Tuesday, October 8, 2013

The best moment in my life...

That one day in the last week of July...I came back home after 2 months of summer intership from Hyderabad. I was really happy and full of amazing memories of my time in Hyderabad Central University. It was the first time that I had ever stayed in a hostel and the first time that I was away from home with enough money in my hands to spend on fancy stuff. I had made some cool friends there. It was a productive period of two months where I learnt new things and was feeling satisfied with my work. I had gained the appreciation of my guide in the project. With this wonderful combination of work satifaction, freedom, new experiences, a more confident and changed being, I came back to beloved Pune, my hometown. On one hand, I felt sad to leave Hyderabad but on the other, I was more than excited to meet family and friends again. Whats more, they were eagerly waiting for me too. The sweet memories of Hyderabad combined with the anticipation of a grand welcome in Pune! I came back home and met with my family. In the afternoon, I left for college and as I entered my department building, my friends were standing there all together discussing something. Overjoyed, they all came up to me and hugged me and I was ecstatic to see them again. Life was perfect. Life was beautiful at that moment. It was the best moment in my life.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A dead end

Have you ever experienced what it is like when you absolutely have NO IDEA where you are going? When you just dont understand right and wrong and good and bad? Its one of those phases when you no longer know who you are and discover aspects of yourself you never knew you had. All you can see ahead is darkness and you just dont know what decision to take...its a quagmire and you dont know how to come out of it. Its suffocating you...You dont even have words to explain what you are feeling because that cannot be explained even to your own self. What do you do? Just sit in one corner and watch the world making no sense at all...

My favorite prayer

I have been a very spiritual person since I was very young. Our school had a very special morning prayer that always made me feel peaceful and happy. It had a verse from the Ishavasya upanishad,

Isavasyam idam sarvam
yat kinca jagatyam jagat
tena tyaktena bhunjitha
ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam

I was always curious about the meaning of this beautiful prayer and looked up its meaning on google. 
There are many translations and commentaries on it- 
I liked the one from the source: http://vedabase.net/iso/1/en1

So the meaning is:
Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.

I am no saint but its assuring to think that everything around us, truly belongs to the one supreme being. My interpretation of this is that all those things which are truly yours, will come to you no matter what. We should try our best and work hard, but HE is the supreme judge who decides what we truly deserve.

Keep walking :)

The reader can interpret whatever they wish to looking at this picture...:)

Friday, August 9, 2013

Two Women

   It was the month of July and I had gone there for a short summer course. The place was beautiful and to add to it, we were a group of thirty odd people who were keen on exploring what the city had to offer. I became friends with this girl instantly. She was my age, and our wavelengths matched well. We did crazy things together, learnt about each other's cultures and had a great time partying and dancing. Many evenings were spent talking to each other about "women" stuff. Cant really explain what that consisted of, but it always felt so much better to talk about it. Being from different countries, we still had so much in common. I got to know from her about her little sister who is a differently-abled person. I was so inspired and amazed at how people have to face so many obstacles and challenges in life and yet they manage to do so much. The rest of us, who are a little more fortunate, complain about the smallest of the problems. Anyway, getting to know her was a blessing really. To think that two women from such different backgrounds can bond together so well as friends is really nice. Life is funny, exactly when I needed some perspective on certain things, help in some matters, I happened to meet this person who guided me accordingly. Destiny and its weird ways...

Thursday, August 1, 2013

मी



मी म्हणजे नाइंटीस मधे, पुण्यात, एका सध्या
मराठी घरात वाढलेली. आई-बाबांची लाडकी लेक. बहीण-भावाची मोठी ताई. मैत्रिणींबरोबर सोसाइटी मधे लपा छापी,चोर पोलीस खेळून वाढले. दूरदर्शन वर चंद्रकांता, शक्तिमान, रामायण, आलिफ-लेयीला पाहायचे. शळेतून घरी आल्यावर दोन मिनिटात बनणारे मॅगी नूडल्स आणि कार्टून नेटवर्क. दर शुक्रवारी आणि शनिवार संद्याकाळी भरतनाट्याम चा क्लास. त्यामुळे उंची चांगली वाढली आणि आजोबा मला "लांबू टांग" म्हणायला लागले. आमच्या घरातला तो एक मोठा विनोद होता. दिवाळी, दसरा, गणपती म्हणल की आमच्या मॉडेल कॉलोनी मधे धमाका. पण इथे मात्र पेठे मधले राहणारे पुणेकर कसे एकमेकांशी खूप आपुलकीने वागतात तस नाही. फ़क्त कामापुरत आणि सणवार असला की एकमेकांशी बोलायच. लहान असताना बरेच लोक वाढदिवस असला की "आज तिचा हॅपी बर्थडे आहे" अस म्हणायचे ज्यावर आम्ही इंग्लीश मीडियम मधले मुल खूप हसायचो. पण वाढदिवस म्हणल की आई खूप लाड करायची आणि घरी पार्टी असायची. मे महिन्या मधे अजोळी गेल की आंबे, जांभुळ, पेरू, इत्यादी फळ आणि आजोबांनी बांधलेला झोका. मग सगळे जण बसले की म्हणायचे, "रेवती आता डॅन्स करून दाखव बर". मग माझ खूप कौतुक व्हायच. काही दिवसांनी शाळा संपली. दहावी संपली. आणि फर्गुसन च कॉलेज लाइफ. तेव्हा मैत्री काय ते समजल. त्यानंतर यूनिवर्सिटी मधे मास्टर्स. आता सर्व काही बिज़ी आणि हेक्टिक झाल होत. लहानपणापासून परदेशात शिकायचे स्वप्न (जे बर्‍याच तरुणांच अस्त). रिसर्च साठी जर्मनी मधे जायचे होते. तर बाबा म्हणायचे "जर मनात असेल तर जर्मनी". हा त्यांचा प्रिय विनोद. आता जर्मनी मधे बसून हे लिहिताना थोड चांग्ल, थोड वाईट वाटत आहे. चांगला कारण लहानाची मोठी होताना जे स्वप्न पाहील ते पुर्ण
झाल आहे तर वाईट वाटत आहे की लहानपाणाची "मी" आता खूप बदलले आहे.

Mind the mind

Its the mind that I am scared of. It thinks a lot, fears the future and takes rash decisions due to overwhelming emotions. Its all in the mind, the wrong and the right. It forces one to believe or disbelieve. Maybe having a good control on the mind is the key to a peaceful life. I recently read somewhere - "when the chaos and confusion in the mind stops, the truth appears."

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Today

       Most days are similar to each other. I wake up every morning and say to myself - 'Wonder what today has to offer me :) Will I meet someone interesting? Will something great happen today? Will it be a memorable day?' While traveling in the bus that takes me to office I think about the things I have to accomplish during the day. I make mental notes about what work remains pending, or what new ideas I can come up with to solve problems. The same charade everyday. Sometimes even during the most monotonous of days - beautiful things happen - a stranger behaved very friendly or kind, someone told me a funny story, or sometimes I helped a person. At times at the end of a busy day I feel satisfied thinking how productive the day was. It is these little things that break the monotony. Maybe I should start finding happiness in these trivial things because not everyday is going to be a party, but these 'normal' days are definitely going to lead up to a 'BIG' day. After all, even one day can change life completely.....!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

When all you can do is-

Dear friend,

Its funny I am calling you that. It has not been very easy for me to accept the reality that we cannot be friends anymore. I hate to think what effect it must have had on you, given that we spent some really special moments together. I wish I could capture those moments in some sort of a film and could store it in my memory forever. With time these memories will fade, but what will always stay with me is that happy feeling of being with a friend you love, feeling safe in a place where you can be yourself. I have wronged you. I am to be blamed for the situation we find ourselves in. Will 'sorry' help? Probably not.  But what I want you to know is that I pray for you. Everyday. I hope you remain a happy person in whichever place you are in this big, big world. It is through these prayers that I redeem my mistakes.

Good luck,
R

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Dear Mom..

Dear Mom, 

       I am writing this letter to tell you how much I love you and how much you mean to me. I feel blessed to have you as my mother. As I grow older (and hopefully wiser) just like you do, I get to know you better. When I was a little girl, I thought you were perfect. "All mothers are perfect and they never have or will do anything wrong in their life.." This is what I thought.

        Then I grew up a bit more. As a college going girl, I thought you were my best friend because I could share everything with you (well most things). This continued until recently, when an unpleasant incident completely changed my outlook towards our mother-daughter relationship. You expressed some of your opinions about the incident, which I totally disagreed with. "How could she say this?" I thought. You suggested I should come home earlier than I usually did, you were very curious about which friends I hanged out with and where I went. I was angry and sad because I thought the both of us had very similar mindsets, opinions and philosophies regarding different aspects of life. One of the most hurtful things is to be mad at and disagree with someone you love. I thought about this for a very long time and my mind was confused because on one hand you mean so much to me and on the other hand you said things that infuriated me. After some thinking, a realization dawned upon me. They say circumstances make a man. How could I expect you and me to be like-minded when there is a difference of twenty four years between the two of us? Our struggles have been different. And hence our opinions and notions. You are my mother and worrying comes naturally to all mothers. I realized I should love you and respect you for what you are - my mother. Friends are different. You are not my friend. You are someone who cares excessively and hopes that I be safe all the time. No one is perfect, neither you, nor me. So I will stop expecting you to be "more like a friend rather than a mother" and to have the same perspectives about everything in life. Loving your folks without expecting them to be perfect all the time gives true happiness.

Yours, 
R

Friday, January 18, 2013

Make me feel better..


I am sometimes scared of wonderful and fun moments. Because you know, they come to an end. Then you have to move on. You have to miss those special people with whom you spent amazing times. Very recently I was on a vacation with some really lovable people. One of those friends is passionate about music. She asked me, "Do you know the song 10 o clock postman"? 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSRAe3A4Tm8

10 'o clock postman bring me her letter
10 'o clock postman make me feel better...

Make me feel better....Most of my folks are away from me. Even the people I spent my vacation with. Even though I am enjoying my life and the work keeps me busy, I miss home and friends once in a while. I feel nostalgic. The things that keep me going are the emails, messages and the photographs. Why I love the song "10 'o clock postman" is because I totally understand and feel the emotion behind it. Reading a letter or an email from a dear one helps us to not miss them much. I read and re-read those emails. Maybe life is all about making those wonderful memories with wonderful people, and thinking about them when you are away from them. It is these emails, and the letters and also the postcards that make us feel much, much, better.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The lone traveller

In the past few months, I have been pretty much on my own. Away from friends and family and having set my foot on the foreign land for the first time in my life, I travelled a lot to many places on my own. I explored the new city, its malls, cafes, parks and streets- all by myself. I must say, it was wonderful! Really amazing! Once in a while, travel alone. Just you, a camera, and some money. Go to a nice, beautiful place, a lake, a beach, a village, whatever you like the best. Walk the tranquil roads by yourself. You will enjoy, and will spend some quality time with yourself. Try taking nice pictures of the place. Socialize with random people, the other tourists, and you will realize that humans are the same everywhere (unless you are very unlucky to meet grumpy people). All this time that I spent journeying alone, I got to know myself a little better. For everyone, there has to be something, that is the most important to them in their life. It may be their family, career, a loved one, their hobby, or anything else. I realized my 'ground' in life, my 'fall-back pillar'..the things most important to me. And therefore I say, pick up your bag and start a little trip with you and yourself!!