Wake Up Call.. Its Now or Never..

     When was the last time we had seen a young 20 year old wave a poster with some harsh words against system and shout, I want justice, wearing a determined look and anger showing rage in his eyes. Not in a period film but in real life? Are we with any answer? Yes it was, to support Anna Hazare in India Against Corruption movement. But seeing the scenario again, even worst of all conditions, the situation through which the women across our country are going, whatever they are feeling, how they are being treated, aren’t we supposed to stand with a cause again?

       This time in my opinion the cause is more serious, more personal and more humaninitic. Why some people are so unhuman, why they are unable to control their libido and end up harassing a girl forcibly. The recent incident with a 23 year old girl in delhi has again raised a number of eyebrows. When the anti-human activities like this are seeing no end then why we are not coming with a perfect solution to it? Why there has been only one practical death sentence for a rapist (Dhananjay Chatarjee)? When the number of rape cases are increasing every year, especially in our capital city Delhi, where statistics say every third day a girl suffers physical molestation. Leave the eve-teasing and the verbal harassment she undergoes. Why our society takes women just as an object? Why some people just objectify women? Is there any fault in upbringings or the system is making the approach of people towards women like this.

       Amid widespread outrages over the barbaric incidents of molestations of girls over the period, our law system is yet to come with any immediate and proper sentence for culprits. Every time a incident like this occurs, we are made silent by these words of Govt., “This is a shocking incident and we will take all necessary action to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future. At the same time we need to have deterrent punishment to the perpetrators of such crime against women”. Even if the guilty or such beasts are caught, the case goes on forever like others, and names are lost as time passes. If we really want to put an end to the numbers of these unhuman acts, we need to come up with provision of immediate action against the guilty. The low rate of conviction of IPC crimes like rape and molestation, slow trials in such cases, lack of immediate relief and rehabilitation and complete lack of seriousness by the government to deal with policy and legislation confronting women has led to a heightened sense of vulnerability among all sections of women. In my opinion death sentence in public can be better of all options, rather than cooling down the sentiments of people, it will prove to be worthy as many can take lessons from it as the deviants are not afraid of consequence as it comes too little too late.

     Time has come to make people feel a lump in their throat by seeing a massive crowd of youth, the facebook and twitter generation ones moving on roads with slogans in their hands and shouting loudly for the justice to the women, who suffer every another day in every another way. We should be one standing vigil in sun and rains with madness unleashed for this cause & coming forward at all fronts all together even if we don’t know many faces in crowd personally. There might be pros and cons to this movement but believe me, it will work like anything. Participation of youth has always been a biggest of all factors for success of every movement and this time also if campaign is initiated by our generation, the consequence will be swift and progressive. Just think, how many of us can put a hand on heart and say we don’t care about this?? If I am correct, no hand will raise.

     It’s a wake up call. Late but still timely to react. Either react on this to bring and feel the change or just wait and watch to see another headline in newspaper, “girl got raped”.

What "Rio" Teaches us..

The movie Rio is about a macaw parrot Blu, the last male of his species, who was needed to be taken to Rio, so that he can mate with a female, Jewel, to preserve the species. Blu has been domesticated for 15 years and its effect is that he does not know how to fly. Most of his life he lived inside the store of his owner Linda. His inability to fly becomes his biggest problem when he was set loose in Rio.

A parrot that cannot fly is a funny sight indeed. Or is it?

    

Blu was made to fly, that is his very "birdiness". But domestication has stripped him of this ability. He has become less of a bird that he was meant to be. This handicapped have limited not only him but his world. While the birds were flying outside, he was stuck inside the bookstore. 

       On a side note, the bookstore was a good symbol of much of our lives. We have a lot of head knowledge and little experience on realities of life.

       Many of us are like Blu, domesticated. We have attached our lives, ourselves to pleasure and convenience that we abhor the practice of virtues. We have become spiritually slothful. We have stopped exercising the wings of our soul. We have become lazy in building our character.  Our main objective in life is to have a fun and easy life, and the hell with the rest.

      Like Blu, we have chosen to become less than who we truly are. In our laziness, we have compromised the greatness God destined us for mediocrity. “Too much effort” is too much effort for the many of us. Why be virtuous? Why strive for greatness when you can have fun? Why risk it when I can be safe in my own little world? 

 Why indeed?

      If you like to stay grounded instead of soaring, then choose mediocrity. Stay trapped in your own little world, your little cage. But if one wants to soar in life and live life to the full, one must remember who one is. We must remember that we are children of God. As birds are created to fly, we are created to be saints.

So how did Blu learned to fly?

He did when he forgot his fears, his self, his very life. 

      When Jewel fell from the plane with a broken wing, Blu jumped after her even though he did not knew how to fly. You can say that love pushed him off the plane and into Jewel. It is in this act of love that Blu learned to fly. It is true with us bipeds as well. Only love can make us fully human. When we forget ourselves and give it to others, we shall find our true humanity. Our life can only soar with the wings of love. To stay selfish is too stay stuck and grounded.

       Love as we can see demands risk and sacrifice. Blu took a risk of sacrificing his life to save Jewel. Love is not something that happens in our heads. It is very real, so real that you can touch it, like the cross of Christ. Love without action is not love, it is a silly imagination.

So let the parrot lead you in soaring in life. The high life God has called and made us for.

So start spreading those wings and go love and help those who need you.

Live Life Your Own Way...

Do you constantly try to prove to others that you are “good enough?”

We must admit that most of our actions are motivated to win the acceptance and admiration of our peers. There is something about pleasing people that pleases us.

Most of the time, it is our personal insecurities that cause this “I need to be good enough for you” mentality. One psychologist said that to even entertain this “I need to be good enough” debate in your head is already a choice to go to the path of unhappiness. For you will never be good enough in your mind. You will always find something that you need to be “good enough” to please others.

To live in the mercy of other’s approval and acceptance is like building your life on shifting sands. People’s opinions are fickle. They love you today and then hate you tomorrow. We can see this with movie stars and music artist. Here today and gone tomorrow. Putting the direction of your life at other’s hands is to miss out your own life.

We need to learn to accept ourselves. Even those things we do not like in ourselves. Accepting does not mean liking what you see, but accepting that they are real. If you have a bad temper, you do not need to like your bad temper. But you must accept that you have one!

Only when we accept ourselves for who we really are can we start to grow. We must accept our strengths and also our weakness, the good and the bad in us. Only when we can look at ourselves objectively can we start changing those aspects of our lives that need improvements.

We must first win the approval of ourselves. I approve of me! Yes I approve of me because God approves of me. If God did not approve of me, I would not even be here.

If you want to win the approval of others, win the approval of the God first. God approves of your creation, but do you think He approves on how you are living your life right now?

But why do we want God’s approval on our lives?

Because we want joy!

Happiness can only be found when we are in line with God’s plan for our lives.

Extract the real YOU.

Is Life Living in You?

Life for some is just a series of daily routines. For others, it is seeking one thrill to the next. And there are those who just want to have fun in life like there is no tomorrow. Unfortunately, if you live life like them, you will find yourself drained in the end. Weariness and the fading of your intoxicating emotions will soon over take you. You will either give up out of fatigue, or seek another emotional high like an addict (and the vicious cycle continues.) And it all leads to one place, emptiness.

Like someone said  “We worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing.”

As much as we want to liven up our lives, our efforts will always be short-lived, for even we are short-lived. Everything is passing in this world, including us. So every attempt to create our own happiness, our own life, apart from God, will always end in vain.

So how do we live? I mean really live?

For any creature to live, it needs LIFE. Otherwise it is just a nomadic, walking around aimlessly as life passes by.

Natural life is temporal and soon dies. So we need a life that is beyond natural, we need supernatural life. Supernatural life is always dynamic, it never tires nor bores. Most importantly it never gets empty.

Like  whosoever drinks water will never get thirst. Indeed, the water in him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

So where do we find this supernatural life? The life that lives…

We shall not find it “where”, but with “Whom.”

With Ourselves.. Only task to be done is to identify.. or to extract the real “me” in “I”.

 Only we can live up to our lives. Only we can give us supernatural joy and peace, and ultimate meaning for our existence. To have the real we live in us is to have all of them (peace joy and way of living).

Only we can lift our natural life to supernatural, our temporal life to eternal. Anything else will fall short. Anything else will pass away. But the real problem is not solved until we do not believe in ourselves.

If our thinking dwells in us, we have the same dynamic power that created the universe living in us. Just imagine that!

You have not known what life is until you have known yourself.

So don’t waste it.

Come to Yourself.

Compatible with caution…..

                   

    I have been thinking of having a girlfriend for some time now. The last few months have been precise. But there is one single word that pops up whenever I evaluate my romantic chances, "compatibility". How does one know whether one would get along with another. Simple! Ask her/his sun sign. Yeah, I am not a superstitious or “zodiacoholic” but seeing people around me failing in relations just because of compatibility, I have got a soft corner in me regarding zodiac signs. May be they lead to a good compatibility with my partner. I fell in love with the zodiac the day a copy of Genelia D’Souza’s Sun Sign fell into my hands. Yeah she has been my first love till moment. Though it was one sided only.. of course it was only me in it but it was true.

     But there was a tragic side to this fascination that directly affected my future plans. I discovered, to my horror, that a lot of signs were incompatible with mine! In one stroke it eliminated a huge list of childhood crushes as a failure. Scorpios were too secretive, Virgos were too practical, Leos would compete with me for the limelight and Sagittarians would never understand my sarcasm. I greet any girl I meet for the first time with a smile and ask so, what’s your sun sign, I don’t even bother with the name. Why punish her. She would just have to get used to the idea that this handsome, talented hunk of a man is not destined for her. I was also inspired by a recent movie by the legend Ashutosh Govarikar, What’s Your Rashee.

     I fantasize about writing ads for myself on college notice board that begin with "If you are a girl and you are an Aquarian contact me". I discussed this with my friends and they were horrified. The guys started with You can’t just ask about her sun sign! What about whether she can cook or not. At this point the girls broke their bones so the conversation petered out. My friends tried to make me see reason, If you fall in love with someone tomorrow, who cares what sun sign she is. I answered morosely, You would, as you would be handling the breakup proceedings a year later and subsequent breakup party(new trend in market now a days). I know its silly of me to view people as simply belonging to one of 12 categories. I know that each person is a beguiling magic potion of traits. But until I find a way to gauge a girl in her entirety, is there any young Virgo lady who would like to accompany me for a coffee…

My Sunrise

          The sun has begun to set and I hang up the smile I've worn all day. Though I will make sure it is the first thing I put back on in the morning because just in case it is 'that day,' I want her to see me at my very best.

           

         I do the normal routine, eat dinner, survive, write the usual stuff.

          And then I lay down hoping to fall asleep quickly so my new day will hurry up and arrive. A new day with a brand new sun. But as I lay there and wait for the world to turn half way around, I think about her. And sometimes I smile, and sometimes that smile will turn into a snicker, and then often that snicker will turn into a burst of laughter.

          And then there are times I get that lump in my throat and that tight feeling in my chest, and sometimes that feeling overwhelms me and begins to turn into a tear, and often that tear multiplies itself and I can no longer fight the feeling and I lose the battle.

            Then somehow through either the joy or the sadness I drift and find myself asleep. Then the dreams begin and keep me company until my new day arrives. When I awake it's with such excitement! Because I tell myself this could be the day that every other day has led up to and the first day of the rest of my life. I quickly dawn my smile, because I do so want her to see me at my very best. Then I look out the window even though I know it's dawn, but I still have to confirm I've been given another chance to find her.

           And there it is, the sun, even when it's cloudy; somehow I still see it. And it smiles at me and I say "thank you" and I smile back.

           Then I ask myself, "Is this the day?" And the excitement rushes over me again. And then I ask myself, "Where's it going to be?"

             Maybe it'll be at the water fountain and unexpectedly there I'll find her and much more than my thirst will be quenched. Maybe it'll be at the grocery store, and there she'll appear as I'm picking out fruit and she'll show me the difference between fresh and spoiled. Then from that moment, nothing that I will eat will ever taste the same. Because she'll bring out the simplest beauties in everything I see, taste, smell, hear, or touch.

           Or maybe today will be the day when my Angel comes to library to get issued a book for her without an identity card. And as I wait behind this Angel with all the frustrated  people who are in such a hurry about their busy lives, I will find myself with such blessed extra time. Just enough time to start a conversation with this beautiful vision standing ahead of me that I might not otherwise would have noticed. But because of a "Register with tag, write your name if you are without identity card" I was able to find her.

          So will today be the day I say, "THANK YOU GOD!" Thank you for the sun, which began my new day. Thank you for granting me the faith when I arose this morning that I would find her in this new day. But most of all, thank you for me not having to ever wait on another sunrise. Because whenever I want to see it, I will look at her and there it shall always be, in her eyes, she will forever hold it for me.

She is my sunrise, my dawn, my new day.:)

Go beyond obstacles..

Have you ever been stuck in a rut? That after all your efforts, you end up staring at a wall. And after looking at it for to long, you start to pound your head at it.

Most of us have hit the wall once or too many times in our lives. Others have gave up and turned back in defeat. They have walked away from their hopes and dreams because they cannot go beyond the wall.

Life is full of walls sad to say. But these walls are not supposed to hinder or stop us from getting to where we want to be.

The walls are there so we can grow bigger than them.

“Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” -Michael Jordan

The walls are there to expand us.

So how do the walls we encounter in life helps us?

It forces us to go beyond ourselves. It forces us to think beyond our normal way of thinking. It pushes us to be creative and resourceful. And it teaches 2 important virtues all great men and women had: determination and perseverance.

So let us look on what we can learn when we end up facing a wall. So the first thing we will think about is how to climb it. Can we climb it with our bear hands or do we need a ladder? If it to high, can we go through it? Can we blast a hole through it using explosives? Or maybe we can work our way around it by looking at the wall’s sides. Maybe there is a crack on the wall that we can slip it.

Just at that exercise of thinking how to get on the other side, you got 3 new ideas how to get over a wall that you have never had before. You learned something new. And if you put your ideas into action, you will learn more.

Even if you fail to get over that wall, you are wiser walking away from it. And when the next wall comes, you are more equipped to bust your way through. You may have more muscles to climb it. You may have a better knowledge what kind of explosives to use. Or you may know how to find cracks in the wall you can use to break through.

You can view the walls that you encounter in life as an opportunity for personal growth. Remember you are the one who is alive and not the wall!

And sooner or later you will learn how to get over those walls. And then nothing can stop you from reaching your hopes and dreams.

It....

 

                 It's nice to know that you're secured with that someone. That even if the rain is pouring hard and the sky is almost dark, he'll never leave you just so you won't feel alone. Even if his friends had left him (and even if he has to be somewhere else) he'd still stay by your side, just so you won't feel alone.

It's so good to know that you have someone who'll be willing to help you cope up in every frustrations you're having. Every depressing moments, every down moments, every self-worthless-realization moments, he'd be there, not because you want someone to be with you, but because he wants to be with you.

It's great to know when a person appreciates every little thing you do. Even a smile would mean a lot to him, just because you own that smile. And that even if no words are expressed as long as the eyes understand, you'd be able to communicate, just like that.

It's overwhelming when a person tells you that he loves you for who you are. He may not have an answer when you ask him why, but really, he doesn't have to have reasons for loving you.

It's more grateful to know that someone is grateful to have you. We don't choose the people who enter our lives, so it must be luck that you have that person, then you have to be thankful. It may just be coincidence or fate, but whatever the reason is, you have to be thankful in having him the same way he is thankful for having you.

It's a wonderful feeling when you're on the verge of giving up the things you've worked hard for, someone isn't just helping you carry the weight on your shoulders, but he carries it on his own because he'd also be in pain when you are in pain. And then you'll realize, trials would all be worth it as long as you have him, not because he would do things for you, but because you gather all the strength you need, in him and his love.

It's a superb feeling when one is willing to take the risks just so you'll be happy. Unselfishness rule in him just so happiness would take over you.

It's a nice feeling that when you're apart, and days seem to be long, that person misses you. Yes, you might feel bad about not being with each other, but knowing that you feel the same way would drive those blues away, thinking, you'd fight over that feeling because you're looking forward to seeing each other, and that's something to be happy about.

It's a great feeling when he wants to be with you because of the happiness you have when you're together. That even if corny jokes and senseless stories are told, it won't matter as long as you're together.

It's a lovely feeling when someone thinks about your future, with or without him. He cares and he cares enough to think of you and what you'll be someday. But of course, he also wants to be in it someday.

It's a nice feeling when you can be who you really are with that person. No pretentions, no lies, no hypocrisy, because he accepts you for who you are. You can be funny, you can be embarrased, but it won't matter coz it doesn't matter to him. Trust and faith in each other keeps you alive. And it will always do.

It's good to know that you have someone who'll not have the intentions of breaking your heart. Instead, he would be willing to mend it, picking up the broken pieces of your heart that your past love have scattered in the ground. He may not be able to put the pieces back to where they really belong, but you shouldn't mind, because he had repaired that heart of yours, and he fixed it in his own way. He loves you in his own way, not the way your past did. He fixed your heart in a different way, to keep you from feeling the pains of your past heartache and to make you feel, the love, that he's unselfishly giving.

It's a great feeling when that person has every effort to let you feel what he feels for you. Because of the distractions, you may not hear him shout it to the world, but as long as you feel it, his efforts has paid off, big time. And when you feel the same way too... He'd feel as if he's the luckiest person alive.

... when in fact, you're more blessed to have him. 

Finding our best time...

The world considers that our finest moment is when we are rich, famous or powerful. We consider our life’s highlight is when we shall be on a throne and wearing a crown. And not when we are hanging on cross with thorns around our head.

When we hear in the phrases, “This is my time. This is my moment. This is my hour.” we often think of something glorious… in a worldly way. Movies often picture this by some kind of a victory, a winning basketball shot on the buzzer, a long football pass that leads to a touchdown as the clock runs out, etc…

A soldier's finest moment is not when he receives a medal of honor. But it is when he is in the battle field. Where he has to overcome his fears amidst flying bullets. He is at his best when he practices courage and self-sacrifice amidst life threatening situations. And one thing he is not at that moment, happy. Emotional happiness comes after he survives all of it. But until then, he just tries to be brave, hang in there and keep going. Only in the battlefield can a soldier know how much courage and self-sacrifice he really has. No soldier gets a medal of valor sitting around the camp.

Our finest moments maybe our worst moments. When everything is falling apart and we still choose to be faithful to God. When we are filled with pain and suffering and yet continue to choose to love others. Our finest moment might not actually feel emotionally good. It is in these “hours of darkness” that God gives us the opportunity to practice a deeper level of faith and love. 

Stars shines in the darkness. We shall never know how much we shall shine until we are thrown in the dark. In the darkness, God gives us not only the opportunity to shine, but He gives us the light as well, Himself. 

So in joy or sorrow, in sickness or in health, in wealth or poverty let us love God and our neighbor. And every moment will be our finest moment.

Gift..

There once lived a great warrior. Though quite old, he still was able to defeat any challenger. His reputation extended far and wide throughout the land and many students gathered to study under him.

One day an infamous young warrior arrived at the village. He was determined to be the first man to defeat the great master. Along with his strength, he had an uncanny ability to spot and exploit any weakness in an opponent. He would wait for his opponent to make the first move, thus revealing a weakness, and then would strike with merciless force and lightning speed. No one had ever lasted with him in a match beyond the first move.

Much against the advice of his concerned students, the old master gladly accepted the young warrior's challenge. As the two squared off for battle, the young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master. He threw dirt and spit in his face. For hours he verbally assaulted him with every curse and insult known to mankind. But the old warrior merely stood there motionless and calm. Finally, the young warrior exhausted himself. Knowing he was defeated, he left feeling shamed.

Somewhat disappointed that he did not fight the insolent youth, the students gathered around the old master and questioned him. "How could you endure such an indignity? How did you drive him away?"

"If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive it," the master replied, "to whom does the gift belong?"