THE LONE WALK

THE LONE WALK

Sitting in my chair and staring across the length of my room, I start to pen down this new article. It has been almost two and a half years since I last blogged. As I begin the article, I wonder where the author in me was lost.

This question leads to a simple quagmire of life within which we are stuck. The more we crib, the more we complain about our life, the more we get sucked in its complexities.

The author in me was not lost. He was present all the time, waiting to be found. He was waiting to unburdened, to be creative once again. 

This is the situation for a majority of the population. We tend to go with the natural flow of life and take life as it presents itself to us. We may not like something, we may not want to do something but still we persist with the same. We move with the herd. We keep on complaining and suffering just for the purpose of being alive.

Resistance is a virtue which a few possess and fewer are able to actually utilize it. But it is this quality that gives us the strength to go against the tide. Resistive people may be mocked around initially. They may even be looked down upon. The force of the herd may overwhelm these people initially. But eventually they will prevail in life. 

Darwin’s theory suggests that only the fittest of all survives. And though they form the minority section, in the end they emerge victorious just because they dared to tread upon a path different from others. We must always remember that although successful people are in few numbers, they create such an impact which majority of others may not be capable of.

I don’t know what hit me with such thoughts but I am back to writing once again. And it really feels good to do the thing that you actually love. I got so engrossed in the complexities of life that I actually forgot to live. I was just surviving. This is the case with majority of people in the world. We tend to find unhappiness instead of happiness. But we don’t realize that the key to finding happiness is within us. It is waiting to be found just like I found mine. It may take a moment or 2 years like it took for me or even more. But the important thing is that it needs to be found.

Our life is one long journey. We have family, friends, acquaintances etc. but we walk on the path on our own. So instead of walking with crowd, why don’t we unleash ourselves and try to go in the opposite direction? We may be walking towards sunshine, who knows? Go for walk, pick up your guitar and make some soul-stirring music, sing a song and what not. Just ensure that we take a moment of our life just for ourselves and see what wonders happen in life.

So then, are you ready to make a U-turn?

Are you ready to go against the tide?

Have you realized what actually gives you happiness?

I just did and hope all of you do the same.

Let’s live when we have a choice, why merely exist for namesake.

I’M YOUR FRIEND, AM I??!!

The world is full of people. 7 billion to be precise and still counting!! Each person is an iota of this huge figure which is to say quite insignificant in terms of numeric value. But then what does it have to do with this topic?

Let us begin with a single person (feel free to imagine yourself). I hope you have already visualized your picture. Consider your span of life as depicted by a line (forgive me, but I do love mathematics). If each person is depicted by a line then the earth has around 7 billion lines. Are all these 7 billion lines parallel to each other? Of course not.

The lines are unique for one person but the path it travels is not alone. It is bound to be intertwined with those of others. This crossing of paths is commonly referred as “Relationships or Bonds”. Some relationships are by birth and some are made by us during the course of life. And friendship is one such type of relationship.

It is said that we may not get to choose our relatives but we do get to choose our friends. Another common saying is, “A person is known by the type of friends he chooses”. The thing that I am trying to point out is that friendship seems to be a very important bond of our life. Or rather, the true ones are rather very important.

But then, what is a true friendship? A real friendship?

Friendship is a feeling of fondness, a feeling of affection between two or more persons. It is believed that the bond of friendship grows stronger with time. The more you know the person, the more common traits you observe and the more close you get. But then, why do close or old pals break-up? Never to talk again or sometimes even to see again..!! I guess this definition is ambiguous.

Some people say that a particular person is their friend because they have so much in common. But sometimes doesn’t this commonness breed jealousy amongst them? This definition also isn’t up to the mark.

SRK has famously said in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, “Pyaar Dosti Hai”. So I guess love is friendship? But then I stumbled upon the quote that “There is a thin line between love and friendship”. Maybe this definition is suitable only in the movies. Come to think of it personally, every friendship may not necessarily culminate in love but every love necessarily begins with friendship.

One of the greatest pieces of wisdom is, “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. This I think is correct at least in some parts. He/she is someone with whom you want to share your happiness and he/she is someone whom you want to reach out in your troubled times. A person who is rock solid in your support. But this doesn’t mean that you should call for them in your troubled times only and forget them when they may need your help. Personally I believe that helping your friend in distress is hundred times better than wishing them on their birthday. (Although this doesn’t mean that you should not wish me on my birthday, I will kill you if you don’t do so.)

Going by all what I have said above, it seems that friendship is quite a complex thing to understand. It is even more complex to find a real friendship and most complex of all is to fulfil it with your heart.

The most beautiful thing about friendship is that we ourselves choose this bond and the uncertainty of where it will end up. We may have lot of friends but we may end up alone at the point of crisis, we may have fewer friends but we may feel that we can rule the world.

I still can’t fathom the meaning of friendship. Or there isn’t any universal meaning for the word. I guess it’s a feeling and that everyone has a definition of their own. But one thing is certain that it is really something extraordinary, something worth nurturing and something extremely divine. That’s what I feel and that’s what both my heart and mind agree upon. 

Maybe I’m wrong. 

Maybe I’m right. 

Maybe I’m half right and half wrong. 

Friendship can be Tom and Jerry and friendship can be Pooh and Piglet.

To each his own.

So then- I am your friend, am I??!!

HERO OF THE DAY

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
 
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.

Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realise true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

 
Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' 

I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
 
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs, but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognising that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'. 

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team. 
 
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:

We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.
 
The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces. 

If you are thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you are probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message. Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference.

We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realise the 'natural order of things.'

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice. 

Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said, "Every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them".
 
You now have two choices:

1. Delete

2. Forward

May your day, be a Shay Day!

Pearls From The Sky

Writing sure is a tough thing, even for the pro. Coming up with a topic especially outside one’s comfort zone really requires some effort.

With these thoughts in my mind, I sit in my balcony, gazing at the empty street outside. And with the extremely humid atmosphere, it surely seems that Mother Nature isn’t keen on helping me either. The only relief are the clouds shielding me from Sun’s wrath. Twirling the pen in my hands, engrossed in my very own thoughts, I barely notice the sudden change in the surroundings.

And then… There at last…

Drop, drop, drop…

A nice and big drop of water falls on my head… Splash..!!

Within the next few minutes, I find myself leaning forward in the balcony and welcoming the rains. It seems as if, Mother Nature read my thoughts and like every loving and caring Mother, she came to the rescue of her child.

I feel every single drop of water on my face, slowly trickling down. It seems an enlightening experience, something so very different from just a while ago.

The water droplets seem to have a "healing power". From the point of impact, till the time they drain away, they carry along with them all the sorrows and negativity. And suddenly I begin to see the world with new vigour and freshness. Then dawns upon, the topic which I had been searching for since long.

These surely are “Pearls” and they have come from “The Sky”.

It’s not just me, but each and every living creature, expressing out loudly their sense of gratitude and relief.

The barren land is alive again and seems to breathe out gently in the form of smell of fresh mud. The trees seem to sway in joy. The branches seem to dance to the tunes of wind and the leaves waving hello to the rain.

The birds and animals seem to rejoice the showers to the fullest. Lazing around in water pools, purring, splashing etc.

Humans, being no different, also express a sense of gratitude for the rain.

Be it cultured or uncultured, sophisticated or unsophisticated, rich or poor, everyone seems to go a bit crazy in the rains. 

The street which was empty a few moments ago, is suddenly crowded with people coming out to enjoy the beautiful and cold droplets of water. Little children are brimming with happiness, splashing water on each other and playing in the mud. Even the grown-ups let down their hair and enjoy a leisurely walk down the rainy street.

The ecstasy is obvious. The joy is palpable. The feeling is even more beautiful than all the words that alphabets can conjure up.

These droplets of water bring about with them happiness. They spread joy all along. Whichever part they fall on is brought alive with renewed energy. It is in fact a memoir of joy, knit together as pearls in a necklace.

The most wonderful thought that came across my mind while standing in the rain was, “Always try to be like the Rain which binds the Sky and the Earth together, who in all eternity cannot meet.”

In life also, we need to be like these drops of water that spread happiness, laughter and hope. No matter how harsh the condition, whenever it rains there is joy.

Similarly, give hope to someone else. Even one person will be sufficient. Make someone laugh, spread happiness. It is infectious.

Let this chain continue throughout the entire earth. Let each one of us become “The Pearls” from the sky because “Life Is To Be Lived.”

We all are “The Pearls” from God. We just need to realize it.

And when we realize it, we need to make others realize it also.

That’s how it goes and that’s how we can make the world a better place to live in.

GOOD LIFE, BAD LIFE

People go through a lot of phases in their life, teenage, adulthood, mid-lie crisis, the simple art of growing old. Some sweet, some sour, some privileged to become lasting memories while others simply don’t find space in our memory.

When life is intertwined in different junctures, have you ever wondered what does it take to have a good life?

The thought that pops up in my mind is a pinch of luck and maybe God’s grace!!

But then what exactly does a person mean by the concept of a “Good life” or a “Bad life”? Well this million dollar question sure looks complicated but the answer is as simple and beautiful as a dew drop on a leaf.

When life moves at our finger tips, what a great life it is. But when it topples you down the road, making you fumble and tumble at each step the grape turns sour and the seed of Bad life gains roots.

Have you ever wondered why some things go our way while some things don’t? Is it all a matter of sheer luck or to say God’s smart planning?

The answer is really simple. Take a moment. Think about it….

Got it? No…. Think a bit more….

Let me solve this puzzle, for the answer is bound to change your thoughts.

Let me ask you a very basic question.

What makes human beings different from all the other living beings?

It’s the ability to think, the ability to take decisions and not just act on impulse like other living creatures.

Yes, there lies our answer.

The ability to take decisions makes us the most superior amongst all of God’s creations.

Therein lays the essence of a Good life and a Bad life.

It is you who take all the decisions. You are in charge of your life and no one else.

A little thinking, a small initiative and a clear decision in your everyday situations help you mould future moments of your life.

Has it got to do anything with Luck or God?

Nothing at all. God has given us everything, sometimes it is the brain, sometimes it is the heart and sometimes both.

I am not saying something against the notion of prayers and worship that is done. We have to pray, we need to pray in fact. It is the direction that we seek and whether to follow it or not depends on us.

Have faith and leap forward.

But always keep this in mind that it is you and not others who shall be responsible.

Cling on or move on, it’s up to you.

Be courageous enough to move forward with your decision. Do not be afraid. If you fall, be glad you got one more stepping stone to leap on. There is another way somewhere round the corner.

Don’t blame yourselves for failing; instead appreciate to have known the wrong way. So cheer up you now know the art of creating a way

Trust your instincts. That little inner voice that echoes. You are bound to find your way at some point of time.

Always remember that “Good life” and “Bad life” a mere concepts that exists owing to the decisions taken by you.

If it’s a good life, make it better.

If it’s a bad life, don’t get bogged down. Good things are just round the corner. Find them, catch hold of them and make them yours.

So until the next article, all you amazing people keep this in mind:

You rule your life.

You are precious and

You are unique in your own way.

Conquering the world with your “Left Hand”

The world is full of people. Yes there are about 7 billion people in this world. And there is one wish which a majority of people dream about.

What is it??!!

Any guesses??!!

It is the desire to be unique, the desire to be different, the desire to be noticed.

Some people only dream about it. Some people give up in the middle. Only the rarest of people reach the pinnacle of uniqueness.

What does it have to do with me??!!

Well, some people are born different. These are the ones which termed as “Left-Handers”. I am from amongst the 10% of world population.

Yes, these are the people whose dominant side is the left one which is to say that they prefer to do majority of the tasks with their left hand.

History is replete with examples about how the world views people who are different. They are looked down upon by others and always meet with some kind of resistance or the other.

The same goes for the so-called “Lefties” of the world.

The Latin word for Left means “sinister” while for Right, it means “dexter” or skilful.

In social behavioural patterns, passing or serving something with a left hand is considered bad luck. They are considered to be more inclined towards psychotic behaviour and getting angrier easily.

Even blessings are given with the right hand.

Left-handed people are considered to be awkward with tools and other machinery (given that they are designed for right handed use..!!)

However, every cloud has a silver lining.

In spite of all these, we have managed to carve a special place for ourselves in this world.

Lefties are known to be more creative and artistic in nature.

They have a greater chance of being a genius ie higher IQs.

Lefties are good at multitasking.

Some of the famous left-handers in the world are:

Bill gates, Barrack Obama, Amitabh Bachchan, Oprah Winfrey, Aristotle, Alexander the great, Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, etc.

I would like to conclude saying that left handers and right handers are ultimately the 2 sides of the same coin.

Both unique and both having their own pros and cons.

Always value what God has gifted us. It’s not something to be ashamed of or something to worry about. This is what makes us unique and if we value our gift then greatness lies ahead of us, to be conquered by us.

So until the next article,

Stay blessed and be proud to be a LEFTIE..!!