Thursday 17 September, 2009

Busy for ever!

A particular experience in the past month left me quite hurt. A person who is very close to me approached me for a small favour. I arranged for it, through another friend of mine. This first friend kept me and my other friend waiting without any calls or sms about her plans. The person who wanted the help didnt bother at all, where as we both were getting troubled not being able to hear from her. Many times i have found myself in this kind of situation in my ambitious pursuit to help all people i consider close.

Another friend i have in chennai, who is doing her doctorate from an university there. Whenever she feels it fit, she calls me or leaves messages. But when i call, she is quite busy to attend her phone. Neither she finds time to return the call nor cares to leave a message. The past day she wanted my help and there she was, calling on a daily basis. I did help her with whatever she wanted.

When people say they dont have time, its a simple admission that they dont know how to manage their time. I have worked 18 hour days, but never have i forgot to call or message my friends when i couldnt attend to their call or sms. Even on my wedding day, all the calls or sms were replied. Sometimes i forget my friend's birthdays but thats a different thing, because i sometimes forget my own birthday too.

Another friend of mine since 16 years ,who is now in chennai wasnt attending my calls or responding to my repeated messages for many months on end. This guy had changed so badly i thought. Few months back when i went to chennai, i contacted another friend who knew his home. I told him i want to go to this friend's home today and blast him left and right. I was taken to my irresponsible friend's home by this friend whom i contacted.

When i reached his home, he was there with his wife and his small kid. I didnt waste any time in bombarding him for not returning my calls or messages. He was feeling quite embarassed because i was taking him to task in front of his wife, i couldnt bother about it in the least. He kept pleading he was busy always. I said if he cant find time for one minute for an old friend like me, he is not fit to be busy. For the 15 minutes i stayed there, i kept harping on that point over and over again. That atleast will teach him how to respect people, who think of him amidst their busy schedules too.

Everybody is busy, but one never should be selfish or indifferent. I have heard the saying "Busy people find time for everything". How true!

Please share ur experiences or view about this subject through ur comments.

Tuesday 15 September, 2009

My share of Vanity

The times spent in college and school always stays in our minds. Some of the memories may be good and some not so good. A particular vanity which worked up my mind in untiring ways was my yearning for good dress and nice pair of shoes.

My demands were generally not so much on my parents compared to my elder sister's. She would stamp her foot down and get the most difficult things achieved, but i was not so adamant in nature. I understood my dad's financial challenges in bringing us up and never was unnerving on him.

Stylishly dressed people always got my extra attention. Sneakers which were fashionable got my eyes fixed on them. The shoe company 'Liberty' had a run-away success with their Force-10 brand of sneakers. I was head over heels in love of it, for the sheer style it gave. Though i shared my appreciation and liking for this brand of shoes, with my parents, i never asked them to get it for me. I thought when i start earning, i can always buy them if they are still in fashion. Precisely, that was to happen 3 years from then.

Once i got my job, in the second month's salary i bought my much yearned brand of shoes. No doubt, it was 3 years later, but its style commanded appreciation from my fellow trainees in Air Force. A deep sense of satisfaction could be felt, and also tremendous amount of happiness for having bought it with my earned money. In the subsequent months, another long pending wish of mine was to get fulfilled.

When Timex launched their 'Indiglo' brand of watches, they had done tireless advertising, which got me hooked up in the list of its admirers. A neighbourhood boy whose dad was mega rich, got him this watch. Since i knew him, i got to check it from close quarters and fell for it that very moment. My dream to own it ended within the first few months that i started earning.

After these two loved things were possessed, i felt i shouldnt fall in love so deeply for any objects. The waiting periods can be a harsh thing to suffer. The yearning for good things is still there, but the intensity is markedly controlled.

Vanity can get us in its net, but values and character would act as guardian angels.

Saturday 12 September, 2009

My Troubles on the Road

Since the past 2 months that i met with an accident, fear has firmly gripped my heart while i am riding on the road. These days i just dont like to ride myself, but dont have other way to get around easily. The other day i opted to sit pillion in my friend's bike. I was praying to him to slow down, though he was riding within his abilities. Poor guy, he had to ride unreasonably slow to keep me happy and comforted.

One nasty accident has put great amount of fear in me. While, right after the accident and during the accident, i showed great strength, presence of mind and also averted much injury to me. But, the fear has been gripping me firmly over a period of time. Earlier, my wife used to complain that i drive rash. But last time i was with her, she felt i had improved my driving, meaning i am lot slower these days.

Actually i am unreasonably fearsome these days, a fact which i am quite ashamed to admit. I shudder sitting in any vehicle which is driven rashly, whether its bus, car or bike. I am trying hard to come out of this phase. Thats also the reason i am consciously riding more on the road. When one runs away from our enemy, there is every possibility of the enemy following us. So i am trying to face it head-on. I hate being a coward, anywhere and everywhere. The results are showing slowly, my grit is taking me on the path of victory of mind. With god's support, my fears should subside to acceptable limits.

Until then, let me always hit the road on the slightest excuse and hope to drive the unwelcome monster out of my heart.

How crime survives for some time

You can fool some people for some time but cannot fool all the people all the time. This i guess, kind of sums up the story of criminal acts. A key word that helps criminals persist long enough on the scene is NEXUS. Politicis, police and power of muscle when mixed together is a heady cocktail.

I shall try to tell one story in short, which is real, with name of the personality being real too.

A person named ravi came to be known to all because of his acts of trouble making. From small fights he graduated to solving disputes and then to bigger things. This way, his name spread wide enough. With passage of time, he wanted to earn a lot of money. That kind of money was possible only through land grabbing, or clearing of disputes among 2 claimants to a single property.

Ravi would try to gather all information about a property which is disputed. He would approach one claimant to the property and strike a deal for a certain amount of money, to get rid of the other claimant in the property. Once the deal is struck, he would go to the other claimant single handedly. He would have atleast a bunch of people at stand-by at a distance in case trouble erupts. His mobile phone would be switched on and in speaker mode. The other end of the call would be monitored by one of his lieutenants among the group at a distance.

His talk would be straight and would tell the second claimant to vacate the property for a paltry sum which he decides. And also explains to him what consequences will follow, if he doesnt stop laying claim to this property. In the meantime the second claimant also gets a call from big time criminals connected to the underworld. The deal is struck quite immediately after the call, because no one wants to lose their lives for a piece of property. And he gets the money to pocket.

Ravi or Chalghatta Ravi as he is known (Chalghatta is a place's name) had to pay with his life for a murder he committed some years back. The murderer of Ravi is a free man now, because of the fear factor which desisted anyone from deposing against him in court.

Crime begets crime, and there are no exceptions.

The three Gunas

A rich man was traversing through a forest. Suddenly there appeared three robbers. They robbed the rich man of all his valuables. One robber said "now that we have got whatever he had with him, lets kill the man, so that there is no one left to report to the police". Saying so, he took out his sword to slay the rich man's head. The second robber stopped his colleague from killing him, just in time. He said, there is no use killing him. It would suffice to just to bind the man to a tree and leave him there.

The second robber's suggestion was taken and they tied the rich man to the tree and left the place. After some time the third robber among the three who looted, returned back to the forest and said to the rich man,, "I would release you now and lead you out of this forest". The rich man was relieved and very happy to hear this. The robber unbound the ropes and led the rich man out of the forest till they got to a highway.

The robber said to the rich man, "You walk this way of the highway and you will find your home". The rich man said, "You have helped me out of the forest, please come with me to my home". The robber said that he cant come with him, and saying so he left.

The first robber who wanted to kill the rich man was "Tamas". The second robber who wanted to bind him to the tree was "Rajas". The third man who relesed him from the forest and pointed the way to his home was "Sattva".

This allegory was narrated by Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa to his devotees in the 1880s to drive home the meaning of the three gunas manifest in one's personality.

Saturday 5 September, 2009

Clouds that broke many a heart

The ongoing monsoon in india hasnt lifted the clouds from our skies. This is not particularly great news for flying, as every pilot would agree. Incidentally, today, the 5th of september was a day looked forward to eagerly, by all people in kottayam for their annual boat race festival. The day was to have another attraction in the way of aerobatics show by Indian Air Force Kiran aircrafts, before the commencement of the boat race.

The flying part didnt happen due to the bad weather. I along with my colleagues were in kottayam as part of the ground support team. We were taken care of well, by the organisers of the boat race in kottayam. When the cancellation message came for the flying activity, we were heart broken as much as the organisers. They were all looking forward to witness the aerobatics shows, but the clouds played a spoil sport. We returned back yesterday itself, not wanting to tax the organisers with our hotel bills when our very purpose of being there lost its meaning.

On the way back, we made a stop over at Kollam to take part in the birthday celebrations of a colleague's mother, at his house. We all had good food for dinner at his home, and returned back to our place by late night. I missed an opportunity to witness the boat-race, which i have watched only on tv. May be luck favouring, next year if the same thing is planned i would like to watch it.

Away from the subject, i need to share something. I bought a raincoat a few months back. On every occasion that i went out wearing it, the rains never came. The days when i feel it wont rain and i just go out in my bike without the raincoat, its a sure shot rain day, like it was today. Unpredictability has uncanny ways, after all.