Help! Somebody call the Tur(Am)bulence....

"Do you think this is gonna last? There's a storm coming Mr. Wayne. You & your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."

Those were the words spoken by Catwoman to Batman in the upcoming Dark Knight Rises film. They turned out to be the trigger for this post as I pondered on the subject of Turbulence in one's mind.

Have you ever noticed and wondered the aftermath of a storm? A storm usually comes, picks up whatever is lying in its path and drops it off in a new place and leaves behind memories. Sometimes, at various junctures in our lives, a storm arises in our minds as well. The turbulence thus generated, causes many old ideas to exit, new ideas to usher in and an overall change in outlook. Although, a word of caution here, too much of turbulence could cause a lot of trauma & unhappiness. So, it becomes imperative to navigate the choppy waters like a seasoned sailor. 

Successful people usually use such a state of heightened mental activity to their benefit. It is during this phase that masterpieces get created, discoveries made, inventions done, innovation carried out. People with a very low level of Inertia pounce on such situations seize the moment to create magic in their fields. Although, we must bear in mind that these are very ordinary people who go on to do extraordinary feats with a little help from turbulence in their mind.

So, open up your mind and let the turbulence hit you as it might be the just the catalyst you'll need to make the next big thing. The following couplet seems apt for a conclusion:

Khuda tujhe kisi toofan se aashna kar de

ki tere beher ki maujon mein iztarab nahi

(God get you acquainted with some storm

No billow in your sea break in foam)

Hum mein hai Hero.....

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive

So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you

That’s what Mariah Carey had to say in her immortal song ‘Hero’, which used to be one of my favorite childhood songs. 

Today, my mother was telling me how my father had taken risks and challenges early in his life to provide for a better life to our family. I was instantly reminded of this song. It was then that I sat back and pondered, that you don’t really need to have superpowers to become a hero. My dad, just like any other father, had waged many battles against life’s problems and won most of them also. All of us have heard of our Dad’s trysts with fate and rightly so, they are a Hero in our eyes.

In a similar fashion, all of us are also waging battles continuously, big or small, but a battle nonetheless. Each one of us has to fight our own personal wars day-in day-out. We win some, we lose some but they just keep materializing and we have no option but to fight them out. Sometimes the enemy is a physical entity; sometimes it is intangible. Sometimes it is present in our environment surrounding us; sometimes it is present inside us in our minds & soul. This is the time when you are brought face-to-face with your deepest fears, your weaknesses. You might not like the prospect and close your eyes but its not going to go away.

That’s when the Hero inside us starts to rise, depending on the level of motivation and Inertia inside us. So, it becomes highly imperative that we nurture that Hero inside us because sometimes in our lives, the only person who can save us is ourselves only.

Some of us lost their mother/father to a disease, natural calamity or an accident at an early age.

Some of us lived in a Foreign land, away from their families, just when they needed them the most.

Some of us broke up with their life partner within the first year of marriage.

Some of us had to sit jobless after studies; some were shown the pink-slip.

Some of us left plush, comfortable jobs in turn for something of their interest.

Some of us wanted to do something in early life but due to family & financial pressure, ended up doing something totally different.

Some of us strive very hard for an exam and fail miserably and then end up feeling totally useless.

Some of us are too scared to take that leap of faith which would throw open a completely new path, an explored door-way.

The important part in all the above instances is to keep moving forward, to walk on. A hero does not need to be super-human; all of us can become an Everyday Hero. Don’t let that fire die down, don’t let that Hero inside you fade away. Build up the courage to fight, celebrate your victories and look beyond the defeats. The Supreme Power has something special planned for each one of us.

Inertia ke side effects

My conversations with my friends have become more deeper in meaning and thought provoking off lately. Our vision of the future has expanded significantly. We've started looking at the world through a different perspective altogether now. No more do we look at just the here and now, but also take the future goals and aspirations into consideration as well.

One such conversation which took place on a Saturday half working day was the catalyst for this post. As usual, I was in conversation with one of my roommates from XLRI days who lives in Bangalore now. As usual he was ruing about the job and his missed opportunities. Even after walking the face of the earth for 26 years, not being able to do something significant and true to your potential, one does tend to get frustrated. 

That was the point when, all of a sudden out of the blue, I was reminded of Newton's first law of motion. Being a science student, I must admit that I've started relating real life feelings and emotions to concepts of science. This was what i told him,

"Any body/object will keep on doing what it is doing, until an external force is applied which changes its current state."

This means that there is a natural tendency of objects to keep on doing what they're doing. All objects resist changes in their state of motion. In the absence of an unbalanced force, an object in motion will maintain this state of motion.

I didn't realize it then but in afterthought, I realized the true meaning of this statement. He was doing all his daily routine work and chores out of inertia. Why him, all of us tend to get into this inertia, even me. We become so engrossed in our day-to-day work, that we tend to forget our true potential, our true goal. Even though we might be in the field of our choice, inertia tends to take over us and make us do the same things over and over again, without challenging ourselves to do more.

I realized then, that inertia is not just a science textbook concept, its something more than that. Its actually how we live our lives, sort of a way of living. All of us face some form of inertia at regular intervals in our lifetime. Some spend more time in this state whereas some spend less. What is the differentiating factor here? The external force which the Law speaks of. Until and unless there is an external force applied, the body/object will resist any changes to its current state of rest/motion. Internal or external, whatever the case may be, but there has to be some force.

We need to break free from the routine, the inertia. We need to challenge ourselves because we are humans and we are capable of much more than what has been taught to us by our families, schools, colleges, employers, bosses, friends. We can do much more than that. We just need to liberate ourselves from the inertia that is eating into us. Inertia tends to bring in a laid-back attitude in us. At such rate, there would be no innovations, discoveries made, records broken, feats achieved. 

Achievers usually have very less inertia in them because the force required to change that is very high inside them.This is one of the reason why I am more into films like The pursuit of happyness, October Sky, Gattaca, Dark Knight series, Rocky Balboa series. This is still just an indicative list but all of them have one thing in common- Inertia. All the main protagonists in these films had very less inertia in them because they refused to accept what was given or handed over to them. They just didn't accept it. They challenged their fate, their destiny, their inertia and emerged winners in the end. They rose against all odds.

Following is a clip from Rocky Balboa which is a fantastic conversation between Rocky and his son. Its a must watch

On a parting note, I would like to draw all your attention to this audio clip from the upcoming 'Dark Knight Rises' film. 

"Deh-shay, deh-shay bah-sah-rah, bah-sah-rah," What does that mean??? 

RISE

Return to Sanitarium

Well the name speaks for itself and i'm feeling guilty of having stayed away for so long from my blogs. It has been my friend, mentor, guide etc.although, my intentions were not such. 

A lot has happened since the time I last wrote a blog. So, the time which was supposed to be dedicated to writing blogs was drowned out in other activities. There was also a time phase when i underwent writer's block as well, but it was not meant to be.

A lot has changed. New job, new location, new people, new hobbies, new friends, new emotions, new lessons learnt. The past year has brought out varied colors in my life. Probably i will not be able to describe all these feelings in this single post, however, it can give an indication of the happenings in my life. 

Here's a dedication for you, my blog, coming straight from the depths of mind & heart. Until then, the journey of self-realization continues.......

Far too long have u stayed here, O draft!
Let go of all emotions & fear, O draft!
Time has come to set yourself free,
Time to say "Let me be me".

The 10 Commandments(Modern Testament)

It was on Mount Sinai, that Moses received the sacred Ten Commandments, which acted as a road map for all mankind. I guess its time we(or lets say I) changed and modified these commandments a bit. Well heres a version which i think should apply to most of us. This is the best flowchart of methods of staying happy in our lives, which not even the best of computer programmers could have come up with.

1) Thou shalt not expect anything from anyone

    This has got to be the singularly most important commandment of all. I have already spoken in length about     this in my previous post. Don't expect and remain happy always.

2) Thou shalt not back off from thy commitments

    A commitment could be for anything; a meeting, an appointment, a goal, a target, a promise to a loved one. Just imagine a person who gave a promise and didn't fulfill it, would you believe the person next time. Well , the answer is usually no. This is especially true in cases where you are forging a new relationship. If you don't want to lose face in front your close ones, don't back off. Always stand by your word and you shall command respect from people automatically.

3) Thou shalt always respect the women in our lives

    In one's life, a person encounters many females in a variety of roles. They could be in the form of a mother, sister, friend, wife or as a daughter. Whatever form, whatever role, there should always be some form of respect and humility for this gender in one's heart. They are the ones who shape our lives and make them more colorful. They are the ones who complete us in some way or the other.

4) Thou shalt enjoy the small things in life

  We usually tend to forget that it is the smaller achievements we accomplish everyday that keeps us motivated, rather than any monetary benefits. It could be anything like learning how to tie your shoelace finally. Its a small thing but enjoying & celebrating that moment is all that this life is about. So next time, when u achieve success, make it a point to celebrate it any manner you like. This not only applies for your successes but for your family, friends etc. as well.

5) Thou shalt always keep anger at bay

    Oh well, saying this in one thing but practicing it is another. I have seen many examples of people staying unhappy because of their anger. Well we might get all the degrees possible, but very few manage to get The Anger Management degree. For anyone who wishes to stay happy, anger is the first thing you should control. Once anger sets in, rational thought takes a backseat and we dont want any bad feelings or broken relations left in the aftermath.

6) Thou shalt not complain

    Ok i agree there are some times when you just have to complain but that doesnt mean it becomes a regular affair. Always keep an open mind regarding the world and try to complain less. In this manner you would see that there is a PURPOSE behind everything.

7) Friends are the best bonds in Chemistry, Biology and Life

    All of us have friends with whom we can share just about anything. There are friends whom we can abuse and fight with the most, but yet they are closest to the heart. These friends add fun and spice to an otherwise mundane life of ours, so keep your friends close to you for a life enjoyably spent.

8) Thou shalt cherish thy heart's yearnings

    Do what your heart wants, what your innermost desires are. Do them before they turn into a burden and a source of sadness for you. Life is quite(actually too) short, so its better to finish off what we like to do, rather than spend our lives trying to do what we dont like. One life, live it, love it.

9) Thou shalt never forget How to smile.

    Smile- the most inexpensive medicine for healthy living, the best method of attaining peace between conflicting minds, souls and thoughts. Well the list of uses and advantages of a Smile is endless. All it takes is just showing your teeth. So start today itself.

Well here we come to the last commandment.......

10) Thou shalt promise to abide by the above mentioned commandments :):):)

I'll be there for you......

Yup its the famous refrain from the hit sitcom 'Friends'. As you must have already figured it out, I'm going to talk about friends and this strange bond called 'friendship'. Today, in the evening i had a chat with one of my room mates from my days in XLRI. I must say that the marketing prof once confessed that he was supposed to be the brightest guys in the class. Well anyways, he was telling me about some differences which had come between him and another one of my room mates(who happens to be another good friend of mine)......AGAIN !!! This has  been an on-off thing for these fellows and they must have had quarrels umpteen number of times. However, it made me realize about my own journey all these years. 

Since childhood, all i can remember is our luggage being packed up for yet another of our house shifting or, in some cases, inter-state transfers. Our family has always shifted from house to house, city to city. Learning new languages, meeting new people, thats been regular fare for me. Well, its not that i'm complaining but still what more can you expect from a child so small. In all these years of transfers, i made friendship with many people of different types. Now the scenario is such that half of my friends don't remember me. Some faded away from my memory, some forgot me, some failed to recognize me, some said "aren't you the one who.....", some still remain loyal, some still keep contact in whatever method possible, some never lose an opportunity to pull my leg, i never lose an opportunity to pull the legs of some. Whatever be the reasons, conditions or circumstances, these are the people who have a share in shaping me what i am today. 

All these people are different from each other, no one is similar(naturally). So according to my previous post, i cannot EXPECT them to act in a particular manner. Expectations are the root cause for all our emotional outbursts. I must also confess that i just love the spontaneity of my friends, it adds spice to your life and makes everything unpredictable. Here's the best way to beat stress after a hectic day- pick up the phone and dial a number from your phone list (excluding the office numbers, of course..lols). I should give credit to the person (again, a new friend) from whose blog i got this idea. It looks very simple but believe me its best method around to act as a stress buster.  Try it out yourself and see the results. So you can say i that my cure for headaches is right there in my pockets ---inside my cellphone :):):) 

This blog acts as an ode to all of my friends out there. Thanks for being there for me and atleast remembering me. It has been a wonderful journey so far and hope that all of you will be there with me for the remainder of the journey. And to the new ones, all i can say is that let nothing come between friendship. To end this post, i would like to share with you a short video. Its from a tv series called 'The Wonder Years' which i used to watch when i was very small. 

A Toast to friendship 

“Even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends.”

Are you expecting ?

Well the world of blogging beckons again and try as i may, i cannot stay away from it for too long. By now i guess all of you must be thinking what on earth am i doing talking of expecting. I'm sure the pic on the left must have made matters even more mysterious :):) No need to worry, i am not gonna dwell on topics related to birth and children but i was actually referring to something else. I was once again reminded of one of the lectures of Father George who taught us Business Ethics @ XL. I admit his classes did get boring & sleep inducing sometimes, but some of his lectures had my undivided attention throughout. One of those lectures was about- expectations. The mere mention of this word brings back memories of our childhood when our parents would keep scolding us to get good scores in our exams. Hey, why childhood, this thing continues till date for many of my friends(for me it has reduced very slightly :) ) Yes those innumerable times we have cried and have been given a good thrashing by our parents for our poor performance. Those were routine stuff for kids like us.

Now just extend this idea a bit and you realize that the concept of expectation can be applied to almost anything. We can have expectations as a son, student, teacher, father, brother, sister, daughter, lover, principal, employee, employer and the list goes on. Any relation which has an impact on you, which is close to your heart or which is related to you financially will always have expectations attached to it.

All of us remember the recent bollywood hit 3 IDIOTS. There are numerous examples of expectations not being met and the students taking extreme measures to cope up with the pressure. Raju rastogi jumpiong off the 3rd floor office or Joy Lobo committing suicide due to pressures of the principal. These are some of the disastrous consequences of expecting too much out of people.

The problem arises when the emotions attached to these expectations start to get the better of us. We expect and hence we become sad, gloomy, frustrated, angry, anxious. These are the negative emotions but there are positive emotions also attached to expectations. So you see we are happy or sad depending on our personal fulfillment of our expectations. Just imagine if only we could remove all expectations, how simple and carefree our lives would be. I'm so thankful to Fr George for giving me this lesson which i shall always carry with me throughout my life.

So on a concluding note i would just like to quote Marilu Henner - "Being in control of your life and having realistic expectations about your day-to-day challenges are the keys to stress management, which is perhaps the most important ingredient to living a happy, healthy and rewarding life."