~ Friend To a Banker ~

My Banker Friend, not the Manager but the Guard, a 60-year-old frail man who extols the exemplary of everyday life with a BIG smile every time I enter the bank.

His effervescence catches my eye, his zeal to live life his own way is a challenge to my understanding. How come at this age and at this tiring time when he should be guarded by his family member I seek him otherwise? 

Asked as to he has been on the bank duty everyday where else the bank comes to office in rotational shift , the quirky answer which came my ways was “ Sirji, I am the only Guard of this bank, I have to come as there is no replacement or backup of me.!”

Enclosing himself in a plastic PPE kit, synonymously looking like Medical assistant, he checks every new entrant to the bank with alacrity. 

His Magnum Opus was his agility to stand rock solid at the bank gate with his usual fervor setting an example, come what may, one has to do his duty, though now with more careful precedence.

Sitting on an almost broken wooden chair at the entrance, he holds his gun with honour and dignity of life which he has led – his best ornament which suffix his personality. Over the years, I see him roaming inside the bank with a watchful eye on customers and also guiding and sometime reprimanding them to not use mobile phone as per bank’s rules. 

He is called with a “Ji” as a suffix to his name by various bank employees, when they need him to do some petty task – such as moving a cheque-book or keeping a stack of forms from one chair to another.

Asking about his family, his face lit’s up in glory as he exemplifies his family’s history – “Sirji, I am a Jat from a nearby village and have enough property to fend for myself. I have three children and a lovable wife. Two of my sons work in fields near Najafgarh (a rural suburb attached to Delhi NCR), and my only daughter is studying in college.” 

Suddenly he starts to share about his plans of retirement from his working life. As per his plans, he intends to get to retirement mode next year after his daughter’s marriage – distinct set goal for a father of a Girl who turns out to be of a marriageable age! 

Jawahar Singh - as his name is, taught me life’s lessons though quite un-knowingly as it might seems to be. These Life lessons can be mesmeric and a guidance for all of us to be humble and simplistic approach towards one and all after all know knows time might kiss us with its ill-bound teaching and we get to learn these lessons the harder way!

~ On Father’s Day ~

Why Dad always Lags behind…                  

Mom carries for 9 months, Dad carries for 25 years, both are equal, still don’t know why Dad is lagging behind.

Mother works without pay for the family, Dad spends all his pay for the family, both their efforts are equal, still don’t know why Dad is lagging behind.

Mom cooks whatever you want, Dad buys whatever you want, both their love is equal, but Mom’s love is shown as superior. Don’t know why Dad is lagging behind.

When you talk over the phone, you want to talk to Mom first, if you get hurt, you cry ‘Mom’. You will only remember dad when you need him, but did Dad never feel bad that you don’t remember him the other times? When it comes to receiving love from children, for generations, we see that Dad is always lagging.

Cupboards will be filled with colorful saris and many clothes for kids, but Dad’s clothes are very few, he doesn’t care about his own needs, still don’t know why Dad is lagging behind.

Mom has many gold ornaments, but Dad has only one ring that was given during his wedding. Still Mom complaints of less jewellery and Dad doesn't. Still don't know why Dad is lagging behind.

Dad works very hard all his life to take care of the family, but when it comes to getting recognition, he is always lagging behind.

Mom says, we need to pay college tuition this month, please don’t buy a saree for me for the festival whereas dad has not even thought of new clothes. Both their love is equal, still don’t know why Dad is lagging behind.

When parents become old, children say, Mom is at least useful in taking care of household chores, but they say, Dad is useless.

Dad is behind (or ‘at the back’ ) because he is the backbone of the family. Because of him, we are able to stand erect. Probably, this is the probable reason why he is lags behind....!!!

~ What a Life that was...~

As they say,"Time outshines every moment of your life."

Reminiscing my past, what has been the best moments of life's journey?

Sans money and with loads of time, your true self was at its best. With no accountability and responsibility, you were a true "King Of Good Times”. Those playful moments when you used to spend majority of your time with childlike precedents and hitting your nearby playground not to return for hours - enshrined in mud and with reprieve of hunger and thirst, the day was spent with all its effervescence. The little pocket money now looks better than our pay cheque and the way we used to splurge on it, the way we want, the way we loved…

We had our key comrades with whom we used to share our idiosyncratic ideas and plan our time for the next day. The quirky fights on menial issues, the eclectic glance and peep through one’s houses and a shout to call our gully friends to play were the norm of those days.

School came to be a big detest, getting up in the wee hours of day (specially in foggy winter mornings), it became a humongous effort to leave the quilt (as it still is..). What let us all get going was the wait of time when the final school bell rang, and we call came to our naughtiest best – getting back in dirt of clothes and getting the usual reprimand of our grandfathers / grandmothers!

Life as it slowly rolls its plans changes true nature of our daily living, but what cannot change is the esoteric childlike qualities that we still carry and would love to do -some do it as bold initiatives in front of crowd and many in their hidden confines.

With many of us having kids in a milieu , now we observe our true childish behavior – the vernacular talk we do with our little ones, our playful gestures and drama on which our kids laugh and make merry – It is you in the real sense that makes you live apart from the mad rush of existence of today!

Thinking now of those golden pedestals of time went past, we all wish if we can we all live in those moments of history. With many of us loosing contacts with our best pals, we can only remember and cherish those golden era.

Probably, with all of us, those moments must have put in an edible mark on our memories – never to be erased until we leave this planet, those memories will depart with us...!

 

~ The Ant Story ~

Sitting idle on a chair with my kids – laughing and giggling on our childish talks, I was made to realize and look down on a serpentine streak of ants marching towards a common goal. Headed by a presumably wise ant, which was bestowed by knowledge of sight and direction, the followers were just treading the shown way. Suddenly, one amongst them saw a grain of food (a small piece of biscuit lump) which was noticed and quickly attracted attention by the insect.

Now began the test of time, as the ant dissociated itself from the queue, she wanted others to join and take the food probably for their night fiesta, the problem being she could not do it alone for the sheer weight of ‘food’ was much bigger than her own weight. As ants are known for their patience and diligence of work, she began to probably ‘think’ and define her next plan to have this pie of biscuit at her dwelling during dinner. Suddenly we saw her racing back to her companions with a view of finding help and with a single-minded aim of lifting the crust and take back home.

 In quick succession, she was accompanied by 15-20 ants and all of them started to strive for a common result – how to move this piece of biscuit to a safer place – ignorant of the fact that the whole episode was being watched by big giants (Myself and kids).

During this feat, there were innumerable occurrences that the group of ants were swayed by exhaustion and stopped for longer times and probably take rest and start again for the better .After some time, the effort started to pay-off, the piece of biscuit started to move and after some time was taken in close vicinity to a small hole (1/2 inches in size).

Having arrived at its due destination, it was soon creeped by 100-200 ants which almost attacked the surprise bestowed on them – In no time the piece of biscuit grew small in size to be vanished in next hour. The whole story came as a big teaching for all three of us.

The ant had showed remarkable sense of observation and patience to enjoy a common goal through their effort in unison.

Other ants showed good sense of camaraderie and showed up strength and a combined sense of effort and direction to achieve a common goal. Their feeling of help towards each other, led by a principal Ant to show them direction made them achieve the almost impossible feat.

Another lesson learnt was, come what may, though slowly and steadily, the ants were able to achieve their aim with their single-minded focus, sense of leadership and working in tandem.

Penultimately, when the food reached its destination, every ant in the group rejoiced in unison and thanked and kissed each other for the common effort they had put to achieve the result.

I hope that the lessons which these insects have taught all three of us are kept in mind embark us on a journey of life – though such minuscule in their appearance, they taught us life’s best teachings which we can inscribe in our day to day life and live in accordance with our true self!

 

~ Football – The Game of Life ~

 

What became as my liking of an outdoor activity, Football as sport which I loved became my everyday binge. Hours were spent in sweating on the ground and besmirching clothes with mud.

But as growing up years were spend getting absorbed in the game, I unknowingly fell in love with the sport – so much so that I happened to think of serpentine moves and arcane tactics to score a goal. The next day and hour was thoroughly awaited to hit the ground. My Naani used to be precarious of the time when I had to step out, never to return for hours of sweat and toil not to forget the dilapidated condition of clothes and bruises on the body. 

The key question being what football has to do with "NOW" when I have well surpassed the age one can play it with equal aplomb. The answer is ‘Football’ has made me the Shakespearean character that I am in the world stage. The game is a strong interlude of maneuvering passes and strict discipline. It makes an individual a strong and forward-looking thinker with an ability to think beyond the rational. It bestows on you a sense of ownership and teamwork, cascades along many boundaries to show your true character as a leader and a playmate.

Finally, it makes you ponder with the game you played and gives you an opportunity to ascertain your follies today – those selfish instances that you were close to the goal and by all possibility you could have scored had you given the past at the last moment to your teammate who was left unchecked and in a pole position. The best part of the sport at the end of those ticking timelines is the analysis which one gets into – with heated debates and no potential outcomes, the bond with the team gets cemented – you also get to know individualistic weaknesses and start to work upon them slowly and steadily.

As they say the passion never fades away, life comes back at different times – There have been many instances that you still shake a leg and dribble past this young generation (in a par nearby before the Pre-Corona Era). You test your agility with the skills of years you have acquired on the field. If not, you have left your position to be a forward (considering the demanding position it is), you can well equip yourself to be a center half and be a strategist and give formidable passes towards goal conversions. The rhetoric of passes, the deliberate fouls, the friction between players of opposite teams all still becomes the part and parcel of the razzmatazz, such is the charisma of this Game.

 I have realized that I am in awe with this game and it is the on top of my list of to-do things when I will next spot the street urchins playing at their usual self in the park. Afterall, age has nothing to do with your love of life – I love football and would continue too do so till eternity!

The best part of playing this game is when people ask “at this age, how you maintain your sprint, focus and quick thinking on the field?” My quirky answer is “The football does not know how old I am. All you need to do is to stop yourself to stopping yourself to play the game.” – I thank football not only as a game but shaping myself into a person which I have become today!

 

~ Voice of Silence ~

Adhering to certainty of time, my newly acquainted friends come without missing a minuscule moment, for they know it is their time to have a meeting with me on the sidelines of a everyday dinner. Nature has its own way of defining things, be it plants and animals, microcosms, all have a certain inherit intelligence within them and they act according to a dotted pattern.

The usual woof of my friends make me believe a connection towards them and gives me a sense of understanding and rapport. Our unspoken communication has a soul to know each other meanings and gestures. I know they are happy on seeing my glance and I feel the same emotive confluence for them.

With expected eyes and a wagging tail, they know that I shall be available on a particular time (usually late evenings) and at a particular place. Never in recent past I have found them missing or ditching my expectations. Their clairvoyance has passed my sense of understanding - our newfound bond of love surpasses keystroke affection which I have recently developed towards them.

Sometimes i find them missing during my usual day-walks passed my street, for they only come in the evening with a view of having their usual supper.

Our regular meetings started with a stroke of dinner leftovers which my wife asked me to keep outside our dwelling - having done so, I was quick to visualize unexpected guests to have their prized catch-Though they relished their feed -a guess which i made whilst i saw their waggling tail, it became a regular feature for me to cook a pie for them.

Notwithstanding a sense of immense satisfaction, gratitude and inner peace which I get daily, this routine has brought me close to the wandering canines around my place.

During this unprecedented hour, our unity of timelessness has taught us forth key life lessons of respect and mutual admiration of living beings around us – the support, assistance they need to survive and to exist in our surroundings and playfully show their resemblance in our surroundings is a blessing in disguise.

Now on the way of thinking a suitable names for them - one bitch and two grown up males, they would get used to the names giving over a period of time, for now let me dwell in cooking their next meal for that is what I started to cherish the most - not forgetting the expected wait for our new found guests!

~ Lakshmi – A True Soul Of Grit & Gumption ~

She had an effervescence personality and her demeanor was not like any other ordinary mendicant, she took to the streets due to the current happening which lead her to believe how important it was to study and stand on economical grounds and beat the penury of life she was in. Was she her parent’s best choice, a choice which shows them a great future and also move up from the uncertainties of what life offer them as of now?

A chance encounter In front of our office, she was passing through with her siblings and showing them the way as an ordinary trespasser, suddenly a chance eye contact with her made me inquisitive about her future and what she would be in life post the situation we all are in. All of tender age when others of her peers must be studying hard and living on comforts of their homes albeit A/C’s on, she was wandering through the streets of Delhi in order to find food for her family.

Suddenly, she stopped, and a conversation began with me, asking for alms or any other financial help if I could do, she came to the point. Seeing her predicament, I could not resist myself and did what I could have done as per the demand of the situation (though, I would like it to be out of scope in this write-up), she felt a little sense of confidence and started to answer my inquisition.

What is your Name?

Lakshmi” Was the quick answer.

Are these two (a boy and a girl – both of about 6-7 years of age) your brother and Sister?

“Yes Bhaiya”

“Where do you live and why are you roaming around in this scorching heat of Delhi summer?”

“We are in search of food and other alms, my father was a erickshaw driver and he is out of work due to current scenario and we are facing an economic ruin, I study in class 10 in a nearby Govt school and the onus is on me to fend for the family as my mother cooks at home and my father goes out everyday to search for a job and a possible income.”

“Do you want to study and what you want to be in life?

“Bhaiya, I want to just help my parents and by becoming a teacher or a Doctor, I would help them.”

From her weakened voice, I could sense the hurt she had gone through – whilst she begged for alms and other material gains to make her family survive, a severed dent on the self esteem of an enterprising soul – she could be termed a beggar by the raw mind.

Pondering more, I could see that she was bright student and confident enough to study and make a mark for own self and strongly believed that she could take her family out of the economic clutter they were in. The confidence in her vision and approach towards life made me believe the famous idiom “This shall too pass…”

Though in a fix of time, Lakshmi’s determination and valor was unprecedented and was par excellence, she held her head high and was determined to get her family out of this ephemeral situation.

 The last question –

“Lakshmi, will you study more and be something for your own self or will quit school and accept the anomalies of current situation?”

The answer stupefied me and my consciousness.

“Bhaiya, I will prove to my parents, that come what may, I shall be an honor for my family in future , for that I know this is a temporary passing time, I am a good student, only education can beat poverty of life.”

Suddenly, the communication broke and she started to leave in haste for other opportunities to secure her current economic uncertainty. The summer heat was not a damper for her to accomplish task she had partaken.

A life lesson well learnt by a street urchin – come whatever may , aim for your best as the situation may be temporary but your grit and gumption should be permanent. There are enumerable such Lakshmi’s out there who have suddenly found situation for their family as tough and have taken the jumbo step of partaking life’s challenges with equal opportunities with their parents – recalling a recent case when a 15 year old girl paddled her way to her hometown Darbhanga in Bihar, taking care of her ailing father. The excruciating journey of 1200 Kms shook the conscience of our Country and uplifted the resilience of having a Girl Child in the family.

As they say the “Need of the hour produces a Man…”, Covid1-19 has proved beyond doubt that we need to change and look at life in a different perspective altogether. A perspective toward having a humane ground, sensitive to the situation of downtrodden, being accommodative to their predicaments and this to be done without hurting the dignity, self-esteem and honor of those classes.

Let us all give them an equal opportunity and bring in them the confidence to live life on equal terms as we do and see for ourselves what Karma you have done whilst you exist in these uncertain times.

 

 

~ The Invisibles ~

Never before in my living past I had realized the monotony of living indoors.Keeping with the regularity of things to be done sometimes forsake your lackluster attitude towards things, but the trials and demands of the situation make you believe to carry on. 

It is this believe with which our day to day menial tasks which we hardly used to do ourselves come to the fore.Now that situation tends to ease out,I realized the meaningful power of the "Invisibles" which live along with us and have knowingly or unknowingly become inseparable part of our existence. Taking example of our garbage guy who comes knocking on the door every pristine morning without fail and asking for his 'Take' of garbage, I ask him about his general well-being and that what makes him come out of his home . The answers seems to perturb my rationality that everyone is immune to subjectivity of time - Sanjay has a Seven member family to feed - 5 kids and himself with his wife." Sitting at the comforts of his shanty wont feed them bhaiya" is the rational answer i get from him. I understand this harsh fact with practicality of current situation and thank him profusely for the everyday danger and sacrifice he bids on us for his day to day earning.

The second living example of the "Invisibles" which I would like to talk about is our street chowkidar - A guy not more than 45 years if age ,"Ravi" as he likes him to be called, roams around in our vicinity with his candor style and his high pitch of whistle makes his presence felt. Now a days he has lot of responsibility on his shoulders - from checking temperature to inquiring about any entrant in our block, the job demands much effort. Asking him about his family, he responds with a sense of responsibility - "Bhaiya, I have two daughters and parents and wife with whom i share a small room in our neighborhood". Being the only earning member of his family, he shoulders great responsibility to feed all of them at this time of uncertain times.Working for 10-12 hours for a day and exposing himself to high risk of getting infected, he makes sure that we remain safe and secure.

These living examples are just "Invisibles" for most of us as they remain just another working professionals for us and we hardly stop by to notice their inanimate services they render. As time is a good teacher, the best teaching which COVID-19 has taught us to honour these "Invisibles" for making our lives at peace with sense of security and comfort.

Thanks "Sanjay" and "Ravi" for your unending services everyday -though what many would say that it is their sense of burden of their family that they have to oblige, my answer to them is that they were qualified enough to move back to their home towns as they have their own secure dwellings their, but they choose to take up the challenge and cater to what they have been doing Pre-Corona era.

Penultimately, there would be many Sanjay's and Ravi's in your vicinity who are invisibles for us and we have never noticed them as they pass by, it is our duty to oblige and respect their presence in our life for which we remain so much strong and efficient in this dire times.

~ Covid-19 – A true dance of Destiny ~

So, what has been our most coveted learning of COVID-19, the question begets on very minds of people who have been engrossed in the daily rigmarole of life. Having ample time to think and evaluate the current situation we are in, my best instances about what I perceive could be an eye-opener to all of us.

We have been living as free birds in an atmosphere which we have all corrupted – see our natural resources – rivers, lakes, ponds, sea’s, Oceans and Air, all have been physically hijacked and made to suffer. Along with all what we have done, we have donned the hat of a demi-god and played flute in our own self decrepit capacity.

Now that we have enclosed ourselves under physical stay-in caves, nature is fast recovering and getting back to its pristine beauty. The rivers have turned blue, the Particulate Matter (PM) readings have gone down, sky has turned clear, we get up with sounds of birds and other of nature’s paraphernalia – In short nature has started to heal itself in its own way. The pain of loosing loved ones across the globe is synonymous with the hopes and aspirations of what has been left behind. It is only the magnanimity of time which will heal the wounds and put us all on a self-realization mode of our existence.

For the rest of us, staying indoors have been most incapacitated of our actions in living memory. We have devised ways of doing odd things to just kill time or for that matter shut up voices in our heads. We have fine-tuned our living and behavior and thus have started a rollover of measuring life from a different viewpoint. Some of them have unexpectedly discovered new talents such as cooks, bakers. For other’s it has turned out to be a blessing in disguise and they have found out time to stay and spend quality time with their old parents and kids. Many others never thought of themselves to be good moppets to their parents and have started living their childhood. For other, they have turned themselves to be good husbands doing odd jobs such as mopping, cleaning and the Sundry. Thus the saying “Every situation is an opportunity in disguise.” holds true till date and nature in its all mighty stance has proven this adage.

 As human race, we have been adoptive to challenges and this key methodology has helped us test of time. There have been many such occurrences in human history where we have defied our existence and its key challenges. This time too we will rise to the occasion and beat the COVID-19 situation which have been thrown at us, the only rider being that have we become better and more humane living beings?

The answer to this outright question would bear testimony to the upcoming challenges post passing off this scenario – till then all we need to do is to reminisce our past and do a hearty soul-search for what we want in life and what needs to be done to achieve that!

~ Create your Now Moment ~

In our journey of life, we have been landscaping our dreams and aspirations as and when they materialize, one word which all of us are intermittently thinking is 'Tomorrow'

What we always thought of as "Tomorrow" happens to be 'Today' and 'Now'. The unpredictability of life and time postulates one popular observation and that is Start living in Today, seize your 'Now' moment. Whatever you have been thinking of lately or in your life, try to get rid of it by executing it. Having done so, you would have satiated your senses to the brim and would not repent of not doing so if at all you come into a position of not able to do so.

 Life's mavericks have always pointed out to the have's rather than have-nots. Wisdom of life teaches equally to everyone and the rules of the game equates with your abilities to perform synonymously with what is expected by nature.

There are ample such examples which makes us believe that there might not be any tomorrow for all of us, big plans would lay un-materialized and in copious thoughts if not executed and implemented. 

Remember, you are liable for your own self not anyone else. The decisions taken so forth might bring results in an expected or unexpected way but the feeling of taking a momentous decision in a time frame would always give you a feeling of satisfaction that you took one!

Our To-do-List could be classified as according to the zeal it carries, from learning a new skill to getting enchanted to materialistic madness and thus buying your favorite bike, we all have thought of something or else that reaps our mind every now and then. Having thought so, we never factor various infirmities of life bounded by sudden occasions which might not make us reach our objective. 

A sudden melancholy which makes us incapable of doing great things which we have thought, our aspirations which have become bedrock of our living could be nullified by any mischief of life's play.

Our zest of quality of life makes us work hard and in between we forget to devote some precious moments for our own selves. This much we can deserve, for our living is not propounded by high imaginative targets which we have dedicated to ourselves and thus to achieve them, we are trying as hard as one can. Looking around us we find

Take a break, ponder over your thoughts and actions. Time memorial, actions which have engrossed you to achieve the un-achievable - was every achievement worth the effort you dedicated and was that achievement celebrated one? How long that pride of achievement lasted before your next target was set as 'Ready'.

The vicious circle of life will continue at its pace as it always does, till one day, standing in front of the mirror you would see your grayed color, wrinkled eyes and a deteriorated body showing you a true image of what you have done to yourself whilst you chased your endless targets and forgetting your own Now moments.

Concluding my thoughts, all I intent to portray is to use your power of self-thought and start doing things which you have always thought you would do. Create your 'Now Moment' and live your life extraordinarily with an expression that when you are gone tomorrow, you have no regrets of unfulfilled aspirations !

~ An Act of Minimalism ~

Sometimes dire situations make you ponder upon strange happenings. things which you might not have realized in life , which might come calling to you unexpectedly .

The current Covid19 lock-down is one such situation which suddenly happened to all of us. “Caught Unawares" as they say it, we all find ourselves quarantined in our homes by a government order as the only solution to beat this peculiarity of life. What this situation taught me and most of us was that you can be easily beaten up by a small microcosm and thus loose almost everything in knack of time. Your achievements both physical and intangible. Your fragility of life can be challenged at any moment as the case today.

But as they say every cloud has a silver lining and can make you learn far off possibilities which you might not every have thought of otherwise.

As this situation continue to happen, what became my share of learning was the act of 'MINIMALISM’. This virtue came to me as a "Eureka Moment" in my life and suddenly I find myself practicing this unique habit. What started as a search for a particular T-shirt in my cupboard ended me as a changed person. A man with a different perspective towards object lying in our homes, objects which takes you to a time when you have to remember as to when these were of use to you.

Starting from clothes we wear, the day to day utensils and other such items lying barely idle in our homes, there could be many such thought provoking instances which made you believe when you just wanted these object desperately enshrining your home decor but with passage of time these very objects have faded themselves in oblivion but now they stay lifeless just on neglected side of your home satisfying your ego.

I am not going back to time and plan to live a medieval life , the only intent of my embracing minimalism is to de-clutter my existence and free myself of unnecessary stack of objects which are of no or minimal use and which I can live without!

Our almirah's might be stacked with hordes of your best selected clothes which we had collected for differential occasions, but seldom we had got an opportunity to wear them. Same principle applies to zillion other things which might be close to our heart at those moments of time but now the need of the hour is to part ways with them, though might be with a heavy heart, but you know intrinsically that you would not be in a position to use them to your favor. Times have move us all forward to other more important things as most of us have tread various degrees of life's vicissitudes and now have taken ourselves to more important journey, the priorities have certainly changed...

Gauging my day to day life and what is that keeps me going during the day lead me to think parallelly about electronic junk which was of no use to me as I stay engrossed in my daily living. Time could be another factor which is a rarity nowadays and which has lead me to discard these lifeless electronic objects. But on a deep thought it begets my sense of understanding that these are actually not required now, and I would be quite happy to live sans them. There are zillion of other nitty-gritty of life's which demand your attention,who knows there could be another such time when humanity would again befall and have to cage themselves due to a microcosm attack as a greater grand design of nature and this time you are not lucky enough to survive !!!

Penultimately, it is certainly not the sense objects that need minimalism, our accumulated thoughts are another culprit which need a watch , the effort is on....

~ Not CORONA but KARMA ~

Today when all of us are entering an era when we can find our self in precarious positions viz a viz uncertainties of future. We have been severely downgraded by our own actions and are thus paying the price of many misadventures that we have done or are doing. "Sapiens" as we call ourselves and rest on the top echelons of the food chain, we consider ourselves to be Demi-Gods threatening an entire ecosystem of this beautiful planet.

Equality may be a fact which is less prevalent as according to our thinking, but nature has its own grand designs to justify things in its own fashion. The current "Corona" scare is a certain eyeopener for all of us who have a sense of pride and believe in inequalities of living. Today the war is not in the periphery of humanity but human existence, a war between homo sapiens who have been humbled and outcast-ed by organisms.

Can this be derived from the Curse of the zillion animals who have been killed in the name of food, for satiating our taste buds and our own economic greed? or Is this the curse of animals who perished in unstoppable Australian Wildfires? These can be merely inferences of the devastation which is on the cards for all of us if we don’t mend our ways of living and continuous engage in torture with our flora and fauna.

This can be truly considered to be Gods Act of balancing things, a strong hint for all of us to mend things and start living a righteous life. A life bestowed to us to coexist with the living and inanimate. We forgot the basic lesson and started to act our own way, as a result we are at the crossroads of our own destiny, a future of our own making!

For me this epidemic is not "CORONA" but "KARMA" the dance of the getting things settled via your past actions and inaction's. What nature is trying to teach us in its own mild and subtle way? Why are we not getting aligned with the messages from Nature missing a quintessential quality which has been ingrained in us "Humility towards All".

We have lost our touch with our wisdom masters who used to teach us the way of ancient living. The all bestowing “Ancient Wisdom” is the need of the hour and should be put to practice. We have to limit our desires which will lead us to sufferings. With this I ponder on this famous Sanskrit quote which has been profound in my living and am seeing in happening in the current scenario.

यद्यत्संद्दश्यते लोके सर्वं तत्कर्मसम्भवम् ।

सर्वां कर्मांनुसारेण जन्तुर्भोगान्भुनक्ति वै ॥

“Whatever is seen among men (whether pleasure or pain) is born of Karma (actions). All creatures enjoy or suffer, as per their past actions.”

Hope this brings us wisdom and truth amongst our living !

~ Its All In The Planets ~

Sitting and engrossed in my own worldly thoughts and passing my time over a Red light, I come across an unusual knock on my car window.
A sudden jilt passes through my spine as I come out of my daydreaming time, looking outside I visualize a street urchin looking quite emotively towards me and in expectation of something which I didn't knew.
The next moment, he uplifts his hand and brings forward a pot full of oil and a 'Iron" Image protruding out of bucket. After an aware peep, I could see that there were loads of coins of different denominations immersed in mustard oil.

The next sentence I hear is " Jai Shani Dev" and with expected eyes, the boy starts to look at me with a frivolous smile. Now that i start to have a hint of his expectations, I ask him some questions out of my own inquisition.

"What is your name beta?"
"Ravi" , comes the reply.
"Do you go to school?"
"Nahi Uncle - I don’t have time."

I stopped for some time and thought at his fragile age as he doesn't know what he is doing to his life, quite oblivious to a dark future which is waiting for him. My thoughts come to a halt again as he again asks me for some alms to be put in the bucket.

Another question which begets my mind was " Why he must have been doing this? What circumstances made him put in a situation which he currently is?". I probably wont be able to know answers to these questions ever I suppose.

I ask him one more question " Ravi beta what is this bucket for? and what metal image you have put in the bucket? what purpose does it serve?"

He had a ready made answer to all of my questions.
"Uncle - This is Shani Maharaj, yeh aapke kaam sudharenge."
"Aap paise daloge toh aapkae kaam sidh honge."

I asked him one final question " Kaun hai Shani dev? kya aapko pata hai?"

The answer came as a deep silence and quickly he went to another car as he didnt had so much time to stick to one "Customer".

The episode kept me thinking about Ravi and what stars behold for him in times to come,

Finally time never stops and this happened with me as well, as honk from cars behind get my attention, I gear up for the next Red-Light to meet another 'Ravi" with his side of the story...As they say , the Journey never stops....

~ Woman of Substance ~

She comes to our house everyday on a stipulated time, doing her daily tasks in a time bound fashion. Draped in a worn out Saree , she is a working woman by definition. As I see her fully absorbed in her circumstances, thinking and devoted to her job role, she says "Namaste Bhaiya".The revert is synonymous and is with equal fervour. I chance upon breaking a talk with her just out of inquisition and to know about her family - she is new in our neighborhood and was never seen before. On further inquiry, I get to know that she is partaking this "Job" out of self interest and for her two kids who I see standing down near her Rickshaw.

 I ask " What is the name of these two beautiful souls?" -
Pat comes the reply - "Bhaiya "Saurav and Gaurav" both are about 6 years of age.
As the conversation matures, another question props up in my mind " Do they study didi?" - The answer is "Yes", they do study in a "Sarkari" School.

Further she tells me " Bhaiya, I have full intention to make them educated as I am not, My only wish is to make them something out of all the hard work I am doing and ready for sacrificing myself for them!

A sense of belief in education is what she is striving for and why not as that is the best chance she has for her old age. The struggles of life has made her to be tough and vent out to earn and make a respectable living. She could have begged but "NO", the dignity of living gives her the power to respond to tough times. She will win for sure and would beat the circumstances which time is offering her, believing in a perfect saying " When life offers a lemon, make a lemonade!"
For the time being, I have two new small friends now, everyday they visit our home and go happy with an ear to ear smile... That is what was destined for myself and a teaching to follow...God work's in tandem with people around you in differential situations. Your test of time could start anywhere.
I certainly would love to see them grow and achieve the miraculous out of the situation they are currently in ...

By the way , the lady of honour is our Garbage Collector and She being a woman of substance has turned out to be an authentic life teacher to All of us...!

~ Traffic of Life ~

What happens when you don’t challenge the temptation of a green Signal of a traffic light in order to cross it without stoppage. You maintaining the same speed and resist to speed up as prudence sets in and it says “till the time you reach – It would already be a Red light, so stay calm at your own pace.”

Thinking so, a car overtakes you as if it has fallen in the temptation of Inviting Green Light, not knowing if he would be able to surpass it in full confidence. 

I forget to chase the small challenge which was just in front of me….but as time unfolds and reach my destination – a traffic signal which I had to halt due to impending Red light, I come across the same car standing in awe of me. All of my apprehensions came true and that what I had thought was based on my experience of driving and its calculations…. This philosophy holds true in life

The ultimate truth is “Death” which is a red light we have to stop on – this is inevitable and everyone will  achieve it . On the Contrary – the Only Lie is – Life which is a chimera and a salutation of your journey on earth. So the speed with which you are travelling matters in this travel – enrich your journey with your friends and family, don’t rush through to achieve or beat the next signal- the only time you would do is , you have to stop at the ultimate as providence has its own way of setting things out!

PS: Stay calm while you tread this journey called life – ponder over its happenings and the people you have befriended and made company with. Your time is a silent clicking clock which will stop when its own time comes…. Happy Journeying …!!!

~ The Two Marquee Gentlemen ~

Let me today pen down about some of the souls which touch me night and day and that I cannot stop thinking about them at times....

Sudhir - my friend, the pulsation with which he does his work is enormous.Completely engrossed in his daily chores, he greets me with aplomb and with a sense of warmth.
What does he do coming so early , he is a janitor and does all the so called menial jobs which is in th office. From cleaning the desks and arranging of chairs to mopping the floor, the hearty soul is fully charged up with his to-do list. A gentle "Hello Sir Good Morning" is what makes your day to begin with. The energy and humbleness which you get to see whilst you observe Sudhir from  your seat makes you think a zillion questions. What if you were at his place? what would have been his situation that makes him do this work at this stage of his life - barely in his early twenties! At his age, we were all students or must have started our careers.
Life can be tough and demanding for man, you dont know what type of situation one is living with,every day with his relentless work Sudhir teaches me one idiom - no work is menial enough that is should not be done! what life is offering him at this stage of his career, he is doing it with dignity.

Second life i would like to touch is our office guard - Tarachand - The standalone guard who wishes you with rapt attention at the entrance of your office gate. The zeal with which he greets you when you step into office shows the love and appreciation he has for you as he has for his own job.
The sheer strength his duty demands 12 hours standing and maintaining guest records can turn out to be a humongous job for anyone of us.Another key trait he carries is his updated knowledge of the world of politics and economics. You will find him updated in both of this subjects and can often embarrass you for your lack of knowledge on these two.I often confide many political situations with him and to y surprise, he has never let me down on both of these subject.Taking  a short 30 min lunch break, I sometime see him walking the cafeteria aisle, a gentle greet of asking about lunch is all that we speak upon, the next instance, whilst i finish my meal, I see him on his duty-position handling guests and thus is back to square one.


Everyday your life's framework is shaped by many souls whom you touch knowingly or unknowingly. Without them , you might feel crippled in doing your day to day tasks or for that matter situation might not seem to be so easy for you. Shower your respect for these nameless souls who are a major contributors to our lives day in and out.
They might be having a tough situation today, but who knows what is coming their way ? What sort of life they would turn themselves for - Their kids stand
Wee have seen such innumerable examples that kids of rickshawpullers, vegetable vendors, Autodriver's, Household maids have out shined kids from better off families and proven their mettle and become a person of repute in our high esteemed society!

Lets spare a though for "Friends" who are part of your day to day life and with whom you can share a novel bond to be remember for a lifetime - specially when you would retire from your current organisation OR would leave it one day !

~ The Art of Garbage Dumping ~

~ The Art of Garbage Dumping ~

Playfulness can be achieved anywhere and everywhere as it is dependent on your mental state not on how you look or act!
Sitting in my car in Dwarka, I could see a dump of garbage which was probably a collectible spot for everyday pickup. The Garbage dumpers were on their routine job and were busy disposing their collect in small formed pits. suddenly I visioned upon an might be looking at two irregular visitors,who probably were unknown of their being and that both were engrossed in their playful stance. Their biggest toy was the "Rickshaw" which one of them was steering with the other one pushing it hard to move forward. The combined effort had brought them there with their load of collectibles.

Now for them the fun began - they started to dupe the garbage in a playful way. First were the discarded types which they started using as javelin throw- with the thumb voice the tubes used to explode after attaining a trajectory of sorts.This image gave them the laughter of their life's and they started to laugh with their ear to ear smile.

No amount of money on this earth would make you achieve the happiness they had attained whilst they played in the Garbage dump! The second object of toy for the street urchins were the empty cardboard boxes which they started to jump on - the sight of ecstasy one could get while seeing this vision of entertainment was just out of one's being.

We have beautiful parks and grounds with lush green grass to play on but for these two friends it was playing on-the-job with whatever resources they could have attained and fine-tune them for their object of play. One of the life lesson learnt from that 15 minute of stoppage was worth ages - Every second of your life can be made playful , it is not the situation you are in but your mind and how it takes it....both these guys oblivious to the fact that they were being watch made me learn this...Bless them!!!!

~ Theology of Life ~

Everyone at some time in life wonders what happens after death. Throughout history, some of the most thoughtful minds have advocated that life does not end with the death of our body, but continues on via a process known as reincarnation. In the Western world, followers of the Orphic religion in ancient Greece were the first known exponents of reincarnation. They were succeeded by Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and a host of other philosophers.

The Vedic literature of India advocates that the soul, or Atma, gives life to the body. Life does not arise from a particular combination of material elements as some modern scientists theorize. At the time of death, we leave one body and enter a new one. That is called reincarnation.

The concept is not as alien as it might seem. We can observe that we change from one body to another throughout our lifetime. Our body at birth is completely different from our adult body. Yet throughout these changes, the conscious self remains the same. Similarly, the conscious self remains the same at death and transfers from one body to the next in the cycle of reincarnation.

Our present body is the result of a long series of actions and reactions in previous lives. The law that governs this is known as karma: ~ Every action has a reaction~ Our previous actions have produced our present body, and our current actions will determine our next body.

Only in the human form can we free ourselves from the endless cycle of reincarnation, of birth and death, by re-establishing our eternal, loving relationship with Lord Krishna. As Krishna states in Bhagavad Gita 8.16, “From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one attains to My abode.. never takes birth again.”

~ Everyday Soul ~

In today's corporate jamboree one gets entangled with multitudes of shades, be it mirage of never ending targets or unattainable benchmarks of your bosses and peers!

Could there be someone whom you can rely on and talk on a different platitude knowingly fully well that he/she wont be taking advantage of the openness you bestow with good faith and honour? Can there be a friend you make in today's flinching competitiveness and erosion of morals and values to achieve the non achievable! you have to be truly honest to your own self whilst you dig into deep thoughts and figure out a genuine answer, though most of us would speak a politically correct answer would be the old school of thought. ..

There are souls you will find besides you who are good guides and are genuine in their introspection about you - they are observant about you - heart and soul, they know what could be the best for your living and existence....luckily we all have a few ~ for us they are above pride and prejudice with a common ground of your betterment.

It is you and only yourself who has to tread a different path whilst you try to recognize them amongst many who you generally meet everyday but cannot see with your inner self. With lots of discussions on varied topics, your "Everyday Man" - a soother is amongst you - try to find him and befriend him, for he is the God's angel amongst many who has been around you knowingly and unknowingly trying to make you happy and rebound with every fall... Surprise him with the gratitude that he never felt could be given to him & see for yourself the natural bond you make with your "Everyday Soul" - Start your search and feel the difference ...!!!

~ Man on a Slider ~

Passing through the busy road in Rajouri Garden - a naive West-Delhi Colony, I always am lookout for "My Man on the slider". It is in my personal interest that my prawning eyes are looking out for a distant meeting with him. His eclectic glance to myself brings me cheer and a ray of hope towards a futuristic life we all want to live. A hope, an expression of positivity i may call him, he is always effervescence in his gesture towards all and sundry. Always smiling and ready to break the verbal chord with any stranger who approaches him with a sense of magnanimity and respect. His condition would make you think and compare him to a roadside mendicant who has had a lost opportunity in life or life has been extra harsh on him. 

With no one beside his side night and day (doesn't love to talk about his family or where they are), he works upon his own self during the day – washing dishes or other daily wage work he lays his hand on road-side eateries Whilst you start to communicate with him, you will get to know that far beneath his dilapidated style of life, lives a far more enriched man with prudent life lessons learnt the harsh way. His only "Great" wish with the lord was if at all he had workable legs and he could have walked on earth - Early in childhood, he was diagnosed with polio and hence could not every walk straight on his own feet.

Further spending time with him made me believe on faith life has on our ability to challenge its discourses. His self-esteem and firm belief in living each day as it comes gives me teaching of life and how we should live it. Give him alms and he would take it sometimes with respect or at times shun them, depending upon his mood. For him talking to people, creating a repository of memory of those talks is much more important than accumulating alms and storing them in a secret roadside burrow!

What is the best take-away i get from him whenever I encounter him on my trips through his favorite road - "Bhaiya I have no qualms about living the way I am , the best I have got is my mental ability to be positive and live life with all my infirmities"... When my time comes to depart, I should be the happiest person vanishing from this time bound existence but not before touching the life of many who have lost all hope about the future of this amazing journey!"

Alas, here I find a man on his sliding wooden plank - all that he can say is his "Asset of a lifetime" and still living with brimming joy and hope about life - Kudos to this man of honor and dignity...!!!