The first quarter of my life!

Agreed, I may not make it to the final quarter but the first one was as it should be. Youthful, energetic, enthusiastic, full of ambitions, dreams, colours! Most of it went smooth with occasional hiccups to give it a reality touch. The first ten years, I was busy packing mud into chocolate wrappers, pushing empty trucks, making sand houses, dancing in the fog of mosquito fogging machine taking it for clouds and running after grasshoppers and butterflies. Summers were even busier and lovelier with 8 cousins in our granny’s house playing everything under the sun never with any other intention except having fun. The next 10 years I spent learning, competing, making ambitious plans for future, altering them, taking U-turn and making completely new plans and putting in lots of efforts in preparing myself for them. The next 5 years, though, I was in self-discovery mode. I began to explore myself, uncover my hidden talents, and ignite my latent passions, travelled as much as I can, did a bit of adventure, met people, and made friends. Perfect! But, all this while, I never cared about anything, was afraid of nothing, never saw myself in the mirror for more than a couple of seconds nor took time to eat the essential things or learn the necessary skills to live. But, as I entered into the second quarter of my life, it seems as if life switched gears suddenly, for the good I guess. It’s quite different now to see myself making conscious effort to eat healthy, take care of my skin, my hair and learn a bit of cooking and cleaning. Though people at home have been stressing the importance of these things since ages, my otherwise sharp brain could grasp this only after I finished the first quarter of my life. Spending time on this stuff was unthinkable for me a couple of years ago, but now I completely believe it is essential! This is what people probably call ‘maturing with age!’ I have no clue, do you?

Quotation Freak - II

A continuation of my previous post Quotation freak,

"Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to be positive that counts" (If that somebody wudn't have said this line, I probably wud have ;)

A wise man once said “Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain.” Beautifully expressed thought on learning to live and enjoy life.

A stitch in time saves nine (As a kid, I always used to wonder what this ever meant, but now I realize that it is one of the most applicable lines ever said to mend anything, even relationships)

In deals and in life, you often benefit much more from not getting your way (This thought from a Private Equity Blog completes my previous post Think long-term and it amazes me how the author said so much in such simple words)

"Don't take life too seriously, nobody gets out of it alive anyways" (This has different angles to it and to me it means to live it your way)

Dar ke aage jeet hai (Simply superb theme from the Mountain Dew's campaign)

This too shall pass (Jewish wisdom in one line)

More to come...

Delhi and I

The city catches your fascination with its old qilas, impresses you with its architecture, pleases you with its gardens and makes you comfortable with its wide roads. It has got the best of foods in its majestic hotels and even better food on its streets, the best branded clothes in its sprawling malls and an amazing collection outside them - only you got to find out. With regular artistic performances, never ending tourist places, innumerable pubs and dhabas, the city has got something to everybody's taste. It has got men who are smarter and women who are more fashionable than you can find in the rest of India. With its huge variety and a political air, it fully deserves its title as the ‘Capital City’. My stay in Delhi has been eventful and even after 3 years of staying there, visiting quite a few places and participating in its diversity, I still feel like a stranger and the city seems to be beyond my grasp!

P.S: And don't I miss the unbeatable passion and spirit of Mumbai!!

The year that was!

She had been a challenge

She taught U many things

You emerged a stronger person

While she is about to leave

Send her off with a smile

But keep her memories within

Share them with your loved ones

And always keep smiling :)

Welcome 2010 with

A smile and warm thoughts

Wish that you know what you want

And get all that you need

WISH YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Have a great time!

Think long-term!!

Few years down the line, millions of people might want to know this. But, since you have been with me during my formative period, I thought I will share this with you right away. It has always worked for me. Both on personal and professional fronts and in all walks of life. I have taken most of my decisions based on this and with each decision, my belief in this only increased. So, my sincere advice to all you guys reading this is to think long-term. It sounds simple but I have seen many people suffer because of lack of this approach. I don’t want you to do that. Before you take any hasty decision, before you get too excited or disappointed, before you let some incident affect you so much and you lose self-confidence, stop for a while and think long-term. How is this going to help you or affect you 5-10 years down the line? Is it hindering you from becoming or helping you to become the person you really want to be? You might realize that you have been giving a lot of importance to many things that might be insignificant to you in the long-term. And that you are neglecting things that are really important to you for the short-term benefits of success, praise and the like. So, I urge you friends, to give it a thought before you actually put your time and efforts into something because unfortunately we can’t yet travel back in time.

P.S: I might have sounded a little preachy, but believe you me, if you are born in a family of teachers and professors like I did, you can’t avoid that strain in you, however hard you try ;)

Basic Instincts!!

They were right!! Our ancestors were animals!! No, I haven’t done any research on this topic nor did Darwin come in my dream and convince me. I could just feel it in me, all that immense force, the raw power, and the ruthlessness of a hunter while I work to reach my goals. I could not but associate these qualities to my ancestors. I could associate the forces within me to the roaring of a sea so much so that I could hear the same sound from the waves and within. The passion which fills me up at times is so overpowering to behave sanely in this sophisticated world. My ruthlessness at work sometimes puts my more suave fellow mates at unease. I sometimes wonder if somehow my ancestral roots are stronger than the rest or the others managed to sever them sooner. I just thought your comments might help me in figuring out J

Communism to capitalism

There was a time when I was completely driven by the communist ideas. Probably it was in my blood with my grandfather being a staunch communist. It also may have got something to do with me growing up in his room after his death though I can’t be sure. Whatever it was, as a teenager, I grew up harbouring grand ideas about building an orphanage chain and visited quite a few orphanages in that context. Then came my graduation days when I started discussing with like minded people and realized what the Chinese once said actually makes lot of sense! (For the uninitiated - “Catch a fish for a man and he is fed for a day. Teach a man to fish and he is fed for life”). So, the idea metamorphosed into building a chain of vocational training centres for youth. After discussions with well-wishers, it further evolved into joining the civil services for the greater good. And by this time, I completed my graduation and moved to mumbai to join my first job. Preparations for civil services were going on with full swing. It was during that time, on one fine day while I was poring over my sociology notes that the power of reasoning struck me like a thunder. What and how much did I intend to achieve by helping a few people help themselves and struggling my entire life to make it happen? It might give me a feeling of self-worth but is it the best possible way? I felt the need to explore, learn more before I can put my faculties to the best possible use. I began to think and Ayn Rand, through her writings, added fuel to the fire. I realized that there is lot more to me than just the sympathetic side I was trying to address. There is definitely a desire to create and produce things, to take the society to the next level, to contribute to the humanity and enable a better living. But, there is an even more burning desire to explore and excel. Preparations continued, but this time for MBA. Communism turned to capitalism and my desire to excel continues, till something else strikes!

My tryst with the Nature

Every moment spent with the enchanting Nature becomes a cherished memory of my life. Probably there is nothing in this world that can match the sound of the sea, colours of the sky, gurgles of the waterfall, mightiness of the hills, beauty of valleys, the serene woods and the icy clouds. I would like to share some of my moments of bliss with all of you.

Ooty (My first visit to a hill station)
Walking through the woods, facing the waterfall, going on a boat ride amidst lush green and serene surroundings, I could still see them all in my mind’s eye.

Lohgad (An innocent trek; Hardly did I know it would turn into a passion later)
Walking up the mighty hills covered with green trees and meeting the icy clouds flowing at great speeds on the hill top was bliss.

Kolad (I love adventure sports!)
My heart missed a beat when I first pulled my feet off the hill to start rapelling. Whether it is sitting under a tree facing the river flow or in a barren land with 20 strangers at midnight or sleeping in self-made tents and hemaks or eating the food cooked in a bonfire, it was a unique experience.

Lonavala (Paradise on Earth)
Sitting right under the waterfall coming with full force and great sound from a few hundred metres height was one of the most thrilling experiences that I ever had. On a drizzling day, you are sure to get lost in the beauty of its surroundings.

Rishikesh (Heard of white water rafting?)
Jumping from 50 ft height straight into ice cold water was more than thrilling. Staying in a tent overlooking a beautiful stream with the brightest sky that I have ever seen was perfect.

The pine trees in Kodaikanal, forests in Kerala, hills in Shimla, parasailing in Mussorie, and the picturesque view in Araku are equally memorable experiences.

In harmony with the Universe

Lately, I have been reading about sun signs from a few books and websites. The more I read, the more I began to feel that they have written about my sign just as I would have written about myself. Except for a couple of points, the characteristics of my sign seemed to me more like ‘I, me, myself.’ When this occurred to me that I am what I am supposed to be according to my planets or what my planets want me to be, I was awed. It is a great feeling, isn’t it, to know that you are moving in unison with the Universe and the entire Universe is there along with you (especially when you have grand plans for yourself and the world around you). Believe in the power of Universe! Silly me :)

Being Selfish?

I knew myself as a sweet girl who really loved and cared about others. Especially when it came to making others happy, I always used to put in my best efforts. I remember spending most of my pocket money in buying gifts for my friends and I used to love doing it. If I got some money in the form of scholarships or prizes, I used to buy gifts for my family. Even during those short trips that I used to go for, if I ever bought anything, it used to be for someone else. Even when I got my first job, I bought gifts for all my loved ones and even paid a visit to the orphanage where my family members used to be the patrons. Once again, I got my first salary after my MBA, and all I did was to buy a gift for myself! As I mentioned in the earlier post, I do love my family and friends as much as I used to or probably more. And I don’t intend to draw any conclusions from this incident as yet, but I just wanted to make a note of this for future reference.