Stockholm syndrome .. simply explained for all of us “IT Professionals”
I know for sure my husband would readily agree………………. đ
Farmville – found my little OASIS
Few months back one of my cousins hooked me on to Farmville. Generally I am not into online games but within no time I was addicted to this game. Initially it was plain and simple competition – a race to reach advanced levels. Gradually as I got a bigger farm it was day for spring cleaning đ So I decided to change the layout of farm – create a small garden, place cottages , main house, little ponds, ducks ,etc. (It is actually quite a fun. Wish in real life also we were able to rearrange everything in our life the way and when we want to do it……………. )
Anyways I never knew that this simple activity would result in my own little oasis. I rearranged a corner of my farm into this little cute garden – with a pink cottage, ponds with ducks (and obviously ducklings), picnic benches, pink trees, apple trees, etc. And VOILA – suddenly I had my little oasis. A little place where I could so clearly visualize myself – on a nice sunny day,  lying on the wooden bench head on harpal’s lap, under shade of trees, along the little pond with a nice book. WOW even visualizing myself there is soooo relaxing.Â
Anyways I never knew that this simple activity would result in my own little oasis. I rearranged a corner of my farm into this little cute garden – with a pink cottage, ponds with ducks (and obviously ducklings), picnic benches, pink trees, apple trees, etc. And VOILA – suddenly I had my little oasis. A little place where I could so clearly visualize myself – on a nice sunny day,  lying on the wooden bench head on harpal’s lap, under shade of trees, along the little pond with a nice book. WOW even visualizing myself there is soooo relaxing.Â
So now  have this little trick – in the middle of meetings, deadlines and mundanity of daily life – I escape into this little garden for my dose of relaxation. So if in middle of meeting if you see me contented with a blessed smile on my face – you know where I am đ
Jalebis at Trevi Fountain
Roaming in rome (that has nice rhyme) we ran into 2 young Sikh boys.
 |
|
|
 Only a day before I was commenting to masi that I have not come across single Sikh tourist in Rome and were wondering if there is any gurudwara at Rome. We also realize that day after is gurpurab (Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev ji).
So we go and greet these guys for general courtesy chit chat.  As we are about to leave one of the guy tells other to share some langer with us which he had brought from gurudwara. And we are offered jalebis đÂ
And in the middle of Rome (the eternal and spiritual city) (near Trevi fountain) we were “blessed” – just like that!
 |
| me and masi at Trevi fountain |
Day of coincidences
Had a day of strange coincidences. Couldn’t explain it …..
I had bought “Sophie’s World” – A novel about the history of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder few months back and though it is absolutely unlike me to read (an interesting book) in intervals , somehow couldn’t find time to finish it. I started reading through as an when I got opportunity/time.(I have real bad habit of finishing a good book even if it means reading till wee hours of morning on a work day). I found this book extremely interesting but still somehow couldn’t read through more than couple of chapters at one go.
So here I am in Paris for 1 month for work. I have brought this book with me and intend to finish it in this trip.
Yesterday I planned a trip to “Château of Versailles” and packed my ipod and picked up the book as I was leaving the door. I had originally planned to be there at 9 am so as to not to wait in queue for entrance (had booked ticket online too), but it wasn’t till 11 am that I reached there. Almost had a heart attack looking at the long winding queues. There were hundreds of people waiting in the queue (and that was after buying tickets). No exaggeration , check out the pics for yourself………….
Anyways back to the topic – Coincidences! So waiting in the line, I remember the book I had packed  (  I also want to mention that I really found it strange that by the time I have reached Renaissance period in the book, I was visiting Rome and Paris!) So I take out the book and continue reading……….. and the page mentions about “Château of Versailles” and Louis XIV (page no 211 and 212). I really couldn’t explain that – I wait for forever to buy a book I always wanted to read, then I take forever to finish it off and am reading the author mention about the same place I am standing at (5000 miles away from home). Can’t explain it …………………………………
Second coincidence – I am headed back to my hotel – as I enter the hotel my ipod is playing one of my fav songs – ‘hai preet jahan ki reet jahan…………..” (a b’ful song praising the contributions of India and abt what a great country it is ..). The friendly receptionist Jacob is on duty so he asks me how my day was and what I did, etc . Then as I am about to enter the lift he calls me and tells me that previous night he watched a program on BBC on India and that he thinks that India is a great country………… I just stared at him as if spellbound as the song played on my ipod…………………………
Nice quote ;)
“I love being married. It’s so great to find one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” Rita Rudner
Policies and Processes
“How many of your policies are designed for the sole purpose of satisfying your sadistice tendencies?”
“All of them. Some of them are just more obvious.”
– Alice & Catbert
Large corporations welcome innovation and individualism in the same way the dinosaurs welcomed large meteors.
Dilbert
Notes to Self – Signs
When you ask God for signs, also ask for ability to interpret them.
My unfulfilled desires – list of things that I would love to do
Like most of the people I guess, I have my list of things that I want to do, and are still waiting. I am not sure what I am waiting for and what would trigger the escape velocity for me to come out of my routine and actually work on things that I really desire. I have enough time (no matter how much I shout that I am very busy), I can afford, but I postpone.
Here is my list of things that I would love to do, and I never did :
- Learn to play guitar.
- Learn swimming.
- Actively contribute to some social cause. Work for some NGO that helps children and women.
- Learn how to dance (classical, salsa,…)
- Learn Reiki.
- Incorporate the practice of meditation for at least 3 times a week.
- Learn to ride a bike (obviously not pillion seat)
- Take a cookery course and learn to make exotic dishes.
- Travel to New Zealand, Venice, Paris and Hawaii.
- Safari in Africa
- Own a Jeep.
- ……………………………………………..
I think writing them down will help me and I will strike each one of them as and when I fulfill them đ
Life – Delicious ambiguity
“I wanted a perfect ending.
Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme,
and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Life is about not knowing, having to change,
taking the moment and making the best of it,
without knowing what’s going to happen next.
………. Â Delicious ambiguity”.
Gilda Radner
Seven times have I despised my soul – Kahlil Gibran
Excerpt from “Sand and Foam” from Kahlil Gibran:
Seven times have I despised my soul:
The first time when I saw her being meek that she might attain height.
The second time when I saw her limping before the crippled.
The third time when she was given to choose between the hard and the easy, and she chose the easy.
The fourth time when she committed a wrong, and comforted herself that others also commit wrong.
The fifth time when she forbore for weakness, and attributed her patience to strength.
The sixth time when she despised the ugliness of a face, and knew not that it was one of her own masks.
And the seventh time when she sang a song of praise, and deemed it a virtue.
Reading this made me retrospect about the times I have despised my soul.Â
So here is my list (and I am sure the number would be much greater than 7 ) :
- When she shamelessly basked in the biased affection of my dad and didn’t give any thought about how my siblings may feel about it.
- When she was afraid to voice her opinion against the wrong, just because she didn’t want to be on the bad books of people who meant world to her.
- When she said hurtful words just to win an argument.
- When she forgot to thank God for all the blessings in her life and when she never missed any chance to complain to God about any thing bad in her life.
- When she was judgmental about people and forgot to look for same flaws in herself.
- When she knew about her weaknesses and still instead of working on that just let made a fool of herself.
- When she forgets to keep in touch with friends and family and just blames the hectic schedule.
- When she was too stubborn to express her real feelings because she didn’t want to be vulnerable.
- When she chose to just offer empty words of sympathy when somebody needed real help.
……. will keep on adding as and when I remember more instances.
Reflections 