I BROUGHT A BOOK

I wouldn't say am overly spiritual. Let’s just say am someone who’s in the middle. Won’t deny, there are moments when my intelligence gets the better off me and I do question everything. But a major part of my ‘living’ these days are in peace. Sometimes things left alone the way they are makes more sense than rationalizing to a point of getting irritated. Trust me… been there, done that!

I do not judge another’s belief, for belief in something means having a purpose. And our universe works with purpose.

I am born Hindu. Have read Quran and the Bible. I relate to the teachings by Buddha. And if I were to follow my own path then my belief system is this: There is a superior force, an energy system that brings balance and meaning to all that we experience. My reasoning is simple – in Good there is God. We just give it different names and forms.

Life in itself is magical. There is a line of thought that it’s already scripted. And then our thoughts do have the power to manifest how it finally rolls out. Call it that gut feeling, inner voice or just a dream with eyes open.

Last week, in one of my flashback sessions, I remember a particular instance of buying Bhagwat Gita for my granny years ago. I wondered what happened to the book. Suddenly I had this desire to get another one at my current residence. My granny’s voice rang in my head about how blessed it is to keep the Holy Book in the house. She had told me how Lord Krishna is someone who seeks YOU out… and many people spent a lifetime seeking him. But then, he only comes to meet when he wants to. Had joked then, that am an approachable guy and the Lord can come anytime he feels ready.

She went on to tell me a story about how a thief overheard a priest chanting about the Lord’s crown filled with jewels. Thinking about its value, the thief hunted, high and low, without rest to get to Krishna. Apparently, Lord loves a good test of character. To make a story short, Krishna did appear to the thief and not the priest who sought him for years. My granny told me it was all in the approach.

Fast forward> Today at 8.30 PM, while walking on the streets a man just pops in front of me to sell books. He was representing ISKON temple, dedicated to Lord Krishna. Last week’s instance ran through my mind and I committed in my mind to buy the book. Seeing the solid 700 + page hardbound I expected it to be over 500 rupees. To my surprise, the book cost just 160. But then, I had just a single 1000 rupee note. Our friend promptly dishes out a bunch of notes. When I counted what he gave me, I realized the amount was 1,340 rupees. 500 extra! I promptly pointed it out. My chest puffing with pride at the good I did. Honestly, expected him to show gratitude. But instead he just smiled and took back the money.

I got home and even proclaimed to my loved ones on what happened. But it still did not feel right. Why did he smile? He should have been shocked, right? He should have thanked me.

Now as I write it, I am wondering if it was the test my granny told me about. If it was, did I fail? May be I shouldn't have felt like I did something great. May be am putting too much into this. Okay, pondering over it for a good three-hours and have reached a stage now, where I need to make peace with myself. I did a good thing by giving the money back. And his smile was the appreciation.

Chapter ONE, beckons me…

FACE YOUR LION…

A few days back, a good buddy lost his job. Having just married and brought his wife over to a new land, his voice was writ with pain and fear of the unknown. I heard him out calmly and in my own way told him to chin-up.

Why is it that we always manage to stay calm when we hear another’s trouble but find our own issues too big to face? Wouldn’t that kind of calmness help us face our own fears and insecurities?

I have heard that if you do end up facing a lion, the last thing you should do is run. The beast’s natural instinct is to chase and bite the neck. Suffocate its kill and eat it up. But if you stay put, it gets confused. Nature hasn’t prepared it to deal with something unnatural. Likewise, it’s important not give in to fear.


PS: No actual testimonial from any man alive after facing a real lion is available at the time of posting of this blog.

This one is really nice...

A LOVELY MESSAGE.

A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a loving couple and the boy was the gem of their eyes. When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for office so he asked his wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. His wife, preoccupied in the kitchen totally forgot the matter.

The boy saw the bottle and playfully went to the bottle fascinated by its color and drank it all. It happened to be a poisonous medicine meant for adults in small dosages. When the child collapsed the mother hurried him to the hospital, where he died. The mother was stunned. She was terrified how to face her husband.

When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the dead child, he looked at his wife and uttered just five words.


QUESTIONS
:
1. What were the five words ?
2. What is the implication of this story?

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ANSWER :

The husband just said "I am with you Darling"

The husband's totally unexpected reaction is a proactive behavior.
The child is dead. He can never be brought back to life. There is no point in finding fault with the mother.
Besides, if only he had taken time to keep the bottle away, this would not have happened.
No one is to be blamed. She had also lost her only child. What she needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband. That is what he gave her.

If everyone can look at life with this kind of perspective, there would be much fewer problems in the world. "
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears. And you will find things are actually not as difficult as you
think.

MORAL OF THE STORY
This story is really worth reading. ..... Sometimes we spend time in asking who is responsible or whom to blame, whether in a relationship, in a job or with the people we know. By this way we miss out something called LIFE.

“What the F$@%?” moments

Life is one big accumulation of moments. It is said; when the soul is about to part the body just a few moments of the entire life lived come to our head. It’s really up to us to hold on to happy moments.

So its best you let those “what-the-F$@%-moments” go sooner. That’s a conscious effort.

What are “What the F$@%?” moments? Anything that you feel shouldn’t have happened the way it did!

I haven’t lived that long. But listed below are random acts that happened to myself or to people I care about and they are my current top WTF moments.



People who disrespect their parents. Don’t mean petty fights. But people who go to the extent of cutting-off ties.

- Accept and love your parents.


Early risers who disturb people who love to sleep in the morning. Come on, let us finish our dreams.

- Everyone has different body clocks.


People who think they are God’s gift to mankind.

- Willing to admit mistakes is strength.


People who say, “I don’t care…” or “I don’t wanna know…”

- Willing to learn is a show of adaptability.


That phase in your life when you live without a direction. Not really caring if it was a Monday or a Friday.

- It’s your life. Only you yourself have the right to influence it.


Catching your lover cheating on you red-handed.

- If it happened once. It will happen again.


The lover who cheated on you makes you believe that it was you who drove them up that path.

- It’s the only way they can shift responsibility. Sort your own mistakes and move on.


When you make your friend a lover only to realise that breaking-up breaks that friendship too.

- Friendship is done amongst equals. Break-up shifts that balance.


Missing your loved ones happy occasions because of events that you don’t have control on.

- Disappointments are part of life.


When one fine morning you wake up and see that stuff you believed in were all wrong.

- Both good and bad are our own responsibility.


When a thinking man becomes ‘thoughtless’. Thoughtless here is to say, absolutely no thoughts.

- Take a break. Be with your family. Or do something that is not you.



When you finally see through those WTF moments, you realise that they didn’t even warrant a list!

Meet the Faker

Today, I met a friend who was cheated and hurt by a person, who easily fit into the ‘harmless’ category.

You give your trust. Believe in that person. Let go of your security net. And one day, kaboom… you don’t really know that person. Yes, let me introduce you to ‘the faker’. This faker is genderless. And he or she will even pretend to the dumbest person of the world. Harmless, you say? They are silent most of the time. Biding their time to wham you, when you are least prepared.

Have met my fair share of fakers. From big talking sales executives to people who have not hesitated to ‘kill-off’ their non-existent father!

Bizarre and extreme, isn’t it? I guess this automatically qualifies me to write this.

You can’t really identify these fakers. But you know you are out of the zone when a person goes out of the way to sound naïve or ignorant. Just watch closely at the behavior right after the solution is announced. If he/she sucks up to you – Say hello to faker!

They are full of drama. Every single incident of their life is large and too huge for them.

Another proven point is the old Chinese saying, “A person who discloses only his/her bad times is a bad friend to keep.”

So thank you my ex-fakers for those hard lessons.

I finally left my friend with the thought that “If you want to cheat someone, it’s the easiest thing to do.” He needed to be told that trusting another makes us human. And in no way is he guilty of being stupid - the lowest low of being a human.

Beauty

There are moments when my entire life so far, all that happened, all those people who touched my life, flashes in front of my eyes…

First of all, those moments in itself are not in seconds, it stretches on like an ocean of time. For me, it is like lying on my back on the grass and watching the night sky… or watching the autumn leaves letting go… or my grandmother’s hands and the way her skin seemed like soft paper. So many days, yet only so few moments.

I guess I could be pretty pissed-off with the wrongs that happened, but it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much of beauty in this world.

Sometimes I feel like seeing it all at once and it’s too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst. And then I remember to relax... and try not to hold on to it. It flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude… for every single moment of my stupid life.

May be you won’t have an idea about what I am talking about. But don’t worry. You will someday.

Stick by me, when am fat and ugly

No. This is not the new Elton John album.

When you feel life is being unfair. And the walls look closer than it seems. You will feel fat and ugly.

Some people around you will disappear looking at greener pastures. And some will stick on, for they know the quality of the mud. Hoping... some day it will bloom again.

They stick by you inspite of no guarantees. We need them. And it’s their belief in us that shower in the confidence.