Friday, May 8, 2009

Time

It has been more than 2 months since the last post. If you are wondering what I was upto in this time, I would probably say - "Nothing really!!". No major events in life...just the regular - wake up, get through the day and sleep. Plain survival.

Anyway, it is 6:13pm on a Friday evening on the 8th day of May. As I complete the last sentence, another minute of my life has passed. I am older by a minute. I did not do much in the last minute other than pen (errr type) down my thoughts.

Rudyard Kipling once said (in his famous poen -'If') -

"If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!"

It is impossible for to fill each "unforgiving" minute of life .... that I guess is the reason why we cherish some moments. They are those minutes where we did actually make it across the finish line. They are those minutes that we lived our lives. Having said that, I think I have filled the last few minutes of my life writing this post...it will remain in the cyber world for many many years...just like the mosquito that lay in the fossil in Jurassic Park! (ok bad joke I guess)

P.S - I am not sure about posting this post, but to keep my blog alive I am posting it.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Who wants to be a Millionaire?

This post is dedicated to my DH who is a huge fan of "Slumdog Millionaire" .

Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 million rupees, how did he do it?
A) He cheated
B) He’s lucky
C) He’s a genius
D) It is written

Answer: D) It is written

Throughout the movie, "Slumdog Millionaire" we follow Jamal Malik through his life and how each incident in his life held the answer to one of the questions on "Who wants to be a millionaire?"

I have been reading this book called "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. It takes an interesting look at successful people. The author says that people are successful not only because they are brilliant or skillful but also because of the circumstances they live in. For eg. Bill Gates is brilliant but he also owes his success to his parentage. His parents were wealthy enough to send him to private school with computer access. He went to school at a time the computer revolution was just beginning. So Bill Gates was born in the right year!

The author Malcolm Gladwell gives a few more examples of people born in the same era and how they were the right people, at the right place, at the right time.

The movie "Slumdog Millionaire" and the book "Outliers" have the same theme! Whatever we do in life, unless it is "written" we won't achieve anything.

Friday, January 30, 2009

One year....

Wow! I manged to keep my blog alive for a year. Thanks to all my regular visitors....and my father and sister who leave regular comments!

He said...She said....

One of my favorite songs starts off like:

Kuch To Log Kahenge
Logon Ka Kaam Hai Kehna
Chhodo Bekaar Ki Baaton Mein
Kahin Beet Na Jaaye Raina

This song is from the film "Amar Prem", sung by Kishore Kumar and penned by Anand Bakshi. It simple means:

People will always say something
This is people's occupation
Let go of this useless talk
Else this night will pass

Not just this night, our entire lives pass by thinking of what others think about us. We give undue importance to society. Why should society decide what is right and wrong? Lay the rules yourself and live by them. Do not force others to abide by your rules. And there is no need to follow other people's rules unless they really care about you.

We come alone to this world and will die alone ....so live your life as you wish, and just remember that at the end of this life, the only person you have to answer to is God!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Dharma

Each cycle of life on earth consists of four yugas - Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali. We are right now in Kaliyuga at the end of which life on earth will be destroyed. In this yuga, the earth is meant to suffer. There is an interesting story about the Kaliyuga.

Towards the end of the Dwapara yuga, King Parikshit was wandering around the world. At one place, he saw a bull, with one leg, being beaten by a man in a king's attire. One enquiry, the King found out that the bull was none other than "Dharma". In the Krita yuga(the first yuga), the bull had four legs namely - austerity (tapas), purity (soucham), mercy (daya) and truth (satya). In the Treta Yuga, it lost one leg and supported itself on 3 legs. In Dwapara Yuga as Dharma degenerated, the bull lost another leg, but somehow managed to survive on just 2 legs. When Kaliyuga began, the bull, was left with only one leg. Kali in a king's attire was beating the this bull to get rid of its only leg - truth.

King Parikshit took pity at the bull and managed to drive Kali away. But Kali could not be killed. He went into hiding to come back in full strenght when Kali yuga set in.

As Kali Yuga advanced, even the single leg was lost and the bull just exists breathing and vegetating in its struggle for life having lost all Dharma that once sustained it.

In this Kaliyuga, lies and deceit stand tall. The only form of power is wealth. There is no value for human feelings. A truthful person is trampled upon by everyone. The only thing we can do is recite God's name and let Him guide us!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

I have a dream....

"I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream." - Martin Luther King Jr.

You would have heard "great people" say that unless you dream you cannot achieve anything in life. But one thing that everyone forgets to mention is that not everyone can have a dream. For the majority of us it is really a waste of time to dream. We are better off doing things that are regular and mechanical. We should leave our dreams to the time we sleep.

Achieving a dream is very dependant on lot of other factors including opportunities. It depends on fate. If you have a dream, by all means go after it, but do not bet on its success!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

All that glitters is not gold!

Have your ever wondered how it would be living someone else's life? May be this question comes to your mind either because the other person is better than you, or in a worse position or simply out of curiosity. I have a comment in my year book written by a classmate of mine. She, who shall not be named, wrote that in her next birth she will want to be me :) Flattered, I was, but that aside it was strange. Why would somebody want to be me?

Living the life of another person is not a good idea though simply because you are not meant for it. Every person has his or her own burden to bear. For example, you may see this person shopping at an upscale store and think what it would be to live that person's life and buying at that store. But think about it this way, may be that person has a 90k credit card debt, and is a complusive shopper. Thank god you are not in that place.

Everything that appears need not be what it is. As they say "All that glitters is not gold!" Always remember when life is not going too well, there is nobody who can handle it better than you. Never wish you were somebody else because that somebody would not be able to handle the tests of your life. And never ask for somebody else's life, because you won't be able to pull the load of their life!