Memories · School days

Money can buy you school admission but school time memories are priceless!!!!!!!!!

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Yesterday I was reminiscing the school days and so many happy memories came rushing back ……………………..

  • Canteen and bread pakodas with that yummy chutney,
  • Mrs Mathur and her famous 7″ high heels,
  • Anshu Mathur and his childish pranks,
  • morning assemblies,
  • house changing ceremonies,
  • playing “langdi tang” on the badminton court,
  • rushing from the examination hall to play – Mrs Mathur grabbing us and forcing us to review our answer sheet (and finding out , yes, we indeed missed answering 1 question),
  • Surdershan mam.
  • Girija mam,
  • Urdu/drawing teacher – Kashmiri Lal sir and his indiscriminate beating to whole class (and though scoring 99% – not able to read/write even 1 word of urdu)

…………………………… innumerable memories and priceless too 🙂

Love

"If he will give you his very last piece of food," she says, "then you’ve got love!"

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Recently I watched “The Brothers” on TV.

The movie is hilarious look at four African-American ‘brothers’ lifelong friends who band together to navigate through the turbulent waters of love and sex on their way to healthy, happy and committed relationships.

One particular scene kind of stayed with me ……………..
there’s only one sure test of a man’s genuine love and devotion, according to a divorcee mother played by Jenifer Lewis. She offers a cute new twist on the old truth about the way to a man’s heart.
To find out whether he really loves you, she advises, just wait until you’re sitting together late at night on the couch, getting cuddly in front of TV and a late-night snack. “If he will give you his very last piece of food,” she says, “then you’ve got love!”
While I was watching it, I remembered what my husband had told me sometime back. Whenever we are eating , he insists on me taking the best portions (be it cake – the larger portion, or chicken) . He commented that it is strange that throughout his life he wanted to have best portions for him (and even fought for it with his siblings & friends), but whenever he is with me , he gets greater pleasure in me having them.
Yes , he “always” lets me have the “very last piece of food“.
Insight

Push or Pull – which door would you choose

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There are 2 set of doors on our way to cafeteria. One that says “Push” and other “Pull”. It is interesting to note that most people rather prefer the “Push” doors. Granted with your loaded arms “Push” is much more convenient – but I am talking about entrance to cafeteria 🙂

Is this simple decision of choosing doors is made at rather subtle subconscious level. Is it not our psychology at play which instinctively tells us to push things away from us. Given a choice we would rather push things – people, relationships, emotions, changes, problems, new situations, …. away from us rather than pulling them into our life?

I have started playing this guessing game, based on my perception of the people which door would they rather choose. And I am mostly right about the people I know. people who are very confident and open mostly choose “Pull”. I am not right 100% of times but I am enjoying this guessing game 🙂

Destiny · Life

Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.

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Today’s quote from Einstein prompted this post today.

Is that true? Is “Coincidence ” God’s way of telling us that he is up there for us, looking for us and bailing us out. But when we can’t explain certain things we simply classify them as “Coincidence”! Much easy for us to accept if it is plain simple coincidence rather than accepting that there is larger force behind it and much better explanation.
I am firm believer in existence of God. When people tell me I have been plain lucky in my life – I tell them no – it is God looking after me! Instead of branding all lucky incidents in my life as “Chance” or “Coincidence” , I choose to call them “Miracles”- God’s way of telling me that he is there for me. All I have to do is open my heart and eyes for his love and blessings.

Just an trivial example – One of my colleagues in my previous company would openly say that one should be born with Param’s luck. He thought luck favoured me everywhere. One particular incident he loved to quote – once it started raining while most of us were on our way to office. Since weather was clear in the morning, none of us had brought any umbrella. It was good distance between the office and parking lot, meaning most of them were drenched ( and I mean really dripping drenched) by the time they reached inside. And it was winter time, so u can imagine how comfortable that would have been.But by the time I parked my car I saw one of my colleague standing beside my car with an umbrella. How nice! And the moment Rohit (my colleague whom I mentioned above) saw me all dry (while he was standing in cafeteria trying to figure out how to dry himself), he simply freaked out with usual stuff – u are so damn lucky. I know it is trivial incident and I could have simply said it was pure coincidence. But I chose to call it a miracle. God’s way of looking for me. Telling me that he is there. Another incident I can’t forget is – once me and my sister had to go to my old school which was good 30Km away from city. I had to collect some certificate or something. When we reached school we found out that schools was closed and realised that we had picked up less money. We didn’t had enough money to pay for our bus fare back home. We were very confused on what to do. Went to friend’s home nearby but it was locked. (I am talking about pre-mobile phone era, so we couldn’t simply call somebody to help us out). And suddenly (first time in my life and probably last time till now), I found money on the ground. Maybe for some people it is no big deal and again simple co-incidence, but for me it was miracle , again God’s way of helping me out.

So I am with Einstein when he says – “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.”

Insane World

What kind of world are we living in?

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All of us heard the news about Joseph Fritzl.
“A man held a woman prisoner for decades in an underground cell, forcing her to bear seven of his children. The victim was his own daughter. Behind this door and underground, unthinkable horrors occurred unheard and unnoticed for at least 24 years. 73-year-old Joseph Fritzl, an electrical engineer, kept his own daughter imprisoned as a sex slave. He reportedly confessed to authorities he fathered seven children with her. One is said to have died as an infant. His wife and their own six children lived upstairs, allegedly unaware.”

This news item has shaken my soul. I have been trying to follow the news quite closely and every time new details are revealed my soul shudders at the cruelty and injustice to the girl. How can this happen? Can’t be real? My heart goes out for the girl…………. How can your own father even think of doing this to you? Seriously what kind of twisted world are we living in? Is this the world we want to pass in out to our kids?

Is it just me or does it seem ludicrous that a man who imprisons his daughter in a cellar for 24 years, repeatedly rapes her, and fathers 7 of his own grand children with her, can only go to prison for a maximum 15 years? Where’s the justice? Come on the man was convicted of rape – he shouldn’t be allowed to be near his daughters at the first place, leave alone living under same roof. Are we as society have become too polite to notice the atrocities happening in our own neighborhood and simply closing our eyes b’coz it is not directly affecting us?

And now the man’s lawyer is saying –his client shouldn’t face jail as he in mentally ill”. Instead he claimed he should receive psychiatric care and not be put on trial. Shouldn’t face jail as he in mentally ill – I simply couldn’t comprehend that. The man who cold bloodily planned and executed all this for last 24 years – is not fit to face trial. The man who was so calculating and meticulous in last 24 years is suddenly not fit to face trial?

Well I agree there should be no trial but plain simple judgement.

And I though “life was so unfair” when I missed my morning cuppa of coffee, or today morning when I forgot to bring umbrella, or when I didn’t took my sunscreen bottle along on my hiking trip. Wish life was this unfair for Elizabeth and her kids. Wish we could do something to ease off her pain.

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General

Detoxify the mind – Art of Meditation

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2 days ago I went for the meditation class. Since last few days I felt an earnest need to find some relaxing techniques to detoxify my thoughts. My brain was restless and hyper active even during sleeps and almost each morning I was waking up red eyed and still sleepy.

So I signed up for this meet up that was organized by Rahul who had done a course with “Art of Living”. The session was organized at a local church. There were around 5 more people in the group – all with varied backgrounds and cultures.

The moment I started mediation – my mind flooded with different thoughts, why are we doing it sitting on chair (aren’t we supposed to do it sitting on floor), my clothing is too tight for the breathing exercise, will I feel anything different, Oh my God – most of our life have we need breathing so wrong……………….blah blah.

Gradually my mind settled down, felt an internal calmness creep down my entire body, an undefined peace engulfed me and my body & mind felt so light as if I was floating around. In the meditation they suggested – “embrace the negative thoughts you are feeling” but believe me I couldn’t comprehend even one itsy bitsy negative thought, all I could feel was this calmness, peace and happiness inside me, this exhilarating feeling of lightness, purity and contentment. It is difficult for me to explain exactly what and how I felt … but the experience was too beautiful for me. I didn’t want the session to end, to come out of that state……………….

Maybe I should take that “art of Living” classes or maybe I should simply buy some meditation audio CDs and try it on my own.