what about him ? he loses everything? Just because you bumped into their peaceful life.” There was sarcasm in his voice, he wished he could rephrase the question.

Arjun did not expect sarcasm from Krishna, in days which were normal he would have replied with an equal sarcasm or atleast would have showed a little bit of anger, but the days were not like before,today Krishna was the only guy who came and spoke to him since his love for Shilpa was made public by Rakesh. More than this it was through him that Arjun was trying to understand Rakesh. He said in a composed yet firm tone, “If they had to live their life together just because of their commitment despite knowing that they are not happy with each other. They would have to live forever by compromising. The little comfort left in their relation would have been completely erased and only the feeling of hatred would be there, they would have become completely void of happiness. Would that have been better? Now at least there is a hope that I and Shilpa would be be Happy? And Rakesh has an opportunity to start afresh, yes it is unfair to him, but Krishna certain things are not in our control, Like I said feelings are not Switches. If not now,he would have known one fine day that she fell in love with me. Then could he live a happy life? Life would have been more unfair to him then, it’s better that he came to know now atleast he has time to recover and start again.” Arjun was not sure if what he said made sense to Krishna, but he had thought over this umpteen number of times. He tried to look at this from all the possible perspectives before he told about this to Rakesh. Everytime he reached the same conclusion that now atleast there is a hope for happiness.

The night was coming to an end, a new dawn was about to be born. The environment was similar to Krishna’s mind. When he came here at midnight he had nothing but hatred in his mind for Harsha and was having double thoughts about his friendship with Arjun just like many others. Now however after listening to Arjun his perception was changing, he was trying to accept the fact that no one is at fault. Human mind behaves absurdly at times. We love and hate many people without any logical reason I guess that’s why they are called emotions. He had realized maybe he is no less than Harsha but there was something between Rupa and Harsha, which simply did not exist between Rupa and him. He was beginning to drive out the hatred in his mind and the bitterness in his soul. He realized that its better that he is facing the situation now, what if he had got married to Rupa and they had kids and then he was told about Rupa’s love for Harsh. Things would have been catastrophic then. He was glad he talked to Arjun instead of behaving like other friends who deserted him right when he needed them the most. He thought love was after all a beautiful feeling not a sense of achievement, so what if he could not achieve Rupa, this did not change his love for her. Atleast she would be happy and he knew he would be too.

The bottle of Vodka was empty now, and so was Arjun’s mind. When he came to terrace he was doubting all his decisions, now after talking to Krishna he knew he took the right decision. He understood the reason behind Rakesh’s vengeance. He knew now that Rakesh must have been in terrible agony hence he took the ghastly steps of publicizing their secrets. He wished that someone would answer Rakesh’s questions too just like he answered Krishna’s, perhaps things would have been better.

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We should never draw inference of a situation based on what people say, we should remember that every coin has two sides.
Love is not the feeling of accomplishment it is not about achieving. It can never be forced on or off a person,It’s not about reciprocation Instead It’s a beautiful feeling which comes in the right time, right place for the right person. It’s a feeling that makes us smile and wish happiness for the person we love even if that results in tears in our own eyes.

Push or Pull

I was right there in the classroom yet lost in my own world, then suddenly a discussion took place which intruded ruthlessly into the dreams I was having.
The professor was talking about what motivates a person to perform better the "PULL" from within to excel OR the "PUSH" from the external world to perform one's best.

If you give it a thought, the obvious thing is that both are important, after all our personalities are a reflection of both the environment in which we are brought up and our own self (soul/mind/ brain etc.). However I feel its the pull which is far more important than the push, not that the push doesn't make a difference, it definitely does , but a sincere pull is far more effective. Its like doing something which we really want to do against something we are forced to do . All of us in our childhood had subjects which we did not like and those which we loved, and our scores were mostly better in those subjects which we really wanted to excel in. Of course some of us would say, "what about the external factor called dad who used to be after us with a cane forcing us to perform better "? Well even in that case we would not have performed better until we ourselves really wanted to do so. isn't t?


Consider students in a college ( say a B school :) ), we here are constantly under pressure to complete assignments and make presentations and I know for sure that even if Professors put tremendous pressure on us to make the best presentation, yet we pour in our efforts only for those presentations which excite us , where we want to excel and the rest are mere formalities which we have to fulfill in order to get the degree.


I did my engineering from a descent engineering college ( one that was not perhaps as famous as IIT or NIT, but was descent enough to get all the 1000 students a job at the end of 4 years ) and now I am Pursuing MBA from a reputed college in Pune.I see a big difference in the attitude of the students , the one's in the small not so reputed college are aware of the fact that they have to put in that extra effort to achieve their dreams and this comes from within ,and their performance increases multi fold, whereas those here in a reputed college tend to take the "brand name" of the college for granted . As a consequence they do not give in their best and perform much lesser than what that could have done despite the external pressure form faculties to perform better.

Let me tell you about a dear friend.

He hails from a small town in Bihar, educated in a school where the vernacular language was the mode of communication yet today he is working in a MNC in Bangalore, a job for which million others in metro cities are still dreaming of.
His oratory skills could challenge any convent educated student.

That said the question is how did he do this ? The answer is simple - sheer will power. It is his PULL that brought him accolades. There was no push involved, no external factor compelling him to do better, but the desire to excel and the passion to succeed which elevated him to a position that many of us envy.

We spend a lot of time pondering over what is that is lacking in our life which prevent us from being successful. Well its alright to think and find the gaps in our life and fill them, but we should not be obsessed with these gaps and keep pondering over them. Instead we should focus on the ample opportunities in front of us and that would make a lot of difference . Not only would it make our life more positive it would also prevent us form wasting time in pondering about what we lack in our life :). The pull from within would come only if we look at the opportunity in front of us that promises us success and not by pondering over the external push factors which we lack.

Inner Voice

I have a choice between good and bad,
I have a choice between white and black,
I ask myself what if I chose black,
I hear a voice saying go ahead but you would not accomplish what you are born for,
I get dismayed and wonder if I really want black,
then I look at white, I see the purity but I also see the sacrifice.

I look at god for an answer,
I look at him for enlightenment,
but I see nothing but darkness,
I am cold I need someone to hold me, but I have none,
I feel trapped, I feel suffocated but I cant find that gush of air,
but then I do hear a voice echoing, it's your choice it says it has to be your decision.


I am left with a choice of white and black,
I wander why can't it be grey? but that is not one of the options,
Deep down the voice opting for white gets stronger,
I wonder who is asking me to sacrifice the color black,
but soon I trust this voice, I get closer to this voice,
I make my decision to go for white over black,
to go for purity over darkness.

The hazy picture is suddenly clear ,
I see the difference between black and white ,
I see the angel and the demon ,
I see the divine intervention behind the voices
and all this only because I chose white the color of purity
I see nothing but a mirror ,reflecting my face,
it had been me, who wanted to opt for white ,
me but wiser , me but purer ,
me but named "conscience"

I stand a Witness

I stand a Witness to the changing life,
I stand a witness to the changing minds ,
I stand a witness to the changing relations,
here am I a witness, powerful yet helpless
entangled by the social dogmas ,
here am I a witness to the world of pain
here am I a witness to the selfish world ,
I had my beliefs I had my principles,
a witness to love I was , a witness to happiness I was ,
but life has changed and so have beliefs
and here am I now a witness to change
time's changing and would never stop
and I remain a statue , a statue of change..

Little imperfections

This video is the inspiration of this post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I3ZmNKYma0

I once read a quote which was something like " Friendships is not about two similar people coming together but its about two different people accepting each others differences" .. So true, when we look around us we would notice that the people we call us our own , out actually different from us, in ways more than one, and these differences make our relationships beautiful, isn't it?

One look at my parents, actually any couple of their generation, and we would see that they are generally completely different , yet they stick together like two sides of a coin, inseparable yet facing opposite sides . That's the beauty of their relationships, and if we think a bit on this than acceptance is actually the key to a successful relationship, be it love or friendship.
I have friends whose habits are not in sync with mine, in fact some habits makes me lose my temper, yet those are the very habits that define them , and the acceptance of which makes us great friends, well they have certainly accepted my intolerable habits :D

Of course some common platform has to be there, like perhaps the same approach to life , but I am talking about a level beyond the "common platform", no two people are the same , and we need to accept this. I have seen couples trying to change their partner so as to have a perfect relationship, but the fact is the perfection of any relationship are the "little imperfections" they have .
When i look at couples around me , i See blessed are those who accept each other no matter what, I know a couple who fight every fortnight due the major differences they have in their approach to life, yet when the next morning they get up and comfort each other, the joy in their face is worth a million fights.
Even when I look around at my best friends , I really like their little imperfections and I would like them to have it no matter what.

I mean imagine a world which would be perfect, it would be so boring. If all my friends were perfect, there would be no fight no pulling legs, and no FUN . Imagine going to college one day and finding everything perfect , it would be so dull.

The uncertainty in our life makes us look at it with challenge everyday, and the same thing with relationships , the small differences brings us the chance to fight and then comfort each other..

Happy Friendships day guys !! :) Cheers and enjoy the little imperfections of life....

Life @ Mumbai- i am lovint it !

I had to take a long break from the blogger space as I had to shift to Mumbai for my Summer Internship. So now that I am settled here, am back :-) to blogging.

I am here at Mumbai for about 2 weeks now and it feels great. This article is about Mumbai the city where you would find EVERYthing in every sense of the term. ;-)
I stay at a place call Thane and my office is at Fort – for those who do not know Mumbai, these are like the opposite poles of the city. So I travel for 2 hours one way daily. This is about those two hours. I have t o leave at 7.45 am, from my house, and till I reach the station at 8.10 am, everything is normal just like any other city- people trying to be on time to office, kids carrying a Heavy bag, waiting to board the school bus. The moment I step inside Thane station, I realize what is the "real Mumbai" – A completely different world that is!
Let me describe this part as vividly as I can. As I get down the bus and start walking towards the station I see a mob ( at least that’s what it looks like :D ) , walking along with me , it’s the most common thing they show in movie about Mumbai , but experiencing it, is different , all of us walking , no actually running to catch the local train , and not 10 or 20 but hundred of us ,walk in the same direction with the same pace , the first day I felt I was a zombie as I was doing mechanically the exact thing which hundreds around me were doing running towards station. You cannot think to stop in the road, because there are dozens of people behind you and if you do dare to stop, you would not only get nasty looks but a few nasty words too, your crime – pausing in the middle of the pavement. Which made them also reduce their speed thus waste a fraction of their precious time. So here I was running towards platform number 1, to board Thane local. I always take trains starting from thane, because the other trains are so crowded that in order to board the train I would have to fight like a Spartan, and I am not kidding, though by boarding those trains , I could save around 30 minutes , but I think I prefer comfort over time . That does not mean thane local goes empty, but thane being the starting station I thankfully get a seat to occupy. Much before the train actually comes to platform number 1. A large crowd waits in the platform, and the moment the train enters the station, these people pounce on it. The scene is very similar to a jungle (pardon me mumbaikars ) where a hungry tiger pounds over a helpless rabbit , the scene at any station in Mumbai , in office hours looks exactly similar , the difference - instead of one tiger , here there are hundreds of human and instead of one rabbit you have one train . All this fight is for a seat near the window.
I wait patiently till these people win their war and occupy a window seat; Then I get in and am more than happy to find just any seat. The next one hour I had initially planned to listen to music, but things don't always turn out as we expect them to be.
There are around at least 10-12 stations between Thane and CST, and right from the next station I witness extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. Sitting on a corner seat I was trying to enjoy the moment by listening to my favorite song. But the moment the train halted rather, I should say the moment the train enters the next station, a huge mob fanatically enters the compartment (this is the scene with all compartments at almost all stations). We all have seen those mosquito advertisements, where a host of mosquitoes enter a house and spread in all the corners of the house – it’s the exact scene here, these people believe in optimization of space, they do not leave any place where a person can place his feet. between two parallel seats there are at least 4 people standing, oh and in each seat there are 4 people sticking to each other (seat was designed for 3 people of average built to sit)!!! I was left questioning myself as to how do these people travel like this , daily throughout the year , I was glad that I could board the train at the source (thane) and at least had a place to sit .
The next 1 hour, I witness extraordinary things. though these things are very normal for any mumbaikar, but to me it was nothing less than watching Ripley's believe it or not. Imagine the following scenes

•The compartment is packed with people to such an extent that even though I was sitting I was not able to move my legs even by a mm, and in this crowd I could see atleast 10 men who were standing amidst the crowd, reading newspaper. It is amazing to see how perfectly they not only balanced themselves, but also the way they turned pages of the paper. The paper was also specially folded in a manner befitting the situation. The crowd around them did not matter to them; all that mattered to them was the news article they were reading. I really salute these people who manage to make best of a crowded train journey.


•The second kind of extra ordinary people are the "tall" people, since the average man comes only to the shoulders of such people, it's amazing to watch such tall people travel. It's like watching a giraffe walk with pride among goats :). All of them not only enjoy the cool breeze of the fan right above their heard but they are happy as atleast they do not have their noses touching bodies of other people , who by the way do not smell pleasant . One particular incident was really hilarious , I once got in a wrong train , and hence did not get a place to sit, I was standing hugging my bag (in such crowded compartments it is very easy to snatch a bag and run ) , and right in front of me there was a TALL man , enjoying the free space he gets as all of us reached only up to his shoulders , He was crunching away a packet of biscuits happily , it was petty annoying then . I mean imagine you are packed in a compartment , and are forced to smell "weird" smells, you cant even move a hand to scratch your back , you are completely wet , not only by your own perspiration but also by others equal contribution and there is this man right in front of you eating away to glory !! Though it was irritating then , now when I think of it , its really funny .LOL

•The third kind of people are the young love birds who travel in the compartment , first of all its not that I am against PDA ( public display of affection) , but c'mon in a crowded compartment PDA looks not only stupid but disgusting . It really amazes me to see atleast two couple's every evening on my way back to thane making complete use of the crowded compartment, and making "no space" as an excuse to stand hugging each other and making full use of their hands of course over each others body. The rest is like watching a movie- a stupid romantic one.



This is what I witness twice daily , although now I have learnt to ignore these and simply enjoy music being played on my phone . Occasionally a good book is an equally good distraction .
Once I get down at CST, it’s the same mob scene again , all walking like zombies towards one direction .Then the day at office and the cycle continues .

However mumbaikars teach a lot of lessons , in these two weeks I have learn the following:

•Mind your own business – people do what they want to do, and no one complains . This is the best thing of the city .

•Respect Time – People reading even in crowded compartments shows the immense value for time which they have , and the passionate desire to utilize this time is what I really respect in them

•The spirit to fight – in a positive sense .it truly is admirable to see everyone fighting daily , and not only are the youth who fight but the women, elderly all fight daily and with the equal spirit as that of a youth . This spirit is amazing .I had listened in TV shows that "Mumbai doesn't Stop". It’s the first time I witnessed the actual depth of this meaning .


This truly is going to be an interesting stay . I am here at Mumbai till June, and will write down more interesting experiences  till then wish me luck for internship.

God - Father or Friend

God - Bhagwan - Allah - Jesus , we know him by so many names. I am a strong believer of god and completely believe that he exists , but there are certain questions that keep puzzling me, god truly is mysterious. I have till now found two kinds of believer's of God, one who seeks a friend in the almighty and the other who finds the solace of a parent in him. I somehow don't agree with both completely.
I feel though God is as caring as a mother, as supportive as father, as loving as a friend, yet there are certain questions in my mind that forbid me to accept this completely. God does take care of us like we are his children , but doesn't it make us far from him, We don't tell everything to our parents do we, now those of you who disagree please think again , I am sure your parents do not know EVERYTHING about you, but God knows everything right. Our Parents do punish us for our wrong doings ,but they never do anything that leaves us disturbed for the entire lifetime.
I often question , innocent men being killed, women being raped and children being abused and the only justification I get is that people have to pay for their deeds ,if not in this birth then in the next but one has to pay. This seems logical and fair enough but it doesn't make god a Parent does it? If God was a parent then perhaps he would teach the villains of the society a lesson , but he would not have allowed his daughter get raped , his kids being abused.
This is also the reason why I do not think God is a friend , because friends are not judgmental , they accept us the way we are. the best of friends are those who not only accept each others positives but also their negatives. How can a friend allow his friend to be in pain , I personally will never be able to see my best friends in pain , if they are wrong I would perhaps help them realize their mistakes but would not punish them for sure.
From time immemorial , priests, Pundits, maulvis have shown us a fixed path to nirvana. There are fixed procedures in all the religions which is to be followed in order to please the almighty even at the cost of human pain and misery. Priceless lives are lost in the name of sacrifice. If God is either a parent or a Friend how can he be happy at such a sight. The plight of widows in India is pitiful, they are still expected to live a life without colors, and happiness. If God is a parent or Friend , why would he not bring happiness to their life?
Yes the reason which I would get is that they all are paying a price for their "Karma" - their deeds. Right but IF my children or best friend does something wrong I would rather forgive him then give him/her such a harsh punishment. No please do not think I don't believe in god, as I have already mentioned I have every reason to believe in his existence, but I am just digging out the various mysteries of God.
So if God is not a friend nor a parent then who actually is he?
I think god is just a divine power and we need not personify him and seek a friend or a parent in him.We should just believe in his existence and in Karma. I completely agree that it is our karma which decide our fate and God keeps a track of all our deeds the good ones and the bad ones. We live a life of choices which we have made .
The almighty simply gives us the courage to live the life we have been given, he is there to show us the right path, to help us get up when we fall down. He is there not as a friend nor as a Father but simply as a divine power, watching us all the time.

These is but my way of perceiving god. I believe that in whatever way way you look at god , he is there , always. Whichever path we take to reach out to the divine power is correct but only if it is not at the cost of someones happiness.
Our deeds are correct if it makes us happy at the end , but of course only if they do not hurt anyone.
So Stay happy and bring a smile to everyones face around you and life will be just fine.

Pushing one to the limits

The last two weeks of my orientation classes has taught me a hell lot of things. I have never been this busy in my life, nor did I ever imagine in my wildest dream that I would be slogging for 17-18 hours, and the best part even on Sundays, while the rest of the world is having a lazy day I am running around to give presentation and attend classes :-)
Well life for the past two weeks has been tough, but the experience I had would be cherished always and has taught me lessons which I would not have had otherwise. The most important lesson it taught me is that I realized that if I want I can achieve anything but I just have to make an effort to do push myself beyond my usual limits.
All through the past two weeks I have been pushing myself to the limits. When my orientation period started on 16th June 2008, I was expected to follow a routine which seemed like an impossible task to achieve, and was not quite sure of how I was going to adjust and perform in such a competitive environment. Today exactly 14 days into my orientation ,I have realized that with little time management , one can achieve miracles. During my graduation days I attended classes for around hardly 7 hours, moreover weekends were off and still I always complaint about not having time, I always wanted to do so many things , but as usual I was always short of time .
Now I realize what a fool I had been I had so much of free time then and had I utilized that then, I would have a completely different person now with a lot of assets, but I wasted all the valuable time I had. Now that I have realized this I hope I make the most of my time.
The problem with students like me is that we don't push ourselves to the limits, now I am sure many of us would say that “who says I don't, I do push myself o the limits”, but the fact is many of us are not aware of what this”limit” actually is, for e.g.:As I have already said that during my graduation days I used to work hardly for 7 hours, and I had thought that was my limit, as a result I never tried pushing myself to the actual limit. But now I have realized the my true potential is much more than I had thought, and sill I believe I can improve upon my efficiency because I feel I am doing he same mistake again, I am stuck wit the same thought - “ I cannot work more”. Each day of our life has 24 hours, and that's a LOT of time, but we do not realize it,and end up being frustrated and winning about not having enough time to do what we want to, so people just push yourself to your limits everyday and you would find that we actually have a lot more time than we actually need.