It's always beautiful...

...when it snows and you never realize that...and suddenly you peek through the window to find the whole world white :).
Indeed, Life is beautiful!

Flying without Wings...

Since my childhood, I have been fascinated by train journeys-thanks to my father's transferable job, I must have traveled in train atleast a hundred times. I love the journey so much that I almost pounced on my classmate who innocently asked (he was traveling for the first or second time in train) "Why are there only four berths while there are 6 people assigned to a cabin!!"

The first and foremost thing about these journeys is the peeking out thing...initially I used to be the good-boy resisting my temptations and peeking out only through the grilled window. That itself used to be so much fun. After I gained independence (!!!read started traveling alone), I started doing the "cooler" thing-standing on the doorstep with the wind blowing on your face gives you a really amazing feeling-one of the "freedoms" that we enjoy by being in India-in most advanced countries the door locks automatically.

Then there is the meeting of people, I have been guilty of not getting to know my neighbors in my building (everyday I meet new faces in my flat and move on uncaring), but in train, there is this joy of talking to strangers and not having to worry about seeing them the next day. The mix of people in my bay (cabin) has always been highly variegated, from cute children to ravishing girls to interesting youngsters to reminiscing elders...infact during college days, I had a friend from Madurai and we used to go in the same train to home and Though this fellow was reserved with outsiders, he (and I:)) harbored fancies of meeting the Miss.Gorgeous and striking up a (life-long::)) conversation with her. But every time, I repeat EVERY TIME (we did this almost 7 times) we used to have people over 60 in our compartment-not even youngsters of our age-it was always the same:). It was like Railways had a built-in rule to redirect people over sixty to our cabin!! We used to blame each other for our extraordinary luck. Still it was fun as we heard some of them talk about their children who lived in US (does every child live in US??), the antics of their grandchildren and so on..

Definitely trains in India, inspite of their delays and inconveniences is one awesome thing about this country and I love it:).

Are you happy?

This is part of a mail I received on Art of Living mailing list and it made a lot of sense...hence wanted to share it here...

What is your commitment in life? You may say you are committed to happiness. Every living creature wants to be happy. Whether it is money, power or sex, you get into it for the sake of happiness. Some people even enjoy misery because it gives them happiness!

To be happy, we seek something. But despite getting it, we are not happy. A school-going boy may think that if he goes to college, he will be more independent, free and therefore happy. If you ask a college-going boy whether he is happy, he feels that if he gets a job, he will be happy. Talk to somebody who is settled in their job or business, you already know what he will say! He is waiting to get a perfect soul mate, to be happy. He gets a soul mate, but he now wants a kid to be happy. Ask those who have children if they are happy. How can they relax until the children have grown up and have had a good education and are on their own. Ask those who are retired, are they happy? They long for the days when they were younger.

All of one’s life is spent in preparing to be happy someday in the future. It’s like making a bed all night, but having no time to sleep.

How many minutes, hours and days have we spent our life being happy from within ? Those are the only moments you have really lived life. Those were perhaps the days when you were a small kid, completely blissful and happy or a few moments when you were surfing, swimming or sailing or on a mountain top, living in the present and enjoying it.

There are two ways of looking at life. One is thinking that, “I'll be happy after achieving a certain objective.” The second is saying that “I am happy come what may!”

Which one do you want to live?

Baby one more time

I often ask myself-which was the happiest time of my short and sweet life so far...there are immediately a flurry of events which come to mind. Then I wonder why are non of these feelings permanent? Ofcourse when I think about it now I am happy-but along with it comes a tinge of dissapointment which says-"Things are'nt the same anymore". Is it necessary to have some disspointments in life to really realise the happy moments?

When I dig a bit deeper, I find a commmon thread that runs through all these events-they were all in one form or the other some event of social acceptance, some "acheivements" (I am using this term purely in the way the society defines it), time spent with friends...and so on. Each of these satisfied atleast one of the basic human cravings-acceptance,recognition,desire to be part of a community and so on...

But wait, there was one other time when I was happy, so happy that I dont even remember it, how many of you remember the time you were a small kid, I am talking about a really small one maybe one-two years old. Well at that time I didnt care about what people thought about me, I didnt care about how eloquent I was, I couldn't just hurt anyone's feelings, I had no expectations of myself and didn't just care about whether or not others had one for me. I never judged anyone because I knew noone. I was a great listener and a great observer primarily because I couldn't just talk, there were simple ways of expressing myself-crying when I was hungry and laughing when people made faces at me. I didn't just care about how rich the guy next door was, nor was I concerned with Bush's pursuance of hapless nations. I was so so happy with the current state of things that I didn't even care to remember those things.

But there I made the mistake, I didnt bother to remember...I have totally forgotten the meaning of being happy and today even if I want to go back it is well next to impossible. I have allowed myself to be conditioned so well that now the society beleives (and so do I) that I am happy for all the preconditions to be happy (family, work, friends etc) are all met. But my question is where did this precondition come in the first place!!!

Just a passing thought

Today I had an interesting chat with a friend I havent met for quite some time. All his friends know him as a silent, composed person who keeps his deepest feelings and thoughts to himself but is always cheerful with friends. He has just joined a very good company (lets call it L) after a long and difficult time. So as is usual with anyone, I started off asking "How is life at L?" and he asked "What do you expect as an answer". I told him "Honestly I am not 'expecting' anything...so go on and tell me whatever your answer is..

Then he asked "Is it life at L or L in life? I feel it is the other way round...isnt it?" For a second I didn't understand him...then it struck me..it was like an "Aha reaction...":). Most of us limit our (and others') lives to the mere circumstances and work that we do at that moment. But life is bigger than that...to realise that life is bigger than Microsoft itself was a big realisation for me personally:).



I am not going to conclude this entry with my judgements like I generally do.....I leave it to you to decide for yourself how you want to interpret this one...

PlainSpeak-Straight from the heart

Yes, That is what this is going to be all about-just plain-speak.



First a little about me. People around me have attributed innumerable names to me-arvi, sharma, kurma and a few others that I would rather not reveal;). Currently working in Microsoft India as a tester. Fortunately surrrounded by great people (budding legends should I say) since college days-I will be talking about a few of them in the future posts obviously.



I am a firm beleiver in God-though not in any particular form-I beleive in a certain all-pervading force that drives every electron to move around the nuclues, every planet to move around the sun and keeps all of us standing on our feet despite travelling at thousands of miles per hour through the vastness of the universe. I trust in the immense power of that force to influence our lives-minor specks that we are in comparison- and also most importantly in the power that we are born with-to communicate with that force in a simple but effective way.



The feeling that has been topmost in my heart at any point of time in my life has been gratitude, to that force I have been railing about. Then to my parents who have been living examples of trust and sincerity (I always wonder if any child has ever lived up to his/her parent's standards...I am convinced I cant;) and my loving brother. If the word sacrifice could ever be personified, that would be my mother, and if ever I need a consultant in personal relations and business, it would be her. Innumerable number of times, I have been amazed by her aplomb and calm in handling people, her financial acumen, her love and care for me ofcourse, and above all her sharp presence of mind which have saved me from embarassments time and again. There are people who would write pages about their dream girl...mine would be just four words-"Exactly like my mother". More about my father and brother in future blogs as each one of them would need seperate entries.



It might have been glaringly obvious that I have made no mention of friends so far....Friends...Ah...they are special...Aren't they? My mental make-up is such that I have always relied on atleast one special person at every important juncture in my life.



To recall a few.....



A relationship that I formed somewhere in my school and strengthened in my final years of schooling, one which is single-handedly responsible for my entry into the most prestigious institution in my state, one which I foolishly overlooked through my college life and-as luck would have it-came back to me towards the end offering an even higher degree of advise and support.



People say "Opposites Attract" few relationships prove that fact like this one ;) He was the first person I saw with a maturity that was belied by his puny looks. With an impeccable sense of humour that belied the burdens that were borne by a sturdy heart. With a commitment to values, that taught me, values are not altogether lost on human race. With an intuition that Einstein would have loved to borrow, and above all with a sense of love and respect that continues to radiate everywhere around him.



Then there is this person,who is as straight-forward as the word could probably mean. Someone whom I turn to when I need advise, someone whom I consider a mirror image of myself, (though this person is the better half of it;)). A friend who values relationships and works hard to maintain them, someone who would be at the front of the line when the word "challenge" is uttered. An enterprising and pure-hearted friend, a partner whom you can trust no matter what the project at hand is;).....



For people who have been wondering.."Will perfection never be attained in the human race", well here comes my answer "God makes exceptions from time to time;) I am fortunate to have lived with one." If Dale Carnegie would have been alive he would have regretted researching "How to Win Friends and Influence People" for all he had to do was to come and watch this fellow in action!!! Amazing...truly incredible. To most of us the natural reaction that comes when we feel betrayed is hatred, but to this fellow the immediate thought would be"Oh, His circumstances probably were such that even I might have done the same thing...so let me not hold a grudge and worsen his situation"....God, what chemical reaction is this and why did you miscalculate for everyone else???? He was a leader like noone else, not beacause he wanted to lead, but because everyone else wanted him to lead....he was a friend like noone else, not because everyone loved him, but because he loved everyone and understood them better than themselves!!!



I would make this one final for two reasons-one, this first entry is getting a bit to long and secondly, this is about a very special person. When this person smiles it lights up a thousand hearts, when this person talks you can be dead-sure that it is not going to be about any personal problems or complaints, but is going to be about YOU. YOU..YOU...YOU, probably this must be the way God started the script on her forehead. Very difficult to understand, but very easy to be understood...sometimes gives me a feeling of possessiveness that I seldom feel with others.



These are just a minor fraction of the hundred odd people I wish to write about, but time and space constraints are limiting me right now. Will get back to writing very soon....



People, I would love to hear from you. Please dont leave the page without your comments.