Random Thoughts

Dreams

Of all the dreams I see, this one haunts me the most - It’s a long road through a golden field. There’s an aroma of some summer crop. I stand where the road ends, bright light in front of me, engulfs my vision and make me blind.

The wind blows right on my face. There’s a gushing sound in my ears.

I tried to open my eyes. Tried again. Tried one last time

Silence

She spoke silently, I couldn't listen to her, for the rain splatters hard on the windowpane, and there is thunder. I don’t  worry much, for I cared more about her silence than her words then.

Lord of the Drinks

What’s the plan tonight?

Let’s drink wine and watch Lord of the RIngs

Lord of the Drinks. Ha ha ha huh eh

Bud, c’mon, let’s go, ew!

Teetotaler

Bud, I thought you are a teetotaler!

Yeah dude, I totally avoid tea

Seriously bud, is that a joke? ew!

Who needs wings?

I was not really happy when the kid I met in the store took off that red robe from his Superman toy.

When asked he told, Superman doesn't need wings to fly.

No really, it was profound

Album Art

Did you like the song?

No. I hate it.

Really??? Why?Is it the lyrics or the music?

The album art

"When you grow up, who do you want to be?"

Going to be five years in the corporate, I thought I should just look back for a moment. The things I've experienced and learnt so far. As someone rightly said "Experience is the best teacher, but the fee is bit high";  

I still remember vaguely, some of my school days.

"When you grow up, who do you want to be?" Sounds familiar right? The question we had to answer for a long time. I seriously thought during my kindergarten, that, if I say I want to become a scientist, when I grow up, I HAD to become a scientist, there are no two ways to it. When I saw the first plane flew over, I changed my answer, I want to become a pilot. When I first visited an aircraft carrier, the answer changed. When I first looked through a microscope I had goosebumps, my answer changed. When I joined college I worked to be a marketeer. In between I thought of shifting to an operations research professional. 

I don't know if I grew up or not, but after my undergrad,  I became a Project Coordinator in an education technology start-up, After my higher education, I became a Sales Officer and a Senior Sales Officer.

When I write this, I am a Business Analyst, working for a US based technology company. I have changed roles, I have shifted industries. Today, for the first time, I believe: I have discovered what do I want to be. It's not a decision, but it's a discovery. A discovery fueled by the days of testing, learning, disappointment, success, failure, disgust, happiness, commitment, tears and courage

One thing that I'd like to remind my young brothers and sisters out there. People say, "Follow your dreams". But, we may have an endless doubt about "What's my dream?" Never mind. Somethings take time. In your initial days of career, be persistent and keep up your hope. Put in the best in everything you do. Be sincere, honest and truthful in your career. And when you make choices, make reasonable ones. Everyday is a lesson.
Learn & Grow!

The Food Parcel

It was a heavy downpour when the old man got down the train. Water was dripping down through his rugged umbrella. It slightly wet his faded shoulder bag. He looked hunger-stricken and tired because of continuous travel. Now he has to catch a bus. The town looked so lonely in the rain. In the distance he saw a small hotel and started to walk towards it. While walking, he was coughing,  and every time he coughed, he used to shook himself. His one hand was inside the shoulder bag, searching for some coins and last few currency notes
It was a small hotel. Two or three candles and an old kerosene lamp gave weak lighting inside. There were around seven old men inside, some having their meals, some drinking tea. Two-three people stood outside the veranda. On the veranda, a mother and child were lying down. The child was crying feebly. A big blue polythene cover could hardly protect them from the harsh rain.
While he went inside, he could sense the feeling of strangeness. No one smiled at him, neither did he.
Never in his life, had the feeling of strangeness haunted him. Even when he left his homeland and went to Kolkatta to work in a chemical factory. It was his toughest days in life. 18 hours of work everyday. Suffocating smell of chemicals, unknown language and no friends. Everything was new to him, the people, the places. But there was one thing which made him cheerful: His family. He worked hard in almost all phases of his life. All these years he was running around. To give his family, a better life. For his children's education, for a not-so-small house, his wife always dreamed about. It was not the feeling of strangeness that has haunted him. What haunted him was the feeling of devastation when his family threw him out. After all these years of sacrifice, he realized that he had not earned anything. The hardest thing in life is to lose what you live for. For him, it was the family
The rain made splattering sound inside the hotel. He ordered a parcel for his lunch. carefully he kept the warm parcel inside his bag, went out and he walked towards the bus.
The child was crying out of hunger. The mother begged the people who were passing by. She seemed to have no strength for tears. Suddenly she felt something on her towel, it was a warm parcel of food.
The old man almost got on to the bus, he was all wet due to the rain. He had only a rugged umbrella and a faded shoulder bag.

Life is Unpredictable

Well, when I choose a topic to write, I take great care for it to be very positive. But it is slightly different today.
Last month I had a medical emergency and was hospitalized for a month.  I met this guy in the hospital. He was working as software engineer in Chennai. For an onsite job, once he went to UK. A day before his return, he got a small fever. He consulted a doctor, took some medicines and an injection. He came back to Chennai. Fever was not reduced. The next day, the world around him was not the same, or rather, he was not the same. His whole body was paralyzed, lost his all senses and there he is, alive and yet not so. No medicines could bring him back. Treatment is still going on with lot of effort and hope. When I do my shoulder physio, he will also be in the same room. I could never look at him for a long time. Because in his eyes, there is a frightening feel of helplessness.

Is this life? So unpredictable! How do we prepare for this unpredictability? Or is it necessary at all to do so? These are some questions I have in my mind. Certain things I want to remember and share here.

• You cannot live your life as if the very next moment is your last one. I don’t think that is very comfortable. Also on the other side, you cannot live your life believing that the merry and joy of this moment is going to persist for ever. This is not wise either. So where do you strike the balance? 
• Unfortunate things can happen to us anytime. The best thing to do is to be aware of every moment, be happy and focused on the present. Happiness is the best decision man can take. “Whatever happens, I will stay happy and cheerful”
• Do good to others, help someone everyday. Remember about the less fortunate people than us. It’s not always about money, it is also about a small favour or a kind deed by which you can spread a smile
• Spend time with loved ones. Invest for them
• Is it good imagine, “How do my loved ones live their life, one fine day when I’m gone? Is there something that I forgot to do for them?”

Sorry, if I hurt anyone’s feelings. But preparing for unpredictability is something that we all should think about, right?

Memories

Some people live in their memories. 

Their life goes back, and at the end, they settle down in their memories.

Our memories have no uncertainty, no chaos. They are random but real; whereas dreams are extension of our thoughts. There can be lot of uncertainty and dreams need not be real. That’s why these people never live in their dreams. For these people, memories can change how they look upon things at the present. Memoires often make them feel how blessed they were, how blessed they still are. When these people age, their memories fade away. But magically, the memories settle down in their minds like strong undercurrents in a calm river. One fine day the memories will cuddle them like warm sunshine. And I have heard that it is one of the best feelings ever.

Memories are awesome things, good or bad; sometimes they can be really magical. 

Dilli, dilwalon ka shehr!

If I were to describe Delhi in one word, I would say, Delhi is majestic! 

Arjun, Parthi and me went to Delhi last January, to take part in an event organized by IBA (Indus Business Academy) and Spandan. We were selected from 12 people all over India and for the same reason we were happy. The event was in IBA, Greater Noida campus. We had to deliver presentations based on “Human Values in Business”. Happy that we could bring home, the second and third prices. Of course that was with Amma’s blessings, and Vaidy sir’s guidance. 

For us, this was also an opportunity to visit and roam around Delhi. The trip had another specialty too. I was flying for the first time. (Thanks for my dear one who offered me the ticket). I started from Cochin. I was in a dream world, flying through the clouds. The flight was via Mumbai. For the first time I saw Mumbai from a thousand feet high and it was quite attractive. I remembered the movie “Wake up Sid”. Beautiful buildings kissing up the clouds, clean highways, the shore line, beach… I wish I could get down there, but I couldn’t. After an hour or so we took off to Delhi. When we were about to land, some kid screamed from the back – “Taj Mahal”. Peeping through the windows I could see a majestic building; I am not cent percent sure if it was the Taj, but it was awesome! When I landed in Delhi, at around 4pm, I started feeling the chillness of the winter.  

I got a friend, Sreedhar, who was going to the same campus and we hired a taxi. As time passed by, I started feeling cold and hunger. We stopped by a place where they were preparing some pani puri, bhel, vada pav, pav bhaji etc. We had enough! After travelling an hour, I reached the place. Even though the place was really cold, the people over there were really warm! I had a nice dinner with them and I made some good friends over there – Shalabh, Abontika… They showed me their campus. After a walk-around of 20 mins in winter cold, they offered me a hot cup of coffee. Wow!

The next day, Arjun and Parthi came to the campus. That day we started to roam around Delhi. Morning, we hired an auto from the campus, to the bus stand. The auto guy was wearing a turban and was playing beautiful Punjabi songs in the auto. The first few things which got my attention in Delhi were the neat highways and of course the well planned Metro. The first place we visited was Akshardham temple. It was a very good experience to walk around through such a majestic historical monument. The only sad thing, they didn’t allow to take pics inside the temple. 

Then we moved to Palika Bazaar.  It was like a market without boundaries! We have no idea how long we spend there. Then we went to The India Gate. Three of us sang National Anthem in front of the India Gate and all of us got goose bums!

The next day was our presentation. And we believe, all of us did a good job. After a nice lunch and discussion with people from the industry and the academia, we set out for our return trip. As I flew back to Cochin, I had one wish in my mind, “I need to come back to Delhi, but not alone”. I landed in Cochin before noon. Amma was giving Darshan at that time in the Ashram. Straight I went to Amma, and I told her about the prize. She was so happy and so, me too  :) 

(Photos on facebook)

Stepping into ASB

Life changes every minute!

During the last month this time, I was working in Amrita e-Learning research labs, busy with polishing the purchase, budget documents and handing over my work to my colleague. And now I’m in ASB; One among the 60 vibrant students of the 2011-13 batch!!! I feel proud, fortunate and happy…

Being seated in the class, attending lectures, answering roll calls, participating in the class activities, etc reminded me about my colorful UG life… In ASB I could feel the atmosphere to be really warm and wonderful. From the first day onwards I feel light hearted and more enthusiastic. From the inside, I listen to a voice whispering, “This is going to be another twist in your life”. Yes! We all are looking forward… Our batch size is around 60 (While having dinner today, in the mess, I met two new guys also).  We come from different background, different culture, and also different parts of the country too – Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, Assam, Tamil Nadu etc, and I believe we all make a wonderful team

Though awesome days are yet to come, we all witnessed one,  yesterday – The Ice Breaking Session. It was the first informal session with our seniors. They made us sing songs, dance, act according to certain situations and funny stuffs like that… All that was real fun, we enjoyed a lot. It was the ‘getting to know each other’ phase for us. People were warm and jovial. Kudos to our seniors for making that evening a memorable one.

Looking forward for exciting days – to learn, share, grow and enjoy! Thank you all who gave me an opportunity to be here.