Sundays are not the same anymore…

Sunday’s are not the same as they used to be. The expectation of looking forward to that one day of family holiday has disappeared. The joy of watching TV, or going out for picnic with home cooked food has dimmed. There is no excitement for those relaxed yet activity-filled afternoons with family and friends. In the lawns, the lunches by the tree, idle gossip, laughter, gaiety, the impromptu game of carom, badminton, Jenga Towers, Chinese checker, jigsaw puzzles, all huddled together on the floor, may be a film at home later in the afternoon, followed by tea/coffee, and snacks, and then an early dinner. As far as I remember in those days there was no concept of a weekend, it was just about a Happy-Family-Sunday! Those were the simple joys of life, most enjoyable and the most enduring. If you were not born in 70s I should say guys you missed the golden-television-days boat! Those 80s ads & jingles (Mango Frooti, Colgate Tooth Powder, Postman, Palmolive, and Godrej Shaving Cream) still take you down memory lane! I guess most of the people in my generation long for them to reappear… will they ever? Hmm may be or maybe not.

Now with each member setting about his or her work in different directions, in different locations, in and out of the country, and also different expectation, needs and wants that spirit has travelled too; far and away. The simple joys of life now come with great apprehensions. What to do, where to go, will the place be very crowded, do they have good food and ambience, what will we do there, what is the mood, what shall I wear, is there a chance to bump into someone I don’t want to see... Aah just an entire library of questions and more questions… Miss the spontaneity!

I think communication access and the speed with which it keeps invading our existence is largely responsible for that missed HAPPY-Sunday. Conversation has been replaced by the TV, the phone, the other gadgets, Skype, Face book, Twitter and other social networking websites. In company we tend to talk less and look for the silences to be filled in by programs on the television or the activity of the mobile. BUT we love to post our status updates. We are distancing ourselves further but we still long to be aware about what’s happening around us and with those we know. Is that what modern invention is making us do? Isolation and being pinned to these gadgets. Lonely and confined to our homes or more so our rooms and cutting out the desire to travel move and discover, since all of it can be available to us in the palm of our hands!

Another observation while I travel over the weekends: The moment a plane lands I see half a dozen co-passengers switching on their cell phones and getting up and opening up the overhead chambers. Would they be able to step out even before the plane is parked, and if not then why this strange hurry to violate the rules. Is that some kind of stud-ism? Earlier it use to annoy me and now I find it pretty amusing. Impatience and loneliness are the virtues of the present, attention span- considerably reduced, regular announcement of MY SPACE between spouse, parent and children is going up, tension and excitement mounts with a drop of a hat, we tend to multitask causing unrest to our mind. Is this a good sign? I suppose it requires some amount of balancing!

Anyway, this was just a view point, needs no debate or discussion. Just a thought that occurred to my mind while I was sitting at a lounge waiting for a friend to arrive. Now that she is around I am sure the Sunday evening shall be great and full of fun!

Love you all and wish you enough happy and beautiful Sundays or so to say Happy Weekends!!!

New experience, new energy, and new hope!

There is always a sense of delight when you plan to visit home. The warmth and affection of those you love and the multiplied reciprocation. It almost feels like everything around you is familiar, but the experience still leaves you fresh and renewed. New energy, new hope, new experience, fresh thoughts and fresh inputs.

I thought of writing this piece at Bombay Airport. Somehow I still can’t address it as Mumbai, for the fact that people or some social parties think changing names can change the way people feel about a place. Anyway, shall take this topic some other day. For now the topic of conversation is the reaction and experience of several passengers flying from Bombay to Delhi by Indigo flight 6E186, on Thursday April 01, 2010. The flight was suppose to take off at 17:50 hours which unfortunately did not happen due to a technical snag. The flight was grounded and I guess so did the ground staff. Some passengers (including me) were being advised to take the refund and move on to another carrier while few were put on another Indigo flight to Delhi which agitated the passengers. Thanks to Alfred, one of the senior ground staff who came as a relief and answered the crowd, an indication of commitment. The waiting just did not seem to get over and it was at 22:20 when the flight finally took off. Very tiring experience indeed. Met some nice co-passengers (Maj. Gen. K.C. Mehta, VSM, Col Saif, Anurodth) at the lounge which made the waiting experience a bit easier than it would have been otherwise. Post boarding, there was a strange desire that the plane reached faster than ever so I could reach home earlier. Not just for me but such delays torture my parents who come to pick me up at Delhi airport each time I visit. There was some more interesting experience that I gathered during this trip and I even wanted to share it here but as the days passed by, my desire to put it all down has taken a changed opinion.

Friday, April 02, 2010. New day, bright and sunny morning… When the brain has rested well. When the body has had more than its share of undisturbed slumber, then does the body and mind work at its optimum. It is remarkable how that early morning period brings the best out of you. In the way you talk, in the way you think and in the way you express. What does the night do to us and our body when all we are doing is resting. What is that mechanism, that sets about rejuvenating us, without us making any concrete effort whatsoever. This human body is indeed a unique system. We need to look after it a lot more carefully than most of us do.

Saturday, April 03, 2010. A planned visit to Gurgaon to meet some special and dear friends. The love, the care, the affection is beyond any expressions that I would use here and that would justify it all. Completely spell bound by Anand Uncle and Sushma Anuty’s wholeheartedness, and totally recharged with Sonal, Vikas, Manu, and Timmy’s humor and wittiness. Thanks Sonal and Timmy for the ICE TEA without ice ;) Returned home with loads of fond memories. God is really kind and I am blessed with loving parents, friends, and extended family.

Don’t know how these days just flew past by and now when I am back in Bombay I am missing the warmth of home. Mothers are basically God sent angels who are there when you need them and also when you don’t know you need them hahaha! Mom hurt her finger badly and it hurts to see her in pain and in this condition. I love you mom and I pray that your finger gets better soon. I wish you take a little more care of yourself like you care for me and dad. Spoke to her over the phone this morning and I am feeling terrible pulling out of such situations. And Dad, you don’t know how wonderful you are and how I owe every minute of my existence to you. Muah! You are the best!!! You would not read this blog and I would not be able to read this out to you (yes, believe it or not, your little princess is shy) but the fact is I can’t stop thanking God today for this beautiful life!

Going with the wind, I feel like a feather in the wind.
I still hear the whispers of her voice and those touching words!!!
For a minutes or two, let me float away to the wind...

May God always walk with you. Keep well and in good spirits… you all are so precious, actually life without your affection and love would be a little less than living!!!

Life is good, and it gets better every day!

I'm not a talented writer, just an average Jane, sharing some thoughts, experiences, and poems which have inspired me to grow. But frankly it’s sweet to hear from friends that they like my blog. Yesterday Sonal, a very dear friend of mine, mentioned that through my blogs she has seen a different Monica which so far was invisible to the outside world. Strange but so true! We all have dual personality and this is not a sole proprietary of being a Gemini HA HA HA! I wonder how absolutely incredible it is to find such conditions of existence. A condition where one finds himself or herself bound to follow a path that may or may not necessarily take them to the desired location but they still take that path. And also witness conditions where one finally is able to find the path that they always wanted to take no matter how difficult it may be. As part of different soul groups we have our own agendas, some attain nirvana and some get stuck in the wheel of time, and unfulfilled desires. Ahh... never mind! Just a reflective side before settling down to more mundane stuff on the day and hour.

I enjoy mornings because they always put my perspective where it belongs--on a positive road. This morning I had the distinct pleasure of catching a glimpse of the sunrise from my balcony. There is always something unique about each sunrise, whether it’s the colors playing off the spherical shape of the sun or the halo effect. The peace and solace of those early hours is almost synonymous with the gentle warming from the rising sun. The deep orange hue from the brightest element in the earth’s hemisphere, pleasantly visible as it emerges from behind a hill or stack of high rises, then gradually, as it progresses forward, begins to burn out its shape and countenance. And then it becomes difficult to continue looking at it with naked eye. It is a peculiar simile, but one that reflects on nature and human. As the sun burns through the sky and heats up the atmosphere, so do we while managing the twists and turns that life provides us. Pleasant and peaceful as it starts, and then gradually as the life progresses all its complications overtake us.

Today’s morning was a very happy morning, and the result is the realization that I have great things and even better waiting for me. More work to be done on myself and also a question: How would it be like to 'OWN YOUR OWN LIFE and keep the key to your happiness in your own pocket and not in anyone else’s'. HA HA HA! Who would not want to own his or her life so they can be happy always... Like my Guru says “state of Satt-Chit-Anand (Har haal mein khush)”.

My recent trip to Chennai taught me that there are two ways to look at life. Either you can cling on to the old ways of doings things and hope for the best or you can experiment with your life and discover new possibilities. I realized that there is absolutely so much more we can attain and do with our current life than to waste it on dealing with anger, sadness, complains, anxiety, expectations, and annoyance. So now, un-conditional love and forgiveness shall be my focus towards myself and life. 

In fondness towards all and more fondness for few special ones :) 

Love to you in abundance, muah muah muah!!!

 

AHAM BRAHMASMI

Saturday, I indulged in some amount of shopping, nothing major though but good enough to repair a damaged constitution. Sunday was a day of rest and good sleep. In all sleep and Shopping: Amazing and the most simple and natural exercise to recover from all kinds of physical and mental stress. And the results are evident due to a glowing skin and oodles of smile that is followed by number of compliments I have received from those who otherwise don’t even care to give me a second look. HA HA HA!!! ;)

Today I do not have a story to tell. I do not have a day to discuss. I do not have incidents to reminisce about. I have nothing, yes its nothingness again but with a difference, I have myself. And having just myself is not such a bad thing after all. Something I read recently now seems to be manifesting ‘Make your presence felt, to yourself’. Though that presence was felt also because of my hurting burnt fingers (kitchen accident). But on a different note it’s so true… if I do not have myself… I basically have nothing! I may be in possession of the greatest opportunities, riches and wisdom in the world or I may have no knowledge but if I do not have myself, I have nothing. And if I am in touch with MY SELF, I firmly believe my soul is in sync with God... which means AHAM BRAHMASMI.

At the end of the day it is only the ‘I’ that shall strive for betterment. It is only the ‘I’ in me that shall dream to achieve and work to overcome, it is only the ‘I’ that shall face the situations physically and mentally. ‘I’, NOW and ALWAYS. There will be family, friends, and support but eventually it will be just the ‘I’ that shall prevail in the end. Such an important word, I, Me, MY SELF which ironically I forget in the day today life. WOW!

There are moments when time, place, and circumstances allow you to relive events of a bygone time with a gentle smile on your face. Similar was the state while I was getting ready to meet a fairly new friend on Saturday. I looked into the mirror and noticed a similar smile... A smile without any major reason or cause, a smile that harbors a tinge of unexplainable affection for my own self. I could sense happiness! A known fact of my existence – confidence exists in that smile. There is a sense of joy but still when it does get acknowledged by those unknown around me, it brings about an awkward embarrassment as well. Silly but that was also for the fact that I looked pretty (especially that smile), and I guess every woman loves to look beautiful. That’s why I call it a familiar smile and without a major reason! An add-on was the skirt I chose to wear, I stitched it under mom's guidance and more so it was a perfect fit :)

A very relaxed state to be in!
It is a state I often want to be in and when it comes along suddenly while you are in the middle of nothingness, it surprises you totally. Like they say, it is so important to work for that pot of gold, but other times it is so important and essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow. And that’s exactly what I did… Out of seven different colors (or even more) I chose my favorite red.

Here’s a toast to myself, and to life and the joy of its fulfillment!!! Faith, Love, Hope… and the greatest is Love!

 

Wish all a very happy and blessed life.

Joto dosh! Nando Ghosh!

Each time I sit back and publish a segment to my blog it is when something within energizes me to write my experience. I write what I feel I need to write. Sometimes an irrelevant thought sparks memories that influence an enormous amount of nostalgia and it does not take long to reminisce all that has transpired during the yore. The excessive summer months of Faridabad (a small city near Delhi) and the manner in which we spent them tending to so many things. Things that would have no relevance in today’s world, but when you live those years again they bring back such vivid and exciting memories. My sister, and I grew up with disciplined, protective, and very loving parents. They never took us to those gorgeous snow-clad Himalayas for an exotic summer vacation but took deep interest in all the small and little innocent things we did as kids. Dad who is a pillar to my existence always taught us the difference between good and bad in a very subtle way. Any time we indulged in verbal fight, he without raising his voice would tell us, ‘When speaking to people, say what you mean, mean what you say, but don't be mean when you say it.’ Frankly I could barely understand what he meant by that then.

Today, in this moment I stand here and wonder, how easy it is for people especially Indian by origin and ‘married’ or ‘taken’ by fate to be mean to those who are single (either by choice or destiny). Much easy to let the reins of their galloping imaginations and conjectures loose and indulge in suppositions, presumptions, or lame, insecure, and limp judgment to enlighten themselves for a moment. Those weak accusation if smashed to the ground shall break into pieces and would never be put together again... But yes, it is easy to stand behind protective walls (I mean the current and respective spouse) and throw all the garbage you possibly can on the other side - you would never have to clean up the mess yourself. Ruthless Reality! I invite those lovely people to come on my side and live this life... walk on fire to save dignity, safeguard pride, and brave the harsh arrows. No, those people would not have the courage to do so, hence the easiest is to stand tall and talk of one issue, one incident, cast an opinion, make a remark or get judgmental. All that is seen and heard and spoken of, has a flip side to it too. I with all my heart pity those who royally ignore that side before reaching to conclusion. At times I wonder why the butt of every accusation eventually comes and rests on my back. SAD!!! What exists is the fact that the soft spoken gentle voice of reason and reality invariably gets submerged in the loud and meaningless volume of assumptions. Fair enough!!

I was reading a friend’s blog and came across a famous saying in Bengali - Joto dosh! Nando Ghosh! For every fault and for every error, it is always Mr. Nando Ghosh. Basically a sarcasm on life and the way some of us allow it to function. The skill lies in how best to pass the buck on to that one vulnerable person. Peg all on him, build the circumstances, and then dig his grave and bury him. CAUTION - Bury him, but never completely. You may need to pull it out again to plug another accusation over it. Put it all over this sucker! It shall be more believable and convincing.

Yes, it is mean but so convenient!!!

After all these years I have lived and while I am geographically away from my parents, I value every single word that my mom and dad lived up to each day flawlessly. Dad always said, ‘There is nothing more valuable than peace and harmony and that your worth and your credibility shall be devoured by the vastness of the earth that you walk upon! And if there are those, who have objections to this practice, they are not obliged to be part of your life.’ Here’s my special thanks to those few friends who inspired me enough to go through this so I could write this piece.

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning. Glad that the day is almost over. So, help me God, it is a fascinating world. Life is delightful and shamelessly harsh too. Tomorrow is a day of love and expectations; of argument and belief; of playing hard and soft simultaneously. Shower your GRACE so I can face every mistake and submit to it.

I acknowledge those that stay with me in thought and belief, in prayers and despair. Wish them a happy and blessed life!

The good things in life...

The travel bug hit me in my teens and hasn't really left since then. I can probably not be called globetrotter crossing the world over and over again, but I enjoy new experiences, cultures and people. If I had the times and means I'm sure I would do it a lot more. Last night I went through all my photos from Miami, Orlando, NYC, Langkawi, KL, Ladakh, and Goa and just looking at them made me feel better. I could almost feel the sunshine, the cold winds, the sand, and of course taste the food and smell the plantation. Made me feel good and the good feeling is still with me though today is one of those days when you break things, drop things and can't move around without hurting yourself. Life puts so many questions. And we do not have answers to them. Absurd!!! Hahahaha!

 

Glad that the day is almost over… and nothing soothes like going back home after a busy, tiring day at work. Simple things are the best things in life and McVities Digestives are still the best biscuits. Had totally forgotten how comforting they can be along with a nice cup of tea... Having them after a long time...

 

Tomorrow is a day of expectation. Of argument and belief. Of playing hard and soft simultaneously, with a combined force that allows little space for those that demand space. It is a fascinating world! Was reading an email today which concluded like this 'As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.' How true :=)

I wish you all very good lives!

If you want to get ahead, step back... Life is all about options and not obstacles!

A strange silence descends that makes my vocals and mind quiet. There is no need for it but there is a cause. They say ‘Silence is golden’ but this time there is no mental composure or calmness and its making me uncomfortable. No explanation can justify what transpires. There is disturbance within - of both body and mind. Soul seems to be stirred and tears roll down my cheeks like molten metal and somehow this has made me succumb to this existing feeling. There is certain joy and sense of fulfillment when you have clarity of thought, word, and deed… which in this moment is missing.

 

There is a need to reject, and ignore something like an Alt + Ctrl + Del function (You control the thoughts that stir you, find an alternative and then delete all that is bothering and painful and then differentiate where you went wrong). The other aspect which is influencing my judgment is tolerance. Like someone was testing my tolerance level for a very long time and then came a moment when a certain section of my brain indicated that my resistance is about to break. I believe like everyone else around I too possess small but significant amount of tolerance, resistance, perseverance but sometimes you have to get over your insecurities, step backward, leave what’s behind you and move ahead with conviction.

After five long days I am writing again to complete this particular set. And now since I have gotten over the pain and anxiety of the entire situation, there is an unexplainable lightness in the body; the vision gets better; and the head moves with some concerted energy. I managed to protect both my conscience and character! Maybe to some it would show up as a selfish mind but I would care a damn, when my own conscience and character were to be questioned. Character does that to individuals, so does our conscience. If anyone will enter that refrain, I shall revolt.

Last Friday I was watching a football match. Though I'm not up on all the terms but I simply love the idea of it. I love to see a pass thrown so precisely that the receiver doesn't even have to look until the last second, just show up at the designated spot and open their arms. The other thing which is very impressive is that in order to get ahead you have to step back. The quarterback does it all the time! The ball is on the line of scrimmage, but gets sent back in order to move ahead.

I wish if life was that way! But in retrospect it is...

If you fail, try again. When all odds are against you, play like you're the best. Even when others appear to be winning, play like you still have a chance. Yes, doing so sometimes causes loss of yardage, but like in life, you'll never get ahead without stepping back to see where you want to go.

 

So, my take on this: If you want to get ahead, step back. Life is all about options and not about counting obstacles!

 

I wish you all very good lives.