Ok guys. Time for some introspection. When I use the word 'pursuit', I don't really mean 'pursuing'... I mean 'chasing'! Now I wonder, why have I given special reference to 'y' in happ'y'ness? The answer lies in the question. Everytime I chase some things (goals, targets) I just go for it or leave it midway. But whatever maybe the outcome of my chase, I always ask 'why'. And thats the reason why 'y' deserves a special mention.
Ever thought of chasing something that could give you happ'y'ness? Ever pursued a career that could give you happ'y'ness? Ever fought with the world, for someone you loved so deeply that could give you happ'y'ness? Ever sacrificed aims, dreams and ambitions for the sake of others happ'y'ness? If your is answer is yes, then I guess at some or the other point of lifetime you might be questioning yourself why.
Poor have been chasing money to gain happiness. Rich have been chasing 'more' money to buy 'more' happiness. Laymen have been chasing knowledge to unlock the doors of happiness. Scholars have been chasing 'more' knowledge to gain 'more' happiness than others. Politicians are trying to conquer countries to gain happiness. Terrorists are trying to conquer the world to gain 'more' happiness. Spiritual gurus resort to practices like meditation to attain happiness. Black magicians resort to 'more' practices to attain 'more' happiness.
By realizing the truth about happiness, I realize one fact. The root of all goods and evils is happiness. If it is so, then why is the world so engrossed in The Pursuit Of Happ'y'ness?
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Happy Places
Hello Dost log,
Now, this topic is quite kiddish. I know what you guys might be wondering. How can a writer, of a decent calibre, choose a topic which suits better to the kids of primary schools? Well, this topic is my tribute to my buddy, Dada. It was his idea of penning a book that was related to happy places. Before I move further, I would like to make a point clear. This topic and idea solely belongs to Dada. I have just tried to lay a foundation stone to build up his idea.
Coming to the Happy Places, what does it mean actually? If we actually try to figure out this concept, we can recall many things right from our childhood. When we hadn't even entered the world, our mother's womb was supposed to be our 'happy place'. It's because our sub conscious mind felt safe and secured. When we grew up and we never knew the actual world, our homes were known as 'happy places'. It's because we had mother and father to take care of us, we had grandparents who would entertain us with stories, we had siblings with whom we could play for the lifetime.
But, as the time unfurled, our 'happy places' kept expanding. It just got wider and better. Take an example, when we were kids, we hated going to schools and we were eager to go to colleges. We came to colleges and we were eager to work and earn money. We landed up doing our jobs, we earned money and we thought of getting settled with spouse and kids. The time passed away but still our lust for mental peace, happiness and satisfaction never died.
Many of us have been passing through this phase like every common man. Before going to school, our homes were our 'happy place' because it brought a smile on our faces, everytime we were entertained by our family members. Before entering college, our schools were 'happy place' because it reminded us of the fun days that we spent with our school friends and teachers. Time passed and we landed up settling in our jobs and business and our 'happy place' changed to college because that was where we learnt bunking lectures, sipping chai and coffee, munching dosas, taking 'pangas' with our rival mates. Next, we retire from work, settle with kids and at the eve of our lives we die to go back to the places where we first met our love, where we spent time during our courtship period. But one thing still remains constant, we still crave to visit our 'happy places' because our lust for smiling without worries simply doesn't get quenched.
Ever noticed why we call our favourite spots as 'happy places'? Simple hai yaara, it's because those are the places that free us from the negativity present in our lives. Those are the places that make us forget our current hectic lives. It's very simple to recollect our 'happy places', just make a list of your favourite hangouts where you visited often but at present you are craving to go back. One of my happy places are the CCDs that I used to visit during my college days. I could spend hours out there, sipping loads of cups of my favourite black coffee and pen down something worth reading. The other happy place that I can recollect is the stairs near the college. It's the place where we could kill our time from boredom, sing songs, gossip about affairs of peers. One of my favourite happy place is the Chowpatty beach. It gives me a sense of setting my tired spirit free.
Life is too small to move forward without smiling. So what are you guys waiting for? Have you realised your 'Happy Places'?
Now, this topic is quite kiddish. I know what you guys might be wondering. How can a writer, of a decent calibre, choose a topic which suits better to the kids of primary schools? Well, this topic is my tribute to my buddy, Dada. It was his idea of penning a book that was related to happy places. Before I move further, I would like to make a point clear. This topic and idea solely belongs to Dada. I have just tried to lay a foundation stone to build up his idea.
Coming to the Happy Places, what does it mean actually? If we actually try to figure out this concept, we can recall many things right from our childhood. When we hadn't even entered the world, our mother's womb was supposed to be our 'happy place'. It's because our sub conscious mind felt safe and secured. When we grew up and we never knew the actual world, our homes were known as 'happy places'. It's because we had mother and father to take care of us, we had grandparents who would entertain us with stories, we had siblings with whom we could play for the lifetime.
But, as the time unfurled, our 'happy places' kept expanding. It just got wider and better. Take an example, when we were kids, we hated going to schools and we were eager to go to colleges. We came to colleges and we were eager to work and earn money. We landed up doing our jobs, we earned money and we thought of getting settled with spouse and kids. The time passed away but still our lust for mental peace, happiness and satisfaction never died.
Many of us have been passing through this phase like every common man. Before going to school, our homes were our 'happy place' because it brought a smile on our faces, everytime we were entertained by our family members. Before entering college, our schools were 'happy place' because it reminded us of the fun days that we spent with our school friends and teachers. Time passed and we landed up settling in our jobs and business and our 'happy place' changed to college because that was where we learnt bunking lectures, sipping chai and coffee, munching dosas, taking 'pangas' with our rival mates. Next, we retire from work, settle with kids and at the eve of our lives we die to go back to the places where we first met our love, where we spent time during our courtship period. But one thing still remains constant, we still crave to visit our 'happy places' because our lust for smiling without worries simply doesn't get quenched.
Ever noticed why we call our favourite spots as 'happy places'? Simple hai yaara, it's because those are the places that free us from the negativity present in our lives. Those are the places that make us forget our current hectic lives. It's very simple to recollect our 'happy places', just make a list of your favourite hangouts where you visited often but at present you are craving to go back. One of my happy places are the CCDs that I used to visit during my college days. I could spend hours out there, sipping loads of cups of my favourite black coffee and pen down something worth reading. The other happy place that I can recollect is the stairs near the college. It's the place where we could kill our time from boredom, sing songs, gossip about affairs of peers. One of my favourite happy place is the Chowpatty beach. It gives me a sense of setting my tired spirit free.
Life is too small to move forward without smiling. So what are you guys waiting for? Have you realised your 'Happy Places'?
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Dilemma : Lakshmi or Saraswati ???
Hello Readers,
I am back again. It's been a real hectic day. I wonder who's writing the script of my life. People say that man is the architect of his own fate. But I wonder if I was the one who chose to write my own destiny. It has been a real, real hectic life (pun intended)... Feeling implicated and vindicated at the same time. Or should I say, being at a wrong place on a wrong time?
The last couple of days have been a rollercoaster ride. It's getting more and more difficult to understand the human psychology. I guess it's time to have a proffessional approach towards leading a 'normal' life. When I speak about 'normalcy', I mean about leading a simple life. It's time to quit from the race where the only challenger in your race of life is 'you'. It needs great efforts to achieve glory. But it requires greater efforts to accept defeat with dignity. Sadly, it's always a case of sour grapes theory in everybody's life.
Coming back to the dilemma... There's a shockingly surprising news for me and my readers. 'Accidently', my parents read some of my blog posts, my poems and a few excerpts of my coming novel 'The Pink Slip'. They inquired about the theme and the status of my previous novel. As usual, I chose to accept my defeat against the bigwig publishers who chose to leave me on tenterhooks. For some reason, Dad seemed interested to help me realise my dream of being a writer. Or should I say, a 'published' writer. But... I rejected his plan. Lol.
Anyways, there has been a strange fight happening within my conscience. I ain't sure if everybody experiences the same fight within themselves. Ever since I understood the human psychology about religion, I got more and more interested in doing research on the Gods and Godesses of Indian mythology. Being a staunch believer of faith in Goddeses, I worship many of them. For example, Goddess Saraswati for knowledge, Goddesses Lakshmi for wealth and prosperity, Goddess Amba for courage and fearlessness and Goddess Padmavati for peaceful mind and sound and healthy soul. In fact, even the gurus taught me the same thing that when we pray to the Tirthankaras, it's not the Tirthankaras that help us. It's Their Goddesses that help us.
Now, I am in a soup. Being a staunch believer of Goddesses, I cannot imagine my life without praying them. Let's be honest enough, most of us regularly seek blessings of Goddess Lakshmi. (I don't need to specify a reason for it.) Everyday I have an argument with a group of people regarding the main Goddess. My argument being that if we have knowledge (Saraswati) then money (Lakshmi) automatically flows in. But the counter argument is that only money (Lakshmi) can buy knowledge (Saraswati), which means, if you have money then you can hire men of skills. But if you only have skills then you will always remain a slave of money.
So this is the dilemma, guys... I can never dare to differentiate my loyalties between the Goddesses. While Amba has given me courage then Padmavati has given me a sound soul. But I never had an issue with this fact. What my dilemma is this particular thing... If Lakshmi has given me an identity of being a well-to-do guy then Saraswati has given me the knowledge, talent and the power of expression. I can never forget the appreciation that I recieved for my writing talent. But it's a fact... a fact that is like a bitter pill to swallow, when those group of people taunt that I still haven't got publishers standing in a queue to publish my writings because most of them have a hunger for money. Hahaha. And I don't wish to showcase my talent on the basis of money. In fact I wish to raise money on the basis of my talent. I wish to create my identity on the basis of my power of expression.
But this particular debate always haunts my mind... Who is more important, Lakshmi or Saraswati? I have a diplomatic but an honest answer that my life is incomplete without the presence of 'Both' in my life. But history has also witnessed the fact that the counter argument does have a point!
It's time to sign off and get set for a good night sleep!
Ciao!
I am back again. It's been a real hectic day. I wonder who's writing the script of my life. People say that man is the architect of his own fate. But I wonder if I was the one who chose to write my own destiny. It has been a real, real hectic life (pun intended)... Feeling implicated and vindicated at the same time. Or should I say, being at a wrong place on a wrong time?
The last couple of days have been a rollercoaster ride. It's getting more and more difficult to understand the human psychology. I guess it's time to have a proffessional approach towards leading a 'normal' life. When I speak about 'normalcy', I mean about leading a simple life. It's time to quit from the race where the only challenger in your race of life is 'you'. It needs great efforts to achieve glory. But it requires greater efforts to accept defeat with dignity. Sadly, it's always a case of sour grapes theory in everybody's life.
Coming back to the dilemma... There's a shockingly surprising news for me and my readers. 'Accidently', my parents read some of my blog posts, my poems and a few excerpts of my coming novel 'The Pink Slip'. They inquired about the theme and the status of my previous novel. As usual, I chose to accept my defeat against the bigwig publishers who chose to leave me on tenterhooks. For some reason, Dad seemed interested to help me realise my dream of being a writer. Or should I say, a 'published' writer. But... I rejected his plan. Lol.
Anyways, there has been a strange fight happening within my conscience. I ain't sure if everybody experiences the same fight within themselves. Ever since I understood the human psychology about religion, I got more and more interested in doing research on the Gods and Godesses of Indian mythology. Being a staunch believer of faith in Goddeses, I worship many of them. For example, Goddess Saraswati for knowledge, Goddesses Lakshmi for wealth and prosperity, Goddess Amba for courage and fearlessness and Goddess Padmavati for peaceful mind and sound and healthy soul. In fact, even the gurus taught me the same thing that when we pray to the Tirthankaras, it's not the Tirthankaras that help us. It's Their Goddesses that help us.
Now, I am in a soup. Being a staunch believer of Goddesses, I cannot imagine my life without praying them. Let's be honest enough, most of us regularly seek blessings of Goddess Lakshmi. (I don't need to specify a reason for it.) Everyday I have an argument with a group of people regarding the main Goddess. My argument being that if we have knowledge (Saraswati) then money (Lakshmi) automatically flows in. But the counter argument is that only money (Lakshmi) can buy knowledge (Saraswati), which means, if you have money then you can hire men of skills. But if you only have skills then you will always remain a slave of money.
So this is the dilemma, guys... I can never dare to differentiate my loyalties between the Goddesses. While Amba has given me courage then Padmavati has given me a sound soul. But I never had an issue with this fact. What my dilemma is this particular thing... If Lakshmi has given me an identity of being a well-to-do guy then Saraswati has given me the knowledge, talent and the power of expression. I can never forget the appreciation that I recieved for my writing talent. But it's a fact... a fact that is like a bitter pill to swallow, when those group of people taunt that I still haven't got publishers standing in a queue to publish my writings because most of them have a hunger for money. Hahaha. And I don't wish to showcase my talent on the basis of money. In fact I wish to raise money on the basis of my talent. I wish to create my identity on the basis of my power of expression.
But this particular debate always haunts my mind... Who is more important, Lakshmi or Saraswati? I have a diplomatic but an honest answer that my life is incomplete without the presence of 'Both' in my life. But history has also witnessed the fact that the counter argument does have a point!
It's time to sign off and get set for a good night sleep!
Ciao!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A Trip to Reality
10:00 pm - Aatish and Ruchik leave my office premises, fighting with me for not joining them to meet Dada.
10:15 pm - I finally get to leave my office to reach Dada's house. The bus frequency sucks. My phone keeps on ringing every 5 mins as if they want to update my status on their respective facebook profiles. I cross the Grant Road bridge, with a hope to catch a cabbie.
10:30 pm - Curses! Still unable to trace a cabbie. (Looks like everyone's sleeping.) I walk around station... Bhatia hospital... Kamat restaurant... Ganga Jamuna juice center... Still no sign of a cabbie...
Finally... I find a decent cab and the trip to reality starts....
There are men... There are working men..
There are races... There are racially discriminative people..
There are people who talk... There are people who let their actions speak..
And finally... There are Gujjus and Maaru's.. There are Marathis and finally the UPs and Biharis!
Everytime I sit in a cabbie, most of my senses get diverted towards the meter. But for no valid reason, this time, my senses were diverted towards my watch. I have to make sure that I ain't too late for the darshan. The car reaches near SoBo Central (previously known as Crossroads) and a Meru cab nearly dashes into some private car. I pass a tongue whacking comment, "Looks like the Meru driver is spying on his wife." The cabbie driver laughs and initiates the conversation, "Saab, the car condition doesn't matter to these guys because they have already paid Rs. 10,000 as the deposit for the car." I give a smile and he continues, "The Meru company is owned by Vilasrao's son and it operates all over India. It was floated so that the illegal funds could be converted into white money."
We reach Haji Ali and by mistake he drives from the right side of the road. We reach near Lala college and we need to take a compulsory U-turn. He regrets and says sorry. He offers me to cut the fare. I tell him that I have no issues. He apologises again and we take the Mahalaxmi station road. He talks about Jet Airways owned by Naresh Goyal. He talks about the India shining and the progress of India. He talks about the real reason behind the fight for natural gas between the Ambani brothers. He talks about the reason behind basic needs getting dearer. Every word seems so convincing. We drive through Tulsi Pipe road and he talks about the Mayawati-Mulayam Singh feud. He talks about education. He differentiates between Indian law system and laws of other countries. One particular argument that shakes my faith in judiciary is when he asks me, "Dhananjay Chaterjee was sent to gallows because he raped and killed a girl. But I don't understand how come Qasab and Afzal Guru are still alive, inspite of killing many innocent people." He mocks about the law system. He praises Atal Bihari Vajpayee but takes a dig on L.K.Advani. He feels sorry for Kandahar hijack.
11:05 pm - I finally reach my destination and he apologizes for taking the long route. He offers me not to charge me. But I decide to pay him complete fare as he made me realise about several socio-eco-political issues. I promise him to write about him in my blog.
Guys, if you get a chance, please take a ride in this cabbie... His name is Sureshchand Yadav from Uttar Pradesh and his taxi number is MH01-X504. As I reach Dada's place, I tell my friends about this trip to reality. They call me a buffoon and crack jokes about me. I laugh at their jokes because I realised about one particular thing, there is this particular guy who thinks more about the country's progress rather than being a part of cheap politics.
Hats off to you, Yadavsaab!
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