Today is June 13th, so what’s special about this day??Well, June 13th was the first day of our school every year. The beginning of a new term and lots of studies and fun! Will always cherish the good old school days as well as the days spent in preparation for a new year at school.
I can still recollect, one of the most exciting activities, was to purchase all the books mentioned in the text book list, well in advance. Queuing up at the local book shop or the school store accompanied by my Mom, buying the new set of text books and notebooks and the required laminated covers for them, all this done with great enthusiasm and gusto! English was my favourite subject in school, followed by History and Hindi. So for obvious reasons, the first book I would lay my hands on was English. Ah! The smell of new books!! There was always a mingled curiosity and a childish eagerness to explore the contents and devour all the chapters in them! English text books always had a mix of stories, real life experiences and a few scientific chapters, not to forget the interesting plays and poems. History really fascinated me; no wonder archeology was one of the fields I wanted to take up when in school! World wars, Indian history all the chapters interestingly illustrated with pictures adorning each and every page; made me momentarily rewind my thoughts back to those periods. Standard eighth text book for history was one among my particular favorites. It was all about Indian history; the rule of kings and queens, the battles fought, their lavish lifestyles, intricately carved architectures and monuments, something I have always found deeply intriguing! Wish a time machine transported us back to those times, to explore the beauty, to relive those times and be a part of our great history and culture! Hindi text books were of a different flavour, with its moral stories and beautifully penned poems by celebrated and renowned Hindi writers. One of these distinguished writers,was Premchand. His realistic and humoristic depiction of the trials and tribulations in the life of a common man were par excellence and I doubt there is anyone who can bring out those real life situations the way he did!
Our school had a very weird set of rules, pertaining to the way notebooks and text books had to be covered. I have been racking my brains for quite some time now, finding out the logic behind such restrictions. The initial set of rules mentioned that a book had to be covered with a brown paper and then a plastic cover, laminated covers were a strict no no. Now can someone tell me what sense did that make? One of the worthless and useless set of rules that plague our education system! And the same people were later fine with books being covered with laminated covers! Guess they thought it was time to move on? Lol…………………Ready with scissors, labels and covers in hand I always undertook the activity of covering notebooks and textbooks with great fun! Neatly folding the cover over the books and snipping off the extra and unwanted parts, sticking labels (Disney characters were in demand! And bigger the label, better the visibility :)) all this activity would be completed within a matter of few hours. Sigh.... can I get those fun and frolic days back? The answer is a sad 'NO'.
But thanks to this day!!It has made me nostalgic, brought back sweet old memories, where innocence and eagerness to learn ruled minds, the puerile mind unaware of what life has in store for it! Such is the beauty of our childhood days, which each one of us would love to have back at some point in our lives!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Come Back!!
My futile attempts at writing blogs have certainly not dissuaded me from making renewed attempts at it. So with invigorated feelings and an indefatigable spirit, I hereby start with my next set of nonsensical….err…thought provoking..err (in short whatever my readers (…are there any???) seem apt to term it as ) articles. It’s been precisely 3 years, 7 months and 19 days since I wrote my last blog, God that’s a really long time, isn’t it? Certainly my blog must have joined the hordes of ghost blogs on the net!!
Well, so what has made me start writing it again? Well, time changes you and brings with it a host of unpredictable events which can encourage or discourage you from doing something worthwhile. My boring, insipid life has brought me back to the same threshold I was at, 3 years back. Writing is something that gives you a sense of liberation and thereby enables you to vent your frustrations and express your innermost feelings at the same time.
As to my writing, beware people!! This is not for the weak hearted or rather weak minded. Why am I saying this? The reason is I don’t want to be accused of murder or be burdened with the feeling of inflicting mental torture that people might be subjected to, after reading my articles. So I better forewarn people with some maternal advice (Maternal???? well at this age I feel that your maternal instincts do come out it in some or the other way). This piece of article would be following my train of thoughts which are in fact never on track. Beware!! All those people who wish to reach a destination, expecting a proper beginning, middle and end, please stay away!! It would be a prodigal waste of time if you start reading this, so I advise such people to kindly move their cursor to the upper right corner of their windows, towards the close button and resume browsing their other interesting stuff!
This is a comeback of sorts for me. So I thought of making some resolutions with regards to my blog! Hope I stick to them unlike my new year resolutions which are broken the very day they are made.
1) I won’t coerce my friends into reading my articles when they don’t wish to. Shouldn’t reading come from more of interest for the subject than obligation?
2) Market, advertise my blog through the right channels and recommended procedures (Will do that after I get myself acquainted with those!)
3) Use words only I am comfortable with and not weave rosy, incomprehensible words into my sentences which people can hardly make any sense of! (I am amazed at my sense of consideration that I am so generously bestowing on people!)
4) And last but not the least; write my heart out on subjects or issues that I feel strongly about. In short articles that will mirror my thoughts and feelings, thereby helping me reach the Zenith of my own writing aspirations!!
Cheers to me!!
Well, so what has made me start writing it again? Well, time changes you and brings with it a host of unpredictable events which can encourage or discourage you from doing something worthwhile. My boring, insipid life has brought me back to the same threshold I was at, 3 years back. Writing is something that gives you a sense of liberation and thereby enables you to vent your frustrations and express your innermost feelings at the same time.
As to my writing, beware people!! This is not for the weak hearted or rather weak minded. Why am I saying this? The reason is I don’t want to be accused of murder or be burdened with the feeling of inflicting mental torture that people might be subjected to, after reading my articles. So I better forewarn people with some maternal advice (Maternal???? well at this age I feel that your maternal instincts do come out it in some or the other way). This piece of article would be following my train of thoughts which are in fact never on track. Beware!! All those people who wish to reach a destination, expecting a proper beginning, middle and end, please stay away!! It would be a prodigal waste of time if you start reading this, so I advise such people to kindly move their cursor to the upper right corner of their windows, towards the close button and resume browsing their other interesting stuff!
This is a comeback of sorts for me. So I thought of making some resolutions with regards to my blog! Hope I stick to them unlike my new year resolutions which are broken the very day they are made.
1) I won’t coerce my friends into reading my articles when they don’t wish to. Shouldn’t reading come from more of interest for the subject than obligation?
2) Market, advertise my blog through the right channels and recommended procedures (Will do that after I get myself acquainted with those!)
3) Use words only I am comfortable with and not weave rosy, incomprehensible words into my sentences which people can hardly make any sense of! (I am amazed at my sense of consideration that I am so generously bestowing on people!)
4) And last but not the least; write my heart out on subjects or issues that I feel strongly about. In short articles that will mirror my thoughts and feelings, thereby helping me reach the Zenith of my own writing aspirations!!
Cheers to me!!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Citings of a Confused Mind!
Everyone has some or the other dream or aspiration to be successful in one’s chosen field. But only some are able to make it and transform their dreams into realities. May be these are the ones who are focused on their goal, know what they exactly want from life and are resolute in their determination about their future aspirations.
There are some who are quite confused about what the future holds for them and what goals they exactly want to pursue. Should I do this or should I do that? Is this what I want to do? Is this the only thing I want to do or there are many more things I can do? You think I would like to do that then your mind just wanders of like a wanderer to something else and so on. You then think that if by some quirk of fate a miracle happens and you suddenly see your goal materializing in front of your eyes .You feel elated at your new found discovery, you jump with excitement that you have finally found the aim of your life and no one can stop you from achieving it, but then you see it dwindling, as you realize that they were just your wild imaginations and nothing else, you then drown yourself into an abysmal ocean of disappointment and dejection. Your mind keeps vacillating between what to do and what not to do.
You ponder over the matter and then approach a group of people whom you consider as your friends. They have different opinions on the same matter (Naturally how can different minds think alike? If God had made it that way then wouldn’t have humans been just mental clones of each other?). Ok coming back to the point they try and help you, advise you to view things in a different perspective, approach it in different manner, give their own examples and try and show you the right direction. But at the end of the day suppose you have 10 friends then think… think…..they have shown you 10 different directions. You find yourself at crossroads with 10 different directions to choose from! Phew! You pull your hair in exasperation and realize that you have committed the greatest blunder by asking them to show you the right way! But then it wasn’t their fault after all, you think, and that they were just trying to help you! At the same time you are in awe and appreciate the confidence they display, the intelligence with which they are able to take such firm one-to-one decisions and not a confused soul like you, who has to deliberate over every other matter! You wonder that how can a person be so firm headed and resolve issues so effortlessly. The realization dawns on you that you are still at the first step of a long flight of stairs while your friends have already started their journey because they know where they are headed and where they wish to go!
Enough is enough you feel! Now you make up your mind, you resolve that you will no longer allow yourself to be colossal dunce, you will no longer keep lamenting over petty issues, you too will try and take firm decisions and brandish all thoughts which try to deviate you from your aim! However subconsciously you still have no idea for what you are headed. Confidence, Optimism, Ambition are aliens whom you hesitate to be friends with!
But somewhere somehow an angelic voice guides and motivates you to put the first step forward, it tries to drive you towards enlightenment! You pinch yourself and see whether these are imaginations hovering over you again, but then ouch! You feel the pain and realize it is reality! You don’t know the origin of this divine call and then try going on an expedition of sorts to find out if it is somewhere from the surroundings or perhaps God! No no, you try and concentrate hard to stalk its origin which has attempted to transform the grotesque picture of disappointment and failure into a beautiful landscape, the flowing rivers of which symbolize the new vigor gushing inside you, the mountains depicting the new heights you are about to scale, the greenery around symbolizing the freshness with which you will begin the journey, you feel you are born again! You finally find out the originator of this voice, it is from nowhere but the voice of your soul, your inner self which has driven you out from self-exile. You feel that you have finally attained enlightenment just as Lord Buddha had attained under the Bodh Gaya tree! What was going on at the back of your head has finally come in front of your eyes!
But then it is only the beginning, there is still a long way to go, many hurdles to cross before reaching the destination. However it goes without saying that if your mind has shown you your goal, it will lead you and guide you through it. One has to just follow his mind and heart and then there is no stopping, for you to reach your ultimate destination!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is something I strongly believe in and so thought of penning down a few of my thoughts on it.
Being a vegetarian is one’s choice, so if a person is a hardcore non-vegetarian it’s his personal choice. But then does an individual’s choice give him the right to kill a life? Certainly not! Is there so much of a need to kill these poor and dumb animals that are slaughtered and butchered mercilessly so as to fill the ever-increasing hunger of humans? This is a question that one needs to ask one’s conscience. Just because humans have been gifted with more intellectual power and are superior than animals doesn’t give them the right to take these innocent creatures lives!
The moot question is that how does one who believe in non-vegetarianism agree that vegetarianism does not involve killing of life. This is one defensive argument that such people bring in the forefront as the only tool for defending their non-veg stance. To this a very nice and justifiable statement would be the one issued by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“There is currently no reason to believe that plants experience pain, devoid as they are of central nervous systems, nerve endings and brains. It is theorized that the main reason animals have the ability to experience pain is as a form of self-protection. If you touch something that hurts and could possibly injure you, you will learn from the pain it produces to leave it alone in the future. Since plants cannot locomote and do not have the need to learn to avoid certain things, this sensation would be superfluous.Plants are completely different physiologically from mammals. Unlike animals' body parts, many perennial plants, fruits and vegetables can be harvested over and over again without resulting in the death of the plant or tree.”
It is but sensible that a fruit that you pluck from a tree will again bear fruits, but once you chop of a goat’s head it is dead forever! The circumstances under which the various animals are brought to the slaughter house is also greatly inhuman wherein they are just pulled off ruthlessly, animals like cows who are dumped like garbage into the trucks, exist in a claustrophobic state, the sight of all this is really heart wrenching. Imagine the plight of these animals butchered right in front of the other animals in line! The tempos carrying chicken also make an equally miserable sight, not only are they loaded like stuffed gunny bags, their conditions once they arrive at the butcher shop is equally bad with people holding them upside down by their legs 3 to 4 in one hand and then dumping them like lifeless creatures inside the cages! All their cries and pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears. What crime have these animals committed that they are destined to satisfy the so-called starving human appetite?
Some act ignoramus to all this and state that we are not the hands that are responsible for butchering them but then are these not the same hands that are giving the money to buy them? What pleasure can one get to fill ones stomach at the cost of others life? If the brutal killing of animals is not concerned a murder then why do people who kill fellow human beings considered murderers? What is then the difference between people who eat animal meat or cannibals who eat human meat? After all it is the flesh and the meat that matters right irrespective of whoever’s it is?
The facetious question asked sometimes is that when it comes to survival, circumstances when you don’t have anything to fill your stomach with, then won’t you be compelled to eat meat? This entirely depends on the situation and the ability to make personal choices. Given an alternative you may always get better things on mind and find better ways out to survive. But in our daily lives when we have all the facilities and food to consume why become a part of taking someone’s life when one has so many alternatives on hand?
People don’t give a damn to all this as this is just a matter of satisfying their taste buds and has nothing to do with the inhumanity involved in the process! These are the ones who won’t give up non-veg food ever. It is one’s own realisation and not compulsion, which can transform people into vegetarians. One needs to ponder over what is right and what is wrong and not continue with it just to satisfy their taste buds! This can only be initialized through a self-realization process, that whether I’m justified eating meat which involves sacrificing of so many lives and slaughtering so many animals or a vegetarian diet which causes no harm. So the next time you try to sink in your teeth into meat think about it!
Being a vegetarian is one’s choice, so if a person is a hardcore non-vegetarian it’s his personal choice. But then does an individual’s choice give him the right to kill a life? Certainly not! Is there so much of a need to kill these poor and dumb animals that are slaughtered and butchered mercilessly so as to fill the ever-increasing hunger of humans? This is a question that one needs to ask one’s conscience. Just because humans have been gifted with more intellectual power and are superior than animals doesn’t give them the right to take these innocent creatures lives!
The moot question is that how does one who believe in non-vegetarianism agree that vegetarianism does not involve killing of life. This is one defensive argument that such people bring in the forefront as the only tool for defending their non-veg stance. To this a very nice and justifiable statement would be the one issued by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“There is currently no reason to believe that plants experience pain, devoid as they are of central nervous systems, nerve endings and brains. It is theorized that the main reason animals have the ability to experience pain is as a form of self-protection. If you touch something that hurts and could possibly injure you, you will learn from the pain it produces to leave it alone in the future. Since plants cannot locomote and do not have the need to learn to avoid certain things, this sensation would be superfluous.Plants are completely different physiologically from mammals. Unlike animals' body parts, many perennial plants, fruits and vegetables can be harvested over and over again without resulting in the death of the plant or tree.”
It is but sensible that a fruit that you pluck from a tree will again bear fruits, but once you chop of a goat’s head it is dead forever! The circumstances under which the various animals are brought to the slaughter house is also greatly inhuman wherein they are just pulled off ruthlessly, animals like cows who are dumped like garbage into the trucks, exist in a claustrophobic state, the sight of all this is really heart wrenching. Imagine the plight of these animals butchered right in front of the other animals in line! The tempos carrying chicken also make an equally miserable sight, not only are they loaded like stuffed gunny bags, their conditions once they arrive at the butcher shop is equally bad with people holding them upside down by their legs 3 to 4 in one hand and then dumping them like lifeless creatures inside the cages! All their cries and pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears. What crime have these animals committed that they are destined to satisfy the so-called starving human appetite?
Some act ignoramus to all this and state that we are not the hands that are responsible for butchering them but then are these not the same hands that are giving the money to buy them? What pleasure can one get to fill ones stomach at the cost of others life? If the brutal killing of animals is not concerned a murder then why do people who kill fellow human beings considered murderers? What is then the difference between people who eat animal meat or cannibals who eat human meat? After all it is the flesh and the meat that matters right irrespective of whoever’s it is?
The facetious question asked sometimes is that when it comes to survival, circumstances when you don’t have anything to fill your stomach with, then won’t you be compelled to eat meat? This entirely depends on the situation and the ability to make personal choices. Given an alternative you may always get better things on mind and find better ways out to survive. But in our daily lives when we have all the facilities and food to consume why become a part of taking someone’s life when one has so many alternatives on hand?
People don’t give a damn to all this as this is just a matter of satisfying their taste buds and has nothing to do with the inhumanity involved in the process! These are the ones who won’t give up non-veg food ever. It is one’s own realisation and not compulsion, which can transform people into vegetarians. One needs to ponder over what is right and what is wrong and not continue with it just to satisfy their taste buds! This can only be initialized through a self-realization process, that whether I’m justified eating meat which involves sacrificing of so many lives and slaughtering so many animals or a vegetarian diet which causes no harm. So the next time you try to sink in your teeth into meat think about it!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
A memorable trip!
I have never been so keen on exploring new places, so when I got a chance to visit a place like Orissa I was a little apprehensive about it. But owing to circumstances I had to go! Having stayed in Mumbai for the past so many years anyone would get accustomed to the fast and busy life here. So when I landed in Bhubaneswar the capital of Orissa I found the airport to be very calm and quite contrasting to the hustle and bustle of the Mumbai airport with people flocking at the ticket counter even at a time like 4 or 5 in the morning! Our accomodation had been arranged in a place called Patia a little distance away from the main city. The journey from the airport to the villas, the place where our stay was arranged for the next 2 months, was also very plain with just open grounds to look around, serene and peaceful.
When we finally reached our destination we couldn’t find even one person around, with dead silence pervading the surroundings. Soon we were informed about the villas where we had to stay and assigned the respective rooms. The first thought that came to my mind was how could I spend the next 2 months in a boring place like this. But as they say the journey turns out to be a memorable experience when you meet the right kind of people on the way! So the next 2 months were full of hardcore training but at the same time we got the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful places, the chance to revisit history.
Orissa is basically known as the land of temples, so the trip would have been incomplete without visiting these places of historic importance and architectural brilliance! Situated on the eastern sea coast of India it is the land of hoary antiquities, magnificent monuments, exquisite handicraft and wide ranging flora and fauna. So the next plan of action was a trip arranged to visit all these places. Though we didn’t have the opportunity to visit all the places but we did manage to visit three temples Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri, Sun Temple at Konark and Lingraj Temple at Bhubaneswar, they are called the Golden Triangle of Orissa! We also managed to visit Dhaulgiri and Khandagiri-Udayagiri caves at Bhubaneswar.Let me quickly take you through these beautiful structures!
The first temple we visited was the Lingaraj Temple. King Lalatendu Keshari built the temple in the 11th century A.D. Inside its expansive precincts there are around 150 subsidiary shrines. Its magnificent architecture leaves you spellbound and enchanted!
The next temple on the list was the Sun Temple at Konark also known as the Black Pagoda. King Langula Narasinha Deva built it in the 13th century A.D with the help of 1200 architects in 12 years in the form of Chariot of sun God..
The temple is fitted with 24 wheels and 7 horses. The temple in itself is comprised of significant architectures. The Stone Chariot wheel 24 of them have been affixed to the platform each of them 9’9” in diameter having 8 spokes. The significance of this, are the 24 wheels indicating 24 hours and the 8 spokes signifying 8 prahars (three hour periods) of a day. The spokes of these wheels serve as sundials, and the shadows formed by these can give the precise time of the day. Isn’t it truly amazing?
The other equally marvelous structure includes the two strikingly caparisoned warhorses in front of the southern gate of Konark.It depicts the strength and the vigor of the horses trampling down the warrior. This has been accepted as a symbol of the state government of Orissa.
When we finally reached our destination we couldn’t find even one person around, with dead silence pervading the surroundings. Soon we were informed about the villas where we had to stay and assigned the respective rooms. The first thought that came to my mind was how could I spend the next 2 months in a boring place like this. But as they say the journey turns out to be a memorable experience when you meet the right kind of people on the way! So the next 2 months were full of hardcore training but at the same time we got the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful places, the chance to revisit history.
Orissa is basically known as the land of temples, so the trip would have been incomplete without visiting these places of historic importance and architectural brilliance! Situated on the eastern sea coast of India it is the land of hoary antiquities, magnificent monuments, exquisite handicraft and wide ranging flora and fauna. So the next plan of action was a trip arranged to visit all these places. Though we didn’t have the opportunity to visit all the places but we did manage to visit three temples Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri, Sun Temple at Konark and Lingraj Temple at Bhubaneswar, they are called the Golden Triangle of Orissa! We also managed to visit Dhaulgiri and Khandagiri-Udayagiri caves at Bhubaneswar.Let me quickly take you through these beautiful structures!
The first temple we visited was the Lingaraj Temple. King Lalatendu Keshari built the temple in the 11th century A.D. Inside its expansive precincts there are around 150 subsidiary shrines. Its magnificent architecture leaves you spellbound and enchanted!
The next temple on the list was the Sun Temple at Konark also known as the Black Pagoda. King Langula Narasinha Deva built it in the 13th century A.D with the help of 1200 architects in 12 years in the form of Chariot of sun God..
The temple is fitted with 24 wheels and 7 horses. The temple in itself is comprised of significant architectures. The Stone Chariot wheel 24 of them have been affixed to the platform each of them 9’9” in diameter having 8 spokes. The significance of this, are the 24 wheels indicating 24 hours and the 8 spokes signifying 8 prahars (three hour periods) of a day. The spokes of these wheels serve as sundials, and the shadows formed by these can give the precise time of the day. Isn’t it truly amazing?
The other equally marvelous structure includes the two strikingly caparisoned warhorses in front of the southern gate of Konark.It depicts the strength and the vigor of the horses trampling down the warrior. This has been accepted as a symbol of the state government of Orissa.
The two majestic lions in front of the eastern door, the main gate of the temple is seen pressing down a big elephant, which has caught a man in its trunkThe entire block has been carved in one huge stone itself.
Lord Jagnnath temple at Puri is considered to be one of the four holy temples of India.The deities residing in this temple are Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath.These three deities are known as the Trimurti (Trinity).
Lord Jagnnath temple at Puri is considered to be one of the four holy temples of India.The deities residing in this temple are Lord Balabhadra, Goddess Subhadra and Lord Jagannath.These three deities are known as the Trimurti (Trinity).
The temple has many other deities, which nearly encompass the entire God and Goddess of Hindu mythology!Though due to time constraints we couldn’t visit every nook and corner of the temple but of whatever I could manage to see, the temple structure and the sheer vastness of it left me awestruck!We also got a chance to visit the famous Puri beach popularly known as the Golden beach, which stretches out over a vast area and attracts thousands of tourists from around the world.
The caves Khandgiri-Udayagiri are the twin hills having 19 and 44 caves respectively. The Elephant cave records the life chronicles of a king named Kharavela.These caves, spread over a vast area, really make you appreciate the sheer brillance of our ancestors at erecting such huge and architecturally beautiful strructures!
But one thing I observed during all these trips was the state of these temples. The maintenance of these ancient heritages have been ignored for a long time leading to the disintegration of many subordinate structures and perhaps this condition has finally made the state authorities to wake up and start the renovation work. Such great architectures are the pride of our country with lakhs of tourists visiting these places every year and rather than preserving and treasuring such great architectures we turn a blind eye to the hopeless conditions in which they exist. It is time we start valuing these precious monuments and give equal attention on their maintenance and preservation.
After we visited such historic sites we managed to have a tour of the capital of Orissa, Bhubaneswar! A well-planned city with wide roads and less traffic, it had its own charm with a natural mix of urban and rural life! The city I surmise only had one hang out place, the Big Bazaar where the entire population of the capital would gather to have fun! Hmm and what is the fun if you visit any place and don’t catch up with the latest movie in the nearby theatre? That’s what we decided to do. But it was quite a humorous experience since the tickets for the same seat would be booked for 2 people and then when you finally enter the hall there would be a big brawl between the 2 people as to who would have the privelege to be seated! And another ludicrous fact was regrading the show timing. In this matter I can definitely say that Mumbaikars are the least punctual by starting the movie nearly 15 minutes after the displayed show timing, but I guess we really need to appreciate the over punctuality of the orissa people wherein the film starts nearly 20 min before and all your excitation would be trashed with you missing maybe your opening fav song or a scene inspite of arriving on time! This happens only in Orissa!
And finally how can I forget the great time we spent in our villas, the late night New Year celebrations and all the fun we had on our weekends! It was really a great experience wherein people from different parts of India met for the first time and became such good friends in a short span of time.
All in all a great time spent with great people in a great place contrary to my initial expectations of Orissa!
The caves Khandgiri-Udayagiri are the twin hills having 19 and 44 caves respectively. The Elephant cave records the life chronicles of a king named Kharavela.These caves, spread over a vast area, really make you appreciate the sheer brillance of our ancestors at erecting such huge and architecturally beautiful strructures!
But one thing I observed during all these trips was the state of these temples. The maintenance of these ancient heritages have been ignored for a long time leading to the disintegration of many subordinate structures and perhaps this condition has finally made the state authorities to wake up and start the renovation work. Such great architectures are the pride of our country with lakhs of tourists visiting these places every year and rather than preserving and treasuring such great architectures we turn a blind eye to the hopeless conditions in which they exist. It is time we start valuing these precious monuments and give equal attention on their maintenance and preservation.
After we visited such historic sites we managed to have a tour of the capital of Orissa, Bhubaneswar! A well-planned city with wide roads and less traffic, it had its own charm with a natural mix of urban and rural life! The city I surmise only had one hang out place, the Big Bazaar where the entire population of the capital would gather to have fun! Hmm and what is the fun if you visit any place and don’t catch up with the latest movie in the nearby theatre? That’s what we decided to do. But it was quite a humorous experience since the tickets for the same seat would be booked for 2 people and then when you finally enter the hall there would be a big brawl between the 2 people as to who would have the privelege to be seated! And another ludicrous fact was regrading the show timing. In this matter I can definitely say that Mumbaikars are the least punctual by starting the movie nearly 15 minutes after the displayed show timing, but I guess we really need to appreciate the over punctuality of the orissa people wherein the film starts nearly 20 min before and all your excitation would be trashed with you missing maybe your opening fav song or a scene inspite of arriving on time! This happens only in Orissa!
And finally how can I forget the great time we spent in our villas, the late night New Year celebrations and all the fun we had on our weekends! It was really a great experience wherein people from different parts of India met for the first time and became such good friends in a short span of time.
All in all a great time spent with great people in a great place contrary to my initial expectations of Orissa!
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Marriage?Think again!
“A great marriage is not when the 'perfect couple' comes together. It is when an
imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences” quotes Dave Meurer.
How true it is! The most important decision in one’s life is choosing the right life partner which if made hastily can ruin the lives of not only the partners concerned but their families and their future generations too!
As Dave says, it is always not necessary that the perfect couples come together but how an imperfect couple tries to make their marriage a success!
The real problem arises when these imperfect couples do not make an effort to sort in their differences, the brunt of which has to be borne either by their respective families or their children. But the most traumatized of the lot would be the children of such unfortunate couples. Not only are they torn between their parents but also are subject to the mental torture, of seeing their parents quarreling in front of their eyes day and night endlessly. This is the worst a child should face because for children their parents are their icons and people who influence their lives! And to see their parents in such a state would be the worst they go through.
There could be various reasons for a failed marriage, perhaps a forced arranged marriage or misunderstandings that crop up or a clash of egos! The consequence, either daily quarrels or a relationship that ends in divorce. Either ways it is the child who has to suffer. His mind would be involved in a battle of sorts in finding the reasons for his parent’s incessant fights, or as a mature individual finding out ways and means to resolve the fight, or withdraw himself totally from the situation or taking sides which is the toughest decision that he has to make! The repercussions of this could result in mental instability or stress, loss of complete faith in the institution of marriage or display of erratic behavior. Thus it becomes the responsibility of such parents to shed their recalcitrant attitude and try resolving their problems rather than tormenting their children with unnecessary arguments over trivial matters.
Many times the family is held responsible for the failed marriage and becomes the villain, resulting in aloofness between the relatives and cousins. Such children are left all alone and isolated from all the relations.
The fortitude of such children is put to test when parents completely fail to resolve issues. But kids, who in spite of such problems put up a smiling face for the outside world, try and achieve their goals, don’t let circumstances bog them down, are the real winners and need to be lauded! Not only they become mature as individuals at an early age but also are exposed to the realities of life. They expunge their sorrows, act as mediators and help parents realize their mistakes and are many times successful in their attempts.
But the number of instances wherein children display such kind of maturity are less compared to the instances where children tend to take up the wrong path.
Thus as sane and mature individuals one should think twice while making a decision as big as marriage, wherein if one finds the right match, it could be as beautiful as heaven, otherwise it could be worse than hell!
imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences” quotes Dave Meurer.
How true it is! The most important decision in one’s life is choosing the right life partner which if made hastily can ruin the lives of not only the partners concerned but their families and their future generations too!
As Dave says, it is always not necessary that the perfect couples come together but how an imperfect couple tries to make their marriage a success!
The real problem arises when these imperfect couples do not make an effort to sort in their differences, the brunt of which has to be borne either by their respective families or their children. But the most traumatized of the lot would be the children of such unfortunate couples. Not only are they torn between their parents but also are subject to the mental torture, of seeing their parents quarreling in front of their eyes day and night endlessly. This is the worst a child should face because for children their parents are their icons and people who influence their lives! And to see their parents in such a state would be the worst they go through.
There could be various reasons for a failed marriage, perhaps a forced arranged marriage or misunderstandings that crop up or a clash of egos! The consequence, either daily quarrels or a relationship that ends in divorce. Either ways it is the child who has to suffer. His mind would be involved in a battle of sorts in finding the reasons for his parent’s incessant fights, or as a mature individual finding out ways and means to resolve the fight, or withdraw himself totally from the situation or taking sides which is the toughest decision that he has to make! The repercussions of this could result in mental instability or stress, loss of complete faith in the institution of marriage or display of erratic behavior. Thus it becomes the responsibility of such parents to shed their recalcitrant attitude and try resolving their problems rather than tormenting their children with unnecessary arguments over trivial matters.
Many times the family is held responsible for the failed marriage and becomes the villain, resulting in aloofness between the relatives and cousins. Such children are left all alone and isolated from all the relations.
The fortitude of such children is put to test when parents completely fail to resolve issues. But kids, who in spite of such problems put up a smiling face for the outside world, try and achieve their goals, don’t let circumstances bog them down, are the real winners and need to be lauded! Not only they become mature as individuals at an early age but also are exposed to the realities of life. They expunge their sorrows, act as mediators and help parents realize their mistakes and are many times successful in their attempts.
But the number of instances wherein children display such kind of maturity are less compared to the instances where children tend to take up the wrong path.
Thus as sane and mature individuals one should think twice while making a decision as big as marriage, wherein if one finds the right match, it could be as beautiful as heaven, otherwise it could be worse than hell!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Belief in God
Recently I read an article related to Bhagat Singh “Why I am an Atheist”. This made me think about certain facts that I would like to discuss.
I myself being a staunch believer in God truly believe in the divinity and the greatness of God! Whenever I had to face any difficult situations in life I have prayed and asked him for his blessings and even after facing a lot of hindrances I have been able to emerge not entirely but at least moderately successful. I have always felt that God will never grant you your wishes unless you work day and night to achieve it. Only then will he fulfill your desires. But you sometimes think if that is the case then why not just believe in yourself and work towards achieving your goals! Just keep trying until you succeed! But then I have always felt that there is some hand above us, which is always there to protect and guide us in our endeavours to success.
Still at times you do sometimes start pondering over the existence of this divine power in many of the unfortunate incidents that keeps raising its ugly hood every now and then!
Lets consider this, a man might remember God the most when he may have to win some competition, when he is on the last step nearing death or meets with an accident which leaves him with fifty- fifty percent chances to live! At that moment of decision if a man thinks that by just praying God he would come out of this there might be 0% chances of him winning or coming out alive! As we all know the famous adage “God helps those who help themselves!” So if this is this the case then why not help ourselves and try and think of ways and means and use our mind to come out of a quandary? A person would be a fool to think that when he stands on a thin line between life and death, just by uttering chants, God would come to his rescue! You can call it the moment of decision wherein you are the master of your fate and you are the one who has to think of some way or the other to save your life. Your determination to live helps you to emerge successful in your attempts to save your life.
Also haven’t we always read and heard from others that every person has his own destiny and no matter what you do, you have to face it? As you say it is the “Vidhi ka Vidhan” i.e. A person’s fate is already written the day he is born which even the almighty can’t alter. You have to face the events and incidents, which are destined to happen in your life
Thinking of some more facts consider the recent terrorist attacks wherein lakhs of people lost their lives and left their family fending for themselves. Why did these innocent people fall prey to the devilish motives of the terrorists? We all know that these were the brutal attacks made by a handful of maniacs who supposedly “prayed” before leaving for executing their tasks. You tend to think that didn’t God know all this from before? Didn’t he think that what the people set out to do were utterly inhuman and against his preaching? But also these are the situations that make you think about the miracles that have saved people either that they did not board that unfortunate train or escaped with minor injuries. When you hear of such incidents some people say that he was destined to live and thus God saved him.
This was just one of the many incidents when we tend to think of the miraculous ways in which God acts but also leaves us with thoughts of his existence.
Finally it depends on an individual how he thinks and his belief in the supreme power, which helps him shape his future!
I myself being a staunch believer in God truly believe in the divinity and the greatness of God! Whenever I had to face any difficult situations in life I have prayed and asked him for his blessings and even after facing a lot of hindrances I have been able to emerge not entirely but at least moderately successful. I have always felt that God will never grant you your wishes unless you work day and night to achieve it. Only then will he fulfill your desires. But you sometimes think if that is the case then why not just believe in yourself and work towards achieving your goals! Just keep trying until you succeed! But then I have always felt that there is some hand above us, which is always there to protect and guide us in our endeavours to success.
Still at times you do sometimes start pondering over the existence of this divine power in many of the unfortunate incidents that keeps raising its ugly hood every now and then!
Lets consider this, a man might remember God the most when he may have to win some competition, when he is on the last step nearing death or meets with an accident which leaves him with fifty- fifty percent chances to live! At that moment of decision if a man thinks that by just praying God he would come out of this there might be 0% chances of him winning or coming out alive! As we all know the famous adage “God helps those who help themselves!” So if this is this the case then why not help ourselves and try and think of ways and means and use our mind to come out of a quandary? A person would be a fool to think that when he stands on a thin line between life and death, just by uttering chants, God would come to his rescue! You can call it the moment of decision wherein you are the master of your fate and you are the one who has to think of some way or the other to save your life. Your determination to live helps you to emerge successful in your attempts to save your life.
Also haven’t we always read and heard from others that every person has his own destiny and no matter what you do, you have to face it? As you say it is the “Vidhi ka Vidhan” i.e. A person’s fate is already written the day he is born which even the almighty can’t alter. You have to face the events and incidents, which are destined to happen in your life
Thinking of some more facts consider the recent terrorist attacks wherein lakhs of people lost their lives and left their family fending for themselves. Why did these innocent people fall prey to the devilish motives of the terrorists? We all know that these were the brutal attacks made by a handful of maniacs who supposedly “prayed” before leaving for executing their tasks. You tend to think that didn’t God know all this from before? Didn’t he think that what the people set out to do were utterly inhuman and against his preaching? But also these are the situations that make you think about the miracles that have saved people either that they did not board that unfortunate train or escaped with minor injuries. When you hear of such incidents some people say that he was destined to live and thus God saved him.
This was just one of the many incidents when we tend to think of the miraculous ways in which God acts but also leaves us with thoughts of his existence.
Finally it depends on an individual how he thinks and his belief in the supreme power, which helps him shape his future!
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