Today, it was a lazy morning. I woke up late and then straight away went out to hit the gym. After a couple of high energy work out sessions, went straight into the Steam and Sauna section. People have asked me that why do I like working out. When they ask, I could hear the answers they expect…. For me …. I just like those moments when after a rigorous session of physically draining exercises, the mind can’t think of anything but is just busy to manage some energy to keep the body on it’s feet . Those are blissful moments; no external noise and complete focus…..just like meditation. Well, that was just a small thought which I felt like sharing; my story for today is about something else. So after those work out sessions and relaxed moments in the steam compartment, I packed myself up and went back to home. After a few minutes of reaching home, I searched for my coffee mug and realized that it’s still left in the car. Along came a thought of my wallet and I started searching the gym bag. It was not there and then a picture of 1 dollar suddenly flashed in my mind. Another attempt and the same result, the image of 1 dollar was becoming more prominent. The search continued to the pockets of my clothes but abortive. I went down and opened up my car with a hope to find it there smiling at me eagerly to be picked up by its rightful owner. Alas…. And now that was becoming scary. The image of 1 dollar had started haunting me. The wallet had lot of money inside and then those cards were worth a lot of efforts. Losing the wallet was not only expensive but was a time consuming and draining effort and all of you would agree with the same. I started recalling the concatenation of the events during that day. I remembered well that after the shower I had taken out the wallet to put my membership card into it near my locker. After that….I just don’t remember. What I remember is that “one dollar coin”…. “Was it some immediate impact of my actions by the cosmos itself?” Ohh, I was confused and really scared now. I set myself up to go back to the gym and look for it. That wallet was full of 50 dollar notes….at least 20 of them. It was enough of a temptation to anybody to pick that up and forget about the real owner. People can be provoked to take the otherwise undesirable action. And why not, what did I do…. That was just one dollar, single coin of one dollar which was lying in the Health Club’s bathroom and I didn’t even move my eyelid while picking it and putting in my wallet. Afterall, who cares about one dollar and that too in this rich country…. Why should I care?? So, I rushed to the gym and went straight to the office to find out if they have been handed over a brown color wallet by somebody. To my utter dismay, the result remained unchanged…. I ran towards the locker room where I remembered to have seen the wallet for the last time and what welcomed me there, were those unoccupied benches and empty lockers. I searched each locker but the output remained unaltered. I went down to the office again and pleaded the staff for some help. I asked if the locker rooms have some cameras where I can see if somebody has picked the unattended wallet. Thankfully, they didn’t have the cameras there. Afterall, who wants to be filmed while celebrating their nudities…. Now, I could hear the loud echo of one thought in my mind, “Somebody has taken your wallet as you took somebody else’s one dollar”. “But, that is unfair. How can one dollar be equated with approximately 1000 dollars, many more in the cards and plenty of hours invested in them. This is unfair but life is sometimes unfair in order to teach you a lesson.” I thought. Probably, this was a way to console myself but by then I had already pledged to never ever repeat such a thing. Afterall, once, I defined the life as a curved glass wall all around us, whatever we throw on it, comes back to us in an amplified form. So, here was a testimony of my own definition. I was almost shaking now and the loss seemed really big. I started searching my bank’s help-desk numbers to get the cards blocked and also thought of calling the cops and report the incidence. Who knows if it might help. Leaving any stone unturned is definitely not me. Suddenly, my phone rang. The display showed, “Home landline”. “Did you find it?”, my wife asked. “No”, it was an exhausted reply. “Don’t worry, let me search at home again. I will search the drawers and the cupboards”, my wife could hear the tremors in my voice so she tried to reassure. “The drawers….???” Those words rang in my ears and I immediately disconnected the phone and rushed back to home. Within no time, I was back there and there lay the wicked, old and wrinkled cards/money pouch, staring at me as if asking, “what happened mate, why are you so lost??” And I stood there smiling, silently looking at it, astonished at the tricks our brain plays and saying, “Nothing bud, just learned a lesson”. Never eye on the possessions which do not belong to you, even if it’s just a single coin; The roots of each such act goes so deep that when something horrible happens to you, you struggle to find the root cause. When you do something which your conscience doesn’t allow, it sits back in your sub-conscious part of the brain. When there is a mis-happening, the same sub-conscious mind triggers and erupts the tendency to relate the incident with your mis-fortune; the brain becomes entangled and you become circumscribed to never find out that where exactly it went wrong. Otherwise, how can one forget that he himself put the wallet in the drawers, the moment he entered the home….lol http://vishaltravelstheworld.blogspot.in/2014/06/one-dollarand-what-horror.html
Today after several months, I finally got an opportunity to sit quietly and do nothing in my flight to Melbourne from New Delhi. When I say quietly, it doesn’t necessarily indicate towards the vocal sounds emitting from the human face’s cavity surrounded by the lips, but this time it is the quietness of the mind. The tranquil state of the brain unknowingly opens those channels where from come the deepest of the thoughts. The silence deep in the heart is the place where resides the mind in it’s supreme state of solitude. I was wondering what this phenomenon actually is, how come sometimes, I don’t hear any noise outside and how come sometimes, it’s all blabbering everywhere? How can sometimes, one can be so unperturbed despite of the quaking external events around? Is it due to the happiness….No, it’s a state of sublime state of serenity when one finds true bliss. Is it eternal… no, probably not. I still have not mellowed to a stage I can experience “Eternal Bliss”; but don’t I love this moment when the brain stands still like a placid lake and thoughts outpour effortlessly in their purest and unadulterated form. While looking back, lately, 2 kinds of events have always triggered the eventual achievement of such transcendental form; one is the event of separation from my family and another, the event of reuniting with them. Such contradictory events and yet such similar impact….. Well, the impact might seem to be similar superficially but at the core it has resulted from two very distinct forces of life. While, between these 2 highs and lows of separation and reunion (not in the same order), vacillates a whole universe of emotions; it’s the 2 extreme tipping points where lies the most apt moment to look deeper into yourself. If one can decipher the individual tendencies and directions to formulate a workable plan, these 2 moments bring forth the momentum which can push you to your deeper core self. I, as per the plan discovered lately, sit silent and try to meditate. The energy once channelized in the right direction puts you in front of yourself, in no time. Has it worked for me…. Well, my friends who are known to the reckless Vishal might easily agree on reading this sober form of the same person. The right alchemy of thoughts and actions can work in the right way. It’s like a process where a magnifying glass is put in broad daylight to concentrate the sunlight onto a single object for so long that it eventually catches fire….. It seems, currently, I am on fire…..
https://www.facebook.com/livethestoryworthtelling?ref=hl Strange are the ways of people, weird are their tenets, silly, they look with the mask made for their social appearances. The contours of our social structure have such strict framework that the freedom of your soul is compromised and with time an independent persona starts suffocating. One day, he asks to himself bamboozled, “Is it really needed to always have that serious look when you sit in a business meeting”, “does it really hurt the direction of the thoughts of the other people involved if I crack a mild joke in the midst of a serious conversation so as to ease the environment?”, “why the mere mentioning of sex and/or death in general public make them raise a brow?" “Why can’t a rich person greet with a pleasing smile on his face when he confronts that poor lift man? and "why questioning their way such an egregious folly?” The societies bristled with stagnated beliefs and rusted traditions have been raising the poison of hypocrisy and social blasphemies. The answers to the questions above could vary but what I feel is that anything which brings the situation to a level where the decision making is not skewed towards some specific people, must be good for the whole society. So, let’s talk about a paradigm shift here on “Why is it absurd to religiously follow the astringent rules and traditions of the society under any given circumstances?” Society is a cluster of various individuals who come together and lay down the rules with which the group of people must adhere to. Generally, there would be a small pack of visionaries and thought leaders who would chalk out the path ahead. For the society, the thought process of that small pack matters the most since that defines their direction. With due course of time, a situation comes when once apt guidelines lie incongruous now and the very basic tenets have been transformed into the social stigmas. Unfortunately, those who are responsible to lead and change are now so attached to realize the stink and thus stick with the rotting faith. Soon, the fall of the society starts and disintegration happens. If you try and see the magnitude of this problem; millions of different sets of people lead their groups to different directions, lay down different rules and set-up millions of different societies. Some of them might have some intersection with each other while many may not have. With time, the groups further disintegrate and we witness billions of those entities. Now the utopia and single home to Life, is an amalgam of millions of different worlds. Soon, those worlds are at war with other since each one of them feels that their way is the best way in their own cognitive minds. Finding the right path now becomes a onerous task for the berserk, attached and self-ordained leaders because they can’t think independently anymore as they are not free anymore. Finally comes the time of those sporadic eruptions of rebels from the disgruntled and seared souls who take the world into their hands and initiate the unending exercise of power struggle. Somewhere, in the middle of the entire crisis, the people forget that what matters, is not the traditions lay down by their forefathers but what matters is the happiness. After all, the origin of the traditions was meant to attain the same objective. So why is it necessary to negate the required change when it’s needed the most? A bullet can never hit its target till the time it doesn’t get detached from the gun barrel. To reach somewhere, one needs to leave a place otherwise the attachment will bring the learning life cycle to a halt. There is no match to the beauty of a flowing river, you hold the flow and even the water becomes undrinkable within no time. Movement is the essence of life; flowing with a perpetual process of unlearning and learning, is the way of life; a constant cycle of detachment and attachment brings the vigor to life. A vision, so high and so adaptable that all the thoughts, societies, traditions, tenets can come together and live & die convivially, is the approach to life. Life created us; it never has been the other way round. So respect the values of life, recognize the different faces of life, give space to different thoughts as they together can germinate the thought of right approach to life. I dream of a world which has it’s smaller worlds enveloped in separate thin membranes. The worlds can feel each other and the juices of wisdom can flow into them freely filtering all the unwanted dirt of plagued and distorted thoughts. Such worlds touch each other but don’t disturb them like a bird flying over a water pond so close yet at a distance. It’s indeed absurd to take your way of life so seriously that it blocks the breeze coming onto your face; question openly, be flexible to accept the change and try to penetrate into the volition behind every action. Remove all the mental inhibitions and then you see the world in it’s “Naked Glory”. The dilemmas will be solved; after all, when has the life taken you seriously….stop bothering so much.
Does anybody among the readers here know the taste of water coming from the thinning layer of a glacier after trekking the rough mountainous terrains for 4 constant hours?? Has anybody seen the Sun going down into the ocean standing on a jet ski in the middle of the ocean full of sharks?? Did anybody care to get himself clicked with the funny and ugly faces in a party of gorgeous and sophisticated people?? Did anybody ever get a chance to race with a school of fishes in their own territory 100 metres deep onto the ocean bed?? Did you ever dance for the whole night in your true form without acknowledging who else is watching you, despite of the fact that you have to hit your work place early in the morning?? Has anybody ever felt breathlessness while sky diving from 15000 ft surpassing the snow clad Alps Mountains?? I believe many have not; I also believe many would call it crazy. I agree, this indeed is crazy but just remember that, it is only these crazy souls which infuse the energy into the wheel of life systems to keep it running. The problem is that we all are so scared of death that we forget to live and appreciate the life. The real life is composed of only those crazy memories when you hold the hands of your passion and unleash the real wild part of you without the slightest grudge or burden on your soul. It unlocks a channel within you, hidden and unknown so far and helps you to take a deep dive into your inner self. You are no more embarrassed but are enlightened. It is the soul stirring moments which define your life. Generally, such moments come unexpectedly. But then, there are a few who take the plunge to experience such moments. Armed with the guard of self-belief, they take a leap of faith into the world of unknown and become the fortunate ones to experience bliss and real ecstasy. The universe bows down to the courage and deep faith of such people. They are the mystics carrying the rays of hope; they become the pathfinders showing the way to the suffering souls; they are the knights carrying the sword of light, slicing the darkness causing heartaches. Come, join hands with me and let’s follow the path of self-discovery through the “Iconoclast” way; Let’s pulsate our nerves and have a “LEAP of FAITH” together and let’s have a loud hearty laugh which would echo in the universe for ever. https://www.facebook.com/livethestoryworthtelling?ref=hl
http://vishaltravelstheworld.blogspot.in/2013/05/dare-to-be-your-true-self.html Standing on the beautiful landscapes of the Mount Entoto in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, I gazed at the sky and yelled at him; “why the results are not always as per the expectations”…..comes back the voice; “Calm down my son, because it just doesn’t matter”. I am surprised, where the voice came from…..is it from the sky? Is it the God himself? Oh, It’s from my inside….amazing, someone always within me, yet so indiscoverable… I asked him, who are you?? The voice came back, I am your friend, the one you never had faith on; I am the origin of everything, you never acknowledged; I am the creator, you never believed on…… “Why do you talk to me then?” I asked. “For the same reason, I talked with Arjuna during the epic of Mahabharata; he had wisdom to understand but yet he was confused; he was capable yet he lacked self-belief; he knew he was wrong yet he questioned to gain the better understanding. You question my presence too; I had no option but to answer them myself, because nobody else might do so”. “Ohhh, okkkk….am I overwhelmed???….no I am still supercilious; where do you reside and where have you been so far” “I am there with you, within you, within every living and non-living; I am in your identity, I am in your mood swings, I am in your dreams and I am in your explorations. I am in everything, everybody and present everywhere”. “But, you are not visible, anything invisible is outside my knowledge of existence; how can I believe you” I giggled. “Well, I didn’t expect such an illogical question from you; do you see air, do you see vision, do you see taste or do you see smell or have you ever seen your breath….but don’t they exist?? Human beings by their very basic nature depend on their most common senses to perceive and hence understand the world around them; but it doesn’t mean that nothing beyond their palatable senses exists…., just don’t be deceived by the visible world, open up your horizons. I value your questions, your logical and well thought of questions; it’s the right questions which lead you to the right answers. Questions lead to answers, answers lead to knowledge and knowledge in turn leads to wisdom; you are on your path to wisdom, my son.” “Ok, so you created us; but why??”, I was annoyed with the limpid superiority in this confident voice. “Hmmm, this answer is not so simple. To understand that, first you need to understand yourself. Tell me, do you have to breathe??” "Oh yes, I have to because otherwise, I will die", I answered sarcastically. “Wrong, you don’t have to breathe actually, you just breathe. Breathing for you is an automated system in your body; you actually don’t have any control over your breathing. You just can’t stop breathing by yourself; some other external factor has to force that onto you. Likewise, now think yourself as an organ of a much bigger body, e.g. the earth. You are an automated part of that body system earth. In the similar fashion, the Earth happens to be an automated functionality of a much bigger system, what you call as The Solar System; likewise the Solar system as the part of that immense galaxy and the Galaxy as an automated part/organ of the endless universe. Now, do you see the magnanimity of this whole system and do you see your limited yet so important role in this limitless creation?” "That is massive, please go on"…. I was getting anxious to hear more and understand the deep essence of this conversation. “For every system to work properly, all it’s organs and parts also need to work in the manner, they are designed to work or else, the whole system will collapse.” Yes, sure; I exhaled. “ So my friend, in this complex creation of the universe, every smallest entity has some specific function to perform and it certainly includes you too.” “So, does that mean, everything is already written for me? If that is the case why is there a question of right or wrong?”. I popped back with a lot of confusion. “Well, when I said that you have a specific task to perform, it didn’t mean that you are actually doing that. I created life in the simplest form of cells and then formulated the plan of evolution. Many complex creatures like mammals, reptiles, amphibians were the result of this process of evolution. Human beings so far have been the most complex creation. They are not only complex in terms of their DNA coding, they are also complex because they have the freedom to think and decide for themselves. Although, every living or non-living thing is close to my heart but Human beings due to their capability to think deeply and exalt in their achievements are closest to me. Due to their shear capability to achieve greatness and maneuver, they can be God-like. But this same mind which makes them think also perplexes them. They forget about their reason to live and get trapped in the insignificant materialistic temptations. I am sure you are even more confused by now and have several doubts. Well, let me pose it this way, Human beings are born to achieve excellence by using their minds to help me put the things in order and create new things to become God-like. The ultimate objective is always to maintain the equilibrium of this universe and bring harmony among various species in this ecosystem. They started well by creating the concept of Society. The social nature of human beings brought them closer to each other. But in that very basic concept of society, they alienated the rest of the world and the whole ecosystem. The same society also became much more complex with time and brought further divisions based on cast, creed, ethnicity, nationality, race, wealth etc. When human was afraid of something, he conceptualized and idolized me in various forms to take shelter in those scary moments. This idolization then resulted into various followers of different idols and in turn gave rise to the concept of Religion. And then after, human beings have never stopped fighting over the most trivial matters, the reason unknown even to me….(laughs).” “Oh, that was really complicated”, I thought. “But by this do you mean that human beings should not even worship. I have seen people so dedicated in your service and still you complain. Moreover, what is the harm if some people can breathe easy and do away with their fears by idolizing and is it not that you somehow are responsible for the creation of different religions too?” I, for sure am again confused. “Good question but if you still try to listen and comprehend carefully, many of your doubts will automatically go away. First of all, concept of Religion is not evolved from me; it evolved from the Human being’s timid and meek psyche. You never wanted to be felt alone so you created something which can always make you feel safe and alleviate your loneliness and fears. Secondly, I didn’t say that idolizing is wrong but being a fanatic and rudimentary to dictate the terms of a specific religion, demeaning other’s thoughts and sentiments, creating a ruckus over silly matters based on your beliefs and then creating a further divide and disharmony within the same species (human beings) is not rational. Your civilization has grown up to that extent now where when you say that you belong to a particular religion or nationality, you automatically say behind the lines that your religion/nationality is better than the other”. “Hmmm, I understand the dilemma now….but don’t you think that having an identity is also needed. How would somebody recognize me, if I don’t have a surname, nationality, religion etc. Is it not again to put the things in order and the basis of society?” I asked. “Ok, I agree with your point here that having an identity is crucial to put the things in order. But that is where I started from that you are made to bring balance to the universe. You must always think to keep the things in the equilibrium state before doing anything. For example, if you have a nationality and a surname, why not to use that modestly as an identity criteria and not to brag about it. You should be respectful of who you are but remember there is always a very thin line between being respectful to yourself and being proud looking down on others. Moreover, before feeling so respectful for yourself, you should also introspect that what is that you have done for the society, for the fellow human beings, for the ecosystem or for your mother earth because serving them is like serving me. If you then respect yourself, then my son, I am so much proud of you.” “Now, since I have explained your reason of existence; let me throw more light on your point of “Right and Wrong” and “Destiny”. When, I say that each individual is created to serve a special cause; So, actually each one of you is a special and unique gem. Since your birth, I start giving you signs for your destiny in the form of dreams, aspirations and your natural tendencies. These signs are always deep hidden in your sub-conscious mind and come on the upper surface when you try to listen to your soul and try to believe in yourself. Most interestingly, though these signs are so clear initially, people get tempted to the distractions created by themselves. Unable to leave a well set lawyer job in order to pursue a life-long passion in wild life photography or forcing himself in an engineering program instead of following up his passion into sports are a couple of most common and simplest examples where the people don’t follow the path to their destiny and get bamboozled by their intricately set rules and social stigmas. Such actions are mostly evident when the individuals are more interested in the results and not on what they are born to do. They follow the apocryphal destinations based on the contemporary trends, social pressures and monetary temptations. Oh, I forgot to mention, after the creation of Religion,...
Today, after the last crazy 5 days, I laid back and relaxed in my bed watching my little babies asleep. The calmness on their faces made me skip my breath again and again. Suddenly, I slipped into a trans state where I could find a connection with some unseen force. The sudden impulse of energy made me forget all the troubles and I was at complete peace with myself. No more concerns of the business, no more thoughts of another travel, the team meetings just faded away and the new upcoming project just took the back seat. What was it…..I asked myself. The same mind, body and the soul which were craving for a sleep for last so many days are just rejuvenated and are probably ready to take up another challenge with greater vigor. Whenever, I wish to think something deeply, I start writing. The writing gives me newer horizons to think and makes it easier for me to dig in deeply of any matter. So, I started……. Life is crazy, we all know. It’s unpredictability sometimes surpasses all our assumptions and sometimes it leaves us amused. It was not too far back when a mere mention of getting married was like…..hey are you in your senses man?? And then suddenly the same life changed it’s course. Within the 7 years of my wedding, I am a father of 2 beautiful kids. Believe me, it was not so easy to accept the news from my other half (won’t say better as I believe in the equality of both the genders) and it did take me at least one minute to bring my suddenly choked brain to a level where it could digest the facts presented by the circumstances. That was almost 5 and half years back. Then, it took double the time around 3 and half years later when the same steps were repeated. Thankfully, I have a habit of taking it easy always and my belief in destiny makes me take the life as it comes. Now, here I truly admit that I was scared initially both the times but I did witness the strong power that the brain does possess. Basically, the tougher part is not with the problem but with the fact that how do you program your brain to perceive the problem. The moment, the brain programming was done, the same task which initially seemed like a herculean task transformed into brisk morning walk. Those perplexed moments have resulted into these loving memories which have painted my whole life with the most vibrant colors available in this beautiful world. They sleep in front of me and I touch their small feet and hands; the touch evokes an ethereal emotion; the innocence in their smiles is the most mesmerizing picture I have ever scene; the glitter in their eyes is worth more than this whole universe and believe me when they call me Papa, I can die for that…….We are always curious to discover God someday but in this pursuit of him, we forget to appreciate his own presence in just everything around us which is so visible and yet neglected. Today, with a very limited knowledge I have, I cogently say, though I haven’t seen or touched God but I have felt him in his most magical creations. Thanks God for the wonderful gifts and bless your gifts forever. We all can experience God, just look around and believe in him. Somebody out there in any state of relationship might actually be the reason for your existence and your messed up mind probably hasn’t been able to conjure up those precious thoughts as yet. Let’s appreciate the life in its true form and the people around us always.
It’s a tricky and contentious subject, I chose to write on. I am sure it will invite a lot of favor as well as critic from the readers. Well, my objective anyhow was to stimulate a chain of thoughts in your minds. This morning, the newspaper was abuzz with the news of Mr Azim Premji joining the Gates-Buffet charitable trust as the 1st Indian, where he vows to give away a major part of his wealth for philanthropy. Being such a rich man, he still drives a Toyota Corolla, prefers to not to stay in 5-star hotels and leads a very normal life devoid of any frills. I always remember what the great Warren Buffet once said, “If you want to be rich, stop acting rich”. These are a few of those rare exemplary moments which have the potential to be a phenomenon. But unfortunately, in the world we witness today, even such novel ideas don’t have many takers. Please don’t assume that I am a profound philanthropist anyway but I certainly and firmly believe in the fact that un-necessary show of wealth is injurious to the entire humanity & if not at such high standards, one’s life ought to have a fine balance between many such extremes as a minimal effort from his side in order to contribute back to the society. What I see clearly is that there exists a vicious circle being run perpetually by Greed and Ambitions. The show of wealth from a neighbor gives birth to Greed which in turn becomes an ambition for which one could even dedicate the whole life. This ambition once in existence transforms the person into a hungry animal. The Dark side of the person wakes up and without any realization he/she starts moving in a direction which gives only the materialistic benefits and actually is devoid of actual happiness and growth to be a real Human being. Those are the moments when the priorities are so much changed that the only important thing is to be the “First” among those myopic people running and competing against each other. Soon, the senses are lost so much that it’s only the “Position” which matters while the means by which the position is secured lose the importance. The sense of “Right and Wrong” goes berserk. Most importantly, this frame of mind of being ambitious is so addictive that the entire life loses the meaning behind the demon sized EGO. I am an ardent follower of the great recital by Lord Krishna, Srimad Bhagwad Gita and I here see the world becoming a beautiful place if everybody just focuses on the Karma, they do. If the means to achieve anything is right, nothing wrong can ever happen. For such basic sense to prevail, one needs to love and respect the world he is into. I call such a person a progressive person who competes only with himself and always tries to be a better person/professional than his/her previous self. While, an ambitious person would see the world as his adversary, a progressive person would know the same world as his home and a teacher from where the greatest wisdom and knowledge to achieve the greatest is received. May the lord bless all of us, may the world be a beautiful place to live, may the people be happy always.