Happiness

Happiness/Anand/Sukh/Khushi? According to wikipedia definition “Happiness is a state of mind or feeling such as contentment, satisfaction, pleasure”.

Happiness varies from person to person, for some it may be through acquiring more wealth; for others it may be through having good friendship. Happiness can be materialistic even it can be spiritual. A person’s happiness varies from time to time, minute to minute, it all depends upon the fulfillment of his/her desire at that point in time; and the choice one makes.

Before proceeding further on my thoughts about Happiness what it means to me, I would like to refer the speech of A.R.Rehman while he received his first Oscar award.

“All my life I had a choice between love & hate; I chose love so I am here”
A.R. Rehman

I believe no matters what life brings for us, we always have the choice. So better I accept it gracefully and be Happy, or else there is nothing other than sadness and sorrows. There is no point to be worried either about the past which has already gone or about the future which we have not seen. What we have is the present and there are lots and lots of little things in front of us which can make us happy.

Life is more of a reflection of what we are; it will always give back what we have given to it. So I shall better choose to be happy and spread happiness all around so that I will get the same in return. Happiness is very contagious, if I am happy then only I can spread it to my family, friends, neighbors, and my colleagues.

I believe getting happiness is the ultimate aim of human life and we can get it only through being honest to ourselves, and doing what we like to do because we all know life is unpredictable and uncertain so why should I spoil this time being unhappy.

So let’s make this life little simple and easier and try to realize the happiness around us and make this planet earth a better place to live in by spreading the happiness.

Be Happy.

Ashish.

N:B: Image courtesy "Google Images".

Lesson from Cheese.

I read a book called Who Moved My Cheese-An amazing way to deal with change in your work and life, by Dr. Spencer Johnson. After reading this book I have gathered few thoughts which I am just trying put it over here.

Dr.Spencer has explained each fact in a very nice way with the use of simple language, so that one person can relate himself with the given example instantly. It describes how we run for success and once we get it then we do not put much effort to sustain that. So later on when we loose the same comfortable plot, we also loose our confidence to start from the scratch because we fear for failure.

The book explains how we become comfortable with our day to day life and do not notice the small changes which are happening around, but those small changes eventually lead us to a different situation in a period of time. We scream, we shout due to these unexpected changes, but the fact is that, the change did not happen overnight, it happened gradually.

It explains that there are people who notice the small changes in their lives and always prepared for the situation by putting constant effort rather than being arrogant towards the change. There is another set of people who accept the change and gather their confidence and then try to move on by their small but sincere effort. But there are certain set of people who always take themselves so seriously, that’s the reason they become arrogant towards the change rather than accepting it.

They always think why this happen to them, how it could happen to them and so on…. . These sort of thoughts never help anyone rather you start loosing your confidence.

We all know change is inevitable, so it’s always better to notice the small changes in our lives and accept it. Change happens for something good; it helps us to always being hands on in our life to tackle any critical situation. It keeps us alive and active mentally and physically. Change always acts as a catalyst to achieve something new and better.

Let me give a small example, when parents put their kids in school for the first time, the child does not like to go because s/he does not want this change in his/her life but later on when s/he stared making friends, then the likeness to school and friends stared increasing and then the parents don’t push them to go to school.

Be it a child or an adult we all feel very comfortable with our lives the way its running and do not want any changes in that, if any changes happens we start protesting it. But by protesting we can not stop the changes happening around us in each second, so it’s always better to notice the small changes, accept it gracefully and prepare for the future.

Moral of the book is, do not take yourself so seriously and enjoy the life by simply accepting the change.

With Regards,

Ashish

Random thoughts; over politics.

The final phase of voting is getting over and so is the campaigning of our politicians. These guys have been literally busy campaigning in multiple locations in a single day, wooing voters through there influential speech and commitment for the future. There are 8070 candidates contesting in different constituencies across the nation and they have their own way of reaching out to the voters to convince them.

So I am trying to discuss about the most sought after manifesto of top two parties of this general election 2009.

A: I’ll revive the economy within 100 days. –Dr.Manmohan Singh

The person who made this statement, ofcourse he knows his strength and so if he comes back to power then he will take care this issue. But my question why not now? Why there is an if clause?
We know his caliber, he can do this but why he has not done it till now?

He is one of the most respected & intelligent politician of this country then can’t he help this country to come out of this economic slump. Is politics only mean to serve your party not the nation?

We all respect him & trust him so he should help this country without putting this sort of conditions. Hope he will realize.

B: We will bring back black money from stashed abroad. -BJP

This is another highlighted agenda of a most powerful party of this country which was earlier led by one of the most dynamic leader of this era. We have seen success and failure hand in hand during their tenure. We can pride for Pokharan & Kargil but we are also disheartened by issues like Kandhara

My question to them is why they did not try this earlier to bring that black money from the foreign banks? Why they are making it a clause that if the voters will help them to win this time then only they will do this?

When they will realize?

There are many agendas, many manifestoes but all just to attract the voters. Election over so is the commitment.

Experiences awesome & horrific!!!! (A trip to Bandipur)

It was end of Jan this year when one of my friend came from Dubai. It was a nice feeling to meet a friend after long time. He had already spent his vacation at his home and visiting various relatives’ places so he had only few days left to spend some time with us. So all we met at one of our friends place then he quickly offered to sponsor a party along with a trip. As it was a free party all of us adjusted our schedules to get ready for this, and planned it for the very next Saturday to Bandipur National Park. Only two days was left for this but still we all managed it well, hired a Toyota Qualis, book the resort out there through one common friend. Few of our friends from Bangalore one came from Chennai and all of us started our journey on Saturday noon.

All were very happy meeting each other and a trip after a very long time. As soon as we crossed the Bangalore territory our pilot (Cab driver) parked the cab near a restaurant/dhaba (Still confused what was that) for lunch. None of us were really hungry, but as he has already parked it so we all went inside and after 15 minutes of brainstorming we ordered few items. We quickly finished our lunch as it was pathetic and jumped inside the cab. As we just moved from this restaurant after a few kilometers we were stuck in a traffic signal and the mean time one big truck touched the cab’s back light, it was just a little touch (Jore ka jhatka dhire se laga). Nothing actually happened either to us or to the cab but our Mr driver started shouting at the truck driver on the middle of the road and demanded some amount to get a new light. Ohh let me tell you it was a big drama which went on there for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Somehow they themselves settled it and we moved from that place. Now the most interesting part of our journey started. I think after this heavy word war with that truck driver this fellow (our cab driver) was literally angry so he started showing through his driving skills (err……………It really kills ….). We all have experiences of traveling very long distance places through cabs but I am sure this was most horrific experience all we gained. I think this driver was forgotten that he
Was driving a qualis on Bangalore-Mysore expressway not a Ferrari on F1 track. The way he was overtaking each vehicles we all thought this is gonna be our last day. Anyway somehow we managed ourselves and reached near Bandipur with very less stops this time other than just to get some cold drinks and snacks for the evening party.

By the time we reached near Deer valley resort, Sun was approaching towards west so climate was getting little dark, colder and windy. Got a nice warm welcome from the resort folks followed with some hot masala tea and onion pakodas. Didn’t waste much time started taking few snaps nearby and mean time these folks arranged an open place and fire for the party. Within few minutes party started with three cheers to the sponsor and to all of us and to our friendship. Party went on for a very long time; no one was turning up for the dinner even after several reminders as we have already belted some heavy snacks in the evening. Some were drowsy, some lazy, and few were still busy in their pointless conversation. It was late mid night we planned to go on a walk, even though the resort was inside the jungle but after having few shots of black label everyone was courageous enough to pursue this plan and this was just to see that the blinking light on a distance was a wolf’s eye or actually a light. Anyway we went on a walk for few meters and came back but the discussion went on till next day morning.
Day2 started very early in morning around 5 ‘o’ clock with a plan to go for safari but we aborted the plan later on as we did not get the govt.permission. So went for trekking after a heavy breakfast with local guide. Spent some time inside the jungle, came back had lunch and again gathered some courage to sit inside the cab but this time he was looking much more relaxed and it reflected in his driving also.

So at last we reached our place safely without much experience of roller coaster ride at least on our way back. Awesome experience of the place, wonderful time with friends.

With Love,
Ashu

No rules for the rule makers???

Since the date election has been announced, all the television channels, news papers are filled with lots of news and ads by different parties and their campaigners, mobile inboxes are filled with SMS ads, TV & radio channels are tuning different party anthem. Now every party has jumped into the battle filed of election 2009.

But here I have few things to discuss. As we know that almost every social activities has always been moderated either by a board or by the government himself. Be it sports, cinema or any other activities. Board (For an example cricket board, censor board etc.) set the parameters for everything we do, specially in cinema they have so many obligations what a filmmaker should or should not show on screen. Let’s not comment here because like others this issue also has its both positive and negatives sides. Possibly we can discuss it some other time

When we take an example of any small or large organization or institution most of them has couple of things in common, like a CODE OF CONDUCT and AGE TO RETIRE. But its seems not mandatory for those aspirants who are pursuing their political career in India.

I know EC (Election Commission) has already published a code of conduct for the politicians before the election but how many of them really follow this? We have seen in the recent past that so many ace politicians have caught on cameras bribing the voters, speaking with no sense of responsibility in the public rallies. They speak less about the development of the country and their agendas but more about the loop holes of opposition. They spend more time on fighting with each other rather than focusing on the other important issues of this nation which need to be addressed. They use nasty tricks to get votes from the innocent people be it through money, power, or by the name of religion and God.

Why there is no strong action against these people who does not know how to behave and what not to speak in the public. If there can be a life time ban against a sports person, why it can’t be against a politician? We choose a person among ourselves to help us in managing this country and its resources but they try to rule us. We call these people as our leaders but they mislead us.

It’s like no rules for the rule makers.

With Love,

Ashu.

Too much of reality; what’s your say?

There used to be an era in Indian Television where hardly we had seen any program airing episode by episode serially, but certainly after few years the crowd from the streets vanished for an hour every week to see some all time classic TV serials like Ramayana & Mahabharat. That was the time when Television set was considered to be a luxury item in Indian middle class society. Whether it’s a town or a village a TV set was always surrounded by a houseful crowd to watch those serials.

That was an era of mythological & fantasy serials like Alif Laila, Vikram Betal, Ali baba chalish chore, Chanakya, Malgudi days to name a few. This era ended during end of 90s which was beginning of another new era of daily soaps in Indian Television. The industry became more polished and organized by that time. The characters in those family dramas were more stylish more modernized and ageless. Full of twist and turns in each episode and full excitement for the audiences mainly for the house wives

After the era of daily soaps then Indian television industry jumped into a different modern era of reality shows which started with some Music competition shows like Meri Awaz Suno, Sare Ga Ma Pa etc. All these audiences were excited to see all these new sensation, new style of operating the shows.

But I think now it’s more of an ultra or super modern era because now every channel has number of reality shows running everyday. Now it does not just show the reality of the competition but they claim that, they show the real emotional outburst of each individual involved in these shows. They do not just show case their talents but they get into their personal lives to add more spice to the show and as an audience we also enjoy it. Isn’t it?

But I think it’s too much of reality now. People have forgotten the difference between personal and public life, now what they just want is more and more publicity. They don’t feel shy to showcase their private life; neither have they felt bad to abuse someone on national television. Some people have now taken a step further, they don’t mind to showcase their private affairs like marriage & death. They made it a public affair or more of another reality show to showcase these sensitive occasions of personal life.

Is this all real? If it’s real then is it healthy for them or for their society? Why they make so much of public affair of their own private lives?

I am neither writing this for sake of it nor judging anyone on the basis of morality. Actually I am little confused and want to understand the idea behind all these from all of you.

Waiting for all your answers.

With Love,
Ashu.

Why can’t life be smooth?

Well again I am here to discuss something and probably with not so new topic this time.

We all know about it, we all did it; we are still doing it i.e. nothing but competition.

Life has become more of a competition isn’ it?
We all want to have everything which will keep us in the frontline forever in every area.
We have the latest gadgets, the finest car, the best job, highest salary the most luxurious house
in the town but still we are not able to be happy because somebody else has the same thing. Its competition so it is bound that we need to be always one step ahead of everyone.

This is not a case of any particular age group, society or country, it is same for all. Everyone wants every best thing in life and anything less than that not acceptable.

Actually speaking there is nothing wrong in competing with each other to score more marks in study, to have a better life style in the society but as long as its a healthy competition its fine, but if we just wake up every morning with a mindset that we have to compete with each other then don’t you think we will miss all the fun, all the sweetness of life. Why can’t life be smooth and steady?

Why we take ourselves so seriously? I think we can be happy with the best thing that we have rather than being worried and unhappy because somebody else has the same or more.
Why should we do just because others do the same? Why can’t we be different? Why can’t we do things which will make us happy, I think a person who is happy will do a job better than the others.

There is very famous phrase which I believe would be a right fit for this context i.e.

“Life is a journey not a destination”

I think this quote says it all; that we neither should regret upon our past which can’t be changed nor we should worry about future which is uncertain so we better enjoy our life that is this very moment.

We all are born for this journey, we may have to take a different path to reach our destination but we are meant to learn new things in our journey to enjoy it to the most.

Popularity, Success & Skill

I want to be popular and I believe we all want to be popular among our colleagues, friends’ relatives, and in the society for some or other reason. So what’s wrong in this? Nothing.

Being popular is really great; even very few people get this opportunity but the problem is which path we choose to be popular. There are very few people who choose dignity above popularity and they always try to be themselves. Some people choose certain way where the become popular, get all the fame they always wanted but it cost them their dignity & honesty so when time goes on this popularity fades away along with the time

They demand a responsible position but they do not know how to carry them. To be a great sports person you need to have the right skill and passion for the game, to be an actor who needs to learn the lessons of acting, to be a great politician you need to understand your people and their feelings. These set of people they do not believe in learning they always seek for a shortcut which will take them to the top of the Everest but they do not know to sustain on top; you need to master the right skills.

At this current era everyone wants to be popular using all the possible ways. There are many people who want to be popular so that they can create a space for themselves in politics, sports, entertainment etc. They may/may not have the required skills but they use their money, power and create hype about themselves through media by promotions, controversies.

We all know media plays a vital role in the development of the nation as its citizen. So I believe media should also take the responsibility to provide a right platform to the right person rather than just running behind the BREAKING NEWS to gain TRPs. They should not encourage people who use the media to gain some popularity for the wrong reasons.

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There are so many topics to be discussed and this is one among them. I don not know who can help it or how I can help it to resolve but I believe if you really want something passionately then you will get it but not necessary to choose a shortcut for it. Just be yourself and work towards your dream.……

Let’s do it…..…

Once again we are going to see the high intensity million rupee drama of IPL (Indian Political League). It has been an experience of roller coaster ride for us and I believe our political leaders must have experienced the same.

I am here not to promote or demote any political party or their so called agendas. I am here to recall our experiences of last five years which we have moved together side by side with lots of ups and downs, hopes and tears. During this course of five years we have achieved so many milestones even we lost so many of our near & dears in many different tragic incidents that happened.

Let us glance through some of the issues which are still in our minds while moving towards the future with lots of hopes and aspirations.

- Global economic melt down.

- A troubled neighborhood – Jihadis in Pakistan and Bangladesh. LTTE in Sri Lanka, Ulfa in Northern-Eastern Region, Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh, Chattishgarh, Orissa and above all we have some home grown jihadis too.

-Attack on heritage hotels like Taj Mahal & Trident Hilton in Mumbai. Serial bomb blasts in many parts of India

-Attacks on the innocent people in Orissa, Mumbai, and Karnataka on the name of religion and region.

-Fighting over the issues of Cauvery and Kashmir since many decade

-Gujar agitation in Rajasthan

- Attack on Indian embassy in Kabul, attack on ethnic Indians in Malaysia

There are countless issues on which we have been debating, fighting and blaming each other but it’s not like we have only issues to fight for but there are many achievements on which we take pride as well.

- Successful completion of the mission Chandryan

- Wining Oscars by the musical maestro A.R.Rehman, Resul Pokkuty, Grammy by Ustad Zakir Hussain or wining gold in Olympics by Abhinav Bindra.

- Wining the World Chess title by Vishwanthan Anand, Booker’s prize by Arvind Adiga.

- Mukesh Ambani displacing Lakshmi Mittal to be the richest Indian in the World

We have many issues to fight for and we have many points to take pride. A leader is as good as its followers similarly a country is as good as its own citizens. It’s a cliché to say but yes if we are creeping that we do not have charismatic leaders, good infrastructures, opportunities then no one is responsible for this other then WE.

We have to take the responsibility to bring the change, to achieve many more milestones for our country, to choose the leaders through a responsible and unbiased voting.
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Let me be honest and tell you that I have already crossed few years from the minimum age of voting but still not voted anyone but over the years I learnt it that its better to vote and take the responsibility rather than blaming the country and its leaders.
Let’s vote during this general election ……………..


This is an appeal to all those young Indians like me who have not experienced the power of vote

Freedom

62 years before our forefathers brought the freedom for this country and for us. So many of our own country men/women struggled and sacrificed their happiness, luxury and life to get this freedom.

I born in a free India like many other but still I can realize that how much pain they have gone through to get this freedom for us but when I am looking at the current scenario there is only one question always popping up in my heart “What is freedom?”
Freedom is the liberty of expressing one’s own thoughts without offending any other person’s feelings/sentiments in any way. But do we really have this? Looking at some double standard parties or people who claim to be the custodian of our culture and religion are stealing our freedom forcefully; however government (be it any govt.) is not really ready to take any sincere and serious action against them because most of these political parties bank on the same set of people for votes.

We already know that this country has been always faced a lot trouble through terrorism which has been promoted by our neighbors but I believe the act which has been pursuing within the country by some of the evil minded people is not less than any terrorism. They spread this terrorism across the country by the name of religion, region, cast & culture.
This country’s progress is our progress but it’s always hindered by poverty, illiteracy, terrorism and now there is one more to add on the list i.e. anti-secularism or anti humanism

We always proved to the World that it’s great to be an Indian and we proved it through our achievements in every sector but in mean time the image of our country has been tarnished by certain shameful acts be it in Orissa, Mangalore, Mumbai or any other part of our country.

I am asking a question to myself and to the billion people of this nation; shall we have a freedom for this country again?

Mesmerizing Memories at Puducherry

Last January I went to Pondicherry during the eve of Republic Day celebration. It was quite a long weekend so I ganged up with some of my old roommates to go to Pondi. I finished my office work on 23rd Jan and rushed for the train to Yeshwantpur, I was just on time for the train but it was as usual on its old format, 45 minutes late….
The train was an entirely air conditioned coach. A special train to Pondi for a limited period of time and the fact is, that was thoroughly cleaned, and yes it’s true. Thanks to our dear Railway minister Mr.Lalu who introduced this Garib Rath.
Many of you must have visited, but this is for those who are yet to visit as I did for the first time. Pondicherry is one such place which if you know before hand will have lots to offer as a good holiday destination. I always had a good reaction from people visiting Pondi. I believe if you know how to enjoy in Pondicherry then you will enjoy.
Pondicherry or Puducherry as it is now called is a union territory near Chennai. It’s a coastal city with the Bay of Bengal is to its east. It’s a perfect weekend getaway. The city has a distinct French feel to it even now. Especially places near the beach road. Many streets still have French names and the place is so clean that you wouldn’t feel you are in an Indian city. The city has many places to stay but you should make sure you book it in advance if you are planning to visit the place during any of the weekend.
Pondi (As I fondly called it like many others) isn’t a very big city, if you want to explore it then best way would be to go by walk or hire a bike or bicycle. My favorite place is the long beach road with the Bay of Bengal on the side and the restaurants; if you want to taste some really good cappuccino/tea during the late nights then I would recommend you to go to the restaurant “Le Café” where you can enjoy your drink along with a nice view of the sea.

Apart from good food, nice weather and wine the place is also famous for the most renowned spiritual guru Shri Aurobindo and his ashram i.e. The Aurobinda Ashram. You can visit Aurobindo ashram, Auro Vill and Matri Mandir. As you move from the rock beach & Aurobindo ashram you will land up in a street called Mission Street with lots of shopping outlets; if you are interested you can enjoy your shopping there with a nice scoop of Kulfi (Indian ice cream).










If you are done with your exploration inside the city then probably you can take a ride to some of the beautiful beaches and backwaters around the city like Auro beach or Paradise beach. Auro beach is full of different nationalist along with few Indians but if you want to enjoy a boat ride on the backwaters then probably Paradise beach is the best for you. It’s really a great place to have fun.








After three days long enjoyment of the vacation at Pondi we finally signed off on Monday evening to Chennai and from Chennai to Bangalore and the most difficult part was we covered the entire route by bus. This is the problem you face if you don’t book it well in advance.
But still I have not explored the city thoroughly probably some other time I will try to do it. This is really an amazing place with great culture and environment.