Faith

I often heard this in books and thought of this as a fairy-tale; something that never happens as far as reality is concerned. I do not even know if it is for true or I am just trying to join every random piece together. But since this was an experience which took me by surprise and actually made me think, I expect I should pen it down. So I joined this start up as an intern which is working for a social cause, “making and selling paper bags out of recycled newspapers”. And one of the tasks which we had to do here was to conduct a consumer awareness event. We started off today at MG Road, one of the busiest and most reputed market of Pune. We had to begin by replacing the plastic bags of people with our paper bags. I along with one of my friend started off on the streets of MG Road with great enthusiasm and out first customer happened to be this woman. She was dresses in a Kurta and had her face hidden with her duppatta, a dark green shade. We asked her if she had a minute and she stopped by to listen to us, she removed her scarf and she looked like a women in the age group of 40’s. She was smiling at us and her face looked so serene. I started talking to her about our mission, how this is an eco-friendly initiative and how plastics need to be replaced. She was listening with full devotion and she seemed so impressed. She talked about how it is a necessity and how she knows of people who use these types of bags. Before I could ask her, she asked me to pen down my contact. Usually the bags we carry have the contact of the founder of the firm so I diligently pointed her to it to suggest that it is already there. However, she insisted on me writing my contact and so I did it, right on that paper bag. Before this, we never used to ask the name of the people we meet. Since it was just an awareness initiative we never thought there was a need. But something just prompted me to ask her name and her reply took both of us by surprise. She was smiling and she said, “You can easily guess, I am present everywhere”. I and my friend initially thought she was joking and so we started smiling too. On prompting again for her name we got the same reply. We were surprised as normally people do not reply in such a manner. However, her way of speaking, patience and her smile was so genuine that it actually prompted us to think. But at last we gave up. She then said ok take down my number and again told me guess my name. I couldn't and then while I was penning her phone number down and wrote Ms. …. She said “Faith”. I looked up at her just to confirm that I heard right and she reconfirmed “Yes, I am Faith”. We both (me and my friend) looked at each other a bit surprised, she then said bye to us and took off.

I couldn't let go of the feeling which I had while she said, “I am Faith”. I did not know why I met her today. I do not even know if she was someone’s mascot. All I know was that the meeting of this woman at this point of my life was far from being just a coincidence. Recently and even today I am going through probably the worst phase of my life. It is as if everything has fallen apart. I know that for each one of us our own problems seem to be the biggest. However, as far as I am concerned never before had I felt so helpless and broken. I had lost all faith. Yes, it’s true, for the first time I had lost all faith in him. However, today when I met this woman I felt as if someone was trying to tell me to hold on, have faith, not everything is lost.  It was like something told me there is still hope and you need to fight and stick on. Someone might think it is a piece of my imagination. Yes it could be and I don’t deny that. But, this experience just made me realize once again that bad days eventually pass. All we need to do is to have Faith that something brighter is in store. I don’t know why I met her today but I am glad that I did. I do not want to confirm her identity or investigate on it. All I know was that she came to me as a mascot and at a very right time of my life. This doesn't happen with everyone and people who read this also might think of me as someone too childish. However, what I felt was something indescribable, it is something which only I could sense. Through this piece I do not want you to believe in my story or fairy-tale, as some might term it. All I want is to convey the message that “Have Faith and hold on”.

Some stark comparisons!!

There’s a saying that “To know how good or bad you are, always compare yourself with someone better than you”. I love my country and no doubt I feel delighted to be part of a democratic and secular nation like INDIA. Coexistence of several religions, diversity in terms of land and culture, and the amount of historical heritage we have here makes me feel proud as never. However, it was only when I visited the United Kingdom I realized how far we are from being developed. Yes, they looted us, made us bankrupt, ruled over us for more than 100 years and bullied us but it’s a sad truth that we have been free from their rule from past 66 years. Yet the level of development we have seen over the years seems to have only widened the gap between “the rich” and “the poor”. Going back to last year when I stepped in London, what made me happy was the fact that I was in one of the most sought after cities of the world. In the 2 months which I had spent there, apart from admiring the clean roads, the traffic sense, and the superbly structured buildings, I did not get the feeling that it was even a bit different from where I had come from. Also as for my statement which would go to people who used to ask me “How are you feeling there?” I would simply say, “It feels good, I am abroad!! But trust me; foreign cities are way too hyped” .However, the truth hit me when I landed back in India and rushed out of T3 to meet my parents.

So while I was out in the open, in my own country, just a glance around the airport area made me realize, “London wasn’t hyped at all”. Almost all I could see and hear now were cab drivers screaming, stalking people especially foreigners; the cars being honked round the clock in an effort to make some space for their parking ignoring the fact that there was none; people eating snacks and treating the floors as the invisible dustbins and the officials (policewalas) who seemed to be stationed to help themselves rather than the masses. Not to mention you wouldn't find a glimpse of all these out abroad. Blame it to the less population or more money, the thing is that they have it and we don't.

Sitting in the backseat of my car when I was peering through the window I could sense how far we are from being called civilized. Forget about the lane system which is strictly followed abroad, the traffic sense was nowhere to be seen on the roads. It felt as if almost everybody had a flight to catch. Even my own cab driver, honked unnecessarily at a red light for approx 30 sec before realizing the fact that it was actually a traffic signal. Not he, almost everybody on the road followed the same; even few high class people of BMW. I wondered whether we aptly term the rightful bunch of people as the high class ones. This also reminds of a conversation I once had with one of my colleague. It was the usual Friday party mood and we were driving through to our destination to one of the restro-bars in Delhi, when suddenly my colleague from the back seat asked the person driving the car to give the horn. I was puzzled as I could not see a need for this as all the cars ahead and around us were totally jampacked with not an inch to move. When I asked her the reason for it, she promptly replied, "It's just Fun!!". I smiled and  wondered myself, how many more of these ignorance in the name of FUN are yet to be revealed.

The differences are huge and can be very well seen and listed down. However, my sole point to mention it here was not to term my country as a backward or an underdeveloped nation but rather to help people realize the fact that is us and only us who are making the nation like this. I took a simple oath by myself, no matter what happens I would always throw the trash in the dustbin. Believe me it’s not at all difficult to follow and when you do it, it feels so right. Imagine, if each one of us does the same, would we ever need someone else to clean the city/country for us? Yes, we require effective governance but the rules and laws would only make sense if they are followed. And it is upon us to bring sense to them. A country is borne out of its people. Since long we have cursed the Britishers for inflicting upon us such agony, however it’s now high time that we validate ourselves who we bring to power and let them not rule us like the Britishers again, in the name of democracy. Let’s aim not to let us down in our own eyes. Let us aim that from now on a journey abroad would make us miss home more rather than inviting a blog entry full of stark comparisons.

The Hollywood Love!!

Yes I am fond of the sweet romantic English movies where unlike Bollywood movies Love is not portrayed as a sudden twist which destroys the overall peace of humanity, but, rather as a sweet affection which is borne out of nothing but enraptures the entire universe with its simplicity and pureness.

In the journey of my so called “boring” life I happened to meet many couples who claim to be madly and deeply in love with each other. Some were ready to climb the mountains and swim through the ocean to demonstrate the power of their love while few others would be the less vocal couples who would only come out in the open when you see the “Relationship” status update on their facebook wall post. There were few who remained limited to the college “khopchas” in the hope of never meeting each other beyond the 4 years of college life, while others who happily tied the knot thereafter. So, I was quite accustomed to this “Love Happens” theory but never did I feel a slight tinge of the Hollywood romance in there.

It happened however that I met 2 people who changed the way I perceived Love. So there was this guy, tall, thin, wheatish complexion, supporting a thin beard with short kempt hair. He had small, rather drooping eyes which never seemed to see the light of the day. Overall he wasn’t whom you would call “handsome” but yes was decent enough to strike a conversation with and be friendly. Then there was this girl, tall, thin and dusky white. She was what we call an Indian beauty with perfect features bestowed upon her. She would often sport specs and wear a lanky salwar suit with unmatched heels, almost all of which would be the sport shoes. So, overall she was the “beautiful” but the unmannered one whom you would very often notice caching people’s attention. Only God knows how did both of them struck a chord, but I am glad that they did.

Even before they were in a formal relationship it would often occur to me, “Why aren’t they together”? Such was the chemistry between them. I would often sit and observe both of them; no, not that I was a stalker, I somehow happened to be their best friend. So I was kind of rooted to them and thus carried both the advantages and disadvantages with me. Advantage for myself, as I could see and admire the beauty of their being togetherness and disadvantage for them as I was kind of always stealing their privacy. Nevertheless they still love me. So yes I was talking about Love that brought me talking about both of them on my blog. I would first begin with the stealing glances sessions wherein I would spot them talking silently with each other. Often the stare would be something which would make me feel that no other existed for them, except themselves. Then the longing to meet each other every time, to be together, with each other: Yes there were sessions in which I wasn’t a part of but I was more or less aware of them, infact always aware of them. Both of them made me realize how lucky do they feel being together. Every moment spent with them would bring new instants to cherish for. Every day which they spent was like a precious moment which they wanted to never end. And yet even after all these I never felt the cheesiness which could often be spotted in young couples. They were together and open about it.

Oh yes, life was not all happy go lucky for them. And like all Hindi movies drama they too faced turbulence all over, family, job, education, long distance etc. There would be times when one of them would act mature and talk about the future which was far off and kind of didn’t seem to exist for them. Then there would be phases wherein they couldn’t talk or meet for like weeks even months. Virtual breakups and emotional atyachaar always accompanied them. But even after all these, there would be one day in the month, the only day when no matter what they would cherish their being togetherness. The perks for me?? I would get a nice treat on this very day every month.

I have seen them in all phases, the “happiness” one when they were together, the “troubled” one when things were not working out, the “sad” ones when life seemed to go nowhere and the “difficult” ones when nobody could decide what should be the next step. Yet they seemed to hold on and coexist.

I could write a book on them and yet I wouldn’t be able to express the deep desire they felt for each other and the hassle they have gone through to keep this alive. So, when she was finally flying off the coast, and he had travelled 1000 miles just to spent those last 2-3 hours with her with the knowledge that this might even be their last time together, I knew that this is something which is the “Hollywood Love” I had always dreamt of!!!

Just a random thought

We are told that before we came upon this earth it was ruled by Gods and Goddess............and when God created human he was impartial.....he did not discriminate........and it is we humans who statrted this tradition of caste ,creed ,race,sects and what not...........
I agree...it is we who did all dis.........
But what about the differences that were there long before we created them?What about the fact that some people were born black and some white?Didn't God think at that time that he is actually creating differences..........or lets assume for a second that maybe he thought that everyone can't be similar so let me bring some color into their lives............Then why only balck and white???Why not something else like blue,green,pink???I know it sounds odd............even humorous...........Imagine u see someone whose face is green.......it's funny but probably funny because we are not used to it.....funny because we have been so used to seeing only white n black faces around us that we find it odd..........But we call him the supreme power.......so didn't he think what actually he is doing while he was doing it............
Maybe he wanted to leave it to us....Maybe he wanted to judge us...........Maybe he wanted to see if we can sustain and respect his creations .......and we ,we failed terribly........
I often wonder even if he wanted to test us,wern't there better ways than dis???Why to make someone else suffer if u want to test someone else..........M referring here to the millions of black people who had suffered in the past,some of whom are suffering even now.........Why not we here a case of discrimination against the whites..........Even though it's not in the air I often wonder how long will it take for us to see each other as equals..........and the most important......... are we to blame for all dis...does he who created us has no role to play??Why did he do dis???
We think about the divinity of God..............but shuld we call him divine??
If color was one thing thing then intelligence is another?Why some people are born genius???
Why couldn't be everyone at the same level and hardwork put to use while differentiating?Y some like us always suffer at the hands of others?Since childhood we are told that God does everything for the good of all...sooner or later you will realize???I do not know about how late but the question is for how long shuld we wait???Will it ever come to an end??and will we ever realise after facing such hardships that finally it's paying??and why only we............Why do some people get all the benefits...........They are the ones who go to IIT's,they are the ones who make it to IIM's.........Where do we go den?Are we born to just satisfy ourselves with every secondary thing?Don't we also deserve the best?Then where actually is equality??The equality that everyone talks about......the equality that there was long before we came..........
The question is WAS IT EVER THERE????

A WOnderfulllll DAy n SuCCeSS

It was an important day for me…Yes, I like most others was excited………excited about going to this conclave…….For me INDIA TODAY YOUTH CONCLAVE was nothing more than a platform which will enable me to meet some of the most eminent personalities of all time……Yes, for me it was watching Katrina Kaif and Saurav Ganguly in person……For me it was taking autographs of the celebrities, getting pics with them……For me it was being at a place where you are surrounded by the most influential ,powerful and glamorous people of all time…….Never did I thought it would give me something else. As a matter of fact I never wanted anything else……Just like a teenager who when provided with a computer for the first time is all excited and pumped up and doesn’t give even a bit of thought as to what not he or she can do with it and doesn’t see beyond paint and games, Similarly, I was not even 1% inclined to think about what all I can gain from it…..For me it was like I had got a key to open the door of a magical world and being with wizards was all that mattered at that time………..


But, as life is all about unexpected things. It so happened that for me Katrina Kaif and Saurav Ganguly were not the only ones that mattered…..Infact if I come to think of it, “did they even matter then???” INDIA TODAY YOUTH CONCLAVE proved out to be what it was intended for, it was for us….the YOUTH…….I wouldn’t be joking if I tell that it had such an impact on me that nobody could have ever had had. My vision of life has changed…..Interacting with some of the most successful people of all times gave me a totally new direction and approach……..It taught me that success is not just to succeed….it taught me that success is not a predefined set of goals that we have to achieve…..It taught me that success doesn’t come with age. No matter you are 19 or 55 success will come when you will do what you intend to do, it will come when you will do what you love the most, it will come when you will believe in yourself and try to your utmost capability to achieve what you have dreamt of. I don’t think it was the influence of a single personality that taught me all this………..I can’t even chalk out a few of them…….it was all of them………everyone I guess…………..While Nandan taught me that to do something different you need to take risk and just go for it and be it a fulfillment of a dream or building an empire, nothing comes at ease. Sometimes success will just depend on your single decision, no matter how hard it appears, sometimes having faith in one’s capabilities can do wonders . He says he was lucky enough that he got hired by Narayan Murthy but we know it wasn’t just luck….and if it was then it is something which is with everyone of us. So just “GO BIG”


Vishwanathan Anand on the other hand was someone for whom success lies in winning and losing and losing again then again rising. Being the world champion doesn’t come without a cost…….It was his love for the game and the thirst for victory that makes him stand where he is. You needn’t be perfect to be successful……sometimes being just better that the others is what that matters .Sometimes to be successful taking advantage of your opponent is what you have to do, but even for all these you have to give it your best shot. Strategising against your opponent is not something that takes place in a jiffy…..It requires taking a look at those millions of previous data’s that you have collected. It’s like keeping yourself calm and composed even in the most adverse circumstances. It’s like having faith in yourself even when others think you can’t…because if there is someone who can then even you can……..why not???
Mukul, Sanjeev, Jaydeep and Chavvi were ultimate epitome of those lot who had much more in hand but chose to do otherwise. Because doing something that you love is what matters and your success is ultimately when you are happy and satisfied. You may earn a lot of money and fame but will it be your success??You need to define your own goal…..You need to tread on a path you chose for yourself because people may help you but nobody will complete that journey for you. Sometimes you will have to be a leader to help move things on. Jaydeep never made ‘Chak De’ because he thought the theme is different and it would earn him money. He never took Shahrukh because of his brand value……….he took him because he wanted it to work…….and he wanted it to work not for himself but for the Girls Indian National Hockey Team…….to help them raise their standand…to help them make money….to help them get sponsors for themselves. Be it industry or otherwise there are still people who work for a cause…still people for whom success is not only yours but other’s as well. Why else would an IIM graduate Chavvi Rajawwat would have left corporate world to be a sarpanch of a small village of 7000 people? Why else would Sanjeev Sanyal leave his posh job in Deutsche Bank and develop a better Growth indices measurement method if not for the world??


“Success is not thinking out of the box ,success is thinking that there is no box at all”…were the words of Pranav Mistry……….being still in his 20’s this guy has made wonders with his inventions all over the world. According to him success is not reaching to the goal…it’s enjoying the process of reaching there. Everything that you do should be done with a thought that ‘What’s the need?’. Because if you know the purpose you are working for then you know you are not far behind. After all everything is there is us, we just need to identify and put in to the best use.
I do not know whether Katrina or Saurav told any different than the above…………they all were sounding the same………..Success was defined by now. But the most ultimate was yet to come……….it was from Sachin Pilot…….I do not know from where does the charisma in him comes but it’s like you can listen him for hours and wouldn’t want him to stop. He changed my mind about politics…………Politics is not filled with only scums ,there are still people who work for the people………..still young Indians who care about others .If it’s about how corrupt the Indian politics has become even we the youths are equally responsible for it. Why is it that we just crib and never take a stand?? Why is it that we don’t want to tread on the path and work for our country. If we don’t have the courage to stand and lead then we even do not have the authority to question everyone who does. People like him are not more but wouldn’t we make the number increase if we also join. It’s not about joining politics ,it’s about doing the best for our country, serving our people, it’s about taking a stand…it’s not just about cribbing…..it’s supporting our people….. and we all talk about success ……..is this not what we call SUCCESS???

Success can never be defined…It’s definition will be as abstract as we can dream of……It’s just time and places and people like these that makes us realize their MANTRA’S OF SUCCESS but for us ,we have to make our own……….and sooner or later we all will.

How helpless are we?

Sometimes I think would it really have been better if I was born in the age of my forefather?? Or the situation would still have been the same…that I was as helpless even then as I am now? Has anyone pondered over this issue that how our life is governed by a number of factors which are out of our control? How every time when we think that our life is perfect , the next moment it shatters, bringing down all our hopes and desires? Be it our college life, school life or workplace we are no way near to being ourselves, we are just what others want us to be. How often have we protested for some injustice that has happened to us? How often have we raised our voice in support of someone we know is ailing from the dealings of this biased world? You want to open your mouth and it’s made to shut, either by piling huge amount of money in front of you or by scaring you to death. We all know that we are the most selfish beings that have ever prevailed on this planet, even the animals are better than us when it comes to saving their own community. We on the other hand just know one thing…..Where do we benefit from all this? What harm is it doing to us? Why are we so concerned? How will it help?. It has always been about us, ourselves and only we.


Talking from the point of view of a student who has spent considerable years of her life away from her parents, in boarding ,I can clearly see myself failing each and every time if I come to think of how often have I succeeded in doing what I actually wanted to? My wishes here doesn’t mean my ambitions, they mean my social virtues, my want’s , my desires out of this world . What have these years of isolation given me apart from a self confidence?? Yes, they have taught me how to close your eyes whenever you see something wrong happening, they have taught me to shut your ears if you hear someone’s plead , they have taught me to pretend that everything around you is awesome even if it’s not , they have taught me that listen to those who have money because they ultimately will have power, to bow to those whom you can’t defeat ,to serve those whom you can’t equal……………In reality it has just taught me how to become more selfish and more inhuman. This is not just me, it’s the millions of us who are surviving...Either it’s due to pressure or fear or in vain but we all have degraded ourselves to such an extent that there is no rising……We all know in our hearts that we have literally murdered our souls and are treading on a path which will someday take us to our doom, but the fact is that we are still heading towards it………What we lack is not just Courage, It’s the ability to think beyond ourselves…to be what we were supposed to be HUMANE…….humans!!!

Mantra's of Success

I remember being in 6th standard at that time when I was queried with a very complicated question…. “What’s your aim in life?”. It was complicated because I had no answer , it just threw me off guard…I simply wondered have I become so big that I need to decide what’s my aim?? I thought and then came up with a very obvious and safe answer, “I want to be successful”. And the next thing I saw was everyone smiling. Nobody asked me anything else and I was happy enough to think I gave a satisfactory answer. What I did not realize at that time was the fact that in my desire to play safe I had uttered a very strong word “SUCCESSFUL”, what did success mean I never knew and now if I come to think of it it’s hard to believe I spoke those words…


Success is very vulnerable word….it’s like when we point at the sky and ask someone what do you see ? ,we might end up hearing answers like a bird, the clouds, blue color , the sun….the list is endless…while actually what we were referring to was a plane flying above. Success actually deals with one’s imagination. How successful we are is decided by what definition of success we have known so far. If we think that having a good job and being satisfied with ourself is being successful , even a street vendor who does his job well and earns a satisfactory living can be called a successful man. Actually success is never decided by the world, because the world might never stop comparing us with someone better. On the contrary success is the difference between the desires and achievements of a person. We may not end up being the best amongst all but we might end up being a successful person if we go by our will.


Just like success the Mantra’s for success are also not well defined and fixed. They might vary with our own definition of success but like no matter how intelligent one might be the basic foundation of everyone’s knowledge is built from ABCD…similarly there are some basic mantra’s without the help of which we might never be able to climb the first few stairs of this success podium, forget about reaching to the top!!!!. One such mantra is REALISING YOUR AREA OF INTEREST ….Ever wondered what would Bill Gates have been doing if he would not have associated himself with computers, (I guess it’s something he himself wouldn’t have thought of). He was fascinated by this machine and what it could do from his school days and thus went on to pursue it further, and believe it had it not been the thing he liked the most he would not have been holding the position he holds now, the Chairman of Microsoft Corporation and the 2nd richest person in the world. It’s said that when you do what you love the most it makes a difference. However this alone is not enough, success actually is this coupled with hard work, focus, determination, enthusiasm, passion, innovativeness and much more.
Another means is to DREAM and that too dream big because a dream is a seed of thought that opens one's mind to new avenues. If you dream big, the next step is to make a path for yourself to get there! In the words of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam , “we all are born with a divine fire in us and our effort should just be to give wings to this fire”. Then why is it that most of us inspite of thinking big are never able to reach a position which we choose for ourselves? The answer is very simple and lies within ourselves, it is because we are never quite sure of what exactly we want. At every stage we are confronted with numerous thoughts as to what would benefit us and thus in our greed take steps that we shouldn’t . Being CONFIDENT is one more quality that distinguishes successful people from the unsuccessful ones. Success is termed as a journey and not a destination and while journeying we ought to make decisions , decisions about which way are we heading and what path should we follow. So in turn success is also judged by our DECISION MAKING SKILLS. We might face failures on our way but the ultimate success lies in learning from them because if we always win we think we know it all and thus it inhibits our learning while success is LEARNING…learning at every phase of life. Failure on the other hand just needs a seed; and very often words are those seeds. Many a times when we think that we aren't as good as another, we reinforce our thought through words like, "I don't know", "I'm not sure", "I am incapable of", "How can I", and so on. This constant insecurity then spreads to all aspects of our life and before we know it, our self confidence is diminished to the size of a pebble. Thus OPTIMISM is another mantra for success. However we can never attribute success to only these values, it is a lot more than this, a lot!!

Kin Hubbard once said, “There's no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn't tell you about it?”. Success comes with time. It is the fruit of the endless efforts we have made all through our life. The fruits might take some time to ripe but ultimately it’ll, one day, we just need to be patient enough and see it grow.