"Observe"

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change"-Buddha

It is said that Siddhartha Buddha used to say " You come to me,I will show you how to look"

Such was the simplicity and greatness of the enlightened soul.

Quotes by great people have some magical feel to them,Such wisdom can be seen in them.

It is like someone has collected all the wisdom and combined it into few words we know as "quotes".

Observing is such a rewarding experience,it can only be felt.This small Walk i had one morning was so wonderful that i could see many scenes which i would have normally missed.

Starting point: Home

Destination: Gym

Duration:44 minutes

Experience:

It is said that Whatever happens,happens for good. So my Bike getting Punctured was a blessing in disguise for me to walk a long distance which i usually don't.

I started from home and tried to have no thoughts so that i could really enjoy my walk and feel the nature. But then i started observing around while i was walking and loved whatever i was watching.

1] There were elders sitting on the footsteps of shops talking and laughing,most of them had come for a walk.It was evident by seeing them that they were quite satisfied with their lives.

2] I could see children in school unifroms being escorted by parents to school,Some were happy that they were going and some had a grin on their face..School was the last place they wanted to go. There were some who dint have to face the dilemma because their schools were closed for whatsoever reasons.

3] This was the time when shops were being opened,Though they were different but all of them shared one common thing,All the shop owners were praying to their lords before starting the work..It was good to see people praying before starting their day.

4] Most of the youngsters whom i saw had headphones plugged to their ears listening to some enthralling music and walking.This is something which even i do but always having it on your ears is not good.Anything in excess is bad isn't it??

5] Suddenly I was walking away in a small lane away from the sounds of the vehicles and people.This was a open area and the Silence which i experienced was very good.It was the sounds of nature,Though i could not listen it for long but getting that kind of feel in a busy city like this is pure Bliss.

6] I hardly saw anyone smiling,Everyone had a grin on their face. It was such a beautiful morning and they wanted to start a day with a grin!! I am not saying you have to smile without any reason but when you have million reasons to smile why aren't you??

The above mentioned observations might not be actually the observation which buddha is talking about.But for learning anything there is a starting point,this was mine.

What did I learn by doing so. Whenever you look at any object look without any thought in mind,look it with innocense as if you nothing about the world.Once you start doing so you will see the magic. At least that is what Buddha says. It is difficult to do but not impossible,I have tried,dint experience a lot but whats the harm in trying???

" I want to be a Idiot"

3 Idiots was something which i was waiting desparately for. I am a movie addict,but due to all these management entrance examinations i couldn't watch a movie in theater for 4 months!! Thats huge time considering the fact that i had watched more than 65 movies in the only multiplex we had in city( Gulbarga) in a span of four years of Engineering.

Well I am a big fan of Raj kumar hirani,he is such a good director. The other day i was reading his interview in a paper and got to know that some people compare him with the great Hrishikesh Mukherjee who by the way is the best director bollywood has ever seen.

I don't see anything wrong in calling Raju the contemprary "Hrishida" since both of them share the same spirit of story telling and such subtle comedy. Raju in addition comes up with a concept in every film which is so easily accepted by the people,such as Jaadu ki jhappi in munnabhai and Gandhigiri in Lage raho munnabhai and "ALL IS WELL" in this movie.

Coming to the Movie 3 idiots,I had booked the tickets for first day first shows which shows my desparate nature to watch the movie but due to this frequent bandhs in our Pearl city of hyderabad for a separate state the show was cancelled and i could not watch it First day first show...

Anyway like a wounded warrior i did not lose hope and fought with ferocious will and did watch it second day matinee show along with family.

After I watched the movie i was happy because all the expectations and hype was justified in every sense.

The movie itself is so easily identifiable with our own characters and life experiences i am sure evey engineer will see himself in one of the three idiots. I saw my shades in Madhavan character who does not seem to be interested in engineering and has passion in a different field,the only difference i would say is atleast he knew in what field he wanted his future to be but I have no idea still. Just flowing with the tide always. Every time i see the tagline of DOCOMO it makes me think of my future," DO THE NEW" . Its amazing how taglines have such meaning.

The story is amazing, its a satire on our Education system which only encourages rote learning.

The wonderful aspect is that the story does not become preachy but is a very fun filled one with a serious message which i hope will be accepted.

It is based upon " Five point someone",I mean only the theme is the same but the entire story is original in its own way.

Well every time after i watch a movie i think of the best scenes of the movie but in this movie it was like all the scenes were great and it was hard to make a difference.

It had a great mix of emotion,comedy,melodrama..everything a entertainer should have.

The movie is a sure shot hit and is going to be on the same lines of munnabhai if not more in terms of success.

Aamir khan has portrayed the character brilliantly and has surprisingly looked very young in the movie..He is surely a perfectionist.

Madhavan is a superb actor but bollywood has not used his supreme talent.

Sharmaan joshi's talent has rightly been utilised in the movie,he has such gift of timing which is essential for comedy..In one scene he calls aamir kake thus taking us back to RDB in which their chemistry was very good.

I dont rate movies on a scale since i dont know many technical facts of the field but if such scale existed then surely 3 idots will be on peak.

I don't have to be a idiot,I am a idiot already!!!

" A diary entry"

I was low on confidence today and was feeling miserable!! Dint know what to do.. was surfing around net,the usual pagalguy stuff!! Then got hold of my diary. I have this habit of writing in a personal diary and my mom has this bad habit of reading it when i am not around!! Anyway i love reading the diary entries of past where in i have written so badly,believe me compared to my writing style( If i may say so) now, what i use to write in past was complete crap!! While turning around pages i found a page which i must have written in a philosophical mood. Its about relations!!

Seems to be mediocre writing but hey the feel of it was so good that when i read it today it made me smile and change my somber mood.. so i thought why not post it on my blog( as if anyone is going to read!!) so here it goes...

27 feb 2009

Relations are so beautiful in life aren't they??

Life starts with a beautiful relationship of mother who brings you to this enormous world, father who has great plans for your future and tries to sketch your path to "success". Grandparents have a wonderful glow on their face when they see us,and even they pour in with advices!!

Then come friends who play pivotal role in shaping the personality you become,the way you think about everything. They mould your personalty. Friends can either give you shoulder's to cry upon or make it sure that you never cry!!

Most of them say being too much emotional or getting entangled in relationships can stop the growth of the individual, but what i feel is relationships can only strengthen you if you allow them too!!

At the end of the day it is all about being happy and content with what you have rather than than crave for what you don't have!!

As guruji says it is all about sharing joy and love with everyone,see how it literally works in creating magic in your life. Jai guru dev!!

Aah!! Kind of good what i have written considering i am not a veteran in philosophy nor in writing. The entire entry is the same but i have made some corrections,grammaticall!!

What i'am trying to portray is Diary writing is the wonderful hobby which can help you come out of torrid,miserable times when you are feeling low on confidence!! Like it did today for me!

Diary is more of a introspective way of looking at life. It does not mean that you write "I did this today", ate that!! Not all that crap,you should write what you have learnt about life today.

Each and every day is a learning process, it is said that when a person says that he has learnt everything in life then that very day he is dead!! It is all about looking life differently!!

Give it a try,i am sure you will enjoy...

Jai guru deva!!

Aditya.

"Smile Pinki"

Smile pinki an Oscar winning Documentary film( Running time 39 minutes) is truly a richly deserving tale to watch. It will surely make you look for a hanky to wipe those beautiful tears of joy!!

Its a story about a wonderful organisation "Smile train" which has been doing remarkable work by helping children with Cleft lip and cleft Plate. Frankly i dint have any idea what this defect was?? But thanks to the movie i have got to know about it, exact defination of this according to

the website www.smiletrain.org is:-

A cleft is a birth defect and often the #1 birth defect in most developing countries. A cleft lip is an opening in the upper lip between a newborn's mouth and nose. A cleft palate is created when the roof of the mouth has a hole in it. Babies can be born with a cleft lip or palate or both.

These defects are mostly found in children in poor countries i.e developing countries,the main reason why this abnormal condition arises is because of the malnutrition of pregnant women and poor families and sometimes because of genetic reasons!!

What's amazing is the cure for it, its a surgery of 45 minutes and which costs 250$ roughly Rs 15000 and this surgery is performed free by the organisation with the help of their trained doctors!!

For a poor family who are not sure from where their next meal would come!! 11k is a huge amount and one such family is pinki's. They had to walk 3hrs to get to a nearby village for a transport to Banaras where the hospital was organising the mega treatment.

This is the state of our country which is proud of itself for having many billionares in top 100 list, as rightly put by a american volunteer of smile train organisation " India is a very complicated country" Don't we know that??

But cant we do something to contribute??

If we cannot come forward and take the initiative then atleast we can be a small part of an organisation and help in whatever little way we can!!

There used to be a foreward in our NCERT textbooks by Mahatma Gandhi which said

" Before doing any work think in what way it will help the downtrodden people of our country" It dint made any sense in school days but those were the words of a person who had seen the plight of the poor india, Remember even he was a common man just like one of us but after realising what a mess our country was in, he became what we know him as "Bapu".

We might never achieve such heights but we should not live in ignorance, knowing the plight of millions of poor people of our country we should contribute in whatever way we can!!

We eat Junk food, spend on parties,Movies and what not!! If every individual contributes then we can a bring about a change!!

Firstly the important factor is we shouldn't live in ignorance, smile pinki was one example which made me realise my responsibility. As such there are many more examples and millions of people who are in ignorance, we should spread the awareness!!!

Bring a smile and see the difference!!

Aditya

" Joy of giving"

Give india organisation's idea of conducting an " joy of giving week" all over our country was commendable. In a way the event brought the entire country together for a noble cause.

The inspiring stories on their website were brilliant and the participation coming from all walks of life was very encouraging too. Mostly all the Ngo's in the country came forward and did their part.

Some were Spreading the awareness regarding a social aspect and some raising funds for a cause.

The wonderful example set by auttowallahs of chennai for coming together and do " Annadana" by preparing the food and serving to the needy was heartful to see.

I was very much interested in participating in some way or other, so everyday was checking the website "Joy of givingweek" to know about any events happening in hyderabad. I did find many events but dont know why dint i feel like going to any event and giving a helping hand!!

Must be becuase i thought it dint matter even if i go and help or because i dint have any urge to do something!! you never know the reason for being stupid, Do you??

So the week went by like any other week would go and finally the last day arrived.

Now all of a sudden the urge came to atleast be some part of joy of giving week,even if in a tiny-winy way it would be great i thought.

But in what way could i contribute???

I asked myself this question and pat came the reply tomatoes!!!!

I have fallen in love with cooking and tomatoes are my favourite especially the pulpy dark red ones!!!

So i thought why not prepare Tomatoe bath and give it to a beggar( actually not a beggar but a person who is in need ),but how could i give it to him??

Cant just take it in hands and give!! so i bought two plastic tiffin boxes with spoons.

Initially i had thought of giving only one person but i said why not 2?? it costs 40Rs.

I prepared the tomato bath, I might not be the best cook but whatever i prepare turns out to be best!!!!

The taste was good and i put extra ghee in it, and then packed it in two boxes and took a bag and kept the bag in Bike and started..

Now this is the interesting part!!

I started on this unusual journey of finding a beggar, unusual because everytime we find them near traffic lights and on roadside but we searching for them!! this was a change from usual.

The strange thing was when i was searching i could not find any for first 10 minutes, i had covered a good 2 km of area.

What it clearly signifies is that when you are trying to do something good you are ought to face difficulties!!!!

I found a raggpicker, he was a young boy and was busy doing his work and i stopped the bike in front of him and only stopped!!! dint do anything !! I really dint know how to approach, what should i say?? Should i ask him was he hungry?? or just give the box to him!! Then i decided that i will give it to people who are dire need of food. this guy dint look like one!!!

So went on the journey and found some of the beggars( women) sleeping at the doorsteps of shops on roadside. It was around 10pm and it was damn cold,it had rained for the entire day and these people were sleeping without blankets that too on cold floor!!

I felt very bad and the feeling only increased when i knew i couldn't do anything,It was awful feeling and it had helpnessness to go with it.

Then i went to a temple were i was sure to find people in dire need of food,and as i had expected i found some of them sitting at doorsteps of the temple. I couldn't say if they were hungry by looking at them but i decided to give them anyway!!!

Took the boxes from bike, hesitated for a moment!! Then said jai guru dev and just went and gave one box to a women who readily accepted and simultaneously one more hand came out asking, the hand dint have a finger!!! gave it to him and turned around and went!!

Guruji says that do seva and forget,dont expect even gratitude from them if you are expecting that then it would be useless since it would amount to business of give and take.

Coincidentally even swami vivekananda says that, serve people you will get thousand fold back but do not serve in expectation of getting it back. Do seva and forget and it will return!!

All enlightened souls preach the same, you have to understand it!!!

Hence i dint even look back, and went near the bike but i could hear their voices, they were talking among themselves. The lady first said it might be upma but got to know and said it was what it was meant to be tomato bath!! Then a small child who was along with them started laughing the moment he heard bath!!! At this moment i realised what is

" JOY OF GIVING"

The satisfaction which you get after giving cannot be expressed but has to be felt!!!

I was happy that i participated in the event in a small way but i learnt more by doing it.

What i did could have quenched the hunger of only couple of them that too only for a single day for that matter only a single meal for the day. What about tomorrow,day after tomorrow??

A question to think on, isn't it??

I just hope that guruji gives me more heart to do such deeds and in some way help. I was just the instrument through which god gave food to his devotees, hope i become a musical instrument which does not stop playing...............

"Jai guru deva"

Aditya.

If i had been a dog it would have been easier to bell the "CAT"

2 months and 3 days to go for the D-day i.e the toughest entrance examination in India if not in asia!! "CAT". I had enrolled into "TIME" institute on july 19th and started attending classes from 21st july and by far the progress has been good but lot is there to improve especially the amount of hours i put on desk!!

In our intro class ( Intro to cat ), sir had told, Percentile would be directly proportional to the amount of hours put on the desk. Now considering that it is not a good scenario for me who cannnot put in long hours of study!! But if i have to get a decent percentile i might have to change a few perceptions i hold about myself.

The coaching institute which i had selected is the best, the quality of the teaching is by far been excellent and some teachers have even inspired me!!!

There are 3 main sections in which we need to be expert namely

1] Verbal

2] Logical and data interpretation( Generally both mixed, it is here where you wish you had better brains)

3] "Quantitative"

Verbal is something which interests me since i am an avid reader this has given me the chance to try to become a voracious reader which is something i always wanted to be!! This is one section which can help me out on final day.

Data interpretation involves graphs, tables and percentages. It can be done but loads of practice is required!!

Logical reasoning is sometimes fun but most of the times it cracks my head and i wish i could have more hair to pull of my head!!!

Now coming to the ultimate villian "quant", Frankly speaking i have made it a villian since i have not practiced a lot of it and am not thorough with the concepts something which is a shame to say only 2 months prior to examination!! But still it is giving me goosebumps and dreadful mock examinations.

Speaking of mock examinations, I have been writing Aimcats but with little success. The first aimcat i wrote, guessed all the answers since not even one class had finished!!

The second aimcat was pretty good scored 81.2 percentile something which i never expected so obviously i was over the moon and was thinking on the lines of scoring in higher 90's in cat but it dint take me long to come back to reality actually it took only 4 days for the result of next aimcat to come and it was a nightmare 43!! Half of previous!! My god!! Since then i have concluded not to take seriously the scores of aimcats but if its a good score i can consider it!!!

Jokes apart the miserable aimcats are clearly failures but stepping stones for success, something which i need to realise and implement. Later scores have been hovering around mid 60's and sometime above 70 but practically of no use!!!

I need to work like a donkey a " smart" one too bell the cat or if i continue to be as lethargic i am then i can forget of an MBA something which i cannot afford to!!!

So 2 months!! Its now or never!!!

Wrote this blog to inspire myself something which i am in need of!!!

Jai guru deva

" Gentelmen's game"

Cricket has always been referred to as gentelmen's game, though very few instances prove it!!

Yesterday it was all important match of pakistan vs australia, important because india was involved in it!! Believe it or not indians were cheering for their arch rivals and captain Dhoni had asked all indian's to follow the suit.

Leading to this unusual scenario, Younus khan the captain of pakistan team gave a statement which highlights why the game is called gentelmen's game. He had said that they would want to play india in final. ( No no it does not prove that its a gentelmen game!!) ,what he said afterwards was critical.

" Even if we lose dont be upset and ponder over questions that did we do it intentionally and even if we win do not make it a huge fuss, do not involve anything else let sports be sports"

Sorry that i am unable to exactly quote him but this is what he meant, isn't that truly a statement signifying the character of him, such a gentelman!!

Though the match was lost by pakistan but what was unusual and welcoming that most of the indians were cheering for the team, right in the middle of australian run chase when pakistan started getting wickets i am sure TRP ratings might have sky rocketed, i might not have the proof but i can surely bet on it.

Two countries who have always fought wars and still a dialogue seems to be a victory of sorts this was a very good thing to have happened, but many were supporting them only because india was involved but if we take out india out of the context would anyone have supported??

For that one hour i am sure many people forgot that this was the country who had killed many indian jawans and is so voilent regarding kashmir, just imagine if we would not have any problems with them wouldn't it have been even more wonderful.

Moments like yesterday would become common and if our country lost in an tournament we would next support pakistan.

Peace brings along happiness and along with it prosperity.

A friend of mine had asked me once why do we waste time watching cricket?? its simply burning electricity, and hopelessly i had agreed but if cricket can be instrumental in getting two countries together then my argument will need no confirmations, will it??

Aditya.