Cycleone

Back to stone age as they say... the clock has started ticking in anti-clockwise for me! Quite literally as i have been smitten by the bicycle bug. Have become a proud owner of a Firefox Compac, a 6 gear graphite coloured style statement.

My mind played interesting games this Monday morning as i was getting ready for work. How do i manage to carry the laptop bag on my cycle? Its 7:05 and i have a call at 7:30, what if i take more time to pedal my way? Will i take too much time to find a 'safe' parking slot for my machine? How would people look at me wearing my sporty head gear, otherwise meant for the armstrongs? Should i just whisk away in my car and do this some other day? I had to fight all of this as i finally resolved to do whatever it takes to reach office just the way i had planned the previous day when i bought the cycle in an impulse! Yes, i love surprising myself by shopping like that.

It was very different from the last time(around 11-12 yrs ago) and i found myself gasping for breath as i strode along those not so tarred roads... with onlookers greeting me with amusement! The route had suddenly become longer and the terrain harder. As i puffed and panted my way, the only saving grace seemed to be the good weather.

It took me a little under 20 minutes to knock the gates of my office... where i managed to give the security guard his scare of the week with my 'alien' avatar! I had finally made it but no prizes for guessing as to what happened to my 'formal' attire that tried to deal with my overworked sweat glands.

As i settled down at my desk, it was realization and reflection time... i thought cycling was child's play and i was horribly underestimating the competencies required for the role, and yea that i needed to do some process re-engineering to further my odour management agenda! I must sign off with a hope to continue with this newly acquired hobby and write a better review of my biking experiences!!!

Salesman - Not today

Funny that i post this after sharing my blues recently.... but i guess that shows the mind-fullness of the whole deal. Lazing on India's 60th Republic day, i have done nothing but sleep and listen to music... felt at peace with myself actually. Yes that's the difference between today and some of my earlier holidays in recent times.
One of the reasons is the realization that to achieve something in life you need to deserve so that if and when you get it, you know how to cherish the same. Without going into what triggered this trail of thought i'd only say that i am happy to be going through this process of self discovery of sorts, realizing certain things that I've always believed or portrayed differently maybe.
Peace if i try and define is the experience when i am neutral about my strengths and weaknesses, when right and wrong around is not what matters but there is a connection with a greater reality. Thoughts don't distract much when i realize that people around me know what i am and i for once don't need to fight or for that matter build perceptions. It is nice not being a salesman once in a while :)
Otherwise i see everyone of us is in this bid to sell - at office in front of your boss / superiors, to your colleagues, to your friends, your dear ones... the selling doesn't end. All this only adds to the mental mess because there is hardly any peace in the bargain. Even the best of the best fails and the baggage of failure is far more for those who fail occasionally! So should one stop selling and lose their competitiveness in this 'cruel' world out there?? Should one lose the zing in life by talking philosophy? Well i am no expert but it's definitely worthwhile to revisit strategies and hang the cloak (if not boots) when it's raining! I am feeling much lighter today to say the least :)

Blues

Feeling blue... yes i am. it is one of those very painfully low state of mental affairs and i can't blame it on anyone. I am just feeling a little frustrated in life...! The idea of blogging is to recover from this indulgence in self-pity and a sense of abyssness' if ever there existed such a word.
I've been trying to pull myself out of this rut and i suddenly realize how crappy i'd feel if someone referred me to a self-help book or a 'gyan' session! Mind can be so funny and although it's yours it can put you to shame and make you feel the worst possible creation nah... the unluckiest of the lot to be precise...! But then i force myself to think of all those people who have made it big after going through weird, obnoxious, tough, much tough-er times? This thought has already made me feel a little more inferior about myself! but hey there is still this inspiration that i am trying to draw out and work my 'way up'.
My analytical mind also makes me break down the problem and try to analyze it step wise to arrive at a 'solution'... but the deal is that i am so not in the frame of 'mind'(again) to go through such a painful process. I want instant solution and the ones that i fancy... no wonder mind has been the biggest friend and foe of all!
Maybe the solution lies in looking at the 'problem' as an 'opportunity' and use the skills gained from my gujju neighbourhood and be a little more entrepreneurial about the whole deal! what say???
Well i don't know .... i really dont... but i am feeling better already that i have purged some of my mess on this blog .... i am loving this actually :)

Spring feet

Just one of those days when you get out of the bed without a need to drag yourself out... just one of those days when vishnu sahasranamam plays around sun-rise, just one of those days you manage your chores and also a sumptuous hog! of puris and crispy dosa with chutney... !

Today happens to be that experience so far.... and i want to be sprinty for the rest of the day :)

Some of these small things can make so much of a difference to the way one conducts his/her daily routine. The devil in me retorts immediately though - 'When done once in a while, the difference is notable'! Well yeah maybe.... but the underlying thought here is that discipline in life and life style can make an impact; experienced or not in the shorter run.

I started to write about my sprite of today and have ended up doling enough and more gyan... no wonder i should restrict myself to writing about Big B

Have a pleasant day ahead :-)

India - A secular nation?

This question has been troubling me for the last some years. When i researched i figured that India was not technically a secular nation till the word was impregnated in the constitution in the '70s(42^nd Amendment, 1976) by Smt Indira Gandhi. Congress has never done anything for electoral gains.. so stop thinking in that direction right now.
It is understandable that the doyens of Indian governance were right in stamping us - a Hindu Majority a secular nation. Why? - i am not supposed to feel insulted as a hindu that we needed something in paper to assert the Hindu sensitivity towards other religions. And if this was not imperative during Independence(Blunders of partition - a subject for another occasion) why in 70s??? Congress... t'sup guys - did RSS and Bajrang dal create nuisance even then?

My inquisitive mind tried hard to argue - "There aren't too many nations that have seen a need to hard code such values in their constitution to quell the insecurities of the 'minorities'". A sample of some of the 'known' nations:
Germany - All laws are same for people from any religion. The main political parties are called Christian Democrats /Social Christians... Extremely RIGHT WING eh?
The USA - No reference of secularism in the constitution
England - The Monarch cannot be a Catholic!
Japan/China - Chuckles...
Pakistan - Im rolling now

Nobody seems to be unnecessarily worried about the status of minorities in these nations. So why is there a hue and cry in/about a country where formally secularism has been declared?

Let me now talk a little about my India....
All Hindu temples (atleast the significant ones) are governed by the state - the money flows into the gov't coffers. NO church/mosque owes any such obligation to the state.
TN govt announced a special reservation for minorities last year. The AP govenment in Feb 2008 announced subsidies to Christians in the state who wish to visit their holy sites in Israel. Haj Subsidy to the tune of crores is doled out each year.
I am not here to flare up emotions but to ask a question: Is India really Secular? Or in the name of secularism, the majority community is being driven up the wall?
Where is the Media that was sensationlizing a Godhra to cover the horror tales of Kerala Hindus?(Kashmir Pundits is a stale quote anyways) Where were the secularists while major tribal areas across the country were systematically being converted into Christian laboratories?
Oh by the way, i am not here to cover up for the wrong doings of the Sangh Parivar or whichever saffron brigade you'd know of.

Should i not sue the Indian government for not being secular and most of their practises??

I am a troubled Indian at the end of the day tired of the double standards of fellow Indians... afterall the SECULARISM stamp was passed in the Parliament that is voted in by a Hindu Majority!

A note to all my non-hindu friends... i don't think i am against your religion when i write this... i am just a little confused in the head about the secularism deal :)

Paradise

Why is it so significant? Why does it oft hold our imagination? Why is it a distant dream and 'just in theory, not practical'.
What stops us from living there right now? Why do we hold ourselves ransom to our ideas of a 'sucess story'. Why is today not what it should be?
"Bhangi ke sapne mein Jhadu" as my friend quotes :)! Each one has his/her own ideas about paradise. Again restricted by our myopic thoughts about an ideal world.
Well the purists believe that only those who dream can achieve, which is true and that's where stems my disconnect. Is dreaming along enough or is it relevant to dream beyond 'usually dreamt of' things?
I guess it's not so easy, but it should be possible. Isn't the whole act of being in this world an instrument to enable this 'dreaming' business? Aren't we here to learn from people, things and events around us to 'dream' better? Am i then doing enough to capture from my environs to build that capability in me to dream good enough?
My mind seems to play games with me whenever i am not alert about it's activities. I guess a good starting point would be to challenge it whenever anything 'negative' comes to mind. The definition for that(-ve) would be anything that comes to mind that defies your basic character. Anything that raises an alarm on 'second thoughts' so to speak!
Well i'm not in a mood to spend more time justifying my definition and i just about figured that the title was 'Paradise' and not ' Dreams' !!!
Well i guess i'm in the process of building my paradise going about my business of writing whatever and whenever i feel like!

Incredible? India

I am a proud indian alright! I get a hair-raising experience whenever the Anthem is played (in whatever form), am on a high whenever India crushes its opponents on the sports field, love when Indians(by hook or crook) win plaudits abroad.

I am a generation that doesn't know what freedom means though as it was never a new phenomenon. I don't know my duties as a citizen; don't care how people around me are as long as i am 'happy'. I don't have the Sardar Patels around me to show the world what the real India thinks about worldly matters. I as India do not stand up to problems around the world. I don't care if there is a struggle for democracy in a neighbouring country 60 years after my nation gained independence. I don't care how some nations bull-doze the rest as long as my relationship ascends ' historic heights' with these rogues.

I love the booming economy and the vulgar display of wealth and vanity, for tradition is a big NO-NO for me. What would people think if i start living the 'stone-age' way. I envision india becoming a super power in 2020... no 2015 no... next year! It would be a super(b) power that doesn't care for, neither stands up against the economic/socio-political blasphemy of the other super powers. Arey :) it doesn't stand up against blasphemy within.... !!!

Ofcourse, i am part of the making of an Incredible India.