Good Fortune

There are times when you just look up at the sky, and thank God with your arms wide open, for giving you enough sense to not pursue something that you were totally crazy about, which if you had, would have been devastating for you.

PS: visited India and had the best time of my life(in a long long time) for 46 whole days(Nov 24-Jan 8). it's official - i hate to be back here.

Sixty One

Happy Independence Day to all the Indians out there.

Happy 61st birthday, Independent India! :)

R.I.P.

...just back after observing 2 minutes of silence for the Father of My Nation.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14597180

Getting back to the basics

Happy 59th Republic Day, India.

My First Water Fast

Association for India's Development organized candle light vigils tonight in as many as 58 cities in India, USA and the Netherlands(in Amsterdam). This was to show solidarity in fighting for the Indian farmers, many of whom committed suicide in the last two years, and to tell the Indian government that people are watching and that there needs to be significant changes in the government policies concerning farmers. The agenda was also to spread awareness amongst the masses about this agrarian crisis that is plaguing our country.

What better day than October 2nd(Gandhiji's birthday, for the uninformed) to do this? Mahatma always had a special place for farmers in his heart. He believed that rural India was the backbone of our country. So, it was only apt that the candle light vigil was scheduled for today, despite it being a week day.
There was an option for people who were organizing the vigil(s) to also fast for one day, to show support. I decided to fast too...
It's just past 9:30pm now and i have two and a half more hours to go. Let me tell you that it has not been an easy day at all. I woke up at around 7:30 am, skipped the usual breakfast, went to work, drank gallons and gallons of water, missed the two cups of coffee i take for granted each day at work so badly, got tempted a few times in between by the apple that was lying on my desk and by the various vending machine food, but stood my ground, came home at 6 pm and took a nap for 45 minutes so that i wouldn't have to think about food, went for the vigil which started at 7:30 pm and lasted for about an hour, got tempted again because the venue was in the heart of Indian restaurants, 3 fellow fasters, each of us looked like we'll give in, finally decided not to and came home. The last one hour has been particularly bad that it even forced me to blog, something that i have been avoiding big time of late. Another 136 minutes to go...
Half way through the day, i started thinking about all those people who fast for days and days. My God. What resolve. What strength. How important their goals must be for them! That's when i thought that when you want something so badly, you wouldn't mind the suffering that comes along the way, in order to attain it. I was also thinking about those farmers and poor people who are not assured of even one square meal a day. What will it be like for a small kid to starve? Will they get used to it after a week? a month? maybe a year? knowing that that's what their destiny is...it was painful to even think of such people...what must it be like to be one of them? I thanked God for giving me so much in life...
Mahatma Gandhi fasted left, right and center for many many worthy causes. He fasted in his old age- something i can only look at and admire. What was the need? Where was the motivation coming from? It's simply unbelievable. He has been on 21 day fasts like it was some fun thing to do. Hats off to his mental strength.
There are thousands of social activists like the Mahatma and hats off to every single one of them. They'll continue to inspire people like me in a million different ways on a daily basis- maybe not to do big things that will move mountains, but to do small things that will move a heart or two...

Sixty

Happy Independence Day to all the Indians out there.

Happy 60th birthday, Independent India! :)

India will treat you like a Queen, my girl!

I've always wanted to go back to India for good and I still do. There was one astronomical concern though. I was not concerned about the big bucks...not wholly.

How was I to survive in India leaving my American love back here?

My first acquaintance with her happened in Pittsburgh, more than a year after i moved to the United States. Was it love at first sight or smell or touch? I don't think I can solely attribute the reason for my love to one of the above...it was something else- something that I cherish till this date and will for years to come. She was blazing hot but was bitter about something(she still is sometimes, depending on my mood though). I tried my best to cheer her up and within seconds she showed me how sweet she can be. I learnt that she was born in Seattle and that she was nine years old when I was born. Well, to be honest, it did not matter to me.

Then what some people would think is magic and what I think was a matter-of-time happened. I met her in Cincinnati, right inside my university. I started meeting her frequently, but could not open up to her, for i hadn't started earning then. A man needs to have some money before he can love without any inhibitions, doesn't he? "cruel world", i used to think. The coffee shop had become our vantage meeting point.

My love for her reached it's peak after i moved to San Diego. As you must have guessed by now, she was here too, ready to give me company wherever i went. But India? I felt again that it was a matter-of-time, but how long will i be able to wait? "If your love is true", I told myself, "she will come to India". But somehow, there was not much optimism left in me, despite the fact that India is westernizing a lot and that she might not find it hard to feel at home and prosper there.

I was worried that I'd end up missing her badly in India.

Now, there's no concern. She has decided to come to India...she's even planning to go there before I do and wait for me to make my arrival special. i'll perhaps even get a chance to embrace and kiss her right at the Arignar Anna International Airport...

you won't be missed dear, for I'll come to you soon...

A salute to the Mahatma on his 137th birthday

To the humblest soul ever to have graced this planet...


...it so happens that this is the 100th post on this blog. it couldn't have been better. Jai Hind!