Sometimes, I find myself drowned in flood of emotions and if I don’t pen it down quickly, my head will burst for it can’t hold so much of information. It’s like hundreds of thousands of volts of current passing through the brain cells. It doesn’t matter if you read it. It doesn’t matter if I publish it. Akin to Pensieve it’s for me, where I pluck segment of my memory and preserve it, may be to review years later if it was worth all the pain and efforts.
It’s a small world we live in. An event, no matter how small, triggers a ripple effect chaining to a myriad of things. The consequence? It takes into effect slowly, like a big monster, swallowing most important things around us. Who is at fault? Probably we don’t know for sure. The event might have happened in a different timeline, with us not being aware. We lose the sight of right and wrong, questioning our ability of judgement. And in such times, the greatest question to us is, “How do we react?”.
Thoughts are powerful things, being driven by such events. And then there are people who think that it’s just a piece of writing.
Alcohol, it starts with a strong no-no and slowly intoxicates you without even realizing. You keep on taking it because you like it and one fine day, your liver stops functioning well. You know what the funny thing is? You don’t blame the alcohol. You feel unfortunate for liver not being strong enough. I guess have been like patient lately whose liver is damaged slowly by drinking you every evening and night. You took me down with your sweet intoxicating voice. I don’t care about liver anymore. All I want is one more bottle of intoxication.
ख़ामोशी से क़त्ल करना कोई आपसे सीखे,
ये शाम तो यूँ ही बदनाम है,
आपकी आँखों से पिए जाम का नशा उतारे नहीं उतरता,
कम्बख्त ये शराब तो यूँ ही बदनाम है।
I never ceased to marvel at the astounding beauty of the nature. Of all the wonders in the world, night sky intrigues me the most, for it obscures the path I walk on, yet it shows me the reason to do so. That’s life, isn’t it?
Stars and milky way have fascinated me since I gazed the sky the first time. As a child, I always fantasized about far away untouched lands, bright night skies and galaxies millions of light years away. The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart. Night skies, as dark and gloomy as they may sound, reminds me of the pleasing childhood routine to lie down on the roof and gaze the stars, slowly drifting in space at the peak of night until I fell asleep. The time when gadgets were less and skies used to be darker. I must say I found that curious child in me again in these cold dark winter nights.
It was a lazy noon in summer, the time of the year when the sun is brightest, throwing its fire and burning every skin its rays fall upon. Good books are great companions. They don’t bore you. They are selfless. They entertain you, enlighten you and in return, they don’t ask for sacrifices. The reader opened a chapter from his favorite book and started reading quietly.
Time doesn’t wait for a person or an event to occur. Few things, fortunately for us, are timeless. Months had bled away since their last meeting. They stumbled upon each other again over coffee, probably for one last time. It was like old times, except something had changed with time. She had blossomed into a prettier and smarter woman. Her exuberance and flamboyance was storming him like hell. The new life had definitely done a remarkable work on her. She was never happier before.
Their deep meaningful talks were always very engrossing. It was an addiction. Once you’re deep inside, it’s hard to get out. But this time, it soon took a different, more interesting turn.
“So, how’s life? Did you get a new girlfriend? When are you getting married?”, she bombarded him with questions.
“Either I’m the most damaged and screwed up soul in the world or I’ve kept my doors tightly closed.”, he chuckled.
“You know it sounds almost impossible to hear statement like this from a person of your stature”, she said in a soft voice.
“Sometimes, I wonder how two persons end up living with one another the whole life without being bored”, he changed the topic swiftly like a traffic signal.
“Why so?”, she asked in wonder.
“You see human psychology is weird and all messed up. People usually get bored of things sooner or later. It is difficult to stick to one thing for long.”
“May be not if you get along with the right person. What kind of girl you’re looking for?”, she leaned forward.
“Well, I haven’t given a deep thought on this yet. But I think I am more inclined towards artistic things. Art fascinates me, for it doesn’t lie. It requires compassion, and patience. As you rightly said, choosing a life partner is the greatest risk one can take in life. It’s a lifelong bond of love, care and respect. I would like to end up with a girl who understands art or at least respects it.
“Well, here is the funny thing. The only such girl I know of is YOU.”, he said and tried to peek into her eyes. Some answers can’t be said in words.
The reader turned the page in haste as if it was a matter of life and death.
There was weird grave silence. She didn’t know what to say. If only god had designed heartbeats to be more throbbing, he could have probably known what was going on.
More than anything, the reader wished to have this exact conversation with the girl he strongly believes to be his potential better half. The only question was, was such a moment gonna happen in his life?
Farewell! Until we meet again.
Success is a subjective term. I believe every step you take towards reaching your goal, is success. Once you reach a goal, you set a bigger goal. That’s the way life is.
Here are few things that work for me:
Ask any wo/man who has succeeded in life and s/he will tell you that one of the most important ingredient was sharp focus. Distractions are anti-catalysts in the journey of success. Study says that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on track after a distraction. A lot of context switches while you are doing something important , affects productivity. Put your phone on silent and try not to look at phone for notifications. Avoid using social media while you are at work. The best solution is to make a habit of checking notifications or messages twice a day.
In the life of every person, there is someone who (s)he looks up to. It is the human psychology. We tend to choose a hero whom we appreciate. Why? The reason is obvious. Sometimes, we love the way our hero lives. Sometimes, it is his popularity. Sometimes, it is just because his dreams were what ours is now. He kept on improving each day, each week until one morning he became what he always wanted. And we start seeing the perfect version of ourselves in him. Each time we come across his story and picture, our inner self echoes, “Yes, this is who I would like to be one day”. But just choosing a hero is sufficient? No. The detailed reason is here: Choose your hero, but…
Big goals can sometimes be frustrating and frightening. Break them down into smaller steps and work towards them. Not only it will help you with better planning, it will also change your psychology that it is do-able. For example, instead of setting a goal to reduce 50 pounds in a year, strive for 4 pounds a month. Or better, a pound per week.
Be in company of positive minded people. It has been said that you are the average of five people you spend most time with. To succeed, your mind needs to be full of positive vibes.
After failing thousand times, Thomas Edison said, “I didn’t fail. I know thousand ways in which a bulb can’t be made”.
Success is a journey where you just have to be right once. It’s a long process and it requires patience, perseverance, sharp focus and dedication.
It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. Make a mistake once, and it becomes a lesson. Make the same mistake twice, and it becomes a choice.
Last night I was watching a movie on the life of dancer. Her mentor asked her, “Tell me, why do you dance?” The answer was important for her success, simply because it defined her passion. She had the passion of a bullet. Passion keeps you going no matter how difficult the path is.
Being in touch with great mentors helps to streamline your vision and get guidance in right direction. I was fortunate to have mentors like Sandeep (GFG Founder), Venki (GFG moderator) and Narasimha Karumanchi, especially Venki with whom I used to discuss technical problems for hours.
If you like this, you might my other posts in Hack your life Archives
A small change in the past and Kaboom! The resulting ripple effects rewrite the whole timeline. Every decision we make results into a different possible future. The detail can be as tiny as answering a phone call or taking a left instead of right while walking on the pavement.
While returning through a door between universes, the ice on the surface broke, drowning Dr Walter and Peter from the alternate universe. September pulled them out of cold water. That day Peter caught a firefly. Well, September couldn’t possibly have predicted the event. It was irrelevant in the course of timeline. When Peter caught the firefly, a girl 3 miles away lost herself into a nearby jungle because she wanted to show her dad how beautiful fireflies were. She didn’t come home on time and her father was worried. He took his truck in the incessant rain looking out for her. At the traffic signal, his truck skidded out on the wet road killing a pedestrian. The world lost one of the best music band that night because the pianist lost the purpose to live after his only son was erased from the face of earth.
I just finished watching Fringe and the only thing oscillating in my mind is John Noble, John Noble, John Noble. The brilliance he put in the Walter Bishop character is fascinating and mind blowing. The craziness of losing mind in St. Claire’s Hospital, ruthless scientist doing experiments and playing god, eternal bond between father and a son, his taste buds craving for delicacies of food, his fear of what he was becoming and the length he went to save his son, his score in every mood is just perfect.
Emotion is as important as intelligence. Though Fringe seems to be more about weird events happening all around, I feel, in its very core, it depicts a very emotional relationship between a father and his son. How a father crossed the universe to save a boy who wasn’t his. After all, love conquers all.
Two tech freak scientists, sharing the same lab and experimenting drugs on children to untap hidden potential of mankind, one ends up in a mental hospital. While the other goes on to become the richest person on the planet. In William Bell’s words:
A good TV series is one which is intriguing with tight story keeping you hooked up right from the beginning till it ends. I loved how they showed futuristic people visiting in important time in history in bits and pieces and then in one episode, they capture everything. Each detail starts to make sense as the series progresses. It is an assorted union of Love, Romance, Sci-fi, Thriller, Strong acting and Lovable characters.
Fringe has reminded me again that Technology can be catastrophic in wrong hands. And even the ones who hold greatest power look for a sign from God. Walter longed for a white tulip, which he believed would be a sign from God that he has forgiven him for breaking the universe and playing God.
It was sad to see Walter leave in the future and his prints being erased from the timeline. But as he said, he cheated fate to be with his son and he had to do this for the future of his son and his grand daughter.
While I am writing this, my heart throbs in the hope that somewhere in the alternate universe, Abrams is writing new episodes and a version of me is watching them peacefully eating popcorn.
It was a lazy evening. I had Quora opened on my cellphone, Fringe on my big monitor and an article about Elon Musk on laptop. Something was not right. A cold feeling of void was crawling inside me. With Valentine’s Day shy of less than 2 weeks and seeing happy couples all around, I was thinking all over again. If you are wondering, let me unveil that it wasn’t the first time.
It might sound weird. But I ain’t quite fond of very big changes in life. I very well remember an incident from my childhood. I was at my dad’s clinic in late noon and my eyes fell on an envelope lying on the desk. Out of curiosity, I pulled it quietly and tore open. There was a letter inside, with my name from a school I never heard of. And followed the details of all the facilities and academics which were not of my interest. My eyes grew wide in fear. I didn’t want to leave home. You see, it was a big change for me. And I didn’t like it. Albeit I have grown to be an adult, my fear has not gone away.
I think this is the exact reason why I stayed at Microsoft for this long. Yes, the culture, work life balance, people, familiar faces, all are valid reasons. But for me, it’s that big change I want to avoid.
Arrange marriage scares me to hell. Marriage itself is a big change. But if you get to marry someone you know for relatively longer time, it’s kinda comforting. Afraid to say, I am running out of time set by my mom to find a girl of my choice. And that is worrisome. I always thought that this is not a great deal. I must say, I underestimated it deeply.
Will I ever learn to embrace big change with open arms? Let time be the judge of that. Till then, Happy Valentine’s Day!
क्या बताऊँ उसके बारे में,
उसे देखता हूँ तो लगता है जैसे पूरी क़ायनात मुस्कुरा उठी हो,
जैसे ठंडी वसंती फ़िज़ा बहने लगी हो,
जैसी सारी समस्याएं काफूर हो गई हो,
क्या बताऊँ उसके बारे में,
उससे बातें करता हूँ तो वक़्त थम जाता है,
होश खो सा जाता है,
क्या बताऊँ उसके बारे में,
जब वो हसती है तोः खुद को भूल जाता हूँ,
क्या बताऊँ उसके बारे में,
लफ्ज़ कम पड़ जायेंगे,
वक़्त कम पड़ जायेगा।