Ram Jhula

When you walk on Ram Jhula you have faith that it will hold you and you won't fall. Have same faith in Ram too. 🙏

Woh Khoon Kaho Kis Matlab Ka

वह खून कहो किस मतलब का     

जिसमें उबाल का नाम नहीं।

वह खून कहो किस मतलब का

आ सके देश के काम नहीं।     

वह खून कहो किस मतलब का

जिसमें जीवन, न रवानी है!

जो परवश होकर बहता है,

वह खून नहीं, पानी है!

उस दिन लोगों ने सही-सही

खून की कीमत पहचानी थी।

जिस दिन सुभाष ने बर्मा में

मॉंगी उनसे कुरबानी थी।

बोले, “स्वतंत्रता की खातिर

बलिदान तुम्हें करना होगा।

तुम बहुत जी चुके जग में,

लेकिन आगे मरना होगा।

आज़ादी के चरणें में जो,

जयमाल चढ़ाई जाएगी।

वह सुनो, तुम्हारे शीशों के

फूलों से गूँथी जाएगी।

आजादी का संग्राम कहीं

पैसे पर खेला जाता है?

यह शीश कटाने का सौदा

नंगे सर झेला जाता है”

यूँ कहते-कहते वक्ता की

आंखों में खून उतर आया!

मुख रक्त-वर्ण हो दमक उठा

दमकी उनकी रक्तिम काया!

आजानु-बाहु ऊँची करके,

वे बोले, “रक्त मुझे देना।

इसके बदले भारत की

आज़ादी तुम मुझसे लेना।”

हो गई सभा में उथल-पुथल,

सीने में दिल न समाते थे।

स्वर इनकलाब के नारों के

कोसों तक छाए जाते थे।

“हम देंगे-देंगे खून”

शब्द बस यही सुनाई देते थे।

रण में जाने को युवक खड़े

तैयार दिखाई देते थे।

बोले सुभाष, “इस तरह नहीं,

बातों से मतलब सरता है।

लो, यह कागज़, है कौन यहॉं

आकर हस्ताक्षर करता है?

इसको भरनेवाले जन को

सर्वस्व-समर्पण काना है।

अपना तन-मन-धन-जन-जीवन

माता को अर्पण करना है।

पर यह साधारण पत्र नहीं,

आज़ादी का परवाना है।

इस पर तुमको अपने तन का

कुछ उज्जवल रक्त गिराना है!

वह आगे आए जिसके तन में

खून भारतीय बहता हो।

वह आगे आए जो अपने को

हिंदुस्तानी कहता हो!

वह आगे आए, जो इस पर

खूनी हस्ताक्षर करता हो!

मैं कफ़न बढ़ाता हूँ, आए

जो इसको हँसकर लेता हो!”

सारी जनता हुंकार उठी-

हम आते हैं, हम आते हैं!

माता के चरणों में यह लो,

हम अपना रक्त चढाते हैं!

साहस से बढ़े युबक उस दिन,

देखा, बढ़ते ही आते थे!

चाकू-छुरी कटारियों से,

वे अपना रक्त गिराते थे!

फिर उस रक्त की स्याही में,

वे अपनी कलम डुबाते थे!

आज़ादी के परवाने पर

हस्ताक्षर करते जाते थे!

उस दिन तारों ने देखा था

हिंदुस्तानी विश्वास नया।

जब लिक्खा महा रणवीरों ने

ख़ूँ से अपना इतिहास नया।

– श्री गोपाल दास व्यास जी

Stealing the Guavas

During the summer months you can see guavas everywhere – being sold by roadside sellers to our own street-end hawker. Whenever I go on a family vacation (far - far away on the highway), there is a very high probability (99.99%) of coming across a roadside fruit seller, selling this delectable fruit, on a highway traffic signal.

It all begins with a tap on the driver window, prompting to buy this fruit. While my tongue is already drooling, there is no way I won’t spend couple 100 bucks to buy the fruit (at a higher price though). The vendor cuts the fruit into 4 and applies some magical masala, which puts me in 6th gear of ecstasy, while my car is still idling at the traffic signal. 😊 It all brings back my childhood memories; when we would sneak into our neighbour's fruit garden, pluck the guavas and have it all for free. The thrill and excitement of plucking the guavas was like driving a super car clocking its max speed on the German Autobahn.

Stealing guavas was no less than a money heist for us young boys. Everything would be planned meticulously – eyeing when the fruit ripens, who will scale the fence, what time (usually after it turned dark) and how many would we pluck. It was a herculean task to pluck the fruit and returned unscathed. So many times, we would get bruised and hurt while climbing the fence or the tree, but nothing would deter us from our resolve to pluck some more.

As one of us was climbing over the fence or the tree, a lot of encouragement would come from all the friends. Sometimes we had to tell them to hush up, because the last thing we wanted was unnecessary company of the owner. We would then climb the tree using our nimble hands and feet. Sometimes we could only manage to pluck the ones that were very close to the ground, and sometimes we could just manage to pluck only a couple, for a bunch of 16 boys. In the end everyone got a tiny piece. However, it was the taste of success which was sweeter than the taste of honey.

One day my younger brother got all too excited and offered to pluck the guavas, despite his 3 feet height. He scaled the 6 feet wall and started climbing the tree. As he was climbing, the tree swayed in all directions and made a gushing noise. This caught the owner’s attention who came out running and caught my brother red-handed. There was no escape for him. We could have escaped but decided not to, since we were a “band of brothers”. The camaraderie prevailed and we stayed.

The owner was angry and reprimanded us. He shouted on us for a while and when he cooled down, he asked us for our house numbers and told us that he would complain to our parents. Boy oh boy! a chill ran down our spine. We were chickened. This is one thing all of us dreaded the most: someone complaining to our parents and then our parents showing us all the galaxies, constellations, and nebula's in just one shot.

However, God was gracious, and the owner never showed up on our doors. I believe he must be reminiscent of his childhood days when he himself must have plucked a fruit or two from someone’s farm. He too must have giggled at that thought and said these kids reminded me of my childhood days. 

Go inside the heart !

Conversation between Lord Krishna and Rukmini (his wife)

Rukmini: What do you do with your eyes closed, that brings a smile and glow on your face? 

Krishna: I stay in my heart.

Rukmini: What is inside your heart, that brings about so much of aura and divinity on your face?

Krishna: Soon you will get a chance to enter my heart and you can see for yourself, what lies in my heart.

Paradoxical Charlie

Charlie Chaplin is the best comedian of the century and here are his 2 paradoxical quotes. 

Quote 1: A day without laughter, is a day wasted. 

Quote 2: I always like walking in the rain, 
               so, no one can see me crying.

Kankar and Shankar

What breaks under constant hammering and chiselling forms "Kankar" (Kankar in Hindi language means pebbles), 

What comes out as beatiful and immortal under the same hammering and chiselling forms "Shankar" (Shankar in Hinduism is one of the Gods of the Holy Trinity).

Difficult times bring out the best in us

Difficult times are like a hammer and a chisel, which eventually brings out the best in us, provided we don’t shatter under that hammering.

Inner voice is so profound

The most profound voice is the voice within,
and we often fail to listen to it, due to the humbug around us.

Echo of the thoughts

The thoughts in our mind echo so loud, that we fail to listen to the voice within.

Dad's letter

During the late 80's letters were the most common medium of communication. My parents used to post dozens of letters to relatives and friends, each week. The visits to the red-Letter Box in the corner of the street, were always fun filled and thrilling. The letter box resembled a large robot with a cap over its head and a huge mouth that could gulp anything. I always had the privilege of dropping the letters in its bottom less belly.

It was summertime and my father, who was a banker with a reputed bank, had to attend an official meeting in the ‘Officer’s Training Centre’ in Bhopal. During those days, the travel time between Kashmir to Bhopal was somewhere between 45 - 55 hours. One had to take a bus from Kashmir to Jammu, a train from Jammu to Delhi and another train from Delhi to Bhopal. The Kashmir to Jammu journey must have been a pleasant one, since Kashmir is in the lap of the Himalayas and the mercury doesn’t soar too high. However, the journey from Jammu to Bhopal, must have been an arduous one.

Once Dad reached Bhopal, he wrote us a letter. The letter took 12 days to reach us. I guess the post too moved at a snail's pace during those days. The letter was mostly about us - behaving ourselves and not troubling our mother as much (my father knew very well that troubling was an integral part of growing up). Mom read out the letter to us and told us that dad would bring us sweets and toys if we behaved ourselves. Our joy knew no bounds. Mom noticed the excitement on our faces and told us to share this news with our aunt. Since we lived in a joint family everything would be shared with one another. I along with my siblings took the letter and ran towards my aunt's room, which was at the end of the long alley.

While we were running in the alley, we noticed Dad walking towards us from the other end of the alley. We were pleasantly surprised to see dad. However, we were even more puzzled, how it could be remotely possible for a letter to arrive almost at the same time. We hugged him tight and took his baggage. We were excited at the thought of the goodies his luggage held. Sure, enough there were sweets and toys inside.

I can’t recall what toys or sweets he had bought, but I do clearly remember the thing that caught our fancy that day. It was Dad arriving moments after his letter arrived. The memory of him walking in the alley is still so fresh in my mind. I know it is the father who is the real Santa Claus, always brining happiness, excitement, and a lot of goodies for his children.

We love you Santa, we love you Dad.

Face your fears

The best way to overcome your fears, is to face them and face them with resilience. 

Bourbon’s and me

As a kid I was as fascinated with chocolate, as much as 'Charlie' was with 'Willy Wonka’s' chocolate bar. The protagonist 'Charlie' in the movie 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' only dreamt about having a bar of chocolate and winning a chance to visit his chocolate factory. Albeit 'Charlie' never adopted any unethical practices, unlike other kids in the movie, to get a chance to visit Wonka’s factory.

I was around 14 years old, but my hunger for chocolates was never ending. It was Autumn and I was visiting my grandfather, who was being treated in a hospital in Delhi. Thankfully he was recuperating well. After I visited my grandfather, there was nothing much for me to do, in the hospital. While my father, spent a lot of time with his father; he asked me to wait in the open area outside the hospital ward.

It was my lucky day. Not only was I happy to visit my grandfather, I also had some pocket money to spend. Chocolates were on top of my wish list. I went to the small canteen, which was bang in the middle of the open area and picked up a pack of my favourite Bourbon biscuits.

I paid 10 Rupees to the shopkeeper and got 4 Rupees back as change. I went into a corner where all 2-wheelers were parked. I sat on a scooter (Bajaj Chetak) and opened up my prized possession. The pack too was very fancy, with images of sandwiched chocolate and sugar sprinkled biscuits adorning it beautifully. The packaging looked as luscious as the biscuits themselves.

I took the first biscuit in my hand as if it was my newfound treasure. I felt it's texture, looked at the sugar coating atop the biscuit, looked at the sandwiched chocolate cream and admired every piece and bite of it. Every biscuit got the same royal treatment. I parted some of the biscuits so I could lick into the sandwiched chocolate cream. I was totally engrossed in consuming my Bourbon's. It was indeed a delectable and a heavenly experience. The whistling trees, the cold breeze, the chirping birds and the blue sky all added to this savoury experience.

Swami Vivekananda once said, "Playing football will take you more closer to God, than reading any religious text". What he meant by this was, that while a player is on the field, his mind, body, heart and soul are all set upon the goal. Same adage also applies to a pack of Bourbon biscuits "Relishing Bourbon's with full conscious will bring you more closer to God than the chanting of any hymns or prayers".

#InLoveWithBourbon

Out of the box thinking is the mother of all innovation

Wright Brother’s idea of a manned flight was once an irrational and insane idea.

However, the same idea today has made the world a small place to live in.

Lessons of life

Lessons of life are like a shot of vodka - small, hard and intoxicating.
Show some grace and take them with a pinch of salt.

Discover yourself

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles (Gautam Buddha). 

Mediation is a way to look deep within to find a balance and equilibrium in your life. It helps find perfect Harmony of mind, body and the soul.

Imagine a one-winged bird. How do you think it will fly? Obviously, it will fly in a circular pattern, deeply meddled in its viscous circle. A two-winged bird on the other hand will flap its wings and soar high into the sky. The wings of the bird represent the external material world and the inner self. Only when these two are in perfect balance, can we attain harmony and be at peace with ourselves and our external world.

Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree for 7 weeks. He meditated and reflected on his life's experience, thus unearthing the truth. From that moment on he was called the "Enlightened one".

We have talked about the “what” and “why” of mediation. Now let's talk about the “how” and “when” of mediation.

Breath is the foundation of all life and we will do a guided meditation on breath for about 5 minutes or so. Sit comfortably; gently close your eyes. Breathe in and exhale gently. Now focus on your breath (focus on each inhalation and exhalation). This will unplug your mind from the mundane and bring your attention to the foundation of life (breath). After this meditation on breath, you will feel that your mind, body and soul is relaxed and rejuvenated. You can do this for 5-10 minutes in the morning and repeat in the evening, to discover your true self.

Perception

Whatever we think of people and this world, is our own perception of them.
It is neither real nor surreal, it is just our creation. 

Nest

A nest is built with twigs, but everyone living in it has to put in their heart, to make it a beautiful home.

When life throws lemons at you ...

When life throws lemons at you, take it with a pinch of salt and a shot of Tequila! Elixir! 

If I had a chance to travel the world...

If I had a chance to travel the world, I would make the best of it. I would visit all the 7 wonders of the world, both the ancient wonders and the current ones. I would visit all the places that I have only heard of, or dreamt of, like Alaska, Antarctica, Siberia, Sahara desert to name a few.

I would specifically love visiting:
a. Norway, to see the Northern Lights
b. Antarctica, to see miles and miles of snow and the scientific observatory on the south pole
c. Siberia for it's -55 °C chilly winters
d. Hawaii for it's active volcanoes - (trust me there's nothing on earth, more beautiful than a volcano)

Finally I would end my globe trotting right in the lap of the Holy Ganges, taking a dip in it's divine waters to redeem myself of the sins committed during my international sojourn. Bon voyage.
(Micromasters Table Topics Marathon - If you had a chance to travel the world)

Attempt the Himalays

Speak not only of the brave hearts who successfully climbed the Himalayas,
speak also of the folks who attempted climbing it.