Farewell 2015

Yes, it is the last day of the year and having dumped my blog for six months I am shamelessly back to post my ‘farewell’ speech. Not that I was away from writing but this blog which I consider of being a horcrux for me I missed it every time I wrote something and it wasn’t here. Relax, neither I am going to crib nor I am going to make any resolutions, all I am going to do is chronicle my moments of this wonderful year 2015.

28th February, I got to know that 2015 is going to be a turning point in my life. I secured admission in SIBM Bengaluru for an MBA course of two years. The highlight isn’t the college or the place but it is the fact that it was some form of manifestation of success of my hard work in the last year. It gave me a boost that I can do what I want.

7th June, I spend my first Sunday in Bangalore. I can’t reveal much but it was a beautiful day. Another day which told me that 2015 is indeed going to be a turning point in my life and Bangalore will have a huge hand in it.

20th June or 21st June, not sure of the exact date the day when for the first time I realised I could see my future, I was hundred percent sure in believing what I wanted from my life. So, it was a moment which gave me an strong indication what life had in store for me.

7th November, I visit home after six months. I saw mummy and my brother, realised time was moving forward not just for me but for them as well. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. My brother had become inflated, literally inflated. I mean he lost his abs and…his cheeks…I kept asking him,”Itna mota kaise ho gya tu?” and he would say, “Mujhe kya pata”. A day later papa also joined us, having lunch and dinner with all four together made it an emotional week, with each passing day I felt wanting to stay back. From shopping to Diwali puja to watching Salman Khan’s latest flick there were memories everywhere.

31st December, though it’s 7:53 am right now with the plans in mind I know I am going to have lots of fun; not sure when was the last time I said something about having fun.

WISHING ALL MY READERS AND FOLLOWERS A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

P.S.

I hope I am not crucified for not remembering the right date.

With the ‘Pull ups’ bar up there now I am sure you will deflate a bit 😛

 

 

 

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Look around you !

Do you feel lack of inspiration ? Well, just look around you. Do you see autumn changing into spring ? Do you see Sun’s cheerful radiance gazing at you everyday ? Do you see Moon’s serene calmness at midnight ? To be on the humane side, do you see your mother making breakfast for you every morning even if she is ill ? Do you see you father standing up to face every adversary that comes across ? Do you see the handicapped people or the underprivileged  in your college who come to study everyday ? There is never a shortage of things or people who can inspire us every single day of our life.

Little did I know that this morning while gymming I will get my much-needed dose of inspiration. There is this woman, more than 65 years old, who comes everyday at six and leaves at seven. But during this one hour she walks on treadmill for half an hour after which she does the pull ups, rowing and the dumbbells as well !  The way she does all that can make any man look inferior to her. So there I was, cycling on the machine and wondering that at her age what motivates her to exercise like that. I didn’t ask her, one day I will. But even without conversing with her she had managed to give me two things. She inspired me by displaying one of the golden rules of life, the condition of our body depends solely on us and so it is our responsibility to not abuse it but rather take care of it with much diligence. With this she also gave me something to ponder and write about. I had waited for days for something to show up so that I can post something for this month. But neither had I seen anything interesting nor I had come across any campaign or competition.

Did I know that this morning I will get my food for thought in the gym and did I know that the first thing after coming back I would do would be to write my first draft. No I didn’t, all I knew I was I will be posting ‘something’ this month, didn’t know what. That’s the point I am making. It is so crucial to build that unwavering faith where you don’t doubt yourself you believe. You don’t try to see the path you see the end and then every small or big thing will inspire you in a way that will give you a fresh perspective of life to move forward.

Spring, a harbinger of hope, on its arrival shows us life can never be dull and gloomy all the time and so becoming a pessimist in tough times is morbid stupidity. Sun and Moon tell us if we all can look to fulfil our purpose of life then we will never feel inferior to anyone. There will be people who are better than us and there will also be some who are not, our job is to make our own path and start walking on it. Our parents, through their actions, have always taught us the meaning of selfless love and have always shown us that being strong is never about the body but about our character.

One more thing, the sources of inspiration I have indicated here have a short intensity compared to what your dream may give you. So don’t worry if something you see today fails to inspire you tomorrow. You will simply have to open yourself in all directions. While they may not last long but these small sources will help you sustain the monotony of everyday existence.

So look around friends, look around you, there is hardly any dearth of inspiration anywhere.  And to be honest, no one needs a philosophical bend of mind to see all of this. You simply have to, well, in professor Trelawney’s words, “Broaden your minds !”

Time

                                                                          Time was never ours and it will never be. So why do we still continue to let it fool us everyday ? Why do we think Time will allow us to do some things later ? Just because we believe we have created Time doesn’t necessarily mean we own it. We think we can trust Time but think again, can we ? the moment  humankind defined the passage of daily phenomenon of day and night as flow of time, The Almighty gladly accepted it as a payment to settle our debts even though we never intended it as one.  Time became an aid to God to govern us but for us the aid was to become a curse. Its pact with the heaven and the hell insured its immortality and we always thought Time was with us, we could possess it.  As we evolved we understood that unless we showed some respect Time would ruin us. But then we were humans, the most selfish bracket of organisms, our ego blinded us with the wisdom that we could work against Time. We continued to procrastinate that Time will give us enough space in future to transmit our love to our loved ones. Every time we committed such a sin we  experienced a loss a very heavy loss, why ? Because our actions were an insult to Time.

                                                                                      There are enough problems that exist right now at the global level, at the national level and finally our own personal ones that require an immediate response. If our leaders still believe that through endless talks and negotiations they can create a better place, I am sure our doomsday is not far away. No I am not a pessimist, it’s just that an affirmative action in the right direction is the need of the hour. Drafting cumbersome policies is not gonna help us and will only delay the results which is intolerable to Time.

                                                                                                                                        Think about it, Nature should have been eternal right but it isn’t, the most beautiful of flowers wither away one day like the flaking of some glossy paint. Look into your own life, whenever you have decided to iron your clothes the next morning instead of doing it that moment itself there is a power cut waiting to greet you good morning. It’s not by chance, this is how Time works. It works as it wishes to, it is ruthless and commands utmost respect. So I request you please don’t think that just because you pray to God Time will spare you. Do whatever you can whenever you can and just keep doing things as they come your way. That’s the best you can do.

                 In the end I will share some lines from a song  called  “In the end”  by  Linkin Park  🙂

             “….Time is a valuable thing
           Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
           Watch it count down to the end of the day
           The clock ticks life away
          (It’s so unreal)
          Didn’t look out below
         Watch the time go right out the window
         Trying to hold on but didn’t even know
         I wasted it all just to watch you go…..”
                                                                                                       

 

Need some inspiration ?

Have you ever heard of “alpha decay paradox” ? Chances are slim if you weren’t a science student, more importantly a Physics student. The significance of this paradox is of as importance to a Physicist as it can be to a common man.  The difference would lie in one’s perception of it. Let me first brief you on what this paradox is or was all about ? Yes it was solved way back in 1928 but till then it confounded everyone just like it may baffle you in sometime.

Uranium (238) , a radioactive element, on disintegration along with its daughter nuclei it also emits an alpha particle. Now when measured the energy of this alpha particle is found to be 4.2 MeV which means a particle of such energy is able to come out of the Uranium nucleus. Now on the other hand alpha particles, with energy of  9 MeV, from Polonium (212) are unable to penetrate close enough to Uranium’s nucleus because of repulsive Coulomb potential barrier. Now the paradox is that the energetic particles fail to cross the barrier from outside while on the other hand  the lower energetic particles succeed in doing so from the inside. Looking this from the point of classical mechanics the behaviour is pretty much impossible. If  a higher energy particle of 9 MeV can’t get through  that clearly means that the barrier has a higher energy which must be overcome in order to get in or get out ! When this paradox was solved through wave mechanics the results of some calculations were very startling. Within these results lies a clue for everyone who is sensitive enough to sense it and get inspired.

It is found that the alpha particle emitted by the Uranium makes about  10*38 attempts in one second for 10*10 years !!! It is only then it succeeds in coming out. In philosophical terms that other alpha particle which had to go in had tried only once to get through the potential barrier. Does it surprise you any more ? The one who was weak went on trying no matter how long it took and ended up as a winner unlike the stronger one who tried to flex its muscles only once and faced an instant defeat.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  Try ..fall…pick yourself up…try again and again and again till you cross that “potential barrier”. In our life that barrier always lies outside our comfort zone but… inside our effort zone so there is no reason why anything should be impossible. Remember it’s all about how we perceive things that determines their feasibility.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to George Gamow , R. Gurney and E. Condon who solved the alpha decay paradox. I am sure just like the alpha particle emitted by Uranium they must have persevered endless times. You will be amazed to know that all three of them solved this independently which means neither of them was aware of each other’s effort and yet in 1928 each of them succeeded in resolving the paradox. I think that would have been one of the best moments in the field of Nuclear Physics. 

I guess that is all that I wanted to share.  If it forced you to think about everything that I just said then I would consider my job done because refusal to think is the greatest crime that one can ever commit.

“Three times it falls…”

Remember our Indiana Jones ? In the Kingdom of Crystal Skull ? Fifteen minutes back I was riding my scooter against a cool breeze and all of a sudden two things came to my mind,our Indian Cricket Team and our dear Henry Jones (junior). The dismal performance of the team in England will not be a cause of such concern if one can truly understand how river flows. In the movie, when Jones and his allies escape with the skull into the Amazon and fall into the river in a duck boat, Oxley mutters “Three times it falls..”. It is after the first fall that Henry realises the river has three waterfalls but it is too late by then and they can’t do anything except to fall two more times. The fact is they couldn’t have possibly gone against the flow, no one can. Our Indian Team finds itself in a similar river where after losing the third test they  are just moving with the flow of losing.  So..it is not hard to guess now they will apparently also lose the fifth test because as Oxley had said “Three times it falls..”. The cause of concern is that it is not the first time the team has fallen into such a river. Imagine if Henry Jones had fallen into the same river for the second time do you think he would have waited to fall again three times, no ! . I can think of only one solution for our team, show some indifference to them. You see even if the team is losing the media still puts them in the limelight which is something the players are adapted to. It doesn’t matter then whether you criticise or mock them in that limelight. For once please ignore them, don’t take their interviews, don’t click their photographs and don’t comment even a word on their game. This is something they are not used to and this is something which will hit them hard. They will feel the real sting of losing. But is anyone listening to me ? Never mind, I will go on with my work and you with yours and the Indian team with theirs. Happy ending ???

 

 

Divine Intervention

The old adage, ” Faith is a Virtue ” has a tinge of significance attached to it which unsurprisingly many of us haven’t noticed so far. Yes we have heard of it from our religious heads but when have we paid any heed to them. Since  they appear to be hypocritical and superficial we can hardly blame ourselves for being so skeptical of their preachings. No offence to anyone though. So…yes the old adage I talked about happens to reveal the path to the DIVINE INTERVENTION. And the fuel needed to reach this path is nothing but the ability to endure.

                                                                        Now what is this “Divine Intervention” ? Please allow me to explain it through another  Harry Potter analogy. In the fifth part, The Order Of Phoenix, after the end of the duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore the former through his part of soul in Harry’s body attempts to control Harry and make him appear evil. Then Dumbledore tells Harry to endure the excruciating pain which Harry does with thoughts of love and friendship. At the end Harry is successful in regaining the control over his soul. This enlightens Harry of the fact that evil can only be fought with feelings of love and togetherness. This is exactly what Divine Intervention is all about. You come out of a period of darkness of life through faith and endurance.

                           Someone who plays any sport at a competitive level or goes to the gym may understand this much better. Remember all the endless crunches, push ups, pull ups and especially lunges that you have done all this time. After certain counts the pain shoots up, you feel inflammation in your muscles but if you manage to endure that and move on the pain apparently numbs the muscles which helps you to finish the set. The feeling which then follows is Divine Intervention. Here the faith in knowing the fact that whatever you are doing is going to strengthen you helps to endure the pain.        

                                Thousands of years back our religious heads started out preaching the need for sanctity of thoughts, sacrifice and abstinence of materialistic realms of this world which ultimately would lead to the Divine Intervention. Unfortunately through the passage of time their minds became corrupt and so did their teachings. Divine Intervention is nothing but the highest form of wisdom, the End  that appears to us after we have withered away the storm of sufferings. It is only then we would truly appreciate and respect the existence of such wisdom.  But of course there is always another world to live in where we don’t have to suffer if we don’t wish to seek the end. What sort of life would that be ? It can’t be the kind of which we are living now because here everyday someone or the other suffers from something. But then do we reach the End ? The bigger question is are we prepared to endure the ordeals ? And the biggest question is if we are not prepared and we do not seek what we should be then WHAT ARE WE SUFFERING FOR ?

                                       The whole point of going through everything is to reach the end and complete the circle of life.I think it’s time for some serious introspection and then decide which way we would be happy to die, with the End or without it.

 

“Let go…” :)

How often have you felt frustrated of not achieving something ? Or something you tried holding on to but it always slipped away ? Well, I think I do have the solution to it. The idea is to “let go…..” ,it could be anything let go of your emotions, let go of the person who has hurt you or let go of something that doesn’t let you sleep. Anything that starts troubling you too much you have to let go of it. It is only then you are at peace and it is only then you see the light in the darkness.The magical thing about this is that most of the times after you let go you will see it coming back to you It’s just like when you don’t want to lose the sand in your hands you close your palm but what happens is it slips away. If you just keep your palms open the sand just remains there as it is. That’s  exactly what I am talking about. Now there will also be times when it won’t come back. Then forget about it and simply move on. Treat is as your past, don’t let it affect you present or future by any means.  The central idea is that you just can’t let the fear override you. When it does remember to shut it and free yourself of all the negative emotions. I am no spiritual guru. I know whatever I have said above is just an abstract notion of mine but if it helps in getting through the minute ordeals of life then I am happy to share it with you. Take care 🙂

 

 

 

 

Try substituting your thoughts

I have learned it’s much easier to relate with everyone if I can compromise with my ego and replace my viewpoint with those I interact with.By this I am actually able to understand them and see their opinions in a much better light . Although my decisions shouldn’t get entirely affected by that. But still I think it’s very crucial in our day-to-day life. If we fail to interpret the thoughts and emotions of our family and friends then the picture of our life can get ugly at times. They may not be always in the same frame of mind as us because they all have their own private space of life which we don’t know anything about. So before making any wrong judgements or passing harsh comments about someone we should do a recheck. Sometimes all we need is a change of perception. Even when facing a tough situation if we can change our mindset by looking at the bigger picture, I guess it can make a difference. I mean instead of panicking just consider the worst possible outcomes . Then see is the problem really that tough you thought it to be, most of the times it wouldn’t be so.In the end I feel our perception should be flexible enough to help us live a cheerful life.

You Can Make It Happen :)

In the journey of our life we always have some dreams, dreams to reach somewhere, to become someone or to attain something. But when has the road to our dreams ever been easy to tread upon? We encounter so many obstacles that at some point we start losing faith in our abilities. In such critical stages we need a lot of self motivation because the real battle has always been between our contradicting minds. By self motivation I mean doing the kind of self talk which can charge us and guide us to walk on the right path. Having some inspiring quotes and posters of our favorite icons in our bedrooms or offices can help us a lot. Basically it’s all about reminding ourselves of how much our dreams mean to us. It becomes important to do such pep talk every day since in this long journey it is easy to get tired and get distracted. In the end it all comes down to how determined we are? The one with the burning desire reaches his destination faster than anyone else.

An Everlasting Rain

Rains are one of the most wonderful acts of nature. Apart from all the needs that it fills it has a special charm that is inescapable. It gives us memories that get stamped in our minds forever. Some are worth recollecting giving us a reason to smile while some may bring sorrow too. I have few of mine which I feel like sharing now. The first one is of last year when my scooter’s exhaust pipe got choked with water because it had rained so much that the water level had reached till our knees. We had to drag the scooter all the way to home in the mini flood. Those moments when I and my brother were helping each other to get back home safely were really special. Even after reaching home we could still feel the motion of waves against our legs. My other not so special memory yet important to me is of last week itself. I wake up in the morning finding out that it’s raining which didn’t stop until midnight. I had to miss my lectures and I was enjoying every moment of it. I spent my time reading Lord of the Rings and also wondering that why the rains are still on, to me it looked bit strange. I got my answer in the evening when my mum called me. My grandmother who was suffering from cancer had passed away in the afternoon. I couldn’t cry much then because gods were already lamenting my pain through his endless rain.