~ Why Me...~

 Why Me? Has this question often knocked on your head? Be it when you had aspired to be something and achieve a goal or a target which was very close to your being and it did not happen? This question is the obvious outcome of the result but there must be something grandeur which made it not happen to you – many a time the answers which you were seeking from the almighty come to you with a semblance of truth.

Why Me surely has different dimensions many a time – there could a situation or an event which has peculiarity with you and only you are the protagonist of whole story weaving around that situation. Many a time the situation is build to guide you towards something or shackle your ego and all of your airy feelings and post this, you bump into the ground! 

The situation would be such that would catch you unawares - it could be a test which is being bestowed on you for your betterment or simply testing your aura and to prove your behaviour in life!

Let me be honest, I have been tested umpteen times by such situations and believe me many a time I fail – sometimes there is something going at the back of my mind and the situation occurs such as someone comes expecting a favour and you are engrossed in such a complexity that you are unable to help him / her – realizing so , you see that the time as gone and when you start looking for the person, he/she is gone! – you fail yourself actually!

Today, I think I somehow passed or kind of little bit I made my way to peace within myself….A street urchin holding a set of pen in his hands came to me and told me if I needed some – as the quality of pen’s were not upto the mark, in previous such instances they simply Don’t work! – I took the privilege of saying “N0” – though he insisted again – “Bhaiya, Le lo please.” [Sir, Please buy some.], to which I again denied. As he took turn and started walking.

Something in me kicked and I shouted and called him back – don’t know what within me asked me to converse with him. He came back and I asked his name “ Bhaiya, Mera naam Arjun hai!” [Sir, My name is Arjun].

Kitne pen chahiye ? [How Many Pens do you want]

I told him “Give me two, but they don’t work!”

He rapidly replied “Nahi Bhaiya aap chala ke dekh lo, sab chaltey hain.” [ Sir, all of them work perfectly, please scribble somewhere for yourself to see.”

He was right, both of the selected pens were functional and working fine.

I asked “Which Class do you study ?”

Quickly he replied, “Bhaiya, 4^th Class.”

Before I could have asked another question, an impromptu question he asked with all expectations.

“Bhaiya Rs30 mein 2 kile Atta Aaajeyga?” [Will I be able to purchase 2 kgs of flour from this money?]

He had absolutely no clue as he opened his palm and showed me Re 20 note that he had just earned!

I was speechless and he tore me from inside – I asked “Beta Aapke Papa kya kartey hain?” [Beta what does your father do.” , he reverted “Bhaiya who ghar par hain, lachaar hain, aanko se dikhta nahi! – [Sir, he is at home and helpless as he can’t see from his eyes and is blind, mother is a housewife., I work partime and study and try to support my family.!] 

Obviously, he was paid more, the smile on his face meant everything to me! Hoping that this was much to buy 2 Kilos of flour!

As he tried to walk off, there was a temple nearby and he just stopped there and went inside for few seconds and bowed down to the deity – I was just flabbergasted – he had actually THANKED the almighty for small token of help and that today he will be able to provide food on the table for his family, may be!

I felt ashamed at myself for not saying “Thanks” for doing so much …but today I say “Thanks!” to HIM for choosing me for this little honor with a sense of expectation that next time I shall be completely prepared for such chance meetings with souls who come specifically to test my being!

For the rest, are you prepared to be the 'Why Me' moment... don't worry, one day you will be the choosen one, in the midst that does not happen, prepare yourself to get pass this test of life...!!!

~ 23 and Counting! ~

“23 and counting!” – I am aghast on the way I am hearing the news of suicides which our youngsters are doing in Kota – a small town in Rajasthan, notoriously famous for cracking the almost uncrackable IIT and NEET entrance exams! Hearing such news, my conscience goes for a toss and I think “ is it the only aim of life , to be at the top?”

They seem to be toddlers of life for whom the only aim is to be a doctor or an Engineer, for many the burden of aspirations has been put on them by their parents – many of whom themselves were both moderate students and were not able to crack the elite exams! 

Time and again I read that it is a Rs 10,000 CR industry or almost $1.5 Billion – the moolah seems to be much and so is the competition. Lakhs of students come for fulfilling their dreams and make it Big in the world of corporate life or to start their own business as it is a well-entrenched phenomenon in India.

Securing a seat in IIT is a sure shot ticket to land of dreams – America or for opening their own companies – Startup as the call them in today’s jargon and getting to the headlines of majority of English Newspapers! For sure there is a heavy price to be paid in this razzmatazz of life and earning big, many flounder and are not able to take the pressure of paying heed to books for almost 18 hours of day – the insecurities follow suit and they succumb to the huge burden of their own airy aspirations.!

All I can say is that “Please give Life a chance as It is for sure a beautiful journey , the best part is nobody knows what twists and turns it brings in due course !” – anyways if you end your life, for sure you will not get anything as you don’t exist anyways , but your near and dear ones will surely be on the receiving end and will live with a huge sense of anticipation and may be guilt as why this happened or that they could have stopped it by not putting unrelenting pressure on you.

See around, are everyone is a doctor or an engineer – “NO” there are zillion such souls who are more successful that an IITan or a doctor from AIIMS ? are not people with mediocre education have achieved cult status through sheer hard work and being patient? 

 I strongly feel that the panacea lies in right education , first at home and then in School / College. If we look around, there is no education which teaches us to cope with failure – only counselling comes in this regard – think twice, have you ever seen a teacher telling his/her kid “ Don’t worry , If you fail then also you will be big enough!” – the seeds of fear are sowed in these classroom sessions, everyone is injected with a sense of fierce competition as if life is race and everybody should be a numero uno!

I only want to end this note by saying again “ Life life to the fullest as it is only once that you can as you are, you will surely be born again but not in the same era / family/ situation / city/ country, may be but today what you are – you have been give a beautiful gift – cherish it wholeheartedly and wait for the right ball to toss a Six ..but for that to happen, at least you should be on the Pitch….

~ The Freedom of Independence ~

What does freedom mean to us? It is not sign of just physical liberty but also mental one – freedom of speech and action and our wholesome living was adjudicated by our constitution but where the society has gone now – we are entrapped by narrow domestic walls of our thoughts. The liberty is deemed to be locked in thoughts of referential living . 

We abide our living by our narrowed thinking and actions – what others have achieved or are doing form the base of our talks and thoughts – the cult of existence have changed a bit towards our strong material desires – we want everything in the world which satisfies our ego and makes us feel proud , be whatever it takes to achieve it .

We lost our freedom to attain peace whilst we live and share our relationships with each other – we chose our relationships and are bonded by our minds to ignore many – such is the freedom of thoughts' the society carries –

Not many of us our lucky, especially after Covid, there have been many losses of life and livelihood, how many of us still care about those who need our help and assistance on regular basis till they get their lives back on track? Do we care or are we more sought after our freedom to enjoy and care less for such souls! How many of us have conquered the bondages of our thoughts and have attainted freedom of thoughts to go all out in the society to help them?

The act of freedom has different definitions for many of us – for some the liberty which we get to act is the real freedom , for others it is an expression of saying “Yes” or “No” to anyone and portray our sense of ability – Very less are people who think and are responsible in expressing and executing the true freedom to be a kind and generous human being obliging to others with a sense of responsibility.

Remember this idiom “Power begets Responsibility” , and this holds true for all of us who are thoughtful of their new found freedom as they enter adolescence age! The scourge of suicides and the young going into act of depression is an aftermath of insane freedom laden with high aspiration of parents… why not give our young ones attainable goals and a sense of freedom to attain those with mild effort and enjoyment? 

Give Life a Chance, what if you don’t become and engineer from an IIT, or a Regional engineering college, or you don’t qualify NEET and become a doctor? – What makes them think that there is no career path if one could not be so – look around so many non-IIT’s or doctors have made it big in life without such degrees…. As I always say… “Give life a chance!” …. Go with your freedom of expression and thoughts and try a different path… We are here to live not to end our lives…

What stops us to have a egalitarian society which holds something good for all of us? That is the true freedom to live…

~ The Haircut that was ~

You often find yourself in situation which makes you think about the world around you – the people living their life with all zeal and facing the heat of their own varied situations.

He came with his young son, who was of playful nature and seem to be have matured before his age deemed so, he made his father sit in the chair as if he was acting as his support system and a guardian angel. As I was comfortably sitting and having a haircut, both father and duo had no choice but to wait for their turn to have a haircut.

Soon the conversation broke out between my hairdresser and the new customer as he asked “How are you sir? And what about your health? What did the reports say?”

With a flurry of questions being bombarded onto him, he was little taken by surprise but he didn’t loose his smiling stance and asked his son to go out a play for  a while – though I felt that this act was on purpose and sensed something was strictly wrong with the man.

As he replied one by one to the questions thus asked by my hairdresser, “ I am otherwise fine, but the reports tell me otherwise, the doctor after having look at the reports and declared its malignant Cancer!” – now this man speak this with a melancholy in his voice… but also with a sheepish smile, as if he had lots to tell and complaint at the Grand Design.

“That’s life!” was his stoppage words before he had tears in his eyes but also balanced his emotions with a smile. As I felt like an unwelcomed listener, I could see and sense a deep sense of melancholy and helplessness in his life.

Suddenly, his son came back thinking so that now it was time to get the haircut done and also to take care of his father – His son had suddenly turned adolescent and a caretaker of his father, realizing  what his father must be going through – as he saw a tinge of sadness and a drop of tear in his father’s eyes, he hugged him and tried to motivate him with all his demeanor – the scene had stopped time for all four of us in that room!

Here was a father who wanted to live and that life had made him confront a situation he was not prepared to tackle – there were responsibilities to be fulfilled but the grand design certainly had other plans for him!

As he spoke again to the barber, “Sir, I have never had smoked a cigarette or have drank liquor, still I am facing this tough problem…. I have an elderly mother of 75 years of age at home and this young son who is in class 7^th, life has just stopped midway for me…!”

As I got up from my seat, with my haircut done, I turned around and tried to give him composure – “Sir, believe in HIS plans, certainly he has planned situations for everyone, may be to teach and sometime reprimand our being – the karma has to be lived and just pray for your goodness and that you should be able to fulfil all the family commitments and responsibilities!”

As I exited the barbershop, the forlorn face of the man was in my thoughts – could life be so unpredictable and this can happen to anyone of us – the randomness of life was my subject of anger and started to question the grand design about what I had just seen!

The quietness of time was all over my being, after some moments of anxiety the calmness took over and the answers started to flow …”Who am I to confront HIM and his HIS plans? …were you born by asking him or has things shaped up according to your will? , these intriguing question had no definitive answers and may be each one of us have to tread a different path to know about thus – as my thoughts subsided, I just put in my prayers for that lovely and simple soul for his betterment and that he should pass this test of time with courage and strength and that his young one and his family remain of steadfast support to this testing hour!

~ Who did it..~

For Centuries, the search for that mystical being is on, various civilizations have perished leaving their signs of what they perceived HIM to be, that unknown source is our fall-back buddy, especially when we get tired and cant get a reprieve from our day to day challenges whilst we seek our aspirations.

Do we really need HIM? and if yes for what? Just to materialize our demands every now and then or to just thank him for such beautiful life he gave us to see his creation. He manifested us in our thoughts – always remember you could have born into another family or for that matter in another life form i.e of an animal species but why you were born as a rational human with brains – answer to this question is out of reach for almost everyone and very few achieve that ultimate goal of life.

Here everyone is a seeker and is adjusting to life’s ever changing situations – We all have things to achieve and have huge demands and aspirations from that grand design -,once one target is done and dusted, we cling on to the another one – this cat and mouse game lasts till the very end of our living , in between comes the calling – “Who created this whole creation? And who is controlling it ?, why our best of the efforts don’t pay heed to our wants?” – These intriguing questions come to everyone’s mind as many a time in life things don’t go as according to our wish – It is then that we fall back on concept of Almighty – that supernatural force beyond our existence.

Religion comes in the picture and various scriptures and texts follow suit. Many of us have had the tinge of religious writings and stories which we might have read ourselves or have listen from our grandfather and Grandmother, the concept of GOD originated from the books which form the core philosophy of our Religion. Having gone through such scriptures or stories, our belief system got cemented and now we are ingrained in believing that GOD is someone who does ALL the happenings and mis-happenings of this world.

Whatever answers we are seeking or whatever accomplishments we need to conquer – after doing our bit, our final prayers are “God it is in your hands now…”? Just because most of the intriguing and complex questions of this universe and of our living are incomprehensible – we don’t find answers to their complexity – Scientists, the best brains and mostly who are atheist’s stop to a certain point of research beyond which they are not able to see compelling answers to their research – Who created the stars, galaxies and how come they are moving in a perfect harmony? How did life began on earth and how come so much water got formed?

For the spiritualists, the question becomes more intricate – who created the soul and where does it go after it leaves the body – scientists are still searching for the scientific proof of the spirit. When one leaves the body, what goes out that does not come back - though with the best of the medical brains and equipment around, you cannot make a dead man alive...There are zillions of questions with no straightforward answers – just assumptions, as beyond a certain point human mind does not comprehend for an absolute answer….

It is this mega fact that brings us to the proof that there is some perfect grand design working in tandem with the universe and controlling the situations and scenarios of life… be it ours or other animate or inanimate objects… so much of perfection and perfect placement of things around us cannot be done without someone creating it… after all everything cannot be a beautiful coincidence. and much of thought and belief resides in “God” …thus for many of us …the search is on… the lucky ones would find where he resides… be inside or at some distant place, the question remains so “Who did it?” … the search is on…

~ Just Write...~

Have you every thought of communicating with yourself and writing your thoughts on a piece of paper and revisiting those after a while... Just pen down the various vagaries of life you have gone through – obviously you can hide the no show events and the gross mistakes that you made in your earthly journey unless you are incisively honest like The Mahatma’s Autobiographical “My Experiments with Truth!”.

Because telling your story is essential to your close ones, of course, people around you will more or less live a life just like you, in many cases have the similar circumstances and rock up the same situations and struggles, happier moments that you have gone through.

As someone said Blessings come in many Disguises, this idiom is so true in your living – spearhead the events of your life with full throng – tell people what were your best achieved moments and what were not – where you faltered and where you achieved the triumphs – of
course making mistakes in between – the multitudes of life remain more or less the same for many of us.

Writing can be conversationalist, the thoughts churn from within – certainly there is another you in you whom so certainly you talk with just often! There are moments that you want to show to the world how you feel about this living – what have you achieve and what not – what have you observed and what according to you is right or wrong – writing is the power to broadcast to the universe of how you feel while you live – don’t succumb to the thoughtful injuries within, after all you are a human being and capable of taking plus and minuses of life at the same GO!

Write , for it is therapeutic and surely a stress buster – every time you don’t have anybody alongside but YOU yourself… talk and jot down the talking’s and see how beautiful you feel form inside… as they say that the best friend of you is ‘YOU’, then who else can describe your inner self via jotting down few words of how you feel – after all you are Destiny’s child – what if you are not a millionaire or insanely famous – you are human like them sans all the fame BUT with same level of feelings and emotions.

Writing can take you to that supreme level of thoughts and ecstasy to prove a point that there lived You in flesh and blood and that you thought the way your writings gesture – you live beyond your death and so is the case with famous men and women who live through their writings and the words they penned whilst they lived

Write for it is the most beautiful gesture and the gift you can give to your near and dear ones and to let them know how you thing about this grand design of life and situations around you –  how you thought of your family the unknown people  you might met only once and would never meet again – you can freeze the situations through the ink – after all , You have every right to “Write” for everything we do in this life demands a note…

~ A Contented Soul...~

Everyone has his own definition of God and living – and it is so ingrained in our subconscious mind that whatever we do, we are in constant conversation with our inner self, reacting to varied situations and believing that all is being done by HIM and that he is our doer – after all, this is the baseline of all the scriptures of various religions and decree.

Satinderji was no different, he is an autorickshaw driver and owns his prestige which he tells with humility but proudness, you can sense this oxymoron when you elongate your conversation with him. From a trip back from Himalayas, one is in a different perceptibility of Mind-Body-Spirit and his immense knowledge about the ‘Other World’ – one may feel at first percept that how can an Auto-wallah have such thoughts and wisdom of life and its living, but having chatted with him during my short stint with him made me change my thinking 360 degrees.

“Bhaaji, we all are descendants of that Supreme being and have thus come to this form of life to do our Karma and pay back in honour to his divine will – now that much materialism has occurred and everyone is running to be something in life, we have lost our track – our endless struggle to achieve the greatness of life has steered our path and that for sure has turned us in the wrong dimension that we are now living.” – Only a man with hardships and true test of time can exemplify this thought as him as most of them have no time to sit and beguile the goodness of what life has offered us.

Satinderji was certainly a man of interest and that he is on the road ( in this hot weather of Delhi) but still reminiscing his creator and also balancing his act of feeding his family and be a father, son, husband, brother – this certainly is not less feat in itself, especially when we see broken families and secluded parents left to fend for themselves – this is life of modernity that we have created for ourselves!

He also has a different perspective of life and death and about all the places of worship, for he thinks that HE resides in one own self – believe me, out of endless spiritual books that I have gone through, such wisdom comes after connecting with your inner self and acts of meditation and being in solitude, but Satinderji has learnt from life – for him Life on road is the best teacher, you meet so many people with different vicissitudes and problems – juggling and making ends meet – with different philosophies but at the end have one commonality – i.e. their belief in someone out there who created this chimera of life and death…. Just coming from a spiritual journey myself and still with the tinge of meditative stance, these words felt like pearls of wisdom from a man on the road – he was not much educated and had no standford or Hardward degrees but had the understanding of life – doing his Karma without much expectations.

As finally my short journey was going to end and it was time to pay him – I asked him two questions

“Satinderji , are you happy from life? To which he smilingly replied “Sab udi Marzi, jo who Chahey!” [Whatever is HIS WISH and whatever HE wants…]

The second question was “What is your expectation in life….?” To which he again smilingly replied… [ Koi Chah nahi hai …mein khush haan, mere toh vi neeche bade log ne…Bahut Shukurguzar haan udda [ I have no expectations from GOD, I am happy whatever he has given me , there are people much in struggle as I see them and I am thankful to HIM for whatever he has bestowed on me!]

The moment of truth had just arrived for me as I passed thinking about what I had conversed with a common man but certainly a very satisfying soul….!!!

~ Love for God...~

Some encounters in life are a remembrance of a lifetime...such was a recent talk I had with a lady who was in a different life trajectory. Her love and devotion to God was phenomenal and that it was coming from a lady of 45 years or more age from Japan who was once running her own small enterprise – having a lovely family, though not married but having lots of siblings and loving parents – in short, she was all accustomed to a good family life but what was the “tinge” troubling her , which led her to take this arduous path to find god and a true meaning of her life and existence.

I asked as I was glancing through the “Sri Krishna” Krishna books she held in her hand to be sold on whatever token price one wanted to give – the idea was to just not sell it for free as they would be taken for granted…. She responding each of my Proust question.

“Are you happy that you left your country and your family for the cause you truly believe in ?” 

“Yes, don’t I look happy and effervescent….the journey is worth it, my love for my Guru and God is unending and I have got meaning to life”, thus she spoke.

“Also, I had a very good job in Tokyo and that I had a good circle of friends but still a there was emptiness in my life, something for sure was missing and I could not figure out what was it, till I took an excursion to Rishikesh and there I met my guru who had an ashram here…”

These words were not fairy tale story from any book or a movie that I was watching but a real-life account of a woman from Japan “Kazue” was her name (meaning peace and harmony) …

The talks went ahead and suddenly on the spurt of the moment she said “You know you are lucky!” – I immediately asked why …” Because you are born in India and have got an Indian body! but you guys don’t realise the significance of being born in this land….” , I felt proud but little ashamed too as I know what her point was , we are all dwelled in the layers of materialism, ignorant of the fact this all is “Maya” and one day will vanish…. But we live in the oblivion of this thought as if we are here till end of time….

Words of wisdom coming from a westerner was music to the ears….but had lot of depth, she was actually on a different tangent and had a mesmerized feeling with God…

As I asked her again “Don’t you miss you family who raised you and who wanted you to be beside you in old age and at fag end of their life…?”. She quickly replied with a smiling face…

 “They know where my happiness lies and they are happy because what I wanted to do in life, I am doing…I left a well paying corporate job and a life of comfort to live a life of ascetic in all devotion to the Lord… and this is my path of my choice…they are indeed happy!”  The time was passing by quickly and she had to go to her ashram after buying fruits and vegetables from the flea mart…as I just enquired from where she gets the money from to buy these things…she again smilingly reverted…” From the books that I sell here….” until she for the last time said “Hare Krishna…. God bless you….” She turned and quickly vanished into a sea of humanity…. I stood there just for a second…thinking how it must be if I was to take this stand…. Leaving it all for Bhakti and  devotion…Can I…??? ..The pulls of MAYA is much … may be as of now I might not be prepared…but would certainly be looking out for time when I call quits…

~ Love You Life...~

So what it feels like the same everyday…with the same set of work that you do and with the same daily chores – the result is super boredom and a stale monotonous life which you can drag till you grey your hair. One such thought came to my mind and for sure this led to an adrenaline rush in the spine ..am I going the way everyone goes and lives life and then regret what we actually didn’t do or still we got a chance and we didn’t had the courage or the bent of mind to not go for it!

My writing of this piece of blog is just one of the key things that I always wanted to do, not that I thought of sharing my being in the world out there but to also know what everyone feels the same as I do…after all we are all humans and share more or less the same genetics. 

As a morning exercise aficionado and an early riser ( thanks to my family who always pushed me beyond limits to see the early sun!), I have found ways to start my day with a zoombastic frame of mind and in that effort have made some super souls who have been gone through the grill of life – no wonder they have tons of experiences to share on a tea cuppa that we sometimes have after our exercise and brisk walking and running… soaked in sweat which I always call the best perfume a man can shower…our endless talks brimming with life’s wisdom always have key takeaways ….the talks never end but time slips endlessly, no wonder I have met some of the best people in the world...who share their life's moments and guide you on matters which otherwise are complex to solve!

One key take away I surely want to share with all of you is that “Live the Moment!” as the next tick of time may not allow to do things which you thought of doing right now…the laggards that we generally are, get up and tweak your daily routine, go for long walks, even if in solitude, there is a surety that you someone inside you will always be in conversation with you – the miracles of nature are just waiting to converse with you and make you a happy lot – all you need is open your self and dedicate your being in the lap of time!

Done so, you will feel a different you! Happy and feeling good from inside – do what you want to do in your spare time – write, read a book, do yoga, play some sport,  watch your fav movie, call a friend you didn’t had time to talk to – seize the moments and uplift your living with positivity.

I again reiterate, make friends with old people as it has two strong positives… one, as they are your seniors and are brimming with life’s wisdom – they are the best teachers ( I always say, all schools prepare and motivate you for that go getter attitude BUT no school teaches you how to handle failure and negatives of life…), these are your best masters and teachers, for they have upfronted the challenges which came their way – A continuous engagement with oldies will make you more aware of life, will prepare you for upcoming challenges and impediments and mature you to handle them with alacrity !

Second, you will never regret not spending time with your Dad, Mom, Grandfather and Grandmother when they suddenly leave you as their talk will always resonate in your mind and you will still have beautiful memories of them – the internal blessings they will shower on your will be intangible and help you in life as they manifest in different forms!

At the end just one line to sum up all  …”Love life as it is one time affair…you will never be born again with the same body, mind and name… live it fully !!!”

~ Life's Moments...~

 Have you ever looked for those ‘different moments’ during the day when suddenly you encounter an anonymous being whom you don’t know – he/she comes only to you for some help or assistance, don’t know why – there are many people around you but you become the chosen one to be asked for alms or any help that he/she may be seeking.

Remember this is the test of your true character and how you react to that quick situation define our true being – this one of sort event would occur anytime, sometimes repeatedly – if you don’t pass the test. Suddenly when the occurrence has happened you would realize that sometimes you were harsh or showed attitude or ignored the askance – though this was not the need of the hour – but by that time the testing moment has just passed and you become that hapless soul again.

I have been a party to such repeated occurrences in my living, a recent case I am jotting brings to me the lesson which years ago someone taught me – true to his living, the noble man exited this world as a much contented man with no frills or regrets leaving behind his success stories and nobility which till date I keep on hearing from common friends.

It so happened that when I was at a flea mart buying tomatoes which now days are damn cheap Rs 20/- per kg and we all being in the habit of selecting the best lot whilst I was chatting with the vendor, a sudden voice from behind was heard – “Bhaiya, 1 kg tamatar dilwado” ( can you buy me 1 Kg tomato), turning back I could see a wheelchaired man in his mid 40’s whose one leg was amputated and that he showered a smile on me expecting me to do what he requisitioned. As I told the vendor to select the best tomatoes for him and simultaneously asked him if he wanted money… his surprise reply was “ bhaiya Paise lekar mein kya karoonga, jo chahiye maine maang liya..” [Brother, what would I do with money, what I wanted, I asked!]. 

This line had  loads of meaning and teachings for me and may be for all of us. After profusely accepting the pack of tomatoes, he steered his wheelchair slowly with a smile, not before showring a streak of thanks to both of us ( me and the vendor)..as he moved, his image made me stay there for a while and his words kept on moving in my head… “What I wanted, I asked, I don’t want money….” , though living a tough life and handicapped, the gentleman wasn’t greedy , he actually asked for what he required… do we all have that streak of acceptance ? I strongly doubt our intentions…thanks life, that different moment was an added life lesson… keep on making me learn all this… as I always say … be a student of life and not of books …for books give you knowledge…life gives you wisdom!

Are you Rich?

 Many of us get entangled with this elemental question of oneself being Rich enough to lead a comfortable life. Each one of us wants to get that ‘Security’ of life when we would be retiring and living a comfortable life without any help from our kids and pals – going by the current phenomenon in the society where kids damn care about their ageing parents and are besmirched in a world of their own, one certainly cannot expect them to be with you and serving you eternally...

It is this thought that takes flight and we start chasing that unimaginable dream of accruing financial security but in doing so we forget the definitions of being rich – for many of us, there are things which have been bestowed on us and we take those for granted, thinking so that these are our ‘Right’ – not so realizing that many of people around us are not so lucky to have them!

As our dynamics of living change, the definition of living an enriching life can be as this…

IF you are hale and hearty and not on any medication of any ailment and don’t visit the doctor or a hospital …You can consider yourself to be rich.

IF you just had a good night sleep and are not on sleeping pills to enforce that artificial trance state of mind, then have mercy on yourself and consider yourself to be truly lucky & Rich!

IF you have choice of what to eat and is always have a food on your plate which you cherish and take a long burp, please consider yourself to be outrightly lucky, know fully well that many people on this planet have much money but are still poor as they can’t have the sweetest of the dishes on restaurants menu as they have been strictly constraint for having them.

Also, if you are married and have a wife and kids who love and respect you, you are again in the league of super lucky souls – considering the collapsing family tradition where parents are looked down and abused by kids and have lost respect for them.

If you have parents who care for you at this age of your life and always call you on phone to ask your well-being and asking you subtly if you are well and having your food on time…this caring makes you the richest person on this planet! 

If you are surrounded by friends who love you and are always there for you for any eventuality and be present on first port call, consider your being as rich as a pot filled with Gold!

Certainly, this one is a far too aberration – You can pamper your conscience to be living as a rich person if you have a roof over your head which you can proudly call as “Home”- be it small or big and that you do not stress yourself out thinking of paying a recurring rent throughout the year and are somehow financial liberated for any major obligation of buying your dwelling….

Now that I stop and leave it to the readers to consider their dominion to be living a life of luxury or penury, considering the basic essentialities of life which I personally believe are more than enough for a decent living during our lives, for the rest, nothing soothes more than chasing illusionary dreams and dying for them unrealized… the choice of free will always be your consideration and evaluation…!!!