RandomThoughts

If I had two EXTRA hours in a day.....

2011-11-19T19:02:00.001+05:30

We have been writing on these kind of topics since childhood- "If I had....", "If I were....". It always feels nice to let loose our imagination and just pen all our crazy wishes.

Talking of this one, having two extra hours in a day won't be a usual thing. It would be a miracle to have so. Won't it? After all, who can imagine having 26 hours in a day! But miracles do happen. Yes, it does, you only have to be in the right place at the right time to witness the miracle. So, since having two extra hours will be a miracle in itself, so I would like to spend those two hours to help create further miracles, albeit of another kind. Am I confusing you? Wait, let me explain a bit.

Miracles can be basically of two kinds- One, totally inexplicable, divine miracles, and two, the miracles of equally surprising nature but brought about by human efforts. This second kind is what I am talking about of creating. Miracles can be created by human efforts too.

A 3 year old, cute girl child fells sick and is diagnosed of some very serious birth defects. India's topmost doctor specialising in that specific area, gives up and says there is only 1% chances of her survival if operated upon. Parents seek foreign consultations. One US doctor gives assurance of success but approximate expenses involved comes out to be around 60 lacs INR!! Parents are from middle class background and they have already spent 2-3 lacs in the child's treatment. What can you expect?? Fact is that, they go on to collect money from public as donations and after having collected sufficient money they fly to US to have their child treated. By now, more than 90 lacs INR have already been spent, all coming from public donations, and the child is totally fine now. She has even started attending her playschool now. So, what India's topmost doctor opined to be almost impossible, and even after getting medical assurance, what seemed an impossible task due to the huge expenses required, that impossible looking thing became possible. If this is not a miracle then what it is? This kind of miracle is what I am talking about of creating.

A poor girl goes on a daily working ritual, working in unsafe, untidy, unhiegenic conditions and earning a meagre sum of Rs 100 daily. Suppose now, our organization picks her up, educates her, trains her in some technical education and voila, she starts earning Rs 20000 per month!! Now she lives a healthy life, works with dignity and earns enough. Isn't it a miracle for her? This is precisely the kind of miracle I am talking about.

I would like to spend the extra two hours in creating miracles. Yes, it may sound a bit strange, but really, I would like to create miracles in the lives of other not-so-blessed people.

Its all about how we put our available time to use. If we use the extra two hours in an intelligent and well planned way, then I am sure lots of big objectives can be achieved. Suppose I decide that I have to provide job oriented training to 10 females from a particular poor locality. The main challenge will be to arrange the fund for doing so. I will rope in our organisation for this. Being a registered organisation, we would be able to apply for grants being provided by many national and international organisations. So I will prepare a well drafted plan and send it to those organisations applying for funds.

Another issue that will need to be taken care of is 'manpower'. If I want to do something really significant, I will need to rope in other like minded people. Spreading words, inspiring others to join the cause will be another major objective. So basically- choose the miracle to be created, think upon how to make it a reality, and then start working on it in a well planned way- these are the things I would like to do in those two hours in my effort to create miracles.

We all know time is very precious, much more precious than money. When a person is in need of help, rather than helping him monetarily if we spend some time trying to spread the word about him and urging others to help, then it will be of much bigger help. Any extra time that we get should be spent judiciously. We can achieve surprising results by putting our time to use in an intelligent and productive way.

If we wish, we can bring about lots of miraculous changes in the lives of people around us. Two hours daily is a good amount of time to do so. Only thing is that we really wish to do so, and I wish to do exactly that- I would like to spend those extra two hours to create miracles in the lives of people around us.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

P.S.- This blogPost has been written for one of the indiblogger contest organised by HUL and Indiblogger team. If you liked my post then please leave your feedback and comments in the comment section below.

Be the Child in You

2011-10-28T12:48:00.001+05:30

"We grow up and we are never the same again!"

While growing up, we seldom realize the gradual change in ourselves. In the quest of materialistic success we tend to forget the undergoing psychological changes in ourselves. All we care about is the future, and in order to have a bright future we keep working blindly, totally unaware and careless of the subconscious changes taking place in us. So we keep getting away from the child in us. We keep getting covered with an artificial aura. We lose our natural instincts, we lose our innocence, we loose our inquisitiveness, we loose our truthfulness; we in fact become a new person- a different person altogether. But the irony is that we love those childhood days and in fact sometimes we wish we were still child!! Why don't then we simply be the child in us? Why do we let ourselves change so drastically?

Once I had gone to meet 'Mitthi'- my Jijaji's niece. I was meeting her after 3-4 yrs. Last she was just 4 yrs, and now she had turned 8, studying in 4th Std. She recognized me easily but was really shying off. Thankfully, I had brought lots of chocolates to bribe her. I was feeding her chocolates and chatting with her. I was coaxing her to come with me to my home. I said- "तुम मेरे साथ मेरे घर चलोगी? 2-3 दिन रहना, चाची (my didi) से भी मिल लेना, और फिर हम तुमको वापस पहुंचा देंगे." She said- "नहीं, हम मम्मी के बिना नहीं जायेंगे, मम्मी जाएगी तभी जायेंगे." I said- "Plzz चलो ना." She again replied in negative. I said- "नहीं चलोगी? :( :( Plzz चलो ना :( " She said- "आप तो एकदम बच्चों जैसे कर रहे हैं" !! I was left amused at her straight, innocent reply. But later, I was also left pondering over the changes in her. She thinks acting your natural self is childish!! Back then when she was 4 yr old, she definitely wouldn't have said the same thing. But now she has grown up a bit, now she thinks that grown up people needs to act serious, not behave sentimental in front of others.

The surrounding environment changes children a lot. We start undergoing change from the very childhood. First our parents teach us the right and wrong, how to behave,how to react and all; and later, when we have grown up a bit, we ourselves start observing and learning from our surrounding. Friends, teachers, books, magazines, TV; these start changing our behaviour. Unfortunately, almost none of these teaches us to preserve some of the most needed childlike traits. We learn, we evolve, we grow up and we are never the same again!!

Many will say that we can't carry our childlike traits for long. We have to keep evolving, keep changing with growing age so this entire talk of being the child stands nowhere. Well, true to some extent. Of course we can't remain the same always. We need to change, keep adapting, but to what extent?? Sadly, being surrounded by shrewd minded people all around us, most of us, in order to cope up, change so much that we totally lose the child in us. We become a completely changed person. We start taking things too seriously, we stop having fun, we start hiding our natural emotions, we start taking a pragmatic approach (to things) rather than acting on our natural instincts.

Children are one of the most marvelous creation of God. They say "God resides in small children." Look at a child's behaviour intently, it is so fascinating. The innocence, the truthfulness, the frankness, the inquisitiveness, the easy-to-mix-up friendly nature.... everything looks so lovely, so enchanting (and that's the one reason we love children). But unfortunately, we tend to lose all those qualities one by one. As we grow up, we start departing from our natural self and keep drifting towards an artificial being.

But why is it so hard to be the child?!! I don't think it's really so difficult that we change ourselves so much. Try for it, throw your artificial aura, embrace some of those childlike traits back, you will love it. You won't lose anything by being your natural self. You will, in fact enjoy the new experience. So go ahead, 'Be the Child in you'!! :)

Revolution 2020- A short review

2011-10-14T10:44:00.000+05:30

Well, it's a story of two friends falling for the same girl. One guy is passionate about bringing about revolution through his writing, and the other guy-the hero,being out of choice gets caught up in setting up a College business. He albeit himself clean, but the money for the college is funded by an MLA who is corrupt. The girl keeps changing sides until finally deliberately given away by by the hero to his fellow competitor friend. Apparently he gets a change of heart, feels guilty and thinks he doesn't deserve the girl.

Anyway the story is a nice one but since it has sad ending, so it disappoints a bit in the end (In the end the hero deliberately sacrifices his love for another supporting role hero, which most reader would dislike). Otherwise, apart from that, it's very nice. It has been given modern touch by including online chat conversations and a few more similar things. And as always, Chetan Bhagat has put a few very good one-liners, some witty and some thoughtful ones. All in all, a detailed love triangle having all the needed masaala(a few steamy scenes too), and also enlightening how girls can switch between guys so easily and so frequently. If the last 30 pages had been of my choice-i.e. the hero getting the much deserved gal, then I would have given it a 8/10 rating. But this way, I would give it 6/10. But still, it was far better than his "3mistakesOfMyLife" and "1Night@callCentre". I am sure he could have easily written a bit better,just brought sm different twist in story in the end making the ending a happy one. I don't know why he preferred a sad ending :/

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Now here goes a composition of all the witty, hilarious, interesting and thoughtful one-liners from the novel, that I liked big way-

☞ Love makes us do stupid things.

☞ Love, officially, is nothing but a bitch. (Page 73)

☞ (#Bansal) Students and teachers strode about in a purposeful manner as if they were going to launch satellites in space. (Page 59)

☞ Why does girls give confusing signals? (Page 44)

☞ Happens. We are losers. We don't get things easily. Marks,ranks,girls- nothing is easy for us. (Page 79)

☞ Sometimes the only way to get rid of an unpleasant feeling is to replace it with another unpleasant feeling. (Page 80)

☞ Of course you could be one of those naturally talented students who never have to study much. But most of us are not,courtesy our parents' mediocre genes. Ironically, these same same parents who donated these dumb genes take the longest time to understand that their child is not Einstein's clone. (Page 82)

☞ I wanted to tell her she hadn't spoken to me for three months. However girl gets extremely upset if you give them evidence contrary to their belief. (Page 85)

☞ She gave me an understanding nod. But she could never understand that losers, even if they do not have a brain, have a heart. (Page 102)

☞ When you screw up someone's life, the least you can do is leave the person alone. (Page 105)

☞ It's amazing to be in love (but) only when the other person loves you back. (Page 151)

☞ Life is a bitch when the only women you can think of belongs to someone else. (Page 159)

☞ I didn't know what to say to that. Girls can come up with the simplest of message that have the most complex meanings. (Page 208)

☞ Girls are contradictory. They will say they like communication, but on certain topics they clam up. If they like you, they would prefer you sense it rather than make them say it. (Page 228)

☞ Girls don't like to discuss intimate moments,especially if you probe them. However, they also get upset if you don't refer to the moments at all.
(Page 251)

Hope you liked the post :)

चला जा रहा हूँ ....

2011-09-27T19:30:00.001+05:30

अन्जाने रास्तों पे चला जा रहा हूँ ...

गमों को भुलाने चला जा रहा हूँ ......

इन्ही रास्तों पे, कहीं न कहीं तो, मिलेगा मुझे वो ख़ुशी का खजाना,

बस यही ख्वाब लेके चला जा रहा हूँ ....

गमों के साए में, बस इन्ही ख्वाबों को दिल में संजोये,

गमों को भुलाने चला जा रहा हूँ ....

हसरतें बहुत सी हैं, उन हसरतों को पानें की चाहतों को दिल में दबाये,

इन अनजाने रास्तों पे चला जा रहा हूँ....

घना है अँधेरा, घनेरे हैं बादल, घने बादलों की बारिश में भीगे,

गमों को भुलाने चला जा रहा हूँ ...

कभी तो मिलेगी मुझे मेरी खुशियाँ, कभी तो मिलेगा वो खुशियों का सागर,

समंदर की लहरों के हसीं ख्वाबों में खोये,

गमों को डुबोने चला जा रहा हूँ ...

सुना है समय का चलता है चक्र, ख़ुशी और गम दोनों की आती है बारी...

इसी समय-चक्र के भरोसे चला जा रहा हूँ ....

गमों को भुलाने चला जा रहा हूँ, अन्जाने रास्तों पे चला जा रहा हूँ ...

Real Beauty!!

2011-06-06T18:55:00.001+05:30

It was a perfect fairy tale dream!! I was still lying in bed thinking about it.

I was in some strange, never-seen region; never seen but pleasantly surprising!! Everything around looked surprisingly beautiful. The surrounding environment looked pleasing, aesthetic and unbelievably natural- devoid of any adverse human interferences. People looked quite simply but neatly dressed. Everybody's faces were beaming with joy and satisfaction. Little kids were playing merrily with their kid friends. A few people were enjoying bath in a nearby waterfall. The environment was intermittently filled with the musical twittering of birds. Snow clad mountains provided a heavenly backdrop to the area. Everything looked so enchanting, so mesmerizing, that I felt myself murmuring -"Ohh woww!! This is what you call beauty!!"

And then I woke up. Lying in bed now, I was having a mental replay of the dream. I tried going back to sleep and continue the journey in the same dream, but it was already dawn and sleep seemed hell bent on evading me. Nature's beauty is just incomparable. Snow decorated mountains, sea beaches, greenery,wild life; everything is Nature's perfect example of beauty. You want to witness real beauty and all you need to do is visit a scenic location and lie there soaking in the beauty of nature. Beauty soothes mind and brings about an aura of serenity with it. Getting the opportunity to lie in the laps of nature is just a heavenly experience.

Human life is another beautiful creation of Nature. But when it comes to beauty in reference to human beings, views varies widely. Most of us use the distorted meaning of beauty. We refer more often to superficial beauty than to the deep meaning behind the word. Beauty comes from within, it's more of an internal thing than an external one. Real beauty is unfading, everlasting and continuously growing. It is associated not with what we see but with what we feel and experience.

But it's generally taken to be the opposite-the external and superficial, and it's quite obvious too. We humans generally get attracted to people by their external outlook. It's only after we get fully acquainted with the person that we really start loving him. But before that happens, it's the external features that strikes us. Nevertheless,we should understand that it's not the external looks but the nature,attitude and behavior of a person that matters. After all, when we get emotionally attached with a person, it's mainly his nature and behaviour that keep us bonded for long. External,physical beauty is short-lived. Real beauty comes from within and is long-lasting.

Beauty is something which we all love but at the same time find hard to define. It is as abstract as 'Love.' Both are difficult to be defined and written about. Yet, writers after writers go on to write about these mysterious, inexplicable terms. It's always interesting to write on something which is difficult to write yet very closely associated with our day to day lives. Let's hope we get a better understanding of beauty as we advance further in our life.

P.S.- I have written this post for the contest by indiblogger- "What does real beauty mean to you?" This contest is sponsored by Yahoo and Dove team. You may visit the site- Yahoo Real Beauty to read more on beauty.

Stanley Ka Dabba

2011-05-26T09:37:00.003+05:30

This was a wonderful attempt by director Amole Gupte. Such a fabulous movie, in a span of just about two hours, it lets you go through multiple emotions. Its entertaining, heartwarming and brings us face to face with some bitter situations of people we are living around with.

The classroom camaraderie of kids could surely remind you of your own days. Its funny and entertaining too though not as much as some comedy films. The movie specifically seems to have been made with a purpose of spreading some messages in a entertaining way, and I bet it was successful in doing so. Unlike "Taare Zameen Par," this time Amole Gupte has done wonders without the help of Aamir Khan. His acting in the role of Khadoos (the nickname of teacher) too is very good. The child actor Partho in the role of Stanley has also done a very good acting.

The film is basically about the issue of unprivileged orphans and child labour, their lack of education, their lack of proper nutritional food and yet their hidden talent and their intense desire to get proper education, though one comes to know of this theme only in the last quarter of the movie.

When the Science teacher scolds Stanley, you get the similar memory of some similar strict, non-sense teachers in childhood days. When the teacher Miss Rosy applauds him and treats him with chocolate you feel happy for him. When you see him having a sneak peek at Miss Rosy hugging her fiancé, you get the same tinge of childhood having a crush of sort on female teachers. When khadoos (the hindi teacher), barks at him for eating his share of lunch and for making it compulsory for him to bring "dabba" in order to get in class, and he walks away sadly, you feel the same sadness. The moment when Stanley brings his dabba and puts it open in front of Khadoos asking- "Sir ab main class attend kar sakta hun na," I was almost in tears. It very aptly depicts how eager and desperate many children are, to attend regular School, but they can't, due to so many limitations. When before going to bed, Stanley lights a candle in front of the photo of his parents and says- "Good night Maa, Good night Paa," in that single moment you come to feel the pain of orphan children. The brave, happy face kept up by Stanley, hiding his real situations from his friend, brings in a stark emotions itself. His talent albeit not appreciated by teachers except Miss Rosy, gets you to the reality of the fact of how extra-talented even some unprivileged, poor kids can be.

Child labour, pain of orphans, lack of education and nutritious food in poor children, and hidden, ignored talent in them- these are the aspects depicted in the movie very skillfully keeping the movie fully entertaining. Hats off to Amole Gupte for creating such a wonderful movie. I hope more people would come out to support unprivileged children in their education and living arrangements.

A must watch movie!! Entertaining and giving a very nice message.

"Victory of Democracy." Ohhh really!!!!

2011-04-10T20:48:00.004+05:30

So finally Govt. yielded to pressure and acceded to all the major demands of Anna Hazare. Celebrations erupted all across the Nation. Some people said "People power won" and some said "It was the Victory of Democracy." Initially it really did look like that after all Democracy won, because in a democracy, people have the ultimate power. But contemplate a bit and you will end up pondering and asking yourself whether democracy really won, whether this victory really signifies the victory of democracy and whether we should really rejoice at this victory.....

Just 2-3 days back, Anna Hazare said-“If the government alone drafts the anti-corruption bill, it will be autocratic not democratic, there will be discrepancies."
Now think over it, ok, there may definitely be discrepancies in the bill but is it really autocratic if Govt. alone drafts the bill??? If Yes, then tell me how do you define autocracy and how democracy. Isn't in democracy the elected representatives are entrusted with the task of framing and amending laws?? Democracy hinges on the three pillars of Legislature,Judiciary and Executive, all three being interdependent on each other but having clearly defined areas of working. People elect their leaders and put their faith in their leaders. The leaders become the part of Legislature getting exclusive rights to frame laws and amend already existing laws.
Cut short to the present situation, a few unelected representatives will be taking part in framing Lokpal Bill. Nothing looks unusual till you ponder over its future implications-more and more joint committees getting formed to frame laws. Now think over it- Common men's participation in framing of laws, isn't it diluting the powers of Legislature,isn't it wandering of electorates out of their own domain, and most of all, isn't it going against the very basic tenets of democracy??

After that, let's talk about the proposed Jan Lokpal bill. The draft presented by the INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION team, is again against the principles of democracy. The selection committee to chose the chairman and members of Lokpal, is all supposed to be unelected representatives (baring two elected ones-chairpersons of both Houses).The presently envisaged Lokpal system seem to be empowered with immense power and authority. The most notable fact is that it would be JUDICIARY (court) and EXECUTIVE (police) both rolled into one, in short an all powerful,supreme institution completely chosen and governed by unelected representatives,the institution being so powerful that it may go on to override the powers of even some already constituted fine institutions in our country. So our elected representatives' power will be waning gradually,implying thereby that the hugely important electorates' power will loose its sheen. Electorates will no more be having the ultimate power-the power of voting someone out, because unelected representatives might be having their say in framing of laws and also in these all powerful institutions like Lokpal. Don't all these developments look dangerous in a democracy??

It's an irony that people have started to despise persons whom they themselves have elected to power.
The biggest irony is that WE FEEL PROUD OF OUR GREAT DEMOCRACY BUT WE HATE POLITICIANS AND POLITICS !!!! People have lost hope in their own elected representatives. People have started thinking that any law framed by their elected representatives(politicians) will be a weak,poor law. Isn't it a dangerous sign for democracy?? We are trying to distance ourselves from politicians when we know very well that politicians are one of the pillars of democracy.What worse time can we have for democracy. And then people say-"It was the victory of democracy!!!"

Its not the victory of democracy but merely the victory of 'people power' which came down upon the Govt. as a strong force due to severe anger in common men against the rampant corruption lying all around. An end to this rampant corruption was what all in the mind of people while they came out for this cause. The Gandhian protest by a well known public figure made the support even more swelling. While demanding these things, people didn't realize that they may be actually acting to weaken the pillars of democracy, because all that mattered to them was a solution to this never ending corruption trail, which they had got totally fed up of.

But then, what's the way out?? Isn't there some other way than these direct participation of common men in legislation?? Well, there must be. Democracy can't be so weak that it goes down on its knees in such situations. Ups and downs are there in the lifespan of every system or institution. An institution has to continuously keep evolving to keep pace with the changing times and situations. Making the three pillars of democracy more firm and immune to the threats surrounding it would be the best thing to do.

The "Right to Recall" could be a very good weapon in the hands of electorates against the corrupt politicians. With the fear of getting recalled by electorates, politicians will become much more accountable and responsible towards their duties. With so much of corruption all around in politics, such a tool will further empower our electorates. Apart from that, electoral reforms too are very necessary. The "Negative voting" concept though being criticised by some section, can prove to be a very strong deterrent to the political parties from fielding tainted candidates in elections. Like in the case of various public services, for being MLA or MP too a strict educational qualifications must be introduced. Similarly the age of retirement too should be fixed. Similarly such reforms need to be introduced in Judiciary and Executive bodies too. The Executive bodies' vast dependence on political structure must lessen. Too much of interference by political power in executive bodies is not healthy. It needs to be changed. There should be clear demarcation of duties between judiciary,executive and legislature; at the same time there should also be a clear working relationship defined between the three. Finally I would say, we should give democracy a chance!!!

****** ****** ****** ****** ******

P.S.- This blog-post of mine is inspired from various articles that I read on Internet, some of those links are mentioned below-

Mysterious Love

2011-02-09T21:43:00.058+05:30

They say "Love happens when you least expect it." And so I was left wondering should we stop expecting being in Love with someone!!! Everyone dreams of being in Love with someone. And so it's quite natural that one would keep expecting it hoping for his good times to turn up and enjoy that alien feeling. But then what about that philosophical statement!!

I kept wondering a while till I realized what it means. It is said that everyone is a unique person in himself and no one should wish to be someone else, and that's because one can perform better being oneself than trying to be someone else. That also means that one should focus over one's strength rather than weakness while trying to achieve something. In short we can say that it's better to be one's natural self than being over-conscious about things around and thus losing control over even things you are good at. Being Natural brings out the best in you thus making your chances of falling in Love better. And definitely when you are being natural, you will be totally submerged in your acts and so you won't even realize when exactly you fell in love.

Being Natural is of course not easy but neither is falling in Love. If you be your natural self, some people may dislike you for your being so but but some may even like you for being. The fact that you pose as your natural self is a proof in itself that you have confidence in yourself. 'So what, I am what I am' attitude just shows that you have learnt to accept your inadequacies and still seem to bank on the positives in you. It also clearly indicates to your 'to-be' partner that you would happily adjust to her inadequacies and still be happy being with her. So you see, being natural instills a sense of security in your 'to-be' partner.

Still, love remains a mystery. You know why, because no one knows when exactly Love walks into one’s life even if one keeps expecting it every moment of life. As the saying goes- “True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.”- Erich Segal

Love is a big mystery and puzzles often. I mean what is that which makes you fall in love? What is love exactly like? What are the subtle differences between Love, crush, infatuation etc.? The more one thinks, the more he gets puzzled. You think you love someone and would love to spend lots and lots of time with her but the next moment you may think, “Am I really in Love with her”!!! Frustrating you see. You would love to talk to her, you would love to spend lots of time with her, you would love to see her smile, you would love to help her out in difficulties..... But then how come you get confused about it!!!

The ‘Mysterious Love’ you see..... J

The Big Flag Hoisting Controversy

2011-01-24T19:19:00.009+05:30

Guess what, this Republic day may be remembered not for what happens on it but what happens after it :)

The so called 'EKTA YATRA' started by BJP has left the whole nation debating over it. BJP started the yatra all the way from West Bengal and claims that by unfurling our tricolour at Srinagar's Lal Chowk they want to challenge the separatists and make it clear to everyone that J&K is an integral part of India.

Opinions seem to be highly divided on this issue. Most of the Columnists seems to opine against it. J&K CM, Congress and even some strong allies of BJP are openly opposing it. The opinion of Aam Janta is most intriguing. Most seem to support it citing various reasons. There are various arguments supporting it. Some of them are-

What can be more shameful and worrying for us, if we fear repulsions and unrest just because we are hoisting our tricolour in our own Country!!! Every Indian is having a right to unfurl flag in any part of the country, why should anybody object to it!!! If they can hoist Pakistani flags at Lal Chowk and burn our tricolour, then why shouldn't we unfurl our tricolour with a fully hyped yatra!!! Till what time will we keep fearing those minority separatists' threats, its high time that we go there and put a challenge in their face!!!

But here is my personal opinion over this issue-

Well, first see how this is being made out to be- If I don't support BJP's flag hoisting plan then I am a traitor!!!! So now everyone has to fulfill the criteria specified by BJP, to be said a patriot..... This in my view, is totally rubbish. This also implies that thousands of students who deliberately skip flag hoisting ceremony, but later go on to join prestigious organizations like ISRO, DRDO or even ARMED FORCES, are not patriotic citizens. Howsoever big service they provide to the nation, if they don't participate in flag hoisting ceremony, then they are unpatriotic!!!!
Bottomline- My hoisting or not hoisting of flag (or support of this BJP's hoisting plan), CAN'T decide whether I am patriotic or not, but my intentions, my services to the nation and my feelings for my nation DO decide. Hoisting of flag is symbolic gesture. It can't be said to be a criteria of patriotism.

Its quite clear that BJP is politicizing the issue. They are making it a patriotic issue and are trying to gain political mileage out of it. There is not an iota of doubt about it. Even our PM issued a statement , urging them not to play politics over tricolor. They are deliberately trying to make it an emotive issue.Well, now they are saying that they want to challenge separatists, where were they for the past 19 yrs. During their rulings, Mr. Vajpayee had been quite willing to have cordial talks with separatists. I think even Advani was in support of talks with separatist until quite recently. But now suddenly BJP feels that they should challenge separatists by doing this flag Yatra!!!! I am quite sure, had they been in centre right now, they wouldn't have decided to go for it. They have got hold of an emotive issue and are trying to get political mileage out of it. Playing politics in issue involving tricolor is utterly shameful. Had they been such a big patriots themselves, they would have stood for National integrity and wouldn't have tried religion based divisive politics leading to Ayodhya and Godhra massacre. And now, they will decide whether we are patriots or traitors!!!! They are digging their own graves. They had got a very good corruption issue to corner Congress but they are now again being foolish.
Bottomline- Trying to score brownie points by raking up this emotive issue of patriotism and involving our tricolor in this whole issue is utterly SHAMEFUL of BJP.

Next is the point that, is such a hyped and publicized Flag Yatra all the way from WB-J&K, necessary to challenge the separatists and show the world (and the separatists) that J&K is an integral part of India??

Many say that yes it is, bcoz since they burnt our tricolour and hoisted Pakistani flag at that place, so we need to go in big numbers with all the pomp and show, and show those separatists that see, if u could hoist Pakistani flag here at our land, then we too did come here without any fear and hoisted our flag with full publicity.
But I beg to differ. It's not necessary. J&K is an integral part of INDIA and we don't need to prove it to anybody. Now,as far as giving a sharp reply to separatists is concerned,this whole hyped yatra thing , though definitely a challenge in face for them shouldn't be carried out. Next, you will say, all INDIANS should go there and fight those stone-pelters with stones(as they are attacking our security forces), OR sm1 may even say that let's go attack all those separatists there.

Now, why fear those separatists. Why bow down to them. Well, it's not bowing down to their pressure. It's about taking decisions which maintains peace and harmony in the state. There is no doubt that Govt.- both central and state, have failed badly in putting in proper governance there. Look at past 3-4 years, how much misgovernance took place there. State Govt. failed to rein in the protests and bloodbath and Central Govt. kept sleeping for months. Whether it be AFSPA, too much of restrictions, excessive presence of forces, alleged rapes and encounters by security personnel, unemployment or something else; one thing is sure, that a significant section of people there are unsatisfied and infuriated with the Governance system there. In such situation, every single threat by separatists become headache for Govt. bcoz they can easily misled people to lead mass protests which could turn violent.
Now it's up to us. Whether or not we still want to go with all the hyped flag Yatra to challenge those separatists and hence risk another tense situation there. BJP claims they are expecting 50k people there. Separatists too have called for a counter Yatra there. In such a situation, a fatal clash between the two parties is imminent. State Govt. will of course never allow this, they can't handle unemployment, stone-pelters, separatists and terrorists, how can they handle this another trouble.
Bottomline- Any kind of provocative acts which may lead to escalation in tension, shouldn't be done. Hoisting flag there is not provocative. But leading people from all across the INDIA, in such a hyped way is definitely provocative for those separatists. We should not do anything that puts J&K people in trouble. They are our brothers and we should be more concerned about their lives than putting challenges to separatists. It would be better if we show brotherhood and concern for Kashmiri people and leave the issue of how to deal with separatists with our elected Govt.

I will end up my post by putting up a fine excerpt from a wonderful article in THE HINDU by Mr.SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN (Source- http://bit.ly/hCI9Be )-

"If a sense of national belonging can be instilled and solidified by the mere hoisting of a flag, 60 years of official ceremonies in Srinagar ought to have ended the sense of alienation that is writ large over the valley. Even if the BJP goes ahead with their mindless yatra, it will not alter the realities on the ground one bit and would actually make the situation worse. Whatever we may say or do or wish, surely Kashmir will be an integral part of India in a meaningful sense only when the residents of Srinagar themselves throng to Lal Chowk and hoist the tri-colour themselves. The challenge for the Indian polity is to create the conditions for that to happen one day, however difficult that may seem today. But the BJP's proposed flaghoisting is not just an exercise in naivette or cynicism. It is the product of a mindset that considers Kashmir to be terra nullius, an empty landscape to be coveted and possessed rather than a land with a people and soul who acceded to India in 1947 on the basis of a covenant which must be respected in full measure and who have as much right to a life with dignity as those elsewhere in the country do."

The Balancing Act

2010-11-20T22:16:00.000+05:30

Many times in our Life we end up screwing up ourselves. We end up saying something like- "Oh my God!!! Damn... I screwed myself :( " So I was pondering on how to avoid such situations.

Well, I think It has one and only one solution- Put your balancing act together. In our life we essentially need to balance between things. We need to prioritize between our goals. We need to learn how to juggle things properly.

As we advance more and more deeper into our life, the no. of responsibilities, the no. of things that we need to take care of keeps increasing. It used to be lesser in our Childhood and increases gradually with our age.

Sometimes we get involved in a particular job so much that we forget everything else. Take for example our studies, some persons are so studious that they totally forget things surrounding them. While this is definitely good for a student to do so and throw themselves totally in studies but I personally don't appreciate it too much. After all we all are human beings and so we should be concerned about people surrounding us too. So in this case I think there should be a proper balance between the two.

Exactly opposite we have another situation in which a student gets diverted towards something other than studies (which of course should be one of his top priorities). Even if it is something for a cause I think there should again be a proper balance between the two.

Similar way as we advance further in the journey of Life, we get even more no. of things to balance our acts between. Job, marriage, children..... all these further increases the need for a proper management, a proper balance between our duties and responsibilities. That's why Childhood is the most enjoyable period, we have no responsibilities so no worries. But these are inevitable cycle of changes and we need to adapt to it.

So now the thing is- how to excel in this balancing act???
Well, I think it all boils down to what our priorities are. So set your priorities right and you will automatically excel in this balancing act :) In different stages of life we have different things to take care of and we have essentially different priorities. But yes, those 'priorities' too will differ person to person depending upon an individuals' perspective and mind setup. But I think if we talk of an ideal, proper, well agreed upon way of living then we will essentially have a common set of priorities for everyone in each stage of life.

So that's the point, learn to prioritize in your life and you will know how to balance between different things and responsibilities in your life.
My Best wishes be with you :)

P.S.- The irony is that I myself have terribly failed in this balancing act and thus suffering now :( :( In fact my failure in this balancing act was what made me contemplate over this very thing and as a result this post came up.

जिंदगी....

2010-11-17T13:05:00.000+05:30

जिंदगी के आईने बहुत से हैं

आप ठीक से देखो तो इसके मायने बहुत से हैं

जिंदगी की पहेलियाँ तो कई हैं ही
जिंदगी के अफ़साने भी बहुत से हैं

जिंदगी के हर मोड़ पे कई ठिकाने मिलेंगे
हर ठिकानों पे रुकने को आशियाने मिलेंगे

जिंदगी के इन्ही किसी आशियानों में अपना भी कोई आशियाना छिपा होगा
इन्ही किसी आशियानों में अपना भी कोई फ़साना छिपा होगा

अब बस देखना तो यही है कि उन फ़सानों में तराना कैसा बुनेगा
उम्मीद तो यही है कि वो तराना सुहाना ही बुनेगा

कहते हैं जिंदगी जिंदादिली का ही दूसरा नाम है
कहते हैं जिंदगी में अपनी मुसीबतों पे भी हसना जिसने सीख लिया उसने जीना सीख लिया

और जिंदगी के हर पल ख़ुशी नहीं तो क्या
जिंदगी के हर पल दुःख भी तो नहीं
और फिर जिंदगी सुख-दुःख कि चलती फिरती गाडी का ही तो दूसरा नाम है

जिंदगी इक पहेली तो है ही
जिंदगी इक सुहाना सफ़र भी है

पर क्यूँ ना हम पहेलियों को सुलझाना छोड़ें और जिंदगी जीना सीखें
खुद भी हसें और दूसरो को भी हसाना सीखें

क्यूँ कि जिंदगी जीना आ गया तो फिर
जिंदगी इक पहेली ना होके इक सुहाना सफ़र बन जायेगा

और फिर जिंदगी इक सुहाने सफ़र का ही तो दूसरा नाम है .....

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया....

2010-11-13T16:43:00.049+05:30

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया.......

तुमको देखा तो ये ख्याल आया

तुम्हें क्यूँ ना पाया ये ख्याल आया.....

तुम्हें ना पाने का फिर मलाल आया

कुदरत ने जो नायाब बनाया उसपे नाज़ आया....
उस नायाब को पाने का फिर ख्वाब आया

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया....
मन में सोचा तो ये सवाल आया

क्यूँ कुछ ख्वाब, ख्वाब ही रह जाते....
रेत के घरोंदे की तरह ढह जाते

क्यूँ कुछ सपने बस सपने ही रह जाते....
आँखें खुलते ही हकीक़त की याद दिलाते

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया....

कि बातें कुछ तुम्हारी बस दिल में घर कर जाती...

रह-रह के तुम्हारी याद दिला जाती

यादें तुम्हारी पल-पल मुझे सताती....

इक पल मिलने को उकसाती

पर फिर मन में वही ख्याल आता है...

तुम्हें ना पाने का मलाल आता है

लेकिन दिल में इक आस अभी भी है...

तुमसे मिलने कि प्यास अभी भी है

ख्वाब कैसे भी हों...

उनको पाने कि चाह अभी भी है

सपने कैसे भी हों...

उनके हकीकत में बदलने कि आस अभी भी है

तुमको सोचा तो ये ख्याल आया.......

तुमको देखा तो ये ख्याल आया

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

*dedicated to someone special

Do INDIANS lack Art of Giving ??

2010-09-29T19:04:00.085+05:30

Sometimes I wonder why Indians are so insensitive to the needs of the fellow countrymen. It makes me ponder if we really lack the compassion and empathy that we should have for the needy ones around us.

Having been part of two major fund raising Campaigns I noticed that people don't want to part ways with money even when it's the question of Life or Death for the other fellow Indian. While it's quite natural to be a bit possessive of what you have but I fail to understand why do people don't want to donate even some minimum amount of money for a cause when this can bring a ray of hope for someone's life.
And though in this post I am talking more of donations, but this applies to other things too be it even devoting some time for a cause or spreading some time for promotion of a cause etc.

People spend money without much thinking on religious rituals and they even give money generously to religious trusts but ask them to donate some money for a social cause and they will give you a stern look as if you are out to loot his money. They just won't like to even hear you and if at all they listen to you then they will make a hundred queries regarding that. I don't imply that they should not inquire about it. I mean, I concede that when a person is giving a particular amount (howsoever little that be), then he has all the rights to inquire about it and ensure its accountability, but at the same time I want to point out the difference in the two cases.

Talking about our elite class whom common men see in high regard and expects to come out with some help, its no better there too. The rich Celebrities, Politicians(good ones), businessmen are all the same. We think they have lots of money, so they would help if the cause gets noticed by them, but its just a big illusion for us. They live in their posh bungalows, and never care for individual cases. Yes, they might be associated with a few NGOs in some cases, but rarely do they come out to help individuals. Some might argue that it might be due to high no. of cases coming to them. But then why can't they spare a little for every few Genuine cases coming there way. And if they feel it unable to help monetarily, then they can help in numerous other ways like by appealing to media, mentioning it on their blogs etc. But no, they just don't turn up with any significant help.

I am really unable to understand INDIANS' lack of empathy and concern for the fellow citizens. Why can't every Indian donate a small part of money for some genuine causes. A student can easily spare Rs 50-100 for saving someone's life and similarly a Celebrity can very easily donate a few thousands for such emergency, genuine causes. But nothing of this sort actually happens. Celebrities donate lacs of money to some famous temple's trust but they won't give a single rupee for such individual causes. Its as if, giving small amount would look demeaning for a person of their stature.

In short, everyone from Celebrities to famous Corporate honchos to the common people are to be blamed for this apathy. Compared to this, our western counterparts are far better. They are far more generous in giving away their wealth for noble causes. This leaves me wondering why we Indians are like this!! Well, I am no expert in this field so I invite you readers to give your opinions on this.
But anyway, here is my view as to why this difference in attitude is there between us and our western brothers.

First thing is that in Western Countries there is no legacy of leaving behind hugely amassed wealth for the coming generations. There, children start living independently (on their own expenses) early and parents get their minds off the worries to support their children. All this may be attributed mainly to the prevailing culture there and partly to the high employment rate.

In fact in the words of the Great philanthropist Warren Buffet-" I want to give my Kids enough so that they could feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing."

On the contrary, we in India have family values firmly engraved in our Culture. We remain connected to our siblings and elders forever. While this is very good culture but what happens is that this gives rise to a family-centric approach from the very childhood. So when we grow up, we are less likely to help someone outside our family. We fail to understand that though not blood relatives, but others too are our own brothers and sisters. And thus most of us rarely take trouble to come out and help other fellow Indians.

Another reason might be that Indians are generally quite religious in nature. Indians blindly believe in many religious things and practices without giving it much thought. The overall result is that we end up getting unfairly inclined towards religious acts than some much needed humane efforts. In my opinion, it's much more important to get indulged in some social, humane efforts than following some religious acts and rituals. I believe, GOD can't be made happier by doing anything else other than serving His own creatures. But it's really very sad to see few Indians actually believing in this.

One more reason that must be accounted for is the financial status of the people. The financial status of the citizens of a country too determines the mentality of the people there. If there is a vast gap in economic status of two countries then it is bound to have some great differences in the thinking of the people too.

Apart from these, there may be so many other reasons and I hope to find them in the course of my Life. But for now I just hope that the better sense prevails in our fellow Countrymen and they indulge in social causes significantly more than they do right now. I just hope that we INDIANS learn the Art of Giving and make it a part of our Life. CHEERS !!!

The Right Attitude leads to Empowerment

2010-09-26T18:49:00.021+05:30

A young girl walks on the lonely street, unhappy with herself. She is not beautiful like others are. "My friends have boyfriends and I do not. They are happy. Since I am not beautiful, I have no boyfriend."

A strong breeze blows against her face and her silky hair starts dancing. It says to her: "Be like me my child, go with the flow and you will glow." The breeze teaches her to have an attitude which will lift her beyond mere physical beauty.
The breeze is constantly moving; so to move with the vastness of life without getting stuck, be like it, constantly move. The breeze says to her: "I do not move for happiness but out of happiness. I do not dance for happiness but out of happiness. A youth should learn this art to operate from happiness and not for happiness. Happiness is an attitude. To be a winner in life is also an attitude."

Your attitude is more important than facts for the right attitude can empower you. When you are empowered, you are bigger than a problem rather than a victim to a problem, and living in such a space makes you a winner. An easy task becomes difficult when you have a poor attitude. A difficult task becomes challenging when you have a good attitude.

Change your body posture. A trainer talking to students on the subject of public speaking told them: "When you talk of heaven your face must be glowing and radiating joy. Your eyes must shine and lips should reflect heaven." "What about talking of hell?" asked the student. "Your normal face is enough," replied the trainer.

Change your mind. Always entertain healthy thoughts. Positive thoughts are a great asset. A pessimist sees difficulty in an opportunity and an optimist sees opportunity in a difficulty. Understand that when one door closes another opens. Trust life. Insecurity invites you to be alert and not worried. It tells you to be creative and not complain. One has to know how to take it easy and float in life and not fight with life. You can't fight with the waves but you can learn to float.

Change your emotions. The quality of your life is the quality of your consistent emotion. When your emotion is low, just change it; think of a happy incident. Change your values. Have values that connect to goodness and connect to people.

Follow these psychological exercises: Always stand and sit erect. "If you want to be a colonel, walk like a colonel," is an expression in the army. Keep the body posture like that of a winner. Fill your mind with positive thoughts. Keep your emotions on the top of the world. Exercise and keep the above alive in you; see and picture yourself doing this.
Lots of people fear failure, death, insecurity and rejection. Come from a commitment that failure is only postponed success. Failure is the fertiliser for success. If you bring this energy into your life, it will give you methods of handling fear of failure. Also understand that fear is a movement of thought. Thought is nothing but a movement of the mental word.
If you get identified with a fear which is actually just a thought, which again is just a word, then this identification makes you a prisoner of fear. Also, this thought-fear unconsciously pulls in the previous memories of fear and with the past fears, a snowballing effect happens.
So when fear happens, just become totally aware and don't get identified with that thought. With wordless awareness, just watch. This watching will not allow the previous fears to have a snowballing effect. This is called objective watching.

You feel insecure because you have a concept of what is security and from that concept you are seeing life. Anything that does not fit that concept makes you insecure.
If you have the spirit of adventure in you then insecurity is a great adventure for you to explore. You will have fun with that insecurity. Learn to trust that insecurity is inviting you to be creative.

**** **** **** **** **** ****
P.S.- The above thoughts are actually of Swami Sukhabodhananda. I had read this article a long time back in 'The Speaking Tree' column of TOI. The Original article can be found at http://bit.ly/aQJJ1z

Cigarette's Smoke !!! The one thing I hate most....

2010-09-23T01:50:00.001+05:30

Every time I go out, one thing that leaves me fuming is persons smoking here and there and me having to inhale that damn smoke. Cigarette's smoke is the one thing that I hate most and its just too repulsive for me. I just can't bear its smell. As soon as I smell someone near me smoking, I just feel like giving him a big punch on face and disfiguring his face so much that he doesn't dare smoke next time. I wish, I could get some superpower some time and thus could go around beating those smokers.

I hate Cigarettes more for its smoke than for its health hazards. I hate it much more than liquor. Liquors have at least some medical benefits too but Cigarettes.... it is totally useless and fully harmful. More notable thing is that in Cigarettes, double harm is caused, both active and passive smokers are harmed by it. There is no such thing in Drinking and moreover, I have heard some kinds of Drinks have less repulsive smell. But whatever, right now I hate both things- Smoking and Drinking.

I am forced to write about Smoking because its almost daily that I get caught up in a situation where I find someone smoking near me and thus I have to move away farther from him so as to save myself from the unbearable situation. I get infuriated on facing these situations.

I fail to understand why does Govt. allows such things to thrive and prosper!!! If sale and possession of some drugs like Marijuana, Hashish have been made illegal then why not make the Cigarettes illegal too???? Are there some beneficial effects of Cigarettes that is stopping the Govt. from banning it completely??? I just fail to understand these legal intricacies.

Whatever, Smoking and the Cigarettes' smoke is one thing that I am sure, I am going to hate till eternity. I just hope that our fellow people gets some sense of mind and stops smoking, and one day, India gets totally Cigarette free. Hope this really comes true one day. CHEERS :) :)

Why ??

2010-09-17T22:26:00.000+05:30

Sometimes I wonder why bad things happen to good people only !!! No, I mean, I know that bad things happen to bad people too but then it seems like bad things happen more with nice people. I wonder why is it so. Well, I know it might be based on my limited vision of the world but when you see some nice people around you suffering so much, then such things are bound to haunt your mind.

When you see a little, innocent child suffering from acute pain, undergoing various kinds of complicated surgeries then you are bound to ask as to what had she done to deserve this much of pain at such a young age!!! When you see some of your nice friend's near n dear ones suffering a lot and so that person getting submerged into the Ocean of Grief, you are bound to ask such questions. When you see some nice people not getting what he deserves and in stead his crooked friends getting all the possible undue advantages, then you are bound to get disturbed and ask yourself such questions....

So, why is it so???? Is it because that Almighty, wants to put the nice persons to constant tests?? Or is it because nice persons are never meant to enjoy in his life?? Or is it because nice persons should sacrifice his happiness for the sake of others (some not-so-nice persons)?? I wonder why is it so....

Just have a look around yourself. You are bound to find so many examples of this. You can easily find some crooked and cunning persons getting things that they never deserved, very easily, and honest persons seldom getting what they long deserved. This does go on to some extent because we know very well that honesty, and truthfulness is not an easy thing to follow, there are sufficient hardships involved in it. But then, many times it just crosses the limits, many times it just makes you so disheartened that you start pondering over such never-answerable questions. Cummoonnn... how can an innocent person be made to suffer so much for no fault of his own, how can an innocent child be made to undergo so many painful, physical trauma..... !!!!

Such kind of questions remain unanswered and comes haunting time and again...... I wonder if these kind of questions have some answer too, or they are better left unanswered only!!!

A Brother's Story

2010-09-15T19:50:00.001+05:30

LET'S SHOW our love while we can, while people need us. That is something I learnt from an incident in Bhopal.

I used to see a little boy daily near the Hanuman temple, always in a red tee and black pants, with a small Hanuman pendant around his neck. He used to sit with a basket of fresh floral garlands. Be it at six in the morning or nine at night, he would try his very hardest to sell his wares.

I was a frequent temple goer and each time the boy would beg me earnestly to buy a garland. But somehow I never did. Even when I came out, he would follow me to my car, begging me to buy one at least.

Other boys sold flowers too, but none as persistently as he. I went back to the temple recently after a gap of some months.

The boy was there, seated exactly as before. I tried to avoid his gaze, assuming that he would follow me. But he did not budge.I went inside the temple and came back. But the boy made no effort to sell his garlands.

I thought he was angry or just showing his own self-respect.

I suddenly missed the communication. I always had with this unknown boy and went to him. He looked at me but did not speak.This was strange.

I gathered courage and asked: "Bhaiya, why are you not asking me to buy your garlands?"

He said, "Didi, why should I ask? You are rich but you can't spend five rupees on my garland. Anyway now I am not so desperate. My sister was suffering from cancer and I had to work for her medicines. My father had left us. My mother makes the garlands and I sell them. We used the money for my sister's medicines. She passed away two months ago. You can now take one for free."

I bought them all. But I felt so small. I still repent that I did not respond when he tried so hard.

P.S.- This story seems to have been originally written by Mrs. Vanita Srivastava, an HT journalist, though, despite my best efforts, I couldn't find its original version anywhere.

Heart, Love and The Life

2010-07-08T18:36:00.034+05:30

What is heart? According to medical dictionaries it is a chambered muscular organ that pumps blood received from the veins into the arteries, thereby maintaining the flow of blood through the entire circulatory system.

Umm… Well.. it is something like blah blah blah.... for a boy like me.

According to me, heart is that single chambered part of body which circulates the feeling of love in one’s life.

Now the question arises that what actually love is? People will again define it in many ways. Some may define it as a pure feeling; some may relate it to sexual requirements. But according to me Love is a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person. This feeling can be towards any person, not only boyfriend or girlfriend. We love our friends, brother, parents….. & our parents love us. When we get out in rain or sun without any protection it makes our parents feel uneasy. When we simply sneeze, our parents start worrying about our health even if it is just simple seasonal cold.

Have you ever thought of those parents whose kids are suffering from some inborn disease or disorder which cannot be cured or which requires lakhs of money to be cured.

This post of mine is dedicated to a very sweet child I came across. I got to know about her through a tweet retweeted by the Great BigB(on his wedding anniversary day). Her name is Harshita Luthra. Date of birth 17th June 2007, 3 years old angel.

When I saw her video I got more curious to know about her. I called her father to know about the matter and then requested him to send all the related documents. Along with those docs, he sent some of her beautiful,adorable pics and then I was compelled to devote my time to save her life.

Doctors say that she is having some problem in her heart. Ummmm.. what they called it.. YES.. VSD (ventricular septal defect).. that means there is some problem with the wall (Ventricular septum) that divides the two chambers of heart. The doctors also said that there is some defect in her pulmonary artery & Aorta.

I don’t understand these medical terms. All I know is that she is having some serious,fatal birth defects in her heart. She is too young to die. And this innocent smiling beauty is not aware of her conditions. Her parents…. Huh…. I don’t have words to explain their condition…

But the good part of the story is that her life can be saved if her parents can arrange 70 LAKH RUPEES for her surgery. This surgery will take place at Childern’s Hospital, Boston. Hmmm.. So there is a ray of hope, isn’t it.. But 70 LAKH RUPEES.. BIG AMOUNT.. especially for a middle class family.. it is BIG BIG AMOUNT.. So now what.. what should we do ..? You all must be thinking that even I don’t have that much money.. What can I do..? Right..?? Even I don’t have that much money.. But we can't let her die for this reason..

I just want to request all my readers to participate in saving her life.. even donation of 200 rupees each can make a big difference..

Click this link for a Report broadcast on NDTV -

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/help-save-a-three-year-olds-heart-28726.php

To know all the details about this case (complete documents), plz visit-
http://shantihp.posterous.com/save-an-innocent-life

I hope.. You will do as much as possible from your side..

For donating money—

Bank Account detail-

Account holder's name- Amit Luthra

ICICI bank Acc. No.- 001701562005 , Adarsh nagar Branch, Jalandhar,Punjab, 144001 ,

IFSC CODE- ICIC0000273

Swift Code For out Country- ICICINBBXXX

Paypal Account created with the email ID- luthrainbox@gmail.com

You may want to call Harshita's Father on this no.- 09781699996

Thanking You

Shanti

*DISCLAIMER: This post is not originally written by me. This was actually written by one of my friend. I just modified it a bit and posted it.

P.S.-

*45 lacs INR has been collected in this Campaign, about 15 lacs INR more are required for Post-surgical recovery expenses.

*Today (on 4th August, at 4:30 pm, IST ), Harshita is undergoing her major Heart-Surgery in Boston. Let's hope and pray for her surgery to be successful and her to get well soon.

***Her Operation has been successfully performed by the concerned Doctors there :D (News update as on 5th August at 12:40 am, IST)

**** Harshita has been discharged from the Hospital (Updated as of 11th August, 7 am IST). Now she will remain there for a few weeks more(for regular medical check ups)

*****Harshita's father Mr. Amit Luthra is in USA right now, so you won't be able to reach him on his INDIAN Contact no. given above. You may call him on his USA no.- (001 617 922 4662 ), or, if you are not able to reach him, then for any clarifications/info you may contact me instead.

*******Harshita has been suspected to be suffering from another minor problem. Doctors suspect some problem in her 'mitral valve'. So their stay in USA have been extended by one month. Her next check up is on 20th October. Let's hope for the Best.......

*********The Latest update is that Doctors have confirmed leakages in some parts of her heart. Doctors there have suggested another surgery after about 6 months and she will have to undergo similar surgeries after every 5 years till she turns adult. The parents seem to have been into a long drawn battle to save their daughter. Let's Hope their determined struggle finally bears fruit and Harshita gets perfectly fine in near future.

**Update (as of 23-01-11)- Harshita's dental surgery needs to be done which will be followed by her Heart's surgery in a few months. Large sums of amount needed again. Efforts are on to raise funds for that. You too can contribute for the cause. THANKS

Save his Life please

2010-03-27T21:39:00.021+05:30

Hello friends,

I am writing this blog to draw your attention to the plight of my friend's condition who is undergoing a very crucial stage of his life fighting with a very rare disease called "Budd-Chiari syndrome". It is a very rare disease,in fact it occurs only in 1 out of 100,000 individuals.

My friend's family has been going around different parts of the country for the last 8 months, for the specialized treatment of this disease.

His problem started with complaints of pain in abdomen, vomiting and then difficulty in breathing and Chest pain.

In two different Hospitals he was diagnosed with liver abscess(pus-filled mass inside or attached to the liver )

He was also diagnosed with having Pleural effusion. Pleural effusion is excess fluid that accumulates in the pleural cavity, the fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs. Excessive amounts of such fluid can impair breathing by limiting the expansion of the lungs during inhalation.

The excessive fluid created was then artificially drained out and a chest tube was placed inside the pleural space for further removal of the excess fluid formed(which is used to remove at least 250-800 ml of liquid daily)

CT of upper abdomen was suggestive of Hepatic vein thrombosis (Budd-Chiari syndrome)

Portal Venography showed abnormality in the IVC(inferior vena cava) and hence the patient was referred to the specialized centre- SGPGI,Lucknow.

There the disease was diagnosed as Acute Budd-Chiari syndrome (along with some more problems like pleural effusion).

The final conclusion of Doctors there noted following problems-

*Hepatic vein thrombosis with distended azygous and hemiazygous veins.

*Total occlusion of IVC with suprarenal segment.

*Grade 2 varices(now (as of 27-04-10), it has advanced to Grade 3), mild PHG(Portal hypertensive gastropathy).

Ultimately, at SGPI Lucknow, the patient was advised to go for Liver transplant at a centre of own choice.

The patient was then taken to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi.

But there the doctors ruled out the possibility of transplanting liver because the patient's IVC and iliac vein was completely occluded(see Dr's report).

And then the patient was moved to medanta medicity(Gurgaon) for that purpose.There a Radiology examination was done(see its copy)on March 6,2010.

On March 9,2010 the Hospital issued a note of information(or say certificate) saying that the patient was suffering from Budd-Chiari syndrome and he needed the placement of TIPPS(Trans Jugular Intra Hepatic Porta Systemic Shunt) along with IVC stenting. It also said that this intervention needs to be done urgently for his survival and stated the approximate cost of treatment as 6 lacs.

You can see all the relevent medical Certificates/records by clicking here

Now, the financial condition of the family is not good, his father is no more there and his mother is a Housewife, besides they have already spent lots of money in the patient's treatment in the last 8 months, going for different private Hospitals in the Country.

So they are unable to arrange such a large amount(about 6 lacs) in such a short time span(just 20 days).

So please donate whatever amount you can. Remember you are contributing towards saving someone's life.

Thank you so much...

P.S.-

*Now, We have with us, the required amount. So now we are stopping to receive any further contributions. Thank you so much for your support...

**Rahul's Surgery/Operation had been done successfully by Dr. S.S. Baijal and right now he is going Great in his life. He has been re-admitted in NIT Jamshedpur with the new batch and he is carrying on with his regular studies.

THANKS

My all-time favourite poem

2010-03-26T00:20:00.003+05:30

ANYWAY

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

Is It Love

2010-03-20T16:59:00.015+05:30

Well, I think everyone is confused about what actually Love is. I am myself confused a lot about it (and now please don't start yelling on me- "how can you write on a topic you yourself are confused about, hey man,,, calm down, calm down.... read ahead)

Before I go ahead, I would like to make it clear that henceforth, in this blog, when I say "Love", I am actually referring to Love between opposite sexes (that we youngsters have to most often deal with) not any other kind of love.

Well, you know, this is such a tough and complex question that even if put to some renowned thinkers and writers around the world, will put them to think over it for a while, before answering it. Of course may be Paulo Coelho, Deepak Chopra or Robin Sharma can give you a one line reply to this question but that will leave you more puzzled than satisfied.

May be they are quite thorough with their concepts but why does it take sooo long for us to fathom out what actually Love is, when to say deep inside your heart that “I love her”. Why does it seem so confusing to make a clear distinction amongst terms like- liking, infatuation, crush, friendship and love!!!! Why are we sometimes puzzled about our relationships?

Let’s for example assume that, I like one of my female friend and she has a very special place in my heart but it is not clear to me as to why does she get such a unfair treatment from my heart, I mean even for the time being, why does my heart gives her a special place to live in !!!! Is it just a passing phase, is it just normal attraction that a boy can have toward a girl, is it just some kind of infatuation or is it actually ....well....errrrr- LOVE ?????!!!!!

So that’s it, why do we face such kind of situations, even when we are so mature now (age-wise), why does it take this much effort to figure out what actually we are into!!!??? Tell me, tell me, I am not here to answer this question, I am not writing this blog because I have figured out why things are the way they are. I am writing this blog to sort out my own mess (hey, hey common, please do not start running away, I am sure it will help you too). I mean, I think by writing about these things and by taking your suggestions, comments and views I will make myself more enlightened about these things, and in turn, you too will become more mature by discussing and reading these things here (and do not worry, I will keep some fun factors involved too, so that it doesn’t get boring).

That was the first part of my blog- Description of the problem, here goes the second part-

I will start by posting an sms that I received from my friend Rahil yesterday, though it doesn’t make everything clear but anyway it does give you some idea and starts your thought process. Here it goes-

"Love is not what you see, not what you think, not what you hear, not what you achieve , its all that you feel in yourself....

You are in Love when you touch your heart and you feel the touch of that person, you close your eyes and have the picture of that person, you take a deep breath and feel the closeness of that person.

You are in love not when you think you are in Love (oops, does that mean I am not in love!!!), you are not in Love when you want to be in Love, you are not in Love just because of some good looks of a person (does that mean I am in Love!!!)....

In fact you are in Love when you keep telling yourself you want to be away from Love, Love is when you die for a glance of that person (yes I die for, hahaha ), Love is when you are ready to do anything just for a smile from that person(anything??? Well,errr, ok may be.), Love is when a tinge of sadness in his/her eyes brings ocean of tears in your eyes(ocean??no, but it does make me sad too), Love is when you start praying for the well being of that person even if that person may never become yours ever........."

That’s the end of that sms, and if I analyse my situation in accordance with the above laid terms, I find myself concluding that I am actually ............well, I leave that for you to guess and add it in the Comment section below.

Now, all of you, please do not start comparing your relationships with above written conditions, there are many more things to consider.

What I think is that true love is Unconditional and can’t be reasoned with, I mean you don’t have to have a reason for loving somebody, you love somebody just because.... well.... you don’t know or better say, you can never figure out the reason for loving somebody. In the words of Paulo Coelho(in his book-The Alchemist)- “One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”

So that’s it, if you can’t find a reason of being in love with somebody, that is one of the things that hints that you are actually in love. You won’t be able to find a particular reason for loving (actually you may have too many to choose from).

Then of course Love is unconditional. When you want to understand “unconditional”, better visualise a child-mother relationship. The mother loves her child despite so many shortcomings. Even when the grown up child goes wrong way, walk over their parents and sometimes parts ways with them, the mother (after some time-period) still wants to be with her child not for बुढ़ापे का सहारा, but simply because she loves her child. So, if somebody is loved , he/she is loved unconditionally, there are no ifs and buts involved. In Love, you donot and cannot find differences, you are actually so blended with your beloved that you simply can’t notice the other person’s shortcomings and your differences with him/her.

Apart from these things, I have just one thing to say, I do believe in true love, and for those persons who think that Love is the business of fools or it is totally useless, puts your life in reverse gear, destroys your career...blah, blah, blah...I have just one thing to quote here for them –

"You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny. If he abandons that pursuit, it's because it wasn't true love… “

-Paulo Coelho (in “The Alchemist”)

Well, I think I should stop writing now. Although still I can write many more things as there are so many things coming up in my mind right now, But this will make this blog unnecessary lengthy and a bit boring for you too.

So that’s the end of this blog entry. Thanks for coming here and going through it.

I will ask you for just one more favour (please do it for me)-

Please leave your Comments or views about this particular topic or about my way of writing (or anything else) in the Comment Section below, that will be your way of appreciating my blog.

Thank you soooo much

-Shanti

my first blog entry.....

2010-03-16T02:32:00.002+05:30

Well,,..... I was already quite familiar with these blog things.....reading about them in Newspapers, Computer magazines and of course going about reading some good blogs, but I never had tried it writing myself..... so, after so much of time, today I thought- hey, why not you too start on this blog bandwagon.....

To start with, I will name a few notable blogs that I have been through and have found quite impressive. They are here in order of their preferences-

(1) http://shobhaade.blogspot.com/

This is the blog of my favorite female columnist......I absolutely adore her columns, she writes sooo good.. just go through one of her columns in STOI.

(2) http://bigb.bigadda.com/

This is the blog of Big B. He needs no introduction. I was led to his blog during the recent controversy on the controversial column about the beauty queen Aishwarya Rai in "Mumbai Mirror", There was a lot of furor on the issue and I thought why not to actually read what Big B is writing about it.
I was sooo amazed to find out how politely he mentions about us in the blog....

(3) http://contestfreaks.blogspot.com/

This is the blog of my twitter friend Daniel (@Cool_Dany). He keeps posting about new ongoing ONLINE contests to win various kinds of prizes and goodies. He too maintains a very good blog.

I know there are a hundred (or may be a thousand) more impressive blogs that are yet to be discovered by me but till now I have been able to visit these blogs only.I hope to find other fine ones soon.
And now that I have started blogging, I wish that I will be able to continue it. I think it will benefit me in the longer run, by specially inculcating a habit of writing in me(and who knows, tomorrow I may be writing for some renowned Newspapers/magazines!!!!!)....
That's I fear, is the end of my first blog, hope its not much boring for you....Thanks for making a visit here, wait for my next blog entry......

Shanti