four years of college...
seemed like an eternity when we started out,
they ended in a flash
with a blink of an eye the moments passed
just a few days ago i had moved into a new city
from a remote village you couldn't point on a map
to the capital of the country
it was a huge leap but i made the gap
instead of being overwhelmed
i've made it my home.
i've found friendship
i've found love
i've found memories to fill an album
the memories are so fresh today
they will fade away with time
what will remain
is the euphoria they leave behind
i don't know where i'll go from here
what i have to do in life
i don't know if it'll be a breeze
or if i'll have to strive
i know just that the time i spent
and the moments i lived through
were meant for me as much as you
i loved, i lost, i cried and i fought
its was all worthwhile...
it was everything i sought
Thursday, May 31, 2007
more sher-o-shayari
mulaquat ke raaste nazar nahi aate
par vasl ka armaan sajaye baithe hai.N
mudh kar hamain delhte bhi nahi wo
ham hi unse dil lagaye baithe hai.N
[vasl: meeting]
sochte the dil-e-ranjish chupana hamein hi ada hua hai
lekin shayar-e-sanam tujhe kya hua hai
wo ehsaas jo hamne kabhi bayaan na kiya the
unhe tune har nazm main rachaya hua hai
par vasl ka armaan sajaye baithe hai.N
mudh kar hamain delhte bhi nahi wo
ham hi unse dil lagaye baithe hai.N
[vasl: meeting]
sochte the dil-e-ranjish chupana hamein hi ada hua hai
lekin shayar-e-sanam tujhe kya hua hai
wo ehsaas jo hamne kabhi bayaan na kiya the
unhe tune har nazm main rachaya hua hai
Friday, April 27, 2007
Pray a little...
Excerpt from “It’s not about the bike” by Lance Armstrong, page 116.
I asked myself what I believed. I had never prayed a lot. I hoped a lot, I wished a lot, but I didn’t pray. I had developed a certain distrust for organized religion growing up, but I felt I had the capacity to be a spiritual person, and to hold some fervent beliefs. Quite simply, I believed I had a responsibility to be a good person, and that I meant fair, honest, hardworking, and honorable. If I did that, if I was good to my family, true to my friends, if I gave back to my community or to some cause, if I wasn’t a liar, a cheat, or a thief, then I believed that should be enough. At the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I’d been baptized. If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hoped he didn’t say, “But you were never a Christian, so you’re going the other way from heaven.” If so I was going to reply, “You know what? You’re right. Fine.”
In one paragraph this man has summed up the entire philosophy of a large number of people in this world. A lot of people question the benchmark against which it will be decided whether they should go to heaven or hell. A lot of people don’t care about heaven or hell! “You’ll be dead, how does it matter?”
In a nutshell, the one thing in common between all religions is that, if you do good to people you earn plus points. If you do bad, you earn negative points. In the end you need to have a positive balance. That easy enough to understand. What I don’t understand is how these same religions preach that by performing certain rituals you can undo all the bad you have done in life. How can you take back the harm you have inflicted on others by a ceremony? If there is a God that you need to please, and God is everything they say He is, then does performing these rituals to the letter get you off the hook? Isn’t it a bit like saying, I’ve been making a lot of withdrawals on my bank account these days. Let me do something to increase my balance. Then I can go about withdrawing money. That’s because the bank rule says that you need to have a certain minimum balance in the account.
Is that how life works? Like a bank account? Why do we need a group of priests scaring us into doing good? What happens to the people who go about doing horrid things and then at the end of the day just pray to absolve themselves of their sins and then repeat the cycle all over again? Why do good people need to be felt guilty about not praying?
I’ve taken to praying to God for awhile now. I believe in God because I’ve been blessed in so many ways that plain coincidence or luck just doesn’t cover it. I pray to God to thank Him for everything He has done for me not because it will ensure a place in Heaven for me.
I asked myself what I believed. I had never prayed a lot. I hoped a lot, I wished a lot, but I didn’t pray. I had developed a certain distrust for organized religion growing up, but I felt I had the capacity to be a spiritual person, and to hold some fervent beliefs. Quite simply, I believed I had a responsibility to be a good person, and that I meant fair, honest, hardworking, and honorable. If I did that, if I was good to my family, true to my friends, if I gave back to my community or to some cause, if I wasn’t a liar, a cheat, or a thief, then I believed that should be enough. At the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I’d been baptized. If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hoped he didn’t say, “But you were never a Christian, so you’re going the other way from heaven.” If so I was going to reply, “You know what? You’re right. Fine.”
In one paragraph this man has summed up the entire philosophy of a large number of people in this world. A lot of people question the benchmark against which it will be decided whether they should go to heaven or hell. A lot of people don’t care about heaven or hell! “You’ll be dead, how does it matter?”
In a nutshell, the one thing in common between all religions is that, if you do good to people you earn plus points. If you do bad, you earn negative points. In the end you need to have a positive balance. That easy enough to understand. What I don’t understand is how these same religions preach that by performing certain rituals you can undo all the bad you have done in life. How can you take back the harm you have inflicted on others by a ceremony? If there is a God that you need to please, and God is everything they say He is, then does performing these rituals to the letter get you off the hook? Isn’t it a bit like saying, I’ve been making a lot of withdrawals on my bank account these days. Let me do something to increase my balance. Then I can go about withdrawing money. That’s because the bank rule says that you need to have a certain minimum balance in the account.
Is that how life works? Like a bank account? Why do we need a group of priests scaring us into doing good? What happens to the people who go about doing horrid things and then at the end of the day just pray to absolve themselves of their sins and then repeat the cycle all over again? Why do good people need to be felt guilty about not praying?
I’ve taken to praying to God for awhile now. I believe in God because I’ve been blessed in so many ways that plain coincidence or luck just doesn’t cover it. I pray to God to thank Him for everything He has done for me not because it will ensure a place in Heaven for me.
I’m sure that if the entire concept of God and Heaven and Hell were taken away, people would still do good for society, that kindness will still persist. But then I guess all of it does have its utility. It might be the only thing keeping a lot of people in check. It might also be the reason why a lot of people turn good.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
why should i?
It was my turn to get the car in our carpool. I was waiting outside to pick up my friend. He was late so he called me in. He went to get ready while I sat and chatted with his mother. She’s a pleasant lady, like all mothers, lovable and adorable. She was quick to list out why she thought her son was such a slob. Then she relented saying that all guys are like that. Girls are much better at helping around the house, she said.
In the car I told my friend what his mother said about him. He said what his mother had already told me, “Everyone is like that”.
That brings me to the larger question. Why do we always say that? “Everyone is a slob at home, so what’s the big deal if I am too?” or “Why should I work to score high when 50% qualifies you to the next level?” or at work “Why should I work hard if the boss’s pet gets promoted? “All these are the manifestations of the same thing. Why is it that we don’t want to work hard? Part of the answer lies in the fact that some people are just plain lazy. They are only looking for endorsements for their basic philosophy “work only as hard as you need to get by”. You can’t do much for such people except feeling glad that they are at least doing what they need to do to get by. Beyond that, you’d be surprised to find how many talented people with potential get disheartened from working hard. They are not lazy. They just give up after sometime. “What’s the point?” they say. We all go through such a phase. We want to do something but we realize that our efforts are not paying off. Why should we go on then?
They say the corporate world is full of cut throat competition. You work hard on a project, someone else takes the credit. You perform consistently but someone else gets the promotion. What do you do in such a juncture? Should you continue giving it your best shot, to the best of your capability? What’s the point?
The point is ‘you’. You work hard for ‘you’. You give it your best shot for ‘you’. What you learn from your experience is yours alone. Nobody can take that away from you. Working to the best of your potential is also working to your satisfaction. People run around looking for satisfaction and don’t find it. I guess they are too busy looking for it to work hard to achieve it.
In the car I told my friend what his mother said about him. He said what his mother had already told me, “Everyone is like that”.
That brings me to the larger question. Why do we always say that? “Everyone is a slob at home, so what’s the big deal if I am too?” or “Why should I work to score high when 50% qualifies you to the next level?” or at work “Why should I work hard if the boss’s pet gets promoted? “All these are the manifestations of the same thing. Why is it that we don’t want to work hard? Part of the answer lies in the fact that some people are just plain lazy. They are only looking for endorsements for their basic philosophy “work only as hard as you need to get by”. You can’t do much for such people except feeling glad that they are at least doing what they need to do to get by. Beyond that, you’d be surprised to find how many talented people with potential get disheartened from working hard. They are not lazy. They just give up after sometime. “What’s the point?” they say. We all go through such a phase. We want to do something but we realize that our efforts are not paying off. Why should we go on then?
They say the corporate world is full of cut throat competition. You work hard on a project, someone else takes the credit. You perform consistently but someone else gets the promotion. What do you do in such a juncture? Should you continue giving it your best shot, to the best of your capability? What’s the point?
The point is ‘you’. You work hard for ‘you’. You give it your best shot for ‘you’. What you learn from your experience is yours alone. Nobody can take that away from you. Working to the best of your potential is also working to your satisfaction. People run around looking for satisfaction and don’t find it. I guess they are too busy looking for it to work hard to achieve it.
another rhyme
if you only knew what i was going through
you'd realise why the skies are blue
its not about the money, the fame or fortune
its about failing at something you really wanted to do
you'd realise why the skies are blue
its not about the money, the fame or fortune
its about failing at something you really wanted to do
life and human values
What sets us apart as a species is our intriguing curiosity. It is this curiosity which has developed us and made us so different from all the other species on earth. We lead our entire lives wondering and searching for answers. We hope to find it before we die. Find what you ask? Something that will help us understand life and our purpose here.
Biologists state that the purpose of life of every species is to reproduce and give birth to their young in order to propagate their kind. You are born, you grow up, you give birth and then you die. You’ve achieved your purpose in life. But does it hold true for humans too? I haven’t yet met a person whose aim is to give birth to a child. It is a part of life yes, but not the goal one’s entire life is headed toward.
What is life then? Why does it matter so much to us? What is the value of our life? And what do we mean by human values?
Twice in one’s life a person turns philosophical. Once when you are an adolescent and next when you turn past your prime. Once when your life is ahead of you and the other when you feel you’ve lived your life. Both these times you are scared. Either wondering what your life will be like or wondering whether you lived it right.
Having gone through those adolescent years recently, I empathize with those going through it now. I know what they are going through. I wish them well and leave them to their own devices. Why? Because that’s the best way of finding your own answers. It is every man’s quest. It’s a journey best made alone. Not until you experience it yourself can you understand the answers of the questions you seek. That is the philosophy of student-teacher relationship. Teacher epitomizes someone who has experienced life and its contradictions, someone who knows the answers. The student signifies the one looking for answers, for he does not understand what he sees or seeks in this world. But the teacher does not give the answers to the student. He sets tasks for the student to perform instead, because he understands that not until the student has gone through hardship and pitfalls will the student understand the meaning he seeks.
Indian philosophy states that it is the purpose of every human to find their ideal guru and for the guru to find their ideal disciple. I differ from this aspect of this philosophy. I say that every person lives their life in a dual role. At any given time they are both a guru and a disciple. As a disciple, a person seeks answers from those more experienced than them. As a guru they provide answers to those who haven’t experienced as much as they have. There is no one constant guru for everyone. At every stage of their lives people seek out different gurus. They learn from them and move ahead. Today I admire someone for their grit and determination. I learn from that person, he becomes my guru. I inculcate his virtues and move on. I in turn inspire another person with my virtues. But my guru remains my guru.
That is the purpose of our lives. To seek out virtues, to admire those that have them, to influence those that don’t. That is why our lives are important. We enrich lives around us and are enriched in turn. Every person sets out in their life in search of answers and finds them in the values of other humans. Such is the power of human values.
Biologists state that the purpose of life of every species is to reproduce and give birth to their young in order to propagate their kind. You are born, you grow up, you give birth and then you die. You’ve achieved your purpose in life. But does it hold true for humans too? I haven’t yet met a person whose aim is to give birth to a child. It is a part of life yes, but not the goal one’s entire life is headed toward.
What is life then? Why does it matter so much to us? What is the value of our life? And what do we mean by human values?
Twice in one’s life a person turns philosophical. Once when you are an adolescent and next when you turn past your prime. Once when your life is ahead of you and the other when you feel you’ve lived your life. Both these times you are scared. Either wondering what your life will be like or wondering whether you lived it right.
Having gone through those adolescent years recently, I empathize with those going through it now. I know what they are going through. I wish them well and leave them to their own devices. Why? Because that’s the best way of finding your own answers. It is every man’s quest. It’s a journey best made alone. Not until you experience it yourself can you understand the answers of the questions you seek. That is the philosophy of student-teacher relationship. Teacher epitomizes someone who has experienced life and its contradictions, someone who knows the answers. The student signifies the one looking for answers, for he does not understand what he sees or seeks in this world. But the teacher does not give the answers to the student. He sets tasks for the student to perform instead, because he understands that not until the student has gone through hardship and pitfalls will the student understand the meaning he seeks.
Indian philosophy states that it is the purpose of every human to find their ideal guru and for the guru to find their ideal disciple. I differ from this aspect of this philosophy. I say that every person lives their life in a dual role. At any given time they are both a guru and a disciple. As a disciple, a person seeks answers from those more experienced than them. As a guru they provide answers to those who haven’t experienced as much as they have. There is no one constant guru for everyone. At every stage of their lives people seek out different gurus. They learn from them and move ahead. Today I admire someone for their grit and determination. I learn from that person, he becomes my guru. I inculcate his virtues and move on. I in turn inspire another person with my virtues. But my guru remains my guru.
That is the purpose of our lives. To seek out virtues, to admire those that have them, to influence those that don’t. That is why our lives are important. We enrich lives around us and are enriched in turn. Every person sets out in their life in search of answers and finds them in the values of other humans. Such is the power of human values.
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