It’s time to touch something else!!

India is poised! Touch Wood!!
Rupee is growing stronger! Touch Wood!!
Stock market is rising! Touch Wood!!
I really never understood why people touch wood and why only wood, when there are better things to lay their hands on ;)
So, I sat one day to find out what my ancestors had to say about it and here is what I found:
“To touch wood is a superstition action to ward off any evil consequences or bad luck, perhaps because of some recent action you’ve taken or untimely boasting about your good fortune.”
Interestingly, there are some who also said this:
“It wasn’t always wood that was lucky: in older days, iron was also thought to have magical properties, and to touch iron was an equivalent preventative against ill fortune.”

Hmm…I think times have changed now and it’s no more appropriate to touch wood.
Don’t you think so?
My choice would be gold…what’s yours?

P.S: (Did I hear you saying ‘girl’?)

Update on May 14th:
Once upon a time there was a golden rule, now if you have gold, you rule (Read this on net)
Now, u decide!

Who owns the cities?

I often hear people discussing the presence of slums in big cities and find that their focus of discussion is neither the problems of the people living in the slums nor its causes but how their mere presence upsets a city’s image. This leaves me wondering if a section of the people own the cities. I understand that when Government develops infrastructure in a place and calls it a city, it is meant to provide oppurtunities for everyone. If it has some rules saying that all the dwellers of a city ought to live in pukka houses, it has to construct houses for those who can’t afford it, else it is denying them the oppurtunity. Or it shudn’t have any rules and allow people to stay the way they can and earn a living. Ya, some people don’t like the sight of slums in the cities. Even I don’t like the sight of people coming from airports after hours of happy flying when I am walking barefoot. So, how does it matter? Some might argue that they are paying money and they need to be served better. If someone has some extra ‘papers worth a transaction’ by some fortune and they throw them at the Government doesn’t mean all the problems that the Govt. and everyone else face are solved. Nobody has any right to ask the slum-dwellers to go back because they pose a problem to the image of the city. There might be concerns of health and other issues that the Govt. has to learn to deal with. Neither for the sake of foriegners nor for the filthily rich, you can dismiss the poor to the remote parts. Not untill all the places are developed enough not to give their dwellers the pain of having to part with them to earn a living. In case anyone has any problem, he/she has two choices. Face the reality and learn to live with it or get to action and help create more cities!

TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN

For few people education means something other than a means to get a job. And few employers would deny that experience counts more than many other qualities. In that case, if I start working at an early stage in my life, earning my wages, gaining experience, I don’t understand why anyone should have a problem. When I do not find either history or calculus helping me much nor do I find that my brooding over the reproductive system of cockroach earn me anything, why should I be forced to do anything like that? If someone is really concerned about my well-being, he/she can give me a loan when I feel proficient enough to set up a mechanic shop after gaining a thorough understanding of auto parts at the garage where I started my work as a cleaner. But I really cannot understand their intention of snatching away my job from me, handing me books on atoms and circles while my heart wanders around auto parts and later tell me that I am unemployable because I neither have experience nor high percentages. I find this bewildering. Either the employers should train me and employ me or I should be handed books that make me employable. When they are not ready to do either of the things, they should allow me to do what I find more convenient. I guess I made myself clear enough…if you still hold any doubts, you can always find me at the local shop few steps down your street.

-One
‘Child Labour’

Getting too personal?

I have a reason for this long absence from blogging. It is not any exam or lack of intriguing thoughts but a soul-searching question for which I am yet to find an answer!
“How much of myself can I expose to the outer world?” I am not afraid to but the question is about the necessity. How far and how much is it essential for people around me to know me? I can simply keep writing and allow you to decide to read the essentials. But then, why would I write something that is not necessary for others to know. At the same time, how am I to be sure that the observations that I made in my life, though little and few would not benefit others, as I myself depended many times on other’s observations to learn! Then comes the question of the purpose of my blog. I have used this as an outlet for the thoughts and emotions that have occurred or disturbed me and also to know your opinion about the same. To bring clarity to my thought process and benefit from yours! To help myself, and in the process you, know me more. And there is this undeniable passion for writing. But, the question still remains – How far can I take it?

Update on 06/04/2007 :-
I have taken it quite far today (Refer to the post with this date);
I want to overcome few shortcomings and chose to do it this way!

Born Serious..!

Some people are born serious. Serious about everything they do and in the way they do. They are never satisfied. There is no end to their searh for the right thing to do and the right way to do it. They are so serious about what they want to do that they loose their senses when they actually are at task, which sometimes lead to failures.
Fortunately or not, I am one of them!
I really feel the need to consider various events just as oppurtunities and do them as they come. Being so bent on doing something is something I think I should part with.
I am not sure, though!
Any suggestions, dear friends?

Is it a tough decision for you?

If someone asks you to convert your religion, how long will you take to make your decision? For me, it takes less than a second. It is not very different with my friend too.
But, the reasons leading to both the decisions are quite contrasting. So are the results.
While my answer is a strong ‘No’, her’s is a quick ‘Yes’. Her decision, for a while, surprised me pushing me into thinking mode while my answer invited a shrug from her. A quick look into our beliefs and ways of life brought back my composure and I seemed to gain a little understanding on this. I, for one, have developed a strong relation with my conscious, to which I have given the name and form of God. Religion, to me, is what helped this bond grow stronger with time. I dervied from it my strength to move on in life and it has become a way of life to me. It is something, which I believe, can never be separated from me. And, any attempt to disturb that relation is something that I can never entertain. To disturb that bond, is to disturb my way of life and myself too. At the same time, I understand that it needn’t be the same with everyone. There are some who derive their strength from people close to them and religion to them is just an identity. It took a while for me to embrace this thought…what about you?

I love exams...I love prep. even more!!!

I pay for atleast 4 exams a year. I prepare for them too. I attend all of them. Everytime, I come out of the exam hall thinking about my next exam. Never about the result. I am one of those who believe that journey is more important than the destination. And true to it, I have always enjoyed my preparation and cherished it more than the result. You might think it is because the result was never good enough to be cherished. I do not think so. Even if the result was upto my expectation, what next? The journey has to begin at the next level and you have to face the next exam. A good result takes you to the next exam soon. A not-so-good result will help you learn better ways of tackling the same thing and when you begin your next journey a little later, you are better prepared. In this never-ending journey, which we call life, isn’t equipping yourself with the required skills more important than anything? Atleast, I feel so. My preparation has always helped me in equipping myself with all it takes for a comfortable travel. Result, to me, is just a transition from one part of the journey to the next. If the transition gets delayed, it only helps me to be better equipped. If not, I have to work harder in the next part of my journey to cope up with the task at hand. Ultimately, it’s all about me learning. Does it really matter when I do it, as long as I do it? On the spur of the moment, it seems as if it really matters, but in the long run, does it?

Back to Normal!!

How glad I am to let you all (assuming a virtual audience) know that I am back to my normal life style…going late to bed, getting up late in the morning, studying only when I want to, doing all the things that I longed to…I now feel that I spent the last one and half months in a different world, a world I am entirely new to, wherein illusions of excellency overpowered emotions of mine! (Refer to the post below). I remember ‘forcefully’ feeling glad then at the end of the day coz I spent the day as it ought to be! But then, I knew deep inside that I was not really happy. I felt tied up in some framework without the freedom to choose my actions. But now, I broke free and can do anything I want to and more importantly, be myself. I don’t mean to say that I support disorganized lifestyle but want to stress the fact that freedom enriches the soul. Success and Failures come and go but our soul will be with us as long as we live, or perhaps for even longer, and it is in our interest that we take care of it. As I pronounce this, I am really happy…Am I?

What I Lost…

In my pursuit of excellence, I decided not to spare a minute and distirbuted my time among those things that I consider most important for my growth. Yes, I am a staunch believer in Rudyard Kipling’s words’s, “If you can fill the unforgiving minutewith sixty seconds' worth of distance run … Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!” I decided to stick to my schedule come what may, and indeed I was successful. I dedicated my mind solely to the task at hand and refrained from thinking about anything else. I felt I am all set and was excited for a while until one day I had to face the bitter truth. The truth that dawned on to me was that I lost touch with myself. My mind did a quick research and came up with some astonishing facts; facts I tended to ignore all the while. My instant reacting ability, of which I was always proud of, has slowed down. I am not able to respond to different things as I used to before, as it might interrupt my disciplined lifestyle, a lifestyle that I ought to be proud of. I have little time to laugh or think about things that make me happy or things I can do to make others happy. My energy levels dwindled; life has become mechanical, monotonous and sort of programmed. I was shaken to sense this truth, but I know I can no more escape from it. I might achieve excellence in all the areas I chose, but in the process I might end up losing touch with the most vital part of my life i.e my soul. I have always taken pride in my ability to do whatever my heart says at any point of time. But now my heart stopped whispering things to me or perhaps I have no time to listen to it. I forgot to allot time to it in my pursuit of excellence. With this very organized robotic lifestyle, I might become very successful, but the price to be paid rested too heavy on my heart. You may not agree with me but only I know how important to me what I lost in the process of organizing myself is.
Will let you know my next thoughts soon. They might not be the same…
Keep in touch to know more!

Few marked days!!?

What are we expected to do on days like Independence Day?
We normally pray, but what is expected of us on a festival day?
And if we take a look at our modern day calender, we find many days marked with different names. Why do you think people find it necessary to celebrate them specially?
Are they just another gimmick of greeting card sellers?
Or is there some reason behind these (un) necessary celebrations?
May be, there is…
As a child, I never understood why they telecast the same movie on every Independence Day. But today, I know in our busy life, how fastly we forget things. We have little time to receive the invaluable values that our forefathers wanted to pass onto us for a better society. Even if we managed to read them somewhere, they get lost in the noises of our busy life. Those movies serve as reminders of what is expected of us, but how many of us watch them?
Today, I could really appreciate the celebration of festivals as times where in elders cultivate good thoughts in the youngsters, who carry them along and build their character.
They are the times when they work in unison to perform many activites from cleaning to decorating and sharing to celebrating. How many of us bother to celebrate festivals together?
As kids, many might recollect kissing mom goodbye and walking along with dad to the school gate. But consider today's kids who get to spend time with their parents only in the weekends! We are familiar with times when people expressed their love for each other through eyes and little smiles. Times have changed drastically, thanks to the internet, now it is not even necessary to see each other to fall in love, let alone their eyes and smiles!
Yes, time has changed and brought with it, changed priorities. It also brought along fear that human values and expressions might be treated with less importance. With the movie on Independence Day attracting fewer audience and festivals gathering lesser crowd with each passing year, popularity of expressing one’s love on few marked days is growing. Not to say that today’s practises can replace emotions of the olden days. Never.
But may be the fact, that few days serve as reminders of those important acts, which we want to do, but rarely managed to, is making me appreciate them. If you are one among those who still manage to allocate time daily for all the activities you consider important, you are lucky. Else, you may want to make it a practice to do them on atleast few marked days!