THORN BUSH has ROSES.. :)

Coming back from office on a rainy day, I was waiting for auto. "Auto... Auto... JNTU" I screamed. "NO", he said arrogantly. Few more autos went by without even replying. Another Auto came "JNTU...".  He was kind enough to reply, "Madam, no one will go to JNTU today. Rain water has blocked that route. You have to take another route". I was already wet with the merciless rain. "Why didn't I take umbrella", I cursed myself and was looking for any kind lady who would offer to share her umbrella with me. Alas! there was none .... I was worried about my mobile being wet...  I ran towards the other corner of the road to check for other route. "Auto... Miyap..", Before I could say miyapur, seven people grabbed it and this auto ran away with flooded candidates on it. Few more autos went away that way. After half an hour or so, a bus came "MIYAPUR" on its board; overflowing with CROWD. I somehow managed to enter it. I cursed everything on the planet, starting from rain to roads to auto drivers to car owners to the crowded bus and to my company which has not provided transport facility. Reached my room after 2 and a half hrs of journey. 

I was tired and was still cursing... 

Bed time, before I sleep, is the time when I tend to flashback the day for once. Flashback told me:

 "You reached office at 11.30 am, 2 hours late; no one complained; very few people have the luxury to reach office that late; just after 2 hrs session, you went for lunch- You had a tasty Biryani with Gulaab Jamun; many people cannot afford these meals. You enjoyed half an hour near the lake in your company premises. It was all so beautiful and pleasant; Very few companies in India are such well built. You went back to work and enjoyed the training period and had fun with your colleagues. Coming back from office the hunt for auto started..... You cursed everything that was going wrong, but never blessed anything that was going right."

I reminded myself that I should thank God for what has been given to me. I questioned myself for not being able to see the positivity in things.. Why?? Why am I becoming so complaining day by day??? This is not the usual me... If I cant do anything, I should not complain and If I complain, I should have something to do for it. 

This life is full of so many things and yet so devoid of many others. The more we get, the more we want. There is this endless chain of wants... "I want good friends, good work, good workplace, good amount of money, nice food, nice place to live in, nice transport, etc, etc. "  We keep on complaining for what we have or for what we don't have. There is no period, no full stop!!

Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses.

I am in my trials to come out of this complaining attitude and to get into the mood called POSITIVITY! Are you??

P.S : I initially titled it as "A figment from the lake of thoughts", but later changed it to "Thorn Bush has ROSES" upon suggestion from one of my friends. Because, this title gives the gist of my post. Received this title with thanks... :)

Mission - Water CAN!!

It was 9 AM in the morning. Half bucket of water was available in wash room. Mom said, "I'm waiting since 5 AM for water. Please go and arrange some water cans.".. New thing for me!!... I said "I think Dad can arrange... Let me call. He is in office. He must be knowing".  " No need beta... There's a tea shop in the next lane. Ask him where we can get water cans", Mom said. But, the impatient ME was already on call.

"Hello, Dady, There's no water in home. Relatives too are there. Veena Aunty and Sharma Aunty may come in next 2 hours for satsang. what should I do? Where should I call? Do you have any phone number to call and arrange water??" I was speaking NON-STOP.

Dad with his patient voice asked "Entii ?? " (What?)

"Huh!! O Dady.. No Water. Please arrange", I said, this time in a shorter version.

"Oh... Hmmm... I had one contact of a water supplier.... Hmmm.... But.... I changed my mobile... That number is lost... Hmmm... Let me check..." 

After a long pause, he continued "Do one thing...There's a tea shop in the next lane. Ask him where we can get water cans"

"Okay! So, Audio replay in different voice this time", I thought and cursed myself for not listening to the first voice.

I brushed my teeth with one mug of water.  I said to myself, "Kindly adjust..." 

@ Tea Shop - "Bhaiyya, yahan paani kahan milega?" (Brother, where can I get water??)  He gave me a strange look and looked at the water bottle beside his Tea can. As guessed by his strange looks, he didn't know.
I saw one of my neighbours was passing by.  
"Namaste Uncle"
"Hello.. So, how's your vacation going?"
"Yeah..Good. Uncle, can you tell me, where can I get water cans here. Some water scarcity at home", I came to the point directly.
"Don't know. I'll inform you, in case I see any water seller", he said with a big smile.
"Thank you.. (but I wonder if you find him in an hour):, I thought.

I came back home and told the same story to mom. My peddananagaru (paternal uncle), who was listening to this, joined me in my hunt for water. After roaming in three to four lanes and asking almost every shopper and vendor, we finally got the address of the water supplier. 


"We need 6 water cans", I said.
"Bhara hua ya khali?" (Empty one or filled one?), he asked. 
"Of course, filled ones please!!" I said with the obviousness of the matter and gave our address with a sigh of relief. 
While coming back it started drizzling. "WATER - Ah.. What a relief!!", I smiled. Peddananagaru smiled back and said, "No wonder if a few years down the line, we buy the air we breathe!". 
Water is one of the most basic of all needs - And yet, we take water for granted. We waste water needlessly and don't realize that clean water is a very limited resource.


Save water, each drop is precious!
Please go through few tips to save water in the below link.
http://www.pubarticles.com/article-five-aspects-to-save-water-at-home-1251451885.html

The Indian Idle

Yes, who else it is, but me! And, what would a typical Indian Idle do? Yes, It's watching the Idiot Box - TV. ( Chatting, orkutting FB and Blogging on a parallel track)

The average Indian family is hooked to the TV shows which start from 7.30 PM and continue till 10.30 PM. After a long time, surfing the TV channels, I chose the below serials/ programs some of which I love to hate while watching.. ;)

1) Balika Vadhu - This half an hour program has less than one line of story. It begins with Anandi's cry and ends with the same. This serial was started with the motive to kinda eradicate child marriages in society. But, now it seems that the serial is encouraging it!! "Eeh! This should be banned", I say, every time I watch. 

2) Na aana iss des me LAADO - Eeh... The lesser I talk about it, the better. I change the channel, as soon as I see any of the character on TV. My mom insists "Laado aa raha hai, channel mat badlo". "Not again! Mom.. PLEASE! This serial is introducing cruelty in those SAASs who are not cruel... It shows the ways on how to be a BAD person... Don't watch this. So much grossness involved! Yak!" I start my lecture.... Mom says "Ok! I will watch the repeat telecast, with a sigh!"... SIGH!!!!

The list of daily soaps is unending, Bidaai, Behane, Sasuraal genda phool, Uttaran... etc, etc, etc. . Almost all serials have same plots. A cruel (saas) mother-in-law, a dutiful bahu (Bahu - Daughter in Law), another competing grey-shade bahu.. You can identify easily who is the villain in the story with the help of.. 1) Make-up and, 2)Back-ground music, when the person enters. Second marriages, illegal relationships, coming out from the mouth of death," "Pati is parmeshwar" (Husband is God) type dialogues" are so common in all these serials that its ODD to even see.

Now, coming to my favourite programs... 

1) Indian Idol - Music is something which has always attracted me. and, so has this program. The punch lines of the judges and the melodrama within too is interesting... Becomes irritating at times when unworthy candidates get more votes... I'm happy! Finally, Tia is out of Indian Idol 5. 

2) CID - I'm watching this serial since my childhood. I love to laugh at the comedy within this serial. The peculiar style of ACP Pradyuman with his waving right hand near his right portion of his head and a raised left eye-brow with the dialogue "Daya, pata lagao ki akhir chakkar kya hai!!!" or the only dialogue by Fredericks "Sir!!! Ye tho Marr gaya!!" is worth LOL. 

( Those who haven't seen CID, it is a series of detective stories, out of which 99% of the stories have the same ending - Inspector Abhijeet or Daya slaps the suspect and he agrees, "ahuhuhu" (that's a cry and not a laugh), "Han! maine hi khoon kiya.. Mujhe badla lena tha badla.. ahuhuhu")

3) Dance programs like boogie woogie, chak dhoom dhoom : small kids dancing look very cute and is worth watching. Again as I said above, Music attracts me...

4) India TV News channel : You can laugh out loud with the news in this channel. It always airs news with the content of "chamatkari dhongi baba" types... Now, this news channel has the capacity to show the oldest of the news as breaking news. Take Dhoni's marriage.. For 3 days, the channel was busy in investigating, 1) why he did not invite his fellow players. 2) where will he go for his honeymoon 3) with how many girls was he having an affair before his marriage and so on and so forth... "Are bhai! Give a break... let him live"

Ok Ok... Enough of these things, the list though is unending! I know, I have bored you enough for the day. 

I certify myself as the "Indian Idle" of this month, by watching TV at my best after 4 long years!! Thanks to those, who read my unworthy post. Wanna kill your time??? Read my post ...if you don't have TV by any chance... ;)

Mixed Bag of Emotions.. :) :D :O :(

"Aa gaye Beta, chutti leke??" is the common question every one asks when I reach home from Hyderabad. Hyderabad - My karma bhoomi, so far! And it is always a pleasant experience to say "Yes!!! I came on vacation." The love with which everyone receives makes you feel very special. and, I simply love this ;)
On a long vacation, this time, it feels great. 3 days passed and I'm loving the freedom of no work, mom's morsels , TV, phone calls from friends, waiting for Sunday to meet friends. It's all so exciting...
I feel the same anxiety which I felt before joining my first company. How would the place be? Will I be able to make good friends? How the work will be? Will I get to learn new things? when will I be transferred to Delhi/NCR? Will I be transferred at all at first place? Chalo, chodo bhai... abhi tho ek mahina ghar baithe maze karte hain, fir sochte hain....
And, with all this excitement, anxiety and happiness of being at my home, I have this slight twinge of leaving my present company. I never realised how and when I fell in love with my company, my colleagues and my workplace. They say, Idle mind is devils workshop, and so has become mine... now, whenever I sit idle, I think "what must be going on now at office.. ?" I get funny answers and I laugh at them and start smiling. One such answer:
Bunny must be eating the coconut with right hand and ice-cream melting with the heat surrounding.... Hehehe .


PS- I'm sorry for not giving description of the last line.. Those associated with me at my workplace shall understand it... ;) 
The purpose of writing this blog is just nothing. No wisdom Quotes, nothing preachy and nothing moralistic and idealistic like my other posts....
Its thinking out loud... straight from the heart!!!

Open Communication Vs Keeping Secrets

Why do we keep secrets?  I'm not talking about the Government Secrets, corporate secrets or technology secrets. I am talking of those which we keep as individual people. Do we keep them to protect ourselves? Or others we love? Are we afraid of being judged? Do we keep secrets out of fear? Are we afraid that by revealing our secrets that we will be rejected? Or is it just for prestige? Or do we fear that the other person will benefit more out of our hidden task...? or do we fear that people will be jealous of us??
I remember how as school kids, some of my friends used to hide things... important questions for exams, how much portion one has completed, etc.., etc..... I was never able to hide such things. I confess that I too tried to hide just because others are hiding, but, part of me, likes boasting about myself and hence always failed in hiding things :). I loved to tell how much I have read and told my friends how much ever I knew, whatever my wisdom said about important questions.. At the end of the examinations, I would come to know that what I knew was the least.... and, all others who were showing off that they know nothing are getting better marks and know more than what I do. 

Coming back to secrets, as in personal ones... We all have secrets. We all keep them for different reasons. But, the motive behind secrecy should be strong. You shall not tell all the personal things to every one, and, If you tell someone, you should not expect the secret to be kept. And, most importantly, when you tell a secret to someone saying that "It's Only You whom I told" - that should be a truth. I have personally faced it many times. I try to hide a secret which is told to me and I come to know that Its not just me who knows this 'so called' secret.
If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees. - Kahlil Gibran
To keep up a secret, you may have two options to here: 1) Use of a Lie , or 2)Declining to answer when asked something related.
There are instances when I too have lied to keep up a secret.... and then felt guilt for the same, when at the end I understood that it was of no use. And, that guilt is never a pleasant experience, and I kept wondering "Why I lied???" 
Though, the second option is much better, but somewhere the internal peace seems to be lost.
I understood that you are a free bird when you are transparent and have open communication.. because you are not afraid of what anyone might think, because now it was all out there. “Let them judge me as they will”.


“Do nothing secretly; for time sees and hears all things, and discloses all.”

Casting out Casteism: Can you???

"Em Pilla, meeru evaru??" ("Hello girl..., who are you?", here 'who are you' signifies 'what caste you belong to'); this was among the first few questions asked when I entered my hostel, some 4 years back. I was not used to this type of questions. I'm brought up in a locality where almost people from most of the religions and most of the states live together. This question sounded odd to me...

Nevertheless,  I answered "Hmm.. Brahmin... why?" 

She was startled.. That's what I understood from her reaction. 

She asked "enti? Brahmin aa?" (What!, Brahmin?) giving some extra stress to the word "Brahmin".

"Why? What happenned?", I asked again. 

"Ah.. Nothing re... You don't look like a Brahmin, so...", she said. 

"Oh, is it??, By the way, I don't know how Brahmins look like... Please explain", I asked. 

She smiled this time and said, "Don't mind, but brahmins are generally of a fairer complexion". 

LOL, what an idea to identify the caste...  My mom says, "A TRUE BRAHMIN is one who has acquired brahminhood not by birth but through his noble actions." "Brahmin" in real sense means the one who has Brahma Gnana. It is not a caste. Ask anyone in today's generation and most often reply would be "One who eats only vegetarian food"... you may also get some weird replies like the man who has a V shaped or three horizontal Tilakams on forehead, or the man who wears a sacred thread (Woman, by default, is not of much importance in Indian society, she is known by the name of either father or Husband).... or  in worst cases as in the above incident "One who is of a fairer complexion!"


India has been a land obsessed by caste and has been unable to rise above it.  It is known to be “world’s biggest democracy” and ironically it is “world’s biggest social segregation" as well.  The caste system - a subtle and deeply rooted system of social differentiation and segregation - is without a doubt an exact opposite to the fundamental ideals of democratic practice.

I keep wondering why in this age, the great people of a great nation, can still be trapped in such a system of social segregation against fellow countrymen/women as caste. 

Most of the people in "so-called" modern society keep on flaunting to be heretic, but the fear of acceptance in their society makes them think the way presented in the cartoon here:  (The word "Brahmin" in the below cartoon can be changed with Reddy, Choudhary, Iyer, etc... etc... all the castes present). We forget that Society is made for man and not vice-versa. Take the recent worst cases of honor killings - Choose to have relationship outside of family's tribal affiliation and/or religious community AND YOU MAY BE KILLED... If not killed literally, you may be killed mentally as YOU ARE FORBIDDEN from the family. 

We - Indians boast a lot about having "UNITY IN DIVERSITY" but India is so much largely divided in terms of caste, region, religion, language and communities that Unity in true sense is next to impossible.
I dream of seeing a day in my life when people say that "I am a world citizen and the world is mine...Only 1 Caste exists and that is Humanity". Reminds me of a dialogue in Hindi Movie My Name is Khan where hero's  mother says, "The only difference between people is that there are good people and there are bad people."

We have to change society. We cannot change laws. We have to change society by changing ourselves, so that when we become law makers, may be for our next generations, at least then our world has a chance having new laws, sensible laws, laws which unite human beings and not divide them.

And then, Last Breath escapes my lips!

A lorry on the divider at cross roads trampled one of the pillars, a crushed bike was beneath it. I closed my eyes as I saw a broken helmet and blood flowing. The body was already taken out from the accident place, but the blood was still flowing. It was 5.30 a.m. when I happened to view this terrible scene from the window of my cab, while moving to office. There doesn't seemed to have any chances of the victim to be alive. I prayed for the soul. My mind was disturbed.
As the 8 hours in office passed, I kind of forgot the "View", and my shift ended well with a birthday celebration of one of my colleagues. I returned to the same cross-roads while walking towards my hostel. Lorry was no more there, crushed bike was no more there... the blood was cleaned up... but the broken helmet was still there, as if crying helplessly. Mind was disturbed again.
For two nights, the view of a lorry crushing a person brutally, haunted me like anything. No one knows what happens the next moment. One may or may not get the chance to think of God, while taking last breaths.

"Nothing in life is certain except Death." The quote reiterated in my mind.
Thanks to my colleague who gave me the link to this video. It gave me few answers to my unquestioned questions...




Lyrics are profound...
LAST BREATH
From those around I hear a Cry, 
A muffled sob, a Hopeless sigh,
I hear their footsteps leaving slow,
And then I know my soul must Fly!
A chilly wind begins to blow,
Within my soul, from Head to Toe,
And then, Last Breath escapes my lips,
It's Time to leave. And I must Go!
So, it is True (But it's too Late)
They said: Each soul has its Given Date,
When it must leave its body's core,
And meet with its Eternal Fate.
Oh mark the words that I do say,

Who knows? Tomorrow could be your Day,
At last, it comes to Heaven or Hell
Decide which now, Do NOT delay!
Come on my brothers let us pray
Decide which now, Do NOT delay!
Oh God! Oh God! I cannot see!
My eyes are Blind! Am I still Me
Or has my soul been led astray,
And forced to pay a Priceless Fee
Alas to Dust we all return,
Some shall rejoice, while others burn,
If only I knew that before
The line grew short, and came my Turn!
And now, as beneath the sod
They lay me (with my record flawed),
They cry, not knowing I cry worse,
For, they go home, I face my God!
Oh mark the words that I do say,
Who knows, Tomorrow could be your Day,
At last, it comes to Heaven or Hell
Decide which now, Do NOT delay !
Come on my brothers let's pray
Decide which now, do not delay ....

From Letters to Scraps

When is the last time you saw post man coming in a bicycle with a bag of letters??? For me, it is perhaps when I was in 9th standard or so.... 
To open the envelope from family members or friends, replying, and knowing that they will take time to write back to you was a great feeling. I remember how we used to make  greeting cards on special occasions for friends and spent hours in making them look the best. There is something special in the golden ribbon boundary of the cards, the smell of Fevicol, Blue ink and hand writing in personal letters and cards. I have saved a treasure of such Hand written letters and Hand-made cards and I love to see them, adore them even today.
Now-a-days, people don't much prefer to write. Whether personal or business related, people pick up a phone before they pick up a pen . Then again, I cant blame anyone, for I haven't written anything with a pen, for some months, except just the odd signature here or there. I get e-mails now, infact, I am getting more than my share of emails, and reading them, though gives me a lot of happiness , but still is no match to the hand written stuff. No one no more addresses anyone with "Dear ....", "Dearest and Nearest", "Respected", etc.. Emails begin with "Hi" and end with "Cheers"! Thanks to social sites like orkut and facebook, we have stopped the minimum formalities. We directly say "Wassup??" :)

The intimacy and the feelings with which people used to write letters seems to be lost. I wonder when I think about the past, when there was no mode of communication through technology, not even postal service. People had to wait for a pigeon to send  and receive letters. Remember "Kabutar ja ja" of "Maine pyar kiya". When you see it now,  it looks quite humorous... isn't it? But I salute to the patience that our earlier generations had.

No one in our generation wants to wait. We need everything instant: instant coffee, instant recipes, instant messaging and 2 minutes Maggi Noodles. :)

Give a break to the instant things, once in a while... Take time to write to your loved ones. Let your pen touch the crisp white paper and write your feelings out. It will be a nice experience...

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. 

— Ferris Bueller

Routine - sounds boring???

"Such a boring life!!!",I thought as I monitored the OS alerts at work. Same work, same cabin, same system, same cab, same room, same food every day... I'm bored of this routine and the repeated tasks.... I looked up and saw the roof of my office... "Eh! Fan is also not there", I thought.. I have this peculiar habit of looking at the rotating fan, whenever I feel bored. I closed my eyes, still head upwards, and my back rested on the chair. 
A question popped up from somewhere... "Is repetition and routine the key to life's boredom or is it the life's meaning?"  The question gave me a mild jerk and I sat straight. I was fully awake now.. I heard my heartbeats. It's repetition of the same beats throughout our existence. Our heartbeats, Our breathing, revolution of the Earth, the diurnal circles of the sun, everything needs repetition... My rotating fan too repeatedly rotates to make me feel the air... We need to sleep every day; we need to eat every day, etc, etc, etc.. ; and without undergoing all that repetition and routine -- we'll probably be dead.

My respect for the power of routine has increased dramatically after this episode.  I understood that most of the life is routine - sometimes it may be dull; but it is the momentum which keeps us going.

Beliefs and Values

Getting to know different people and their very different perspective on life is a great experience in itself. We get amazed when sometimes people don't behave in the way we expect them to. Some of the things or say basic ethics which we feel are very natural to any human may seem to be "Rocket science" for others. I have experienced this recently and was wondering and pondering over these thoughts.

I believe that the basic difference among the people comes from beliefs and values one has. There are many influences in society that could affect our beliefs and values. It probably starts from the influence of our cultural backgrounds, our parents, our communities, our schools and teachers, our books. And, we also form our own beliefs from individual life experiences and observations.

Eventually, we figure out an optimal path guided by our values -- matched to our personality, environment, responsibilities, health, etc. But our beliefs and values can change with time. Changing beliefs and values will shift one's fundamental goals, motivations, attitudes, behavior -- our direction in life.

"Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is."

--Bhagavad Gita

Colors of Life

Holi went by yesterday. Some of the girls were playing with colors. I was not much interested. I remembered the good old days of my childhood, when Holi was the time to play, play and play...It usually occurred during the Final exams in the academic year and that was really sad. I remember how we used the water from the tanks upstairs and poured water on every person passing by. 
Holi is a time to reach out with the colors of joy. It is the time to love and forgive. It is the time when one can express the happiness of being loved and to be loved through colors. Holi is a special time of year to remember those who are close to our hearts with splashing colors! I see Holi, not as a religious festival, but as a social festival in which all the colors of castes, creeds, regions and religions shall be mixed up.
So, coming back to reaching the colors of joy, I spent the day by watching the colors of nature. Isn't color an integral part of our life? We know the colors of the rainbow as a natural progression; we know how (white) light breaks into the same rainbow colors through a crystal prism or through water. When the sun sets we go through the same array of colors again, though amber and deep blue are the dominant colors. At mid-day we have this crisp cool white light. A glance at any natural scene provides many examples of the mysteries of colors. There are so many different colors of life, of feelings and of expressions. I wonder at God's creation!

A Random thought!

We all have thoughts frequently popping-up in our minds. How much ever hard you try, sometimes they just don’t leave us.   You're doing something; but the mind works on its own thoughts many a times. Ever experienced the feeling of "I WANT TO SLEEP NOW! Hey, THOUGHTS! Please don't disturb me!"? 

Sometimes I do imagine myself opening the Task Manager of my mind and killing the process "Thought.exe", when I am actually fed up... And, if I'm feeling extremely bad for some reason, I imagine myself doing "Shift+delete" to permanently delete the sadness or bad thoughts associated with it. Or, if I am angry, just delete the anger to recycle-bin.  Sometimes, these funny things work and sometimes they don’t. It depends upon the WILL with which the suggestion is given to your mind. 

It may sound quite absurd for some, but being a windows system admin, I sometimes tend to implement a few things on my own system :)

I feel that when a man-made machine, computer has this option, how can the God's greatest creation - Man, does not have this option? We delete the unwanted files timely to keep our system clean. Why can't we do the same thing with our own human system - The heart and the mind? 

The thoughts come and go. If we thoroughly understand, a thoughtless state exists, but we are too much connected with thoughts, we either take too much interest in them or we hate them, and both are not too good for us. We should do a timely cleaning depending upon the threshold of the mind and the heart to take it up. In my opinion, this will result in a peaceful life... 

Any thoughts popping up after reading this??

Dreams Unlimited!!!

I was drowning. A storm of water was coming from all the sides. I did not know swimming. Where did so much water come from? Was it real? I tried flapping my legs and hands up and down.  My athletic efforts were temporarily rewarded. I came up to catch a whiff of fresh air. But that was all I could get. I was going down and I could not come up. I was not aware of anything else except the water.

Suddenly, the water disappeared, leaving me dry... I was soon dispersed into various small particles. And I swirled in the wind like a tornado. At one place above some mountains, the swirling particles paused and concentrated back to my physical form. Imagine the view of superman or Shaktimaan here (You may view SuperLady or Lady Shaktimaan, considering that I am a female... :) ).  I viewed greenery; felt as if I am on a cloud and soft breezes touched my face. 

I laughed and said "WoW!". " Is this the so called 'swarga'?, Am I dead??? ", I thought. I heard someone saying "What, what are you murmuring?". Opened my eyes and found my roomie beside shaking me... "Uh! was that a dream?? I want to continue it..", I said and wrapped myself in the blanket again...Obviously, it never continued.. I wished that dreams were like movies in a DVD player, where one can pause it and watch it whenever one feels like.

"Dream is not what you see in sleep, dream is the thing which does not let you sleep." - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. 

The quote no doubt, sounds very nice and wise, but frankly, I have never been able to accept it completely. I would call the 'dream' in the above quote as "aspiration" or "ambition" or simply say "a goal", for I see dreams in deep sleep; you don't know what unexpected thing you may face the next moment... A scary dream may turn into a pleasant one at any time and vice-versa; a meaningless dream to a meaningful one..... The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.

My Magical Mom

She waited for us to come back from school at around 2.30 PM every day. She was ready with a plate full of rice mixed with some curry, as we got fresh up. My mom would then feed us morsel by morsel in each of widely opened mouths with a loving heart- with just a story along with food. This is one of the earliest memories of my childhood. And I wonder that it is same till date. There is some magic in my mother’s fingers that makes the food tastier.Whenever I have sleepless nights, I sleep near her silently. She raps on my head gently with her hand. There is some magic in my mom’s hands, which absorb all my worries and just within a few seconds, I fall asleep.

My mother has a virtual x-ray machine fit in her eyes, which reads exactly what’s going on in my mind. There is some magic in my mom’s eyes. This is one of the reasons that I have never been able to tell a lie to my mom. Whenever tried, I failed miserably. She would see sternly with a raised eye-brow, and then with a big smile says “JHOOT!”. “God! Pakdi gayi”, I think and then GRIN... She gets angry very soon but melts soon too. So, I decided not to do this again in my life... Being truthful is easier than to face the shame after this GRIN!!

Remember the ‘Jadu ki Jhappi’ of ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’? My mom’s Jhappi has the same Jadu... The warmth of her hug wraps me with all the nice things and care for me.There is some magic in my mom’s hug.

My Magical Mom’s love is something that I could never explain fully; it is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain. It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns. 

Mother's love is far beyond defining, yet it defies all explanation and it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation. Many people no matter how hard they try cannot understand the great evidence of God's tender guiding hand in Mother's Love.

Be Positive!

My Colleague and Friend - Sadiq said "Please don't write blogs any more" in a witty manner, as I was leaving office; and here I am! writing another blog.  From the time he said "Don't WRITE", my mind actually started framing what to write next.

It reminds me of a speech by the Great Dr. Abdul Kalam where he explains that the mind has a very difficult time processing a negative image. He says that you cant visualise "not doing" something. The only way to properly visualize not doing something is to actually find a word for what you want to do and visualise that.

I have experienced that this is very true. I used to take tuitions for students of 6th to 9th standard. When I used to instruct my students "DONT MAKE NOISE", they made so much irresistable noise. Then, I decided to instruct "Keep quite", and it actually worked well. The same thing happenned when I used to play Volley ball in school days; The more my friends shouted "Don't drop the ball", the more likely, I used to drop the ball.. This happens because the brain first imagines "Dropping" and then tries to tell it not to do what it just imagined. Had they said, "Hit the ball hard" the result might have been quite different...

Be Postive, talk positive and positive things will come to you.. What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.

Politics -- Its all about Money!!!

With more than 700 million voters, India is the world’s largest democracy. However, it is far from being an ideal democracy.

Today, GHMC Elections were held (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation); a holiday for many. I was having my weekly off. 
One of the political leader (contestant in GHMC) is near to my place and hence, there was much "Khalbali" around. From the past one week or more, there was this great fuss of campaigning. Increasingly, campaigns are becoming more like full-fledged entertainment events. Folk dances, songs and folk rhythms are drawing huge numbers to the campaigns. But, we have suffered through a lot of irritating noise pollution from the double storied digital sound systems the whole week. I have personally never been much interested in politics and I wonder, how does this campaigning add value to people at large? But, its making huge impact on the crowds who never ever think about the proportion of money poured in to organise these campaigns. I'm sure the money spent on such things can make a village become self- sufficient in its water and food needs at least.

Coming back to the E-Day, the street was comparatively quite silent. The past few days, the Telangana songs of begging for vote were intolerable. I was busy in having my breakfast @ 11. am. Someone knocked the door... "Sowjanya, Aunty here", a voice came from outside. "Oh, Namaste Aunty", I welcomed. "So, are you going to vote today?", She inquired with a beautiful smile. Hesitatingly and a bit with shame, I said "No, I don't have voter ID for Hyderabad. I have it for Delhi....". "Actually i didnt get much time to register for that", I started explaining; trying to show that I am a good citizen and I know my duties, but I'm too busy for these duties. She said "No Problem, I came for that only. You can vote without a voter ID. Do vote for Mr.X of our colony. Everything will be taken care". I was shocked and exclaimed "You mean a False vote????". She said, "Yes, dear! and that won't be a problem, Many are doing that and I will accompany you. Many others who are not having voter's ID will go". I said "No, I'm not interested in doing so", with a firm voice this time. She went off with an angry face saying " It's not a compulsion, Your wish! I just thought you'll be happy to vote. Many girls and boys of your age are voting". She didn't say that some of them are being paid to vote, which I sensed.

I just wonder how many such false bogus votes have reached the ballot box! Today's politics is all about division on the basis of caste, religion and most importantly Money & advertising their brand, the symbol of their party! To achieve this new definition of politics, political parties have started appointing advertising companies to do their brand-building exercise. It is the job of advertising agencies to 'brand' parties and make pitches for them which are worth crores of rupees. Thousands of SMSes are being circulated, asking individual voters to register. The money velocity is so high that it is impossible for an ordinary citizen to even try and understand it. Where is the transparency and accountability of the Indian political system, starting from the grass root level to local level going up to state and national level???


The thoughts kind of disappointed me and it happens every time we see crime, corruption and any such negative thing. What the common people merely could do is "Stay away from it and Play safe". And, as they say "It's easier to wear a slipper than to carpet the whole earth"

Rewards & Memories

I was waiting for my name to be announced, so that I may reach the stage and take the certificate. My Team Lead sent a message in the Morning "Please be there in RNR Town-hall at 6 PM. You will get certificate of recognition. Venue: Shilpa Kala Vedica, Hi-Tech City". I was there sharp at 6 PM; though i was not much in mood to attend the function. I could see some of my project mates and we gave gestures of welcome. Some cultural programmes were held. The evening started with an inspiring "Being One" Presentation, followed by MD's speech, the accomplishments our company has  achieved. Then a dance show and a Pop Band - Everything was done by associates and was quite impressive. Finally, the time of distributing rewards came. My name was announced after a few others.. "Sowjanya Chaganti" - I hurried up to the stage to collect my certificate. Shook hands with our MD, then a kodak moment!!! 

Few more dance shows played after that. I was waiting for the show to get over, so that I could go for dinner.. Dinner was good and I was accompanied by my Team Lead. "Oh, Its 10 A.M EST!! And we are having Core service meeting with Alex after half an hour;  we gotto go fast to join;", he said, trying to eat as fast as he could. I agreed. We finished up fast and ran to take cab back to office.

Reached office. A few associates congratulated me :) Attended the meeting and started working. I was in night shift, so continued till 6.30 AM in the morning. The whole night, I could hear just the tapping of my keyboard.

When coming back to hostel, I recalled what happened in RNR (I almost forgot about it in  work) .  I remembered something similar that happened a few years back, when I was in college. How similar it is.... is it really that similar???

Neha, Pranit, Meenu, Shalu, Venus, Ankit and myself were jumping with joy. Yes, that was our group! The extreme 7 Group. We all adjusted ourselves in Venus's indica (You can understand, how 7 people can fit in an Indica!!) and kept the music, singing with the CD track- as we moved from EDM (East Delhi Mall) to college. We were happy. The proud group of BCA batch, coz the three prize holders of BCA belonged to our group. Hip-Hip-Hurray!!! We already had our stomachs full with "Golgappas" round the corner of the college street. By the time we reached college, it was already 6.30 PM. My mom-dad also arrived to college for the ceremony. The "Rang-Peeth" was well decorated and our seniors hosting the occasion made it more beautiful. When our names were announced, our group was shouting and applauding with Joy. I touched feet of my parents and took the certificate from Director sir. My group was clapping as loud as they could. I gave the certificate to Mom-Dad. I could sense the happiness they were feeling.  Before leaving the college, we clapped for our success and discussed what we should do next day. 

Believe it or not, we enjoyed the whole week discussing the "Sammaan Samaroh", by imitating seniors, the way they sung...
I spent that day in cherishing the memories of my college days. Days when we used to play Dumb arts, when we used to spend the whole day in the garden, plucking the grass of the garden badly....Bunking the classes and chatting in cafeteria... when we spent whole nights in messaging each other before the day of internal exams and asking how much portion is left.... revising the important questions just before the exam.... the growing heartbeat before the announcement of the results. And the relief after hearing the results.... 

The memories made my day...

Someone rightly said:

"Memory is a child walking along a seashore.  You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things."  

The Three Musketeers & A BAT !!!

It was 11.30 PM. I just came from office, had my dinner and sat before my favourite laptop. Ranju was reading some book. Nishu was roaming in the corridor with her mobile. The night was unusually silent. We were busy with our own works and we were not talking much, which is generally very rare, when we are awake. Our room's door was open.

Suddennly a bat came inside our room............ "AAAAAAA!!!! MUMMMYYYYYYYYYYY", my reflex action broke the silence of the room. I jumped from my bed to Ranju's bed and covered myself completely with a blanket. For a minute no one understood, what was happenning. "Are yaar, itna kyun darti hai, kuch nahi karega wo", said the brave army man's brave daughter - Ranju, after a while. Nishu was outside the room itself --"Itna kyun chilla rahe ho, kuch nahi hoga", she said, from outside, daring not to enter the room :). I was still covered in blanket. "Wo gaya ki nahi.... O God... O God... ", I said. I could hear my heartbeats as loud as i could hear the flaps of the flying bat. "Switch off the Fan.... It may get hurt", I cried from inside the blanket. The bat was flying continously inside the room changing its proportion of height. By now, Brave Ranju was also quite afraid. "Switch off the fan...", I said again, though, I was nearest to the switchboard.. Before Ranju could follow my words "KADAAAK" - a sound came and it was silent again. "O nooo, i think it is hurt", i said, slowly coming out from the blanket.. Nishu peeped in from the window. Happy to see that it is not there, she came inside... "Where's bat, by the way??" Nishu asked. "Its hurt... It should have fallen somewhere in the room. We have to find it.", said ranju thoughtfully. " Han, otherwise, the room will stink by tomorrow", continued Nishu. I said 'Yes' in agreement and we started searching for it. Nishu found it and said "Its on your handbag". "Whose? Mine.. Noo", I said. "I cannot go towards it. It's but still alive....", i said. Ranju was kind enough to take the bat out along with the handbag. Poor bat was badly hurt. Few drops of blood were there on my hand bag.

Finally, the ordeal was over. I took a breath of relief, and thanked Ranju.

After the whole episode, i just gave a thought -- What was that great reflex action for??? A small poor bat, lost its way and came inside our room. It was helpless.. What a timid person I'm.

I could have saved the life of bat, had i switched off the fan myself, coming out from fear!!! I was sad.

"Fear not for the future, weep not for the past", something inside me whispered... "I will try to follow, going forward", I said to myself.

Main aur meri Tanhayi

Mind was too distracted and restless; I was unable to concentrate on anything. Wasn't able to read or write or even to think something. Wanted to talk to someone. So many friends in chat list but was not interested to talk also... Ever experienced this - the book is open, you are reading something and so many thoughts are popping up that you are unable to understand the simplest of sentences. And, if you think, what thoughts are coming, you have no answer. Meditation helped in this situation. And, it helps you to analyse things better, in a calm way. After that by reading my spiritual Master's book, felt even more better...

When you fight with your best friend, for no big reason, your mood becomes upset. The blame game starts. “You started it first”, “NO, it’s YOU”. And when finally in the process of accusations, you come to know that unknowingly you have hurt your friend, that your friend’s happiness becomes sadness because of you, it becomes very painful for the heart. You have nothing to say but “sorry”. But, again “Why should I say sorry?” says ego.

The question is why do we fight in relationships? Why sometimes arguments seem to have no better end than silence...

Mr and Mrs Iyer

One of the movies I love to watch again and again is Mr & Mrs Iyer. I watched it again with my roomies yesterday. It is very nicely written and directed

.

This lovely little movie called Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, involves a bus journey from the hills to the plains and a continuing train journey up to Calcutta, where a little young Tamil mother, Mrs. Iyer, with her son Santaanam is taken care of by a Muslim. Their bus is halted on the way because some Hindu has been killed in an accident, and the Hindus are up against the Muslims. They drag out everybody who is suspected of being a Muslim from the bus. A very old, gentle Muslim couple are slaughtered. But Mrs. Iyer saves this Muslim who is with her by saying, "He is my husband." At the start of the movie, she won't even touch the water that he gives, and in Tamil curses freely. But later on she asks for the bottle which he has put to his lips and drunk from and drinks it. Then, one particular moment, very tenderly photographed, they are almost about to kiss when somebody says, "Excuse me," and passes on. That moment of romance was broken. But it shows, what a little love, what a little care can do, because within this scope of a bus journey lasting perhaps ten hours, expanded into three days by much violence on the way, a young married girl with a baby could fall in love with a Muslim bachelor just because he took care of her, looked after the baby, put it to sleep; when she spilled milk, he brushed it off the floor, things like that.

Love is something we all speak about all the time, or most of the time, but about which we know nothing. Generally, Love among human beings is friendship, dependence, need and, at the most, affection. And affection is what we have between all of us—I mean whether it is brother and brother, sister and sister, husband and wife. And to call it love, and to expect what you cannot expect from affection is the most, shall we say, shattering experience in life, because we expect so much without knowing what to expect. And thereby resulting in break-ups. We have only affection; we have only need-based relationships. Everybody knows this; it is nothing new. And when we read about love, especially through poetry, and see it in the movies, we think we are missing something. You can ask any couple in the world whether they are happy. Very often, nobody will be able to answer, "Yes, we are." Unless they are very old, and have lived together fifty years, and all their desires, their needs have fallen off, and then "nothing but he and I remain".