On Reading

We were having a workshop in school about 10 years ago. At the beginning of the workshop the instructor asked us, "If I give you 86400 everyday where would you spend it?"

My answer without even a moment's hesitation was, "Books! Books! Books!" It has not changed much till date.

You see, he later 'revealed' that 86400 is the number of seconds in a day, and I would gladly spend every single one of it on reading! With maybe a little writing and a little cooking thrown in!

Pictures That Tell Stories

I was the official photographer today at our department event and I realised when I click pictures spontaneously, they are for a story and not the composition per se. So if I see something and I have words in my mind that will capture that moment perfectly I will immediately capture that picture, whatever the light, shadows, proper composition or not.

I guess its a little off-beat from regular photography, but to me the moment has told me a story that I just want to share as best as I can...

Possibilities

Possibilities are always there. Sometimes they are just camouflaged very well.

Sometimes...

... it is only when you stop and breathe do you realise how fast you have been going...

A Humbling Experience

Today I had a very humbling experience in the Developmental Paediatrician's office at the NGO I am interning with.

I saw that people hold onto hope, even if it is a flicker of so against hard facts, as if their lives depend on it; their sanity seems to do for sure. And doctors when they give their diagnoses, have to help people loosen their grip over this hope and accept the truth. And they do so in such a graceful and sensitive manner, day in and day out, without losing their sanity.

I have always respected doctors and the healing profession a lot. After today I have newfound levels of respect for it!

Pushing Your Creativity

Kids are not only creative by themselves but they also push you to be creative. When doing or planning something for kids, you have to as innovative as possible and find new ways to do the same old things to engage them in it.

Take a toddler's mother who has to find new ways to make eating the same food everyday (there are really limited options in toddler food!). Think of a school teacher who has to find new ways everyday to teach the age-old Science and Maths lessons to his or her young students. Imagine the number of bed time stories grandmothers have to have in their repertoire to please their grandchildren.

Kids do help you realise how creative you can be. Maybe it will turn out to be more than you ever thought yourself to be! 

Dream On, Live On

The words of my blog post You're Human, You're Alive have been playing around in my head for the past three days and I have added some more words around it to create a song that I would love to put to a tune to if I knew how to better than what I do now! Here is how it reads:

Dream on...
Live on...

Find your song. Sing!
Find your rhythm. Dance!
Find your wings. Fly!
Find your colours. Create!

You love. You laugh.
You live, You cry.
You hope. You feel.
You pay. You play.

Time goes by anyway...

So...

Dream on...
Live on...

On Making Dreams Come True

You know how you have dreams and hopes and wish for them to come true. Sometimes these are old and almost forgotten, but they strike you on a Wednesday afternoon at 3 in the middle of something.

And then one day, you sit down and start working on making them come true. And you keep working on them without giving up, one small bit everyday.

Then they gradually do come true. And that's the difference...

You're Human, You're Alive

You love. You laugh. You dream. You hope. You cry. You feel. You're human. And every moment you're alive.

Random Thought on the Bus

Someone's dump can be someone's diamond mine... it's all a matter of need, perspective and application...

Diaries are Meant to be Written Into

I have a thing for beautiful diaries and journals. I love fancy writing material! And till very recently, when I used to buy such fancy diaries, I would hardly write in them. I would wait for words special enough to be captured in those diaries.

The other day I opened my cupboard and found a stack of beautiful unused diaries. And I thought, why am I letting them lie around? Diaries are meant to be written into! Whatever thoughts, feelings, words or ideas I have I should capture them. I should not judge their speciality even before writing them! Who knows what I could miss because I judge them before I write them.

So now I freely use those diaries, because they are meant to be written into!

A Really Old Lesson

Every time I pass by a pile of garbage covering my nose (and it is quite often in Mumbai) I am reminded of this lesson.

Mahipatrao sir, our secondary school Marathi teacher,  looked like your benign favourite uncle, with a caring and fun nature to match. And then he would make this really deep, insightful and often sarcastic comments that would just show some great understanding of children and human nature. I do not  remember all of them, but I do remember this one from a random Wednesday afternoon class.

This random afternoon class, he walked in, opened his book, wrote the chapter name on the board, turned and said, "Ever noticed this? When there is a bad smell, you can smell it from far away. People walking on a road crinkle their noses (and here he crinkled his nose and used his forefinger and thumb to close his nostrils to emphasize his point) from quite afar when there is a garbage pile around in the area. But when someone wants to show you their new perfume, they have to bring it really close to your nose so you can take in the good smell." And we were sitting there wondering where he was going with it. He then explained, "Human nature is like that when interacting with people; the bad things, gossip, blame, jealousy at success, seeing shortcomings, come to us easily. But the good things like praise,seeing the qualities, laughter or even a simple smile have to brought closer to us." 

At 13, I already had seen enough in this lesson to remember it. And so many years later, I have forgotten the chapter he taught, but I remember this lesson always, the bad smells are easy to come, it's the good smells that we need to focus on. And I appreciate its value every day...

Dream Wonders

I woke up today morning in the middle of a dream (thank you dear alarm!) and I could still remember quite a bit of it. And thinking back on it made me wonder how incredibly detailed our dreams are. If you remember any of your dreams, you will know what I am talking about.

So I was dreaming about having gone to stay at a friend's place and she had had her bath and was giving me things I would require for mine. I could actually see her tied up hair slightly messed up and a little wet near the nape, like from when you don't wear a shower cap under a shower. I also remember her giving me a shower gel with some ingredient I have heard of and have wanted to try but haven't found it. And as much as I sniffed I couldn't smell it from the lemon because that's the only smell that I have experienced and know.

And this is not just for regular dreams, even when you have really unbelievable dreams like flying through space, you do feel the wind in your hair and under your limbs. You do wake up all afraid and fearful from a nightmare, though the threat is not really present around you.

It's really amazing how detailed our dreams actually are and how creative our mind is while dreaming. And not just that, even our memories of those dreams are strong. Such is the power of dreams!

Aha Moments that Inspire

So, I was just sitting down for work when I started by checking my emails and I came across this random Indiblogger email about submitting my entry for the Idea Caravan contest of Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012. I have been getting these reminder emails for more than a month and I have been deleting them without opening them. Today, I said wait, let's see what it is about... and it's two hours later, my work is yet to start, but I am typing away at my keyboard, putting this post up. 

Having done my MBA, I have gone through lots of case studies of how empires and conglomerates have been built. In an MBA, you never really study about the real social issues and needs or what is being done about them (if there really is). Of course there are well-publicised examples  you come across like the Grameen Bank, but again these are few. At the end of the day, you are taught, the bottom line is the 'bottom-line'. But today was a good look into people who are solving the very real needs of society and communities. A much more educational experience than some of my MBA lectures. 

Mittal Patel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w8cZ2iJARPM

I listen to her story and I see a real life hero. A very important thing I noticed is that she is not just focussing on just one problem, but all possible problems of invisible, unknown and undocumented tribes.

Arunachalam Muruganatham 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u1iWhljEbTE

A man whose story should be an inspiration for the feminism of today. His simplicity: humbling, his personal life story: saddening and yet his work: mindblowing. 

Cynthyia Koenig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R3Dn868I8RQ

Her idea is so simple and so brilliant, it reminds me of the Newton story. Everyone used to see things falling towards the earth and not away from it, but it was only Newton who spoke of gravity. Similarly, everyone has seen wheels and put them to various uses; and yet...

Suprio Das

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pvJVL6ECGLg

There are ideas that can change lives, and there are ideas that can save them. This one does both.


Myshkin Ingawale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZrxaxNTxdCI

A technology that helps 'democratise healthcare'... big words, bigger ideas!


Each thought I have written about here is worth a standing ovation.  I am touched. And indeed, I am inspired.

On Laundries

I was at a laundry today after almost 15 years. They still have old songs playing on a creaky radio. They still are just about lit.They still smell of hot irons, dry cleaned and freshly ironed clothes. Just as the first monsoons smell of your first day at school with new notebooks, textbooks, brown covers, fresh ink and sharpened pencils.

Some memories always stay the same... and there is nothing more comforting than that...

On Following Rules

People will follow rules, even those which are to their advantage, when it is made convenient for them to follow those rules.

Oh, That!

Being a psychology student, I hear a lot of lectures, theories and research of human behaviour. Everything seems to make sense in the moment because everything has been logically explained and seems rational. And it's like, ok, yeah it makes sense. And you walk out of the class, you take an exam, write about that phenomenon, trait, theory etc, and almost forget it and move on.

But then there are those times. Those aha moments! When someone's reactions, feelings, some words just click and make you think of that particular thing you'd heard of or studied! And there in that moment the little voice in your head goes, "Oh! (or rather oooooooooh!) That's what it is about!"

All of us go through this at some point of other. Think of some some song you have heard once or twice and maybe forgotten later. Or some poem you have had to study as a part of your syllabus, and it all seems nice
but you don't really get it. You may have heard it, appreciated it for its poetry and let it go.

And then some day, you just stop in the middle of something you are experiencing or doing, because it strikes you, it sinks in and you go 'oh!'. You want to hear that song again or read that poem again right then! Or go back to the one who shared that song with you or to the teacher who taught it to you and want to talk to them again about it. Share this reaction to it and this understanding of it that you've just had with them!

Such aha moments, all of them! 

The Progress of Humans

Homo sapiens or we humans are the newest species on the evolutionary block. Just about 200,000 years old. For perspective, the first living organisms came on earth  3.6 billion years ago, the first vertebrates 485 million years ago and the first mammals 200 million years ago. Our closest ancestors the great apes came about 20 million years ago.

But if you think about it how cool is our intellectual and cultural progression!

Take the simple example of a hot water shower. Yes, I have just stepped out of one and that is where the chain of thought started, so, a hot water shower.  The concept of cleaning the outer body and skin using water is there among other species also, so okay, we won’t consider that. What is unique to humans that came to hot water showers is this. First we tamed fire for domestic uses such as providing light, cooking and heating. Then there is the idea of heating water to take a bath that is unique to us humans. Going forward, we discovered electricity and put it to its various uses including heating. Phew!

But it’s still not done. That was the heating of water part. Now we come to showers. We have metals and the durable alloys made from them. Along with it are the making and building of tool like pipes and showers and using principles of physics like gravity to control the flow of water. That really requires quite some intelligence, doesn’t it? And this is just a simple shower of hot water, (excluding soaps, body washes, shampoos, conditioners, loofahs, towels etc) an everyday occurrence. (Side note: everyday things can be so elegant and profound if you really think of it).

And today, with the rapid progression of technology, we are trying to create intelligent machines. So we not only have this intelligence, we are trying to map it, emulate it and pass it on to inanimate objects like machines.

Now compare this to the other older species who are still working on the basics of survival and reproduction.

Pretty cool, isn’t it?! 

The Feeling of Coming Home

I was entering the main gate of my building when a bright yellow school bus honked its way to parking in front of the gate. A 10-12 year old girl got off the bus and there her father was waiting for her with her toddler brother in his arms. The minute her brother saw her, he expressed his enthusiasm with a loud shout calling out to her and by jumping up and down in his father's arms. The girl who had a slow tired demeanour on getting off the school bus suddenly got an enthusiastic spring in her step and she smiled and just simply started walking quicker to reach them.

It is that that is the feeling of coming home where the people you love and who love you have been waiting for your return and are happy to see you, not just the physical fact on entering the doors of the place you reside in. Ask anyone who is living alone, even in the most comfortable house that money can buy, what to them is the feeling of coming home and you will get very interesting answers that cannot really capture what a feeling is.

Communication

It's amazing how a gesture or a simple sentence can speak volumes when the other person is really listening; and how volumes of speech can convey nothing when the other person isn't listening...

Grace

You may not be a conventionally beautiful person but when you are completely engrossed in doing something that is your passion, you could simply be the most graceful...

Thankful

When you don't meet much decent people in life, you can't help but be doubly thankful for all the good ones that are. 

Amen to that feeling!

Intezaar

बारिश की रिमझिम बूँदों का
झूमती हवाओं का
घने काले बादलों का
धुप के छिपने का
मिट्टी की भीनी ख़ुशबू का
खिलखिलाती हरियाली का
फूलों के खिलने का
सावन के आने का
तुम्हारी आहटों का
है इंतज़ार...

Love

I thought I knew what love was
Till I met you
And I am still finding out
Of the depths in me

Hum bhi na

गले लगाती ज़िन्दगी से हम ही मुँह मोड़ लेते हैं... और फिर उससे रूठे बैठे रहते हैं... न जाने किस आस में?

Writing

Unless you feel powerfully you cannot write. Anyone can say a person is laughing or crying in reaction to something but only those who can feel that in themselves can describe that like poetry. Good writing really boils down to empathy and hence people who write or people who enjoy reading are generally good people at the core because of their ability to empathise.

Perfect Human

A perfect human is not the one without weaknesses. A human being cannot be without weaknesses. A perfect human is one who recognises and accepts his/ her weaknesses and strives to be a better person despite them.

Makes Me Think

Two interesting incidents from my travel back home from college on the train today:

Three girls of around 17-18 years of age got in a couple of stations after I did.  They were well-dressed, looked as if they were from a good college and are from well-to-do families (the quality of the clothes, the expensive cell phones etc). There were two empty seats in the compartment next to each other, so one of the three girls asked (almost demanded) the middle aged lady in the third seat to move to another empty seat at the other side of the compartment so that she could sit with her friends. The lady said she couldn’t move and it was quite obvious why; she had a therapeutic belt around her back and it was quite clear she had trouble moving around. Still this young girl was grumbling about how inconsiderate the lady was being and being quite determined to sit next to her friends, squished herself on the little space that was left after her friends were seated, making seating difficult for all four of them despite the empty seat in the compartment. The irony at the end of this all: on having sat down, all three of them took out their cellphones, got busy with surfing the net/ chatting/ facebook and hardly spoke 2-3 sentences to each other till one by one they started getting off the train on reaching their destinations.

Two stations after these girls had boarded the train, four eunuchs got in and plonked themselves on the floor of the compartment. They started talking to each other loudly and gesturing boisterously. Everyone in the compartment either started giving them dirty looks or being afraid of them because of whatever beliefs they may have. Three stations later, an old lady (a mavshi) got in with a large load. She had mistaken the first class compartment for a luggage compartment as they are of the same size. She also decided to sit on the floor of the compartment as she couldn’t stand but she was finding it difficult to move her luggage around. It was these four eunuchs (who are supposedly uneducated and whom everyone was giving dirty looks and judging) that helped her settle down her load and sit down comfortably.

Really makes me think about the notions we have...