Being Maverick

Heir Hunters on their way, are you lucky enough?

2011-05-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

People in India must be thinking what is this Heir hunters and what am I talking about. But people in UK are very much familiar with this term as this is a program shown on BBC every morning. Its all about searching for heirs of people who die without any will and have no one related to him to claim his left over fortune. More than 40 million pounds of wealth is left over without any will every year in UK and there are agencies specialised in searching for the heir of the deceased.

Hard to believe?? Even I was shocked initially and its a lucrative business for the agencies. There are just few in the market but have earn them fortunes through commissions they get for searching heir of dead people. Its not that easy as you think!!! Lot of efforts are put in to trace down the family tree of the dead. They even go to other countries, especially India (British ruled this country for long and many Britishers had someone related in this country), in search of the lucky heir who will inherit the money from the deceased. No matter if he has never ever seen the dead person, all he need is to be somehow related to him.

When a person dies without any will, his wealth is controlled by government and unless someone comes up within 6 months to claim it, it all goes in national treasure. So the agents have very limited time to hunt down the heirs and get their commission. Its on first come first serve basis for the agents. So its a rat race for them to reach the finish line and have to be on their toes all the time.

Really wonder if we will ever have such thing in India?? We are blessed with so many relatives around, that we will never have such situation. Specially when a person is going to die, you will have flock of relatives surrounding him with a small expectation in heart. Never know when they might get lucky and get some part of the deceased property.

But that lure of money at least bring them close to the dying person and that should be a moment of happiness for the person on death bed to be surrounded by people he know. Dont see any pleasure in dying alone with no one around and neighbours reporting foul smell after few days to police.

Master Blaster Sachin continues his sublime form

2011-04-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

We are still basking in the glory of winning the World Cup after 28 years. Success has been incredible, and India began to favorites from the beginning. All eyes were on Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in what is considered to be his last world championship. Serve the nation (in the form of a cricket game) for over 20 years, the honor of winning the World Cup that was missing in his list of successes. So, the question was on will team India to do it for little master?

And the dream became a reality for billions when Dhoni lifted the World Cup for Team India. All players were in tears and as hard as Yuvraj and Bhajji were crying. This shows how much this victory meant to the team. Sachin once again was the top scorer for India in the World Cup and it was not a surprise. Although the main contribution of Sachin was not much in the final, but played a decisive blow in the semifinal against Pakistan. His effort to score 85 runs batting first won him the man of the match award in the semifinals. No one on either side of the team can not exceed 50 runs in this game. It was his day and was lucky in this game 4 times with Pakistan fielders dropping catches in the field.

The beauty of this victory was teamwork. We are no longer dependent on one person or two to win games for us. All have played their role and chipped in with useful contributions. So the tournament was played in good spirit team sport.

Now the World Cup is over, we thought that his hunger and drive is over. But only four days, the IPL has started and all the players were seen in various games in the franchise. Tendulkar is leading Mumbai Indians in the last 3 seasons, and this is his fourth season with them as a Captain. Last year, the Mumbai Indians were very close to winning the title and reached the final with ease. They were in their peak form, and had every quality to win the final. But Dhoni's Chennai Super King spoiled the party last year.

This year, the little master is back with a bang and is now the top scorer in the tournament so far. His total of 201 in just 3 games is unmatched by any other person, however, he is not dismissed in the tournament so far. He got another feather to its cap by scoring a blistering century against Kochi. His hunger for runs seems to increase with age. No one complains when we get to see God playing cricket. A living legend and blessed to see him bat during my lifetime.

Mumbai Meri Jaan

2010-07-05T21:13:00.001-07:00

Recently visited to India for a week and every time I visit Mumbai I can see the ever increasing number of people living in the city. It’s really amazing to experience the rapid change especially if you are away from the city for long time. I make a conscious effort to visit the city at least once in a year; else I will be gasped seeing the rapid changes in the city.

As my parents were going to come with me to UK, I took them for shopping in local Borivli market. First I entered the Swagat store which is famous for its high quality shoes and it was absolutely packed. I am not exaggerating but you could hardly make any movement, situation similar in Virar fast local train and you dared to board it at Borivli station. In England, I work my arse out in gym to see some sweat dripping from my body or sit in Sauna to experience what I was going through in that store. Within couple of minutes, I could feel sweat dripping from head to toes. Not complaining about the salesman in there but when I asked him to show size 10 in one of the shoe on display, he bluntly said that those are not rainy shoes and left in a hurry. I didn’t know how to react to the situation and could not do more than just laugh at the situation and walk out of the store. Probably, I was asking for wrong shoes in wrong season :)

I stood outside the store and kept watching the people entering the store and showing no sign of frustration and happily buying what they were looking for undeterred by the situation and inconvenience surrounding them. Probably all of them were inside to buy rainy shoes.

I wanted to visit a friend of mine who was just 4kms away from my place. The usual mode of transport for such a short journey is Auto rickshaw but to my horror, I end up spending 30 mins searching for Auto or rather convincing the driver to take me to that place. Finally got one and reached the place in less than 15 mins. An immediate comparison ran through my head; I drive to my sis who is 60 miles away from me and still reach in 45 mins in UK. Agreed that I have my own car here but even without a car, calling a cab and reaching destination is just a call away.

Was travelling from Borivli to Santacruz in an Auto Rickshaw one fine evening and on normal day it will take around 45 mins to reach the place. But with the ever increasing traffic it took almost 1 hour 30 mins to reach the place. Instead of getting bored sitting in the auto, I was chatting with the driver and no surprises here, he was a Bhaiya (no disrespect to UP, Biharis though, we are all used to this term now). I was really amazed by his attitude towards life. He showed absolutely no regrets in life for driving in such a polluted and populated city. He said, you guys studied and got a good position but we have not so we have to work hard to earn money. And he was ready to put that effort and still remain happy in life with whatever he has.

No wonder Mumbai is still running strong with people having never say die attitude. Even I was one of them and I make a conscious effort to keep that spirit alive in me.

Enjoy the journey than the destination

2010-06-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

People often keep running behind big things in life and in the journey they usually tend to forget or rather ignore small things that give you a sense of happiness and satisfaction. We all aim for high goals in life and why not? But at the same time we should enjoy the journey.

Last weekend was a long one and I had some wonderful moments in those two days. Along with all my friends, we drove to Lake District from Birmingham. Its around 3 hours drive and more than the destination, I would say the journey was memorable; Natural scenic beauty all along the way with wide open fields, high mountains and flawless grass fields. I always thought that Karan Johar makes larger than life movies with the settings almost non-existent. But I was living a dream throughout the journey and he proved me wrong. While our way to Carlisle we must have stopped innumerable times on the side road, just to enjoy the beauty. A lake touching the horizon at one end and embraced by mountains on two sides left a breathtaking view. To add on the special effects, could see few yachts sailing on the calm white water. Not far ahead from there, we came across a waterfall of 20 feet height; Needless to say that we had to take another halt there and admire the God’s creativity.

Our way back was more exciting as we had already planned and well prepared this time. We did a small trek to the waterfalls and then later on had a lovely barbeque on the river side. After reaching home, it made me realise how important the journey was rather than the final destination. We had more fun in small things on our way to destination which made the journey more beautiful and enjoyable. I guess if we apply the same theory to our life, then there won’t be a dull moment at all. Try to find happiness in every small thing you do, it can be anything from making someone happy by doing a favour or watching Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Daredevils.

Always be considerate and happy about little things and achievements in life... they might end up being a lifetime for you!!!!

What is Happiness?

2010-01-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

Life is so unpredictable; at one moment you feel as if you want to live forever and at the other life looks very miserable and intolerable. Is this phenomenon created by God or it’s the wonder of human growth and development?
Life was so simple for our grandparents. If you try to understand their lifestyle, they were so much content in what they had in life. They use to find happiness in small things in every day to day life; never much thought about future and lived in present. Life has changed a lot since then. The moment you are born, the never ending race to secure your future begins. Even before you start your schooling, your parents have already decided what you have to be in life. If its India, then you have only two options; either doctor or engineer. And with the start of IPL, I guess many parents consider Cricket as a career too these days :)

You are always told throughout your childhood that if you don’t get good marks then your future is bleak and you won’t be Happy and will have to do a clerical or labour job all your life. You grow up with the same mindset thinking that if you become a doctor or engineer, you will get a good job and you will be Happy. In this journey, little you give any consideration to the real aspect of what happiness is all about. Now that I have become an engineer and settled in life, I should be happy according to the theorem set by our parents. But is that always the case for many of us?
I guess happiness is beyond being successful in life. Even a highly successful person in this world need not be happy. As rightly said by the great saint Ramdas

“Jagi sarv sukhi asa kon ahe vichare mana tuch shodhun pahe”
(No one in this entire world is completely happy)

When I was in India, all my friends were abroad and for me they all were happy in their life. Now after more than three years in UK, I feel I was happier in India than here. Now this state of mind is called as “Ajun Ajun” (it’s a Marathi word for more. And its my own invented term for state of mind :) ). If you achieve something in life, you start a new search for something better than what you have and keep chasing all your life and forget to enjoy the current state of achievement.

All I want to say is be happy in whatever you have because what you have many people struggle their whole life even to reach close to it. While writing this, all the time just one song was going on in my mind. It’s a Marathi song sung by Prashant Damle in Eka Lagnachi Ghost Natak. “Mala Sanga Sukh Mhanje nakki kai asta”. You would like it.

Just a thought!!!

2009-07-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

As usual got up at 7 in morning and was having bath when this thought struck my mind. Is it the God that really help us out of difficult situation or is it the faith in him that does the trick? If you see all the religious preachers, the most important thing they teach is to have a blind faith in HIM and that will bail you out of almost every difficult situation in life. They always teach that whatever happens, happens for your own good and there is definitely something better in future for you. If something bad happens to you or your close ones, the only explanation they have is that God has just kept it to minor tremors rather than a larger earthquake.

Don't you think that they are just trying to say to be optimistic in life and fills your life with positivity? The more faith you build up in God, the more stronger will be your reaction to any negative thing happening in your life. You will take any big issue that comes your way and will face it whole heartedly. The chances of surviving any disaster in such a frame of mind is more than being a pessimist or a non-believer of God.

So does that mean that those who don't believe in God wont be able to survive such crisis in life? Not believing in God does not stop you from being a highly optimistic person in life. Many of us either have natural optimistic attitude towards life or we rather build up that attitude towards the course of time. We start believing in ourself and whatever we do. This attitude will only do good to your life without any side effects. People in most of the western developed countries have this attitude towards life, most of the time its cultivated since childhood in schools and at home. They enjoy their life, come what may. Maybe that's the reason they don't need religious preachers in life to bail them out of crisis. Very few of them believe in God or are religious.

In India, this attitude towards life doesn't come naturally. May be that's the reason there are so many people who choose the path of religious spirituality to build the faith in themselves and positivity in life. Any path you follow, all we try to achieve is being positive towards life and that will solve half of our issues.

Having said all this, I still strongly believe that miracles do happen. In every one of our life, there will be some incident or some achievement that must have occurred which was almost impossible. Getting 100 in physics was not less than a miracle for me after knowing that my first objective question in that exam was definitely wrong. Some things do happen in life which can never be explained and those things happen irrespective of you being positive or negative. Now if that is what is called God's deed then yes I do believe in God. Even today, if I miss my prayers in morning, my whole day will be some how messed up no matter how much optimistic I try to be. Let me know your views on this :)

What You Are, the World Is

2009-04-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Its been more than six months that I have moved away from Birmingham to High Wycombe. Rather I would say, moved away from my friends to a place where I am all alone and not a single known person. Every morning I get up with great difficulty to go to work. There is not the same enthusiasm that I use to have when I use to go to work in India. Then I spend whole day in office thinking how different it is to work here than in India. In India we had a concept of office friends with whom we use to have tea, lunch and snacks; With whom we use to spend time laughing, talking and gossiping and working was just one part of going to office. But here it all complex and professional. People just work and go home and don't have time to talk or laugh or even have lunch with their colleagues.

After long tiring day in office, I come home and again spend the rest of the hours sitting in front of that stupid laptop and just browsing through news and Orkut profiles. That makes me more lazy and then the whole idea of cooking food for one hour just kills me. And finally I end up eating ready made "Shana" food with bread. And in between this daily routine whenever you meet any of your friends either in office or somewhere else, you just talk about how bored we are in this country and ponder over whether we took the right decision by coming to this country.

This is really a sad and boring life, is it not? But who is responsible for this life? I think I have to blame myself for this kind of life. What you do in your everyday existence, is projected outwardly, and that constitutes the world. If we are miserable, confused, chaotic within, by projection that becomes the world, that becomes society. I myself have created a gloomy world around me and I keep cribbing living inside it all the time. I always forget that there is more to life and there is a different world outside this melancholy world. What You Are, the World Is.

The transformation of the world is brought about by the transformation of oneself. To see the change in the world you need to bring the change in yourself. Unless you change yourself, the world will remain the same obscured place to live in. If you are optimistic towards life and keep enjoying whatever comes in its way then people will come close to you, they will like your company and will spend more time with you. No one in this world will love to stay with a depressed, insecure person all his life. Now that I know where I am going wrong, my next step should be to bring a Change in my life. So i better go and cook now even if it is 9.30pm here. This will be my first step towards the change in my life.

We Do Not Love; We Crave to be Loved

2009-04-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

Getting up in the morning with a short and sweet conversation with her (at times with an argument), spending your day having fun, watching movies, lovely walks alongside the beach, a wonderful dinner together (at times fighting on petty issues, arguing and compromising), is this what Love is all about?? There is definitely more to it than just being together and love is never static or fixed. Through constant friction, hope and frustration, that which was beautiful and simple becomes fearful and expectant. Relationship is complex and difficult and few can come out of it unscathed.

Most of the relations are mutual gratification and use, though we give it a tender name of LOVE. We safeguard the things we love, because without them we would be lonely and lost. There is always a usage in any kind of relationship, which keeps the hope alive and we use it for personal gratification. Love that uses,exploits and then feels sorry, cannot be love. When there is use, there must be possession; possession breeds fear and with fear comes jealousy, envy, suspicion and lack of trust. If you observe, what makes us stale in our relationship is thinking, calculating, judging, weighing, adjusting ourselves; The only thing that frees us from that is love, which is not a process of thought.

Love is never static, it is a continuous process and it keeps moving as the life progresses; it is to be nurtured at every stage. Just by mere use of relation for personal gratification would never keep the flame alive. Its all about giving unconditionally to each other instead of just demanding from each other. Love is a fusion of two separate identities, you have to know yourself and she has to know herself in order for any relation to succeed. That means to love. Love is fresh, new, not mere gratification, not mere habit. It is unconditional.

If both of you are isolated, each pursuing his or her own interests, ambitions, needs, each seeking from other pleasure, economic or psychological, then such a relationship is not a relationship at all- it is a mere source of satisfying psychological, biological and economic necessity. In habit there is no love. In most of the relation ,we consider our partner to be a permanent source of pleasure, a habit without understanding, without love and once you stop getting that pleasure and happiness then you start searching it somewhere else.

Friends Forever

2009-03-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

It was 5 in the morning and everyone went to their room after celebrating Kapil's birthday. I had as usual traveled from Stokenchurch to Birmingham to be with my friends. We had a real blast with some very close friends around and were tired after 5 long hours of drinking, laughing and some emotional talks. After everyone left it was just Kapil and me talking and laughing even at 5 in the morning (tumhara koi beta hai??? Shhhhh aaj se main tumhara beta hun.. ha ha ha. That was the joke of the century). The day seemed to be very short and I really wished it lasted long. I had never laughed so much in last five – six months. It made me really think that how important friends are in your life.

I don’t express any emotions especially when it comes to male friends. I keep it to myself but I would really like to dedicate this blog to my friends Kapil, Pawan, Umang, Honey, Manik and Ankit. It was only because of them, I could stay away from my family and still be happy. They have been with me all the time when I needed them the most. I still remember how I use to crib all the time in last 6 – 7 months and they use to listen to me without complaining. And they did all this specially when they were going through hard times. I am really lucky to have friends like them.

Thanks guys for being with me and supporting me in every phase of my life. We all really rock together and I bet that if we write a book or make a movie on our stay in UK, it will be the best seller of all time.

Belief

2008-12-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

"What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence."
--Bertrand Russell

I came across this wonderful quote couple of days back. Every word is so genuine and has so much to say. Russell's quote has really cleared all the confusion hanging around in my life since last couple of months. Though it is hard to accept the fact but you cant deny the truth. It has taken me months and might take years to digest this fact. They say that more than love, it is the trust that keeps your relationship going. But now i feel that true love keeps the trust going on forever no matter how the other person treats you.

Sometimes I really wonder if it is love that keeps two person bounded or it is the fulfillment of individual's desires in the relationship. If an individual's desires are not satisfied in a relation then i guess just the love factor wont keep that relation going. And all human beings are selfish and they will strive for their happiness and 'they will do something they never did, to get something they never had'. But the question here is, can you keep someone happy if you yourself are unhappy with your life?? I guess you really need a genuine partner to understand you during such a stage of your life rather than leaving him alone to come out of it. But the best part of life is that it moves on and it never remains the same.