यादों के बस्ते से

माँ का आँचल छोड़ के हमने 

जब पहला पग रखा था.

यह लोक अलौकिक लगता था 

जीवन ही अनोखा लगता था.

दृग चक्षु हमारे हुए सन्न 

हाय! हम कैसे हैं विपन्न.

तब साथ में आये तुम उस दिन

फिर याद हुए वो प्यारे दिन.

कच्ची मिट्टी के पुतले थे

मन तनिक भी नहीं मैले थे.

जैसा भी लोग सिखाते थे

हम वही सीखते जाते थे.

गुरुवर जो देते परम ज्ञान

रखते थे समझ के राम बाण.

अब हुए हमारे मित्र अभिन्न

फिर याद हुए वो प्यारे दिन.

फिर उम्र बढ़ी तो ज्ञान बढ़ा

बुद्धि का विषय विमान उड़ा.

वही जगत अब लगा छुद्र 

पर भरा नहीं मन का समुद्र.

तू मित्र नहीं अब जीवन था

जिस तरह ह्रदय का कम्पन था.

एक पल भी ना बीते तेरे बिन

फिर याद हुए वो प्यारे दिन.

जब आज वो बातें याद आयीं

सहसा ही आँखें भर आयीं.

हे मित्र कहाँ हो? आ जाओ

फिर ह्रदय को कम्पन दे जाओ.

जीवन की है अंतिम आस यही

पूरी हो ये फरियाद मेरी.

अब राह तकूँ तारे गिन गिन

फिर याद हुए वो प्यारे दिन.

Back to India

Here are my first few experiences after reaching India after spending three years in Germany for my PhD.

1) I was standing in the immigration queue at the airport waiting for my turn happily as I was 3rd or 4th in the queue. Meanwhile, a bunch of guys arrived. First, they violated the lane and then formed another parallel queue. Suddenly I was in a random crowd instead of a queue not sure of how long will it take to get past the crowd and the immigration check. Yes, I am back to India!

2) I was sitting beside an Indian guy in my flight from Istanbul to New Delhi. Not able to suppress my urge to have a talk with him, I started the conversation with usual formal questions. The guy spoke in a heavy English accent. He started with high temperature and how much he hated the corrupt practices in India with usual apathy which suggested that he was definitely going only for vacation. Later, the airline served everyone with a pair of socks. Again he started, ‘what do they think? We Indians don’t have socks or what?’ and kept the socks aside. This kind of extreme love, hate and proud feelings can be associated only with us Indians. No matter how much we curse our system, there is a hidden feeling of proud within.

3) I took a cab from airport to reach the railway station. The 30 minute ride with the cab driver unfolded into a conversation one can expect only between two close friends in any other part of the world. The conversation varied from his experience in Saudi Arab to hypocrisy of Delhi police and finally to some relationship mantras for me.

4) I reached the railway station 15 minutes before scheduled departure of my train. As soon as the cab reached the parking place, a bunch of coolies were already surrounding us competing among themselves for who will grab this customer.  Before I could pay off for the cab, a couple of coolies had already lifted my bags after deciding the labor cost among them. Now, I was bargaining with them while they were carrying my luggage to the platform. Before the bargaining could end, they dropped my bag in the train and I had to pay the amount they asked for.

5) After paying everyone, I was left with only 10 rupees to reach Kanpur from Delhi. I dint have enough money to hire a coolie in Kanpur, so I was carrying four bags on my own. After walking for just 30 seconds or so, an auto rickshaw driver came and offered to carry my luggage to his auto which I accepted happily. First thing, I had to do after reaching home was to ask for money to my mother to pay for the auto. Yes, this was the first realization that I was unemployed now :)

हर घड़ी खुद से भागा जाता हूँ मैं,

'मैं' को ही पाने की  इक अदद चाह में.

न है मंज़िल न कोई खबर राह की

क़दमों की गिनतियाँ बस बढाता हूँ मैं.

अपनी पूरी थी कोशिश कि भूले से भी

आईने पर नज़र न अटक जाये ये.

खुद की तनहाइयाँ जो दबी थी कहीं,

अक्स कि आँख में न छलक आये ये.

Is the JLP movement democratic?

The Jan Lokpal movement has already entered in its ninth month starting from April, 2011. Do we have any result yet? In the formal terms (rather on the paper work), I would say it is too far away from achieving what it set out to achieve and hence, it has still a long way to go. But, it has achieved a lot in terms of public awareness. It has done the next to impossible task of pulling the allegedly indifferent middle class of India along with others to the streets for a common cause. That in itself is a big achievement. Team Anna is still pushing for a strong Lokpal bill travelling all across the country and through public mobilization. I have been following it closely through ever fast news channels and friends. There are still a few reservations and confusions about the authenticity of team Anna pursuing government for JLP. Here are a few and my opinion about them.

The first that I hear many a times is that MP's are elected representatives of the people and parliament is the supreme in a democracy. They should not be forced by someone outside the parliament for a particular law. Firstly, some people might even doubt if MP's are really the fair representatives of the people with all the irregularities involved in the elections. I would still like to believe that majority of them are elected fairly. But the question I want to raise is if they truly represent the views of the people once they are sent to the parliament by the people. In an ideal democracy the MP's should discuss any issue with the people ( with the help of lower representative bodies like gram sabha or mohalla sabha) and convey it to the party or the parliament and if there is any difference of opinion, it is his duty to convince the concerned sides. I seriously doubt if that happens in our present democratic system. Presently, the party issues a whip for all its MPs and they have to follow it even if they have different view. We all accept the supremacy of the parliament, but at the same time, it should represent people not individual parties.

Second, Team Anna is not elected by the people. How can they claim to represent them? I agree, they are not elected by people, but they have also never claimed to be one. As a citizen of India, they have all the right to ask for a particular law. They have been just doing that and in the process got the support of the people who have the same opinion on this particular subject. The proposed JLP has gone through several round of discussions and has gone though many improvisations and it's still open changes on a logical basis. In fact, the present form is probably the 20th version of the original. So, it will be wrong to say that it is their bill, rather the JLP is the bill formed (or improvised) by the people of the country.

Third, is Anna Hazare blackmailing the government by fasting? Fasting is totally legal, ethical and powerful tool of protest in a democracy. It has been employed many times before and I don't think there is anything wrong with it. Most importantly, Nobody suffers because of it except for the person who is doing it. The fact is, it is not the fast of the Anna Hazare which is disturbing the government, but it is the backing of the people that the movement has garnered which is giving the sleepless nights to the government. There has been many other indefinite fasts (some even fatal) and much longer, but the government wasn't bothered by them because they did not have this kind of people's support. And this movement would have been faded as well if the people of the country were not fed up of the corruption that they face everyday.

The setting up of the deadline (though it was enough time) baffled me a bit in the starting because this kind of a law needs time to be drafted. But going by the incidents and intentions shown by the government in last nine months, I think this is the right way forward. Eight months are more than enough to draft any law. Whole constitution was prepared in about 2 years.

It is not about the time required, but the political will and honesty required to draft this law which is lacking in present system for understandable reasons. Nobody wants to give away his power easily and this time also it is not going to be any exception. You have to always fight for your rights in any part of world and this cause, I would say, is quite sacred and worth fighting for. 

एक बार और जोर लगाते हैं

हर दिन एक नया संघर्ष है

रोज़ दृढ़ता का कवच पहने मैं घर से निकलता हूँ

और हर रोज़ घायल छलनी छलनी ही लौटता हूँ

कितनी बार सोचा 'अब बहुत हुआ'

'अब और देर न ठहर पाएंगे इस विपरीत प्रवाह में'

पर बार बार कुछ सोच कर रुक जाते हैं

लगता है चलो एक बार और जोर लगाते हैं

आगे न बढे तो क्या हुआ

शायद जगह पर खड़े खड़े ही पार लग जायेंगे 

कुछ नहीं तो कम से कम, हार कर भी 

दर्पण में अपना प्रतिबिम्ब तो देख पाएंगे

पहले भी कई बार संघर्ष छोड़ 

सरल मार्ग को चुना है

पर हर बार पश्चात्ताप ही किया है

इस बार यह जिद ठानी है कि

या तो प्रवाह को चीर कर 

लक्ष्य पर ही पहुँच जायेंगे 

या फिर धारा के साथ बहकर 

सागर से ही मिल जायेंगे

पर किनारे पर बैठकर

औरों का तमाशा देखना 

अब हमसे न होगा |

Another blast...

Another bomb blast within two months. First time, it was in Mumbai and now in New Delhi, capital of India, in a crowded place outside high court. I would like to give just an account of the reactions from different people.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh said, India will not succumb to terrorist attacks. A senior leader of opposition confirmed that India stood united against terrorism. Other big politicians expressed their condolence towards the families of the victims and their commitment to fight the terror. Some even went to the accident site and hospitals where injured were being treated. High alert has been announced in the country. People were panicked for a while. The ones whose known ones lived in Delhi called them to confirm about their well being.

Doesn't it all look too familiar? After every terrorist attack, they react in exactly the same way. Nothing changes at all. The political parties, who are standing together right now, will again blame each other after a fort night. Again some Digvijay Singh will try to defend the system by giving  a stupid statement, like ''At least terrorist attacks don't happen every day in India like Pakistan. So we are doing a good job''

People will again get back to their routine lives from tomorrow onward and media channels will show a special show applauding Delhi public's resilience (They just have to change the place every time). People always do that (Except that they showed their anger this time when the YUVRAJ of India went to the hospital to see the victims by shouting slogans against him). Do they have any other choice? Initially, it was definitely resilience, but now it has turned into indifference out of their helplessness. They know this is too big a task to fight on their own. Protest and demonstration can not work here.

It needs a systematic planning, clear thinking and strong determination at the governance level. Government showed their willingness to improve the system by strengthening intelligence and emergency forces. But I doubt their clarity of thoughts and determination.

Today's attack was carried out regarding the death sentence of another terrorist, Afjal Guru, whose death sentence has been pending for almost 10 years now. There is another terrorist who has been a privileged guest of Indian security system for 3 years. I don't think it would have been possible in any other country. Only one terrorist attack was enough for United States to attack on Afghanistan and send their troops all across to Asia. It took hardly 6 months in US for the trial of Headley, a suspect in 26/11 Mumbai attack. On the other hand, all the charges have been proved against these two in India, but their mercy plea is pending with president for so many years.

Cure becomes a compulsion once a disease is spread, but prevention is the best way to avoid all the complications. A precedent needs to be set to show these terrorist that India is determined to act tough against terrorism, to show that no matter how much political differences, but everyone has the same view against terrorism. Just the toughness in the words won't be heard by these deaf and dumb terrorist, it has to be shown in actions. 

मुकम्मिल जहाँ

बचपन में इन मासूम आँखों में 

कई ख़्वाब संजोये थे |

बारिश के बाद के साफ़ आसमान की तरह 

मंज़िल एक दम साफ़ दिखती थी |

इरादे बुलंदियों पर थे

इतने ऊँचे की ज़मीन दिखती ही न थी |

जोश था कुछ कर दिखने का

दुनिया पर फ़तेह पाने का |

दो कदम आगे बढे 

राह की मुश्किलों का अहसास हुआ |

ज़मीन पर चलना आसान न था 

और उड़ना मुमकिन  न था |

धीरे धीरे चलना सीखा

गिरे तो गिरकर उठना सीखा |

पर मंज़िल से नज़र हट गयी शायद

कई इमारतों में हमारी  इमारत भी खो गयी शायद |

अब तो इन्ही बाज़ारों  में भटक रहे हैं 

अपनी मंज़िल की तलाश में |

कई बार भीड़ के साथ ही हो लेते हैं

सब खोये हुए साथी मुसाफिर ही लगते हैं

किसी मंज़िल की तलाश में भटके लगते हैं |

शाम की डगमगाती रौशनी में 

कदम भी लड़खड़ाने से लगे हैं |

आँखों के आगे धुंधले धब्बे भी

चिलमिलाने से लगे हैं |

मंसूबों में भी अब वो बचपन वाली बात कहाँ

अंधियारे में जो चमके वो जुगनू का भी साथ कहाँ

बस इसी आस में बढे जाते हैं 

कि एक दिन तो हमें भी मुकम्मिल जहाँ मिलेगा |

दोराहा

एक दोराहे पर खड़ा असमंजस में था मैं

एक ओर पगडण्डी थी
संकरी, ऊबड़ खाबड़
एक मानुस के क़दमों सी चौड़ी
शायद काँटे भी बिछे थे कुछ
पर मेरे घर तक जाती थी वो |

एक ओर थी चिकनी सड़क
सारी तेज गाड़ियों से सजी
कई लोगों के भार वहन की क्षमता लिये
पर अंत उसका दीखता नहीं था कहीं |

सभी सड़क पर चले जाते थे
शायद घर किनारे पर ही थे उनके
या फिर, किनारे की सराय में
रात बसर होती थी उनकी |

मैं बस खड़ा सोच रहा था
राह में गिरने का डर था शायद
या, गिरकर होने वाले उपहास का 
या फिर, अकेले काँटों पर चलने का
पर बार बार घूम फिरकर वहीँ पहुँच जाता था |

कोई गाड़ी नहीं जाती वहाँ तक
न ही कोई साथ जायेगा 
ये कुछ अंतिम कदम थे
जो अकेले ही तय करने थे मुझे
आखिर कब तक यूँ
सड़कों और सराय में रात बसर होगी?

Independence

A student was reasonably good at studies in his school. He was quite interested in literature and arts. As soon as it came to choose a subject between science and arts, he went for science. Why?? Because, most importantly, it was the most secure option to make a career in terms of getting a job and making money. Secondly, learning science gives him a status symbol in the society as an intelligent person. (both reasons quite true in India at least).

A person is getting ready for a party. What is the common criteria for getting ready or selecting any set of dresses? Does one decide it on the basis of how comfortable he feels and whether he likes it or not or it is decided according to what people will think of his appearance or if it carries any brand value in the society.

In both the examples, given above, I am trying to demonstrate the idea of independence. Independence (स्वतंत्र)  means self-governance (स्व + तंत्र) which implies that your decisions are dominated by you not by others. As soon as, one's decisions are affected by other's perspectives or way of thinking, he becomes dependent on others (परतंत्र). 

If you ask somebody whether he wants to be independent or not. The answers is invariably 'yes'. But, independence is not only about fulfilling your physical necessities on your own, rather it includes independence of thought as well and to me, that is the most important aspect because one can never be fully independent in terms of physical needs. He has to rely on others in a mutually fulfilling way. But, one can always be independent in his thoughts without taking concerns from others.

Normally, our thinking is affected by many factors. It can be common assumptions accepted in our society, a saying by a great personality or a reference from a book. I am not saying that these assumptions are always wrong. But, if we blindly follow them, where is our authority in those thoughts. This way, many a times, we end up being a person what others want us to be rather than being a person what we want to be. So, the important thing is if we check these values on our own rights before accepting them. Once evaluated on our rights, we own those values and then, even if we follow them, its our independent thought not from others.

Conversation: An Important Issue

The most important aspect of any conversation (संवाद) is the feeling of assurance that the person, who I am talking to, is getting the same message that I am trying to convey him in my own words. Normally, we get the meaning of the common words, specially in our mother tongue, from our surroundings which includes family, friends and the society which we live in. When we are talking to someone who is from different background (may be even different language), we are not sure that our message is reaching exactly the same way to him. Sometimes, even we in ourselves are not very sure of the right meaning of a word. This, many times, leads to confusion or may be even conflict in a dialog between two persons.

I will try to explain it with an example. I was discussing once with one of my friends about how we are always driven by assumptions in our life. Like, we are always taught since our childhood that one should respect (सम्मान)  his elders. Then, what do we do with youngers? Does this mean that one should respect only elders and insult (opposite to respect) youngers? To me, respect means 'right evaluation of  a person' which is applicable to both elders as well as youngers. In response, he said that one should respect elders and have affection (स्नेह) for youngers. Again, I understand affection as 'a feeling of relationship with someone' which one should have for an elder as well as younger person. I do not want to say here whether I am wrong or he is wrong. The matter is basically the meaning of these two words. May be he had a different meaning than mine associated to these words which is definitely leading to a confusion in our conversation. 

Another issue is that a word can never be exactly translated from one language to the other keeping its meaning intact. Atleast, I have experienced this thing. I can not express myself properly while I am talking in English (I mean any language other than my mother tongue). Its not that my English is too bad, but I think its because I do not have same feeling associated to the word that is translated from Hindi to English.Or, I should say that it is foreign language for both of us, so I am not sure what meaning he is getting from the same word. Again, I am not sure if the other person is getting the same massage that I want to convey to him.

कश्ती की कश्मकश

दास्ताँ ज़िन्दगी की सुनाएँ क्या हम 

कश्मकश हर घड़ी की भुलाएँ क्या हम?

कश्तियों की किनारे की ज़द्दोज़हद 

क्या कलम से बयाँ कर भी पाएंगे हम?

दूर जाना के फिर पास आना तेरा 

तेज़ लहरों में सर को झुकाना मेरा

राह मिलने की मुश्किल ना होती अगर

क्या जहाँ होता इतना दीवाना तेरा?

साथ कोई ना था बस तेरी आस थी

बढ के छूने की तुझको ही इक प्यास थी 

बीच मझधार हो या भँवर पार हो 

ज़िन्दगी की मेरी बस यही राह थी |

मिलने की चाह में हर किनारे पे ही 

लहरों को हमने मिटते हुए देखा है

लाख कह ले, रहो दूर मुझसे, शमा

परवानों को बस जलते ही देखा है |

Is reaction the solution?

One day a person mocked at me in front of many of my friends. Every one started laughing at me. I felt so bad that I started burning from inside to take revenge of my insult from this person. I started looking for any opportunity to insult him in front of the same people. All the time, my mind was occupied with the thoughts of how I can get a chance. I carried this weight for many days in my head and finally got to insult him and people laughed again, but this time at him. Now, the same process began with him.

This is a very common situation in our lives and most of the times we react the same way as I did. But, have we ever thought if it will lead to a solution? It can go in an endless loop in this way, a never ending process. I will always be unhappy until I make the other person feel bad and my experience says that I don't feel good (happy) after insulting him either. Yes, it may give a momentarily satisfaction but I do not think that it will be very long lasting. So, is this the right way of approaching this situation? Probably not.

First of all, there is no fulfillment during this whole process. At least one of the persons (even if I assume that I will be happy after taking revenge) is going to suffer all the time. No need to say that it is no way of fulfilling relationships between two human beings. And of course, it is certainly going to come back and bite me again. Then, what is the solution?

It should be very clear that both of us want respect from each other and when I check on my own rights, I find that it is always naturally acceptable to me to respect others as well. So, I could say that intentions are same from both sides, but this is only half of the issue. The other part is one's competence whether I am able to fulfill my intentions or not. And if I do find myself more competent then the other person, it is my responsibility then to make a program to make him as competent as I am.

One more thing, there should always be a common basis for comparison. If I am judging myself on the basis of my intentions, the other person should also be judged on his intentions. The problem arises when one judges oneself on intentions, but judges the other on the basis of his competence.

जुगनू

खेला हूँ मैं तेरी रोशनी से बहुत,
मुट्ठियों में भी बंद करके देखा तुझे,
नेमतों में से कुदरत की तू भी तो है
एक हस्ती  कभी पर ना समझा तुझे |

क्या हुआ जो अँधेरे हैं  चारों तरफ,
रोशनी एक आती है हमको नज़र,
जुगनुओं, जाएँगी अब ये राहें गुजर
बन सको तुम अगर बस मेरे हमसफ़र |

चाँद की चांदनी पर ना मुझको यकीन,
क्या पता कब ये छुप जाएँ बादल तले,
घटते घटते ये एक रोज़ मिट जायेंगी
बढ सकूँगा अगर संग तू मेरे चले |

Perspectives in Life

Aniruddh, Manish and Ranjan  have been the best buddies at college, always ready to help each other out. It was their last day at college. They were just chilling out when Ranjan suddenly broke the silence, " Hey guys! what are you planning to do after this?"

"Of course, we are going to do some job and make a lot of money, but why did you ask this question?" answered Manish without any second thought.

" Come on Manish, money can not be the only motivation. I mean, it can be many of the rewards, but not the final destination."

"Ranjan, I don't know about you, but I definitely want to earn a lot of money and get all the luxuries that have always eluded me and have inspired me to work hard to get to this point. I want to enjoy my life. I want to have a lot of money so that I don't have to think twice before buying anything."

"But, how much money will be a lot for you? You must define it in order to draw a limit." interrupted Aniruddh, "You can never fulfill your needs if you try to satisfy your senses because they don't enjoy the same taste permanently. After a while, it becomes painful just like you can not enjoy the same sweets continuously, no matter how much favorite it is. Basically, I am not against earning money, but you must always define your needs otherwise you will never be satisfied if you just keep following your senses and social trends."

"So, what are you planning , Aniruddh?" asked Ranjan.

"I am planning to prepare for Civil Services. I want to earn respect in the society and it will also give me the power and means to improve the system."

"By the way, a rich person is as well respected as an government officer, and yes, they don't have to do 'Ji Huzuri' for those illiterate politicians." mocked Manish.
"You can control the system for a while with your power, but it will not be permanent until there is proper understanding among the people which it consists of. They have to balance the importance of money and relationship with the people in the society for an efficient system." added Ranjan.

"You started this topic, Ranjan. So now, it is your turn. Tell us what you want to do?"

"I don't know exactly what job I am going to take afterwards. When I look at my basic needs, I can certainly draw a line to my requirements. And to fulfill those needs, an average job will be good enough. But you know how misleading the definition of a successful person is in our society. You have to be either a rich person or a well known person in a particular field to get respect in the society. In fact, if someone is prosperous (having extra resources after fulfillment of his needs) and is able to fulfill his responsibilities in all relationships, he must be a successful person. May be we can work together to discuss these proposals with others and find out some new aspects to the meaning of success."

क्या पता था

ज़िन्दगी से कभी हमने माँगी न थी
शान-ओ-शौकत या के मिलकियत ख़्वाब की
क्या पता था हमें वो भी दिन आयेगा
ज़िन्दगी खुद फ़कीरों में होगी खड़ी.

सर झुका के हमेशा मैं चलता रहा
भीड़ के घुंघरुओं की मधुर ताल पर
क्या पता था नज़र ये उठी क्यों नहीं
इस जिगर में वो जिगरा भला था किधर.

जब कभी हमने पलकें उठायी भरी
हर तरफ बाँहें खोले दिखा आसमां
क्या पता था हमें इस खुली राह पर
मंजिलें ताकती होंगी हमको खड़ी.

रिश्तों की डोर होती है नाज़ुक बड़ी
आज़माइश से ही ये झटक जायेगी
क्या पता था हमें एक दिन डोर ये
पाँव की बेड़ियों में बदल जायेगी.

दिल से

हज़ारों की भीड़ में अंजान हूँ मैं,

गौर से देखो, तुम्हारी ही तरह इंसान हूँ मैं,

मौजों की लहरें इस दिल में भी उठती हैं,

दोस्त मेरे, दिल का बड़ा कदरदान हूँ मैं.

कारवाँ  ज़िन्दगी का गुजर जायेगा

ज़माने के रंगों में रंगते हुए.

रंज-ओ-ग़म ये मगर फिर रहेगा सदा,

ज़िन्दगी को कभी खुद से जी न सके.

नाम-ओ-शोहरत किसी को भी मिल जाती है,

पर, शुकूँ दिल का सबको ही मिलता नहीं.

दिल की सुनने का जज्बा है जिस वीर में,

काँटों की राह चलने से डरता नहीं.

Competition: Where it starts

I read a blog saying that excellence,  rather than distinction, should be the purpose (or limit) in every field of life because quest for distinction always gives rise to competition among ourselves which is a relative term and does not fit anywhere in co-existence while excellence is an absolute entitiy which one has to define in his own rights. What are the necessary factors for one to attain excellence in a perticular field and what gives rise to competition that one has to evaluate oneself in terms of others?

Suppose, I am doing something which I am not really convinced about and am doing it just for the sake of making money and being respectable following social trends. I know for sure that this is not the job which I really want to do. Now, it is abvious that I can not acheive excellence in this field anyway. May be sometimes, I would get recognition and respect from people because what I am doing is a reputed job by social standards. But, I am never satisfied with my performance because I am not giving my hudred percent effort. I am just surviving there. In the survival process, I have to be ahead of others and hence, I have to compete with others. Sometimes, this is just for survival and somtimes for distinction.

I always believe that everbody has more or less same abilities, it is just their interest  (or conviction) which drive them to excel in any perticular field. When someone identifies his field of interest and has enough courage to follow the path, he puts his full effort and as a consequence excellence and hence, satisfaction is acheived.

Driving Life

Sometimes going gets really tough and you start thinking whether you really belong to this place. You start feeling your limitations. Giving up the hope is always the last resort, but it is always the feeling of ' pushing a little bit and may be the solution is lying around the corner' that keeps you driving in the quest of life. It is always the human nature. He always tries to push it to his maximum limits, but sometimes this maximum may not be good enough.

It is just like a long distance race where one keeps going until he stops breathing. But, there are always some moments of testing through out the event. The race in incomplete only in two cases, either he feels tired for a moment and just gives up in that momentarily wave or he is completely finished. In the former case, there always remains a repentance of not holding on to that particular moment. It takes just a momentary disbelief in you abilities that lets you fail in your whole endeavour. And the ones who hold on to their belief till the very end, always end up on the laughing side. Win or loss does not really matter because it is always the satisfaction of hundred percent effort that makes you happy and stronger.


In life, the intensity may not be so high, but then the moments are also not so brief. I think that the direction and your conviction for that matter becomes much more important here. Sometimes these are only assumptions which lead our deeds. These assumptions may be right or wrong. You can get to the final destination following your assumptions, but once, you are stuck somewhere, it is very difficult to drive yourself unless you are convinced about your goal.

So, I would say that it is always good to find out the answers to these three questions, Why, How and How much, before setting out for any endeavor. The first one is the most important one because human beings are always motivated by the goal and if the purpose behind that is clear, one can always find the required driving force to get there. The remaining two questions are about training and you needs. Once the goal is clear, one can always find out the ways and if the needs are defined, one can always draw a line to your limitations.

The Rain

It is 11:30 in the night and raining quite heavily. I shut down my system and went to bed. I set alarm clock for the next morning and try to sleep, but somehow I can't sleep. These raindrops don't let me sleep. There is something which is disturbing me. I come out of my bed and again switch on the PC and start writing this blog having no idea of what I am going to vomit in this page. Sometimes, I feel this urge from inside to write something, but mostly I ignore it, thinking my English and writing skills are not good enough to publish. But today, this rain pourd some thoughts in my heart too or I should say made me recollect some sweet memories and I could not restrain myself from doing it.

Whenever it rains, I just feel like stop all proceedings for a while and enjoy it. Actually, the rain, in many ways, acts as a rescue force for many entities of Nature. When everyone is restless with the high temperatures of summer, all ideas in mind are covered with thick salty liquid and the tension which is already stored there can not get past this boundary, the rain comes in as a rescue to open your mind gates for some fresh ideas and washes you out. When a farmer's hopes start dying with the drying fields, the rain gives them a new ray of hope in a weather where there is no ray of Sun. For the birds who go away leaving their home for a vacation in summers, it gives them a message to come back because it is incomplete without their liveliness.

For me, the best thing about the rain has always been the sweet smell it creates when it pours on to the dusty earth. After long hot days of summer, it gives a much needed calmness to the nature. I must say, in India, we enjoy these little moments of happiness very enthusiastically in a unique way. You just sit down in the shade having a cup of hot tea and garam pakodas having chat with some friends and you can enjoy the pattering sound of raindrops. And some more enthusiastic people like to enjoy it in rain itself by feeling the energy of the drops on their body itself. Even if you are alone, you can share your happiness with the Nature in a gentle breeze of cold air.

There is no more dust in the air. The air is fresh. The tree leaves which were looking dirty are cleaned up by the rain drops. Everything is settled to its ground state. This may cause a brief interruption in a normal life, but it is just like a recharging of your body and may be soul too.