Kush Srivastava's Blog, page 34

Meri Ma!

This very morning, I came across an article on fb as I was browsing through, which really brought out the emotions in me, the emotions which form such an essential part of the human persona.

The article was about this lady, who hid her child beneath her body, when the earthquake demolished her house and in the process succumbed to her injuries. When the child was taken out of the debris, the child was sound asleep and had a mobile placed next to her and it said: If you are alive, then always remember that I love you.

As I am writing these words, it has brought back the picture that I saw while reading the article in the morning. This kind of love, for me, goes beyond the very concept of love and care that a mother can have towards her child. If this is not divine then what is it and this form of love is extremely pure.

How many of us take our mothers for granted. While she keeps pouring all the love on us and the little we can do on our part is to keep her happy, not just because she does so much for us but also in order to respect the very selfless and devoted love that she happens to pour on us over and over again without really getting tired.

This form of love is really inexplicable and a very rare and a precious thing. I was once told by my grandmother that only a woman and especially a mom can understand what goes inside a woman when she thinks about her son or daughter and this feeling cannot be emulated by any other person but the mother herself.

I can keep writing about how wonderful a relationship a mother has with her child. But don’t you think that some things are beyond any sort of explanation or writing and it would be truly bemeaning to write more about this wonderful relationship.

There is only one advice that I would like to give and one line that I would like to add, though: all the kids out there, cherish and savour this wonder relationship that you have with your mom, for there will be no other person in the world who will love you for what you are.

Source for Image: http://ashishdadgaa.blogspot.in/2012/08/mothermy-first-love.html

 

Yun hi Chala Chal Raahi!

As they say, every good thing comes to an end. But with the end in sight, one can see the prospect of a new and wonderful beginning awaiting to welcome us with open arms.

And so has been my current trip to Haldwani, followed by Delhi and Jaipur. In all senses of the word, it can be called a marriage trip, where I was supposed to attend a couple of marriages and receptions.

It all started in Haldwani, a town not very far from Nainitaal, where I got the chance to witness a Garhwali marriage, a culture totally different to what I have been used to. It was a treat to the eyes to see the beautiful couple hands-in-hands at the time of the photography session that followed soon after the jaimaal ceremony had taken place.

With the memories of Haldwani still in mind, the roads had already taken its course and were headed straight to the capital which we all popularly refer to as dilwaalon ki dilli.

The charm of the city always seems to amaze me whenever I happen to be here. With great friends to give me company coupled with the extremely good cuisine that is on offer in the city, I simply love coming back to the place.

But this time around, Delhi was not a destination but a stopover, as the pink city, Jaipur, was all set to amaze me with its great sculpture and architecture, in whatever time I could afford to take out from the marriage celebrations of a good friend.

Somehow, with every journey that I happen to undertake, comes those experiences and moments, which tend to remain with me forever and ever and living in these moments is what gives me immense pleasure and satisfaction.

With satisfaction comes happiness, which is what we all crave for. It is not only the exotic locations that give us this happiness but also the interactions with different kind of people and different culture that we get to experience makes it really amazing.

Right now, it is 4 a.m. in the morning. My friends here are sitting next to me. One of them is working on his CV and the other, whom we all call karate kid and a real expert on CV making, is helping him out in the same.

In between the same, we are having all sorts of discussions ranging from anything to everything. With me all set to take a train today in the evening from Delhi, I wonder as to when will it be next, when I will get a chance to spend such wonderful time with friends whom I really admire and have great respect.

Of course I cannot look into the future. Of course, I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. But one thing that I do know and am certainly sure about is that with every good thing coming to an end, there are endless new and wonderful things which one can harp upon to move on in life.

After all, life is nothing but a journey, where one keeps moving forward without really looking at what’s left behind and try to make use of the present in the best manner so as to make the future meet our expectations and aims in life.

There is this one song from movie Swades which is coming to my mind as of now:

“yuh hi chala chal raahi, yun hi chala chal raahi, kitni haseen hai duniya”

Source for Image: http://www.gobollywood.com/2011/12/sholay-3d.html, http://bollywoodanthropology.blogspot.in/2011/03/sholay-battle-striving-for-social-order.html

Living in the Moments!

While browsing through my gtalk friend list, I found there are so many people on that list with whom I have not interacted since ages. It is amazing how our friend list keeps growing whether it be on fb or on any other social networking site.

It’s not that they were just acquaintances, but even with good friends, somehow you are not able to find time to interact. You are caught up in your own little World.

Sometimes I wonder whether life is a collection of all the wonderful moments that you might have spent with someone at different points of time in your life. It is these moments that remain with you forever. Rest all is lost in transition.

Shahrukh Khan would want to say that he can spend his entire life with these little moments in one of his next romantic flick. And I am sure that all the romantic souls, including me   out there would want to agree to him and would even want to take some leaf out of the book of romantic dialogues that he has so well adopted.

As far as I am concerned, dedicating this one to my fiance and all the people out there who have ever loved someone in their life, I would like to say just this one little thing:

Love is all about those little moments and time that you spent or will be spending in the future with your better half, that will make you happy and that will surely leave a very deep impact on you if you truly love someone.

Even if the your love is not there with you, you will be able to feel his/her presence and will be able to remember each and every detail about your love.

Sometimes we tend to ask as to what’s true love. The answer is: if you are able to do all the above then that’s true love.

Source for Image: http://www.midnightangel308.com/love_quote.htm

Stay Calm! Stay Put!

With the kind of routine that we tend to follow at times, getting up in the morning can indeed be a treat to the eyes, considering that we get to witness the authority that the sun tends to impose on us all, rising from apparently nowhere and turning the heat on, literally.

Our elders always tell us: early to bed, early to rise makes one healthy, wealthy and wise. Though, I was up and around for 2′ o clock yesterday night after a session of snookers and a party thereafter, yet with a sheer determination and a will to be able to get up and witness the natural phenomenon, I was able to make it through this morning.

The cool breeze added to the romance that I seemed to be having with the natural beauty surrounding me in my garden and in true senses of the word, it was indeed a very good morning.

Talking about mornings, each morning tends to bring along with herself a new gasp of air, a renewed and rejuvenated mindset, a determination to keep doing well in life and lot of choices to be made which if done well leads to satisfaction and happiness which, for me, seems to be the goal of the society.

And one such example of a choice that would certainly bring you loads of happiness and good health is to take a morning walk. With not much noise emanating from the vehicles to trouble one, one can have their own sweet time with the nature and can try to think upon some of the issues concerning themselves and their loved ones.

To me, it presents an excellent opportunity to get away from the normal chores of life and spend some time with myself, which in turn enables me to think in a positive manner, at the same time, helps me resolve some of the issues confronting my thought process. Even if these are not resolved, I am  at least able to figure out the course of action that needs to be taken in order to handle or deal with the same.

And this morning was dedicated to a conversation that I happened to have yesterday night with one of the most learned and coolest of doctors whom I have ever met. It is often that when we are drunk to the extent of feeling good about things then we tend to discuss things which we wont otherwise.

Without going into the details of the conversation that I had, one thing that can be called the moral of the discussion was that in order to have a successful relationship, either party needs to cool down when the other party tends to heat up.

The problem arises when both the parties tend to be on the same side of the table representing a hypothetical average between the cooler and hotter sides of the temperature gradient. And then a smallest of thing can take the shape of a Frankenstein monster threatening the very existence of a relationship.

So, all the couples out there who are prone to having discussions about little things in life, you can definitely try to learn from what the larned doctor had to say about the ingredients that should be included in this recipe of a relationship, which will go a long way in keeping your relationship intact, at the same time making it more enjoyable and fulfilling.

Source for Image: http://www.orkut-scraps.world4art.com/good-morning/good-morning-01.php, http://natashatobin.com/blog/?attachment_id=248

A Date with the Thinking Cap!

It seems there is no end to our desires. The more we get, the more we want to get. Everytime we end up accomplishing something, the confidence goes up leaps and bounds and gives birth to a new ambition and a new desire.

Some would say, after all there should be some aim in life. Without any aim, life would look so meaningless. True to the core, but have you ever realized that these ambitions and desires in turn lead to a rat race of sorts where everyone is busy catching up with the latest happenings in order to ensure that they don’t miss upon any opportunity what so ever of making money and thereby growing in stature and prestige.

I sometimes wonder, as to what was the aim with which God sent us all on this planet. Was it to get caught up in this illusion that the World is believed to be according to the Hindu mythology?

No one has been able to answer it with enough scientific evidence in order to establish any kind of substantial truth behind the same, though there have been various answers coming from every nook and corner of our country with various and different interpretations of the same.

Some of these interpretations are very much influenced by the whims and fancies of those who want to have some command and authority on the aspects related to religion and spirituality.

It is extremely fascinating to think about the manner in which a human mind goes about thinking and how we end up deciding the rights and wrongs of our society, which in turn leads to our words, actions, habits and in turn to our character and judgements about people thereafter.

But in all this thought process, have we forgotten the art of expressing content and appreciation for something that we have been able to accomplish over time or for something that someone does for us?

Have we become so materialistic and self-centred so as to forget the very meaning of humanity, where our only aim is to accumulate more and more, may be for the generations to follow?

Some time back, I had the fortune of interacting with a very learned professor of mine, who was very kind to have shared his perspective of life that he was leading at that point of time. I would take the liberty of quoting him here in order to bring out the essence of what life could mean to the majority out there:

“Kush! During my childhood years, I was conditioned to get more and more in life. The only aim in life at that point of time was to get praise and respect from the people around you.

My mother always taught me that if you want to be respected and admired in the society then you need to be there on top. All my life, I took my mother’s word as a doctrine which was never to be violated.

I qualified JEE with a rank that most people would be proud of. I was a 9 point something CGPA in college which was considered to be amongst the best. I gave GRE and scored the highest of all who had appeared from my batch.

But the ambition of becoming more and more important never seem to take a halt. I then appeared for the Civil Services Examination and got a very good rank so as to ensure that I become an IAS officer.

I joined the service but I still couldn’t feel satisfied with what I had. Of all the things in the World, I wanted to become more and more important.

It was only after the first 5 years of my service, I began feeling suffocated and it was then that questions such as what is it that I really want to do with the 70+ years or so of life that are given to me by God.

I started becoming frustrated and wanted to run away from every important thing that I had ever accomplished. There was everything that I had: respect, money, prestige, power. But there was something that was missing.

And the thing was peace of mind and a satisfaction that I was doing what I really wanted to do. It was then that I decided to quit my job and started exploring the various things that I would be happy doing.

Today, when I look back at things, I feel that quitting what people would call one of the most lucrative of jobs in India was the best decision that I had ever taken for myself in my entire life. And trust me, I am really happy about it.

There are times when many youngsters like you would take up a job just because it is highly remunerative or because it might enable you to get all the materialistic things in life that you might have been coerced to wish for all your life.

But, what matters is not a Mercedez Benz or an Audi, but how happy you are traveling in that one Nano that you might happen to own. So before venturing out for anything, I would advice you to think about what you really want from your life and how you would want to use these years of life, so that when you reach my age and start reflecting the only thought that should come to your mind is: YES! I DID WELL.”

For all the people out there who are caught up in a similar situation and are feeling suffocated or dissatisfied with what they are doing, the only advice that my professor would have given them would be to take a break and think about what you really want to do with your life.

And trust me, this little break that you might take can do you hell lot of good. It can change your entire perspective about life. It can help you be what you want to be.

So, put your thinking caps on and start thinking!

Source for Image: http://www.zazzle.com/thinking_cap_hat-148372206106216756, http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2012/11/success.php

The Test!

Though India has been able to clinch an important test win over England, the topic of my current post has nothing to do with cricket what so ever. I am talking about the test that life seems to put on us every now and then in order to see how resilient we are and how much we have matured over time to be able to take care of the nitty-gritty of the very phenomenon which we all call life.

I recently saw this movie jab tak hain jaan and the test that life seems to take is well elaborated and perfectly brought out by this dialogue from the protagonist and it goes something like this: zindagi to har pal hamari jaan leti hai, bomb to keval ek baar lega.

Though this has a negative tone to it and seems to project the pain and sorrow of the protagonist, this can very well be interpreted in a positive manner, if we just change the angle of the lens through which we are trying to interpret the same. A better way to put it would be: zindagi to har pal hamara imtihaan leti hai. 

The test starts the very moment one is born, as one tries to step out of the haven that a mother provides to him/her for nine months and then he/she has to meet the harsh realities that the surrounding environment provides.

Growing up is not very easy for majority of the population. Every stage of life is met with innumerous challenges. Some, we are able to overcome and some tend to drain us of our energies to the extent of us falling victim to the situation.

Every stage of life is met with successes and failures. A philosopher has compared life to a book composed of chapters where there are some good pages and some bad. The art lies in keep turning the pages of the book and keep exploring the next page, for if you don’t then you won’t ever know as to what lies ahead.

And true to its sense, no one is a born winner. One has to go through immense suffering and challenges before one emerges a winner or whom the world generally calls a winner, because it all depends on the interpretation of victory. Without really going into the philosophy of victory, let me just stick to the practical/societal definition of a winner.

And what makes one victorious is an enduring desire to reach that one important goal of life that he/she would have made for oneself and to keep trying for it. One might fall several times during all these years of trying and one might have to suffer a lot to the point of challenging the very concept of destiny that God has inscribed for him/her.

But what really matters is to realize that one might and will be faced with hardships; one needs to keep trying, for winners are those who decided not to quit.

All those out there who feel that God is not being kind to them, stay positive and keep trying for the victory is just next door and trust me you cannot afford to give up on it.

Source for Image: http://www.mytabletbooksqa.com/Index.aspx, http://blessendaniel.wordpress.com/category/temptation-after-great-victory/

A Tribute to the Proponent!

The marriage season is about to begin. Those who will be getting married this season are naturally very excited about the same. For these to be couples, it is but obvious to feel on top of the moon.

This is very well cognizable. But one thing that I am unable to decipher about a very dear friend of mine, is, why he is getting the same feelings as the to be couples . I can understand that he is about to take part in each and every marriage that he has been invited to this season, but to feel and behave in the same manner is a bit incomprehensible.

In order to get to the crux of the matter, I decided to talk to the very same person who is going through the emotions. Without going into the details of the conversation, the thing that I could infer from the same was that this guy is very much in love with the concept of love and marriage thereafter.

He feels that this is the best thing that can ever happen to a guy or a girl. He believes that without marriage a person is incomplete and in order to bring life to its proper culmination, what one needs to do is to get married.

Indeed, the above is an inspiring ideology for the proponents of the very concept and indeed this guy is a strong believer and follower of the same. So, whenever someone is about to get married, this guy feels good not only for the couples but also for the concept’s fulfillment.

There is another reason apart from what I have just mentioned about this guy. This guy is at such a stage of his life where he would like to have a family and where he is ready to take up the responsibility.

This guy is eagerly waiting to tie the knot and is waiting for the right person, who, he believes would fill his life with happiness and joy. In the true sense of the word, this guy is an ideal husband material.

I am not saying this because I own a matrimonial site or I am planning to have one, but because I truly admire the qualities that this guy possesses, which makes me believe that he would keep his life partner really happy.

Sometime back, I used to be an active participant on the social networking site called Orkut and as some of you might recall, there was this concept of people writing testimonials for those who they feel writing about.

It was then that I came across one of the shortest of testimonials that I have ever read in my life and it went something like this: “may you find the right one soon”.

As a tribute to my friendand a sincere wish that he may soon find his right one, here I take the liberty of drawing the same lines from the once all so famous Orkut:

“may you find the right one soon”.

All girls out there, who are looking forward to getting married to the right man of their life, please don’t hesitate to contact me, for in some ways, my fiance and I have very much adopted this guy and have decided to take up the responsibility for this gem of a person.

Source for Image: http://guidedones.com/importance-of-marriage-in-islam/

Life is very much like Diwali!

The last couple of weeks that have just gone by have been, in some ways at least, what I can call a crazy period of my life. It’s not often that I do this kind of stuff.

It all started on the day, which we all celebrate in India as the day of victory of good over evil. The journey started from Bareilly, which is my new residential city, and a place which I am beginning to get used to.

Supposedly, the journey was to come to a culmination in Lucknow, where I was supposed to meet my all time good friends and spend some quality time with them, which I, in fact did.

But little did I know, that I would be getting this life time opportunity to get a glimpse of one of the most popular seven Wonders of the World. Yes! I am talking about none other than the Taj Mahal.

It was indeed a fascinating moment to see the structure stand right in front of my eyes with all its glory and history behind the magnificent piece of art, enhancing the beauty and interest that one can have in any such monument.

Though, the waiting cue was long enough to give me thoughts about returning even before seeing the structure and though it was really very crowded and mismanaged, there was something which was keeping me glued to the waiting cue that I happily agreed to be a part of.

Trust me! It was totally worth it, though I wish and I know that the security personnel can do better by behaving in a civilized manner, at the same time, stop treating the people like  a herd of cattle.

After coming out of the premises of the all so famous Taj Mahal, I received a call from one of my best friends to have ever occupied the same space as I did sometime back.

After that call, there was no looking back. It took me another 4 hours to reach Delhi at around 12′o clock at night. After having our self-prepared brunch, we decided to keep on our traveling boots on and head towards the pink city, Jaipur.

Both of us wanted to see the first rays of the sun in the pink city. With this aim in mind and a real good highway to travel, we saw one of the most fascinating of sights as we were about to enter the city.

Two hot air balloons were hovering right up there. How much we wished to become one of the passengers who were happily sailing right above our car! It was in true sense a very good morning.

What followed after was what most would call a tourist activity. We went on to see the famous forts and the mahals. In the evening, we were really amazed to see a place called chauki dhani, which has been able to preserve the culture and essence of Rajasthan with all its traditional folk performances and the delicious food which follows after.

We decided to return back to Delhi the day after. The next couple of days was what I would like to call friendship days. It was really cool to have met colleagues and friends from college days.

After having had the fun of my life, I headed back to my nest, as any other bird would have, in the evening, each day.

There were lot of sweet memories to savour. There were lot of new experiences which would ever remain with me forever and ever.

In many ways this trip included a number of firsts. This was the first time that I had ever driven for around 3000 kms in a single trip. This was the first time that I had driven alone for around 1000 kms.

This was the first time that I have had the luxury of stopping wherever I wanted. This was the first time for me to have interacted with such a different set of people in a single trip.

It was indeed a real value addition for me as an individual. Currently, I am at home where everyone is in a festive mood. Tomorrow we will all be celebrating main day of Diwali.

Everything looks so nice and rosy. But there is something in me which is again motivating and in a way disturbing the calm and peace that has been restored in my life. There is something which is telling me: “What are you doing? You gotta move on. You gotta move ahead in life. You gotta keep traveling. For that is what is life, a journey which when it begins only comes to a halt just once. And before that day, you gotta keep trotting ahead.”

Sometimes I wonder as to what is that ahead that we all are vouching for. My mom always tells me to take care of the present which will in itself take care of the future. Right now, my present is telling me to celebrate this Diwali, which is, in many ways a very special Diwali for me, personally, in as wonderful a manner as possible.

So be it! I am about to listen to my heart for there are times when you must let your heart rule your head, for its not often that you let your heart become a master of self. But isn’t it the very essence of life.

Some might want to portrait life through heart. Some might be tempted to portrait the same through head. But what really matters is that when you look back at life sitting in an arm chair when you are, say, 70 years old, there should be only one statement which you should be making at that point of time in your life and that is:

“I have lived life on my own terms. I never really cared about what people would say, what the the World would think. The only thing that mattered to me was whether I was really living the moments which most people call life in a manner as if that was the last moment of my life.”

With this I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone out there a very Happy and Prosperous Diwali. May you live the way you have always wanted to. Cheers!

Source for Image: http://www.funonthenet.in/articles/taj-mahal-pictures.html, http://boostquotes.blogspot.in/2010/09/life-quotes_24.html

You are Invited!

You might have heard this several times before and would definitely have felt very glad on being invited. But when this comes from one of your ex’s then it surely has a different connotation.

That’s exactly what happened to one of my friends, currently based in Delhi and his ex girl friend in Pune. The invitation went something like this:

“Mujhe tumhe batate hue bahut khushi ho rahi hai ki mujhe tumse bhi accha ladka mil gaya hai aur finally main uske saath settle hone jaa rahi hoon……waise to mujhe tumhe bulane ki koi zaroorat nahi hai…but fir bhi main tumhaare jale bhune hue chehre ko zaroor dekhna chahoongi…..kyonki kya hai na ki mujhe bahut mazzzaaaaaa aayega…isliye plese aana haan! chalo abhi time nahi mere paas tumhaare uper waste karne ke liye…isliye abhi ke liye bye!“

Well, the above note is self-evident of how break up between the two of them might have taken place, surely on a very cordial note .

According to my friend, the girl is happy to have found another patta compatible guy. On his part, he is happy to have got rid of a trap that he was about to fall for.

Interesting as it might sound, the break ups can also lead to a totally different kind of happiness altogether.

Source for Image: http://www.lipglossculture.com/2011/post-breakup-blueswhat-to-do-when-you-miss-your-ex/

VC!

There can be various full forms of this two letter word. For some, it might denote Voice Chat; but for those who are really interested in the commercial things of life and are into hard core entrepreneurial start ups, these letters seem more important than any other what so ever.

It can mean the whole World for them. In all senses of the word, it can be really instrumental in those make or break years of an individual. Yes, I am talking about none other than the Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors.

For a start up, it can mean an opportunity to survive and make it to the IPO one day. It can also mean that the initial bearers of the entrepreneurial flag will not let their company starve due to lack of funds, which come in plenty once the VCs and the like agree to fund the idea.

And as you know that every good thing comes in small packages, so it is with these Angels, especially in the Indian context. First of all, there are not many such Angels around. Secondly, the kind of terms and conditions these investors put forward are at times exploitative and put forth in an aggressive manner, not at all in coherence with the liking of the founders and the core members of the company.

Only some among the sixty or so in India qualify to become the real Angels for the start-ups. As a result, the focus shifts to family and friends who end up supplying the kind of funds needed for the same.

One cannot but imagine the kind of stress and pressure one goes through. Only a person having gone through the whole grilling process is able to appreciate the state of mind one tends to be in during this struggle phase.

If you are wondering why I am suddenly talking about start-ups and VCs is because one of my very dear friends is a founder member of one such start-up and I really appreciate the kind of effort entrepreneurs put in with an ambition to make it real big one day.

With immense amount of stress that they end up working in, coupled with the expectations that family members have of them is enough to drive one crazy, especially if one is in in e-Commerce.

You might call it bias, you might call it selfishness, but I sincerely want to be selfish for my friend and want to see him make it big one day. On this note I would like to wish him all the very best for his venture and would like to salute his efforts and positive energy that he never fails to demonstrate whether it be day or night.

Source for Image: http://www.bundlebaazi.com/