A day well-spent

This Sunday was different. No malls or movies, no lazing or sleeping round the clock,no shopping or washing clothes.
I spent this Sunday attending spiritual classes with Anil and Ramana at a program called “yoga retreat”..

I know, it sounds heavy, but it wasn’t any hard core spiritual session that would drive you mad or leave you snoring in ur chair or kill your desire to live .. it was a session where simple facts about life were discussed amidst a few games and funny videos and some very soothing music.

I’ve always stayed away from spiritual stuff.. I don’t even look at the spiritual kinda passages in CAT paper.. (did I tell u abt my hobby? Appearing for the CAT exam every year..lol). But I went this Sunday. Dunno why. Maybe because it was being conducted at ISKCON- one of my fav places. Or maybe I really needed to bring about some change I my life… well whatever.. I was glad I did.

Some interesting things from yoga retreat..

They were talking abt reincarnation and the concept of indestructible soul n all..
But what really caught my attention was when they spoke about ‘self-confidence’. We were shown a video-clip of the indomitable Lalu Prasad Yadav. During a parliament session, he was asked to translate his Hindi speech into English, and he didn’t hesitate even for a second. Everybody, including the speaker was almost choking with laughter, but he went on, delivering ridiculous statements with supreme confidence. And he was having a ball! I loved his ‘devil-may-care’ attitude!

We thought the songs being played were Spanish or Latin, but they turned out to be Sanskrit shlokas being sung by western singers who murdered the phrases. But then, liked the music.

The best part of the day was the session was a presentation which ended with a question to God..
“is there anything u’d want your children to know?’
And he says

I’m here for you………………………….Always!

thanks to dilbert!!

Scott Adams is a seriously lucky guy!
He gets paid for writing crap.. :D

If you are wondering who this guy is, he is the creator of the amazing cartoon strip character DILBERT! The only cartoon meant for adults, that too working professionals. Scott has successfully insulted every profession mankind can think of, and in a really funny way! Amazing life he’s leading.. doing what he enjoys(which includes insulting people) and getting paid for it!

In his book ‘dilbert-joy of work’, he’s dedicated a whole chapter to ‘office pranks’!!.. I’m going to try some of them on my last day with IBM.  . A small wicked part of me started dancing with wicked glee at the thought. Let me not get carried away and do something stupid and get thrown out. There’s a bloody recession out there! but everything's doubly funny these days.. im able to chill out and handle stress better thanks to dilbert!!





Well actually, this post was going to be a serious one. About how you can bring about a positive change in your life.. how by changing your perspective, you can dramatically improve the way you feel n stuff… I was seriously motivated n all.. but before I could give my sermon, Dilbert came along and cracked me up completely..


However, I’ll tell u one thing I’ve learned.

“When the student is ready, the teacher appears”…

So if you’re wondering what to do with ur life, unsure of your goal or looking for that motivation which will get u started, open your mind and devote your energy to the search. When u are truly sincere and ready, u will surely have the answer!
Life will be your teacher!

this n that..

Well,
Life’s a little upside down at the moment. Things I expected aren’t happening and unexpected things are comin crashing down my head. Ok, now don’t say philo crap like “that’s how life is” n all, coz that would piss me off!!

Nyways, amidst all this, there are some things that have caught my attention and some random observations I have made.

1. Listening to mad music can be a real stress buster. Better still, listen to mad rock and then some devotional music in between.. u’ll feel so good.. try “lollipop” by Li’l wayne, “crank that” by Soulja boy n my current favorite “take u there’ by Sean Kingston.

2. There are some people who genuinely care about the environment and all that pollution thingy.- there was a greenathon being aired on NDTV where Milind Soman and some people in disgusting green jackets were running for 24 hrs non stop and funds were being raised for some environmental issues.

On a serious note, I guess we should all do our bit for the nature- save water and electricity for instance. Some wise guy said

“ We treat this world of ours as if we had a spare one in the trunk”.

Well we don’t, so lets all start acting more responsibly. Don’t leave taps open and switch electric appliances when ur not using them. Spread this message across, coz u can (and should) make a difference.

3. I have a wonderful support system and people really care about me, but their patience is not inexhaustible, so guess it’s time I shut up and start dealing with things on my own.

4. I read in some newspaper about this person ( name forgotten) who got a huge house built for just 1.6 lakh rupees. He got stone slabs from a building which was being demolished, got steel frames for windows from an automobile scrap yard or something and the remaining materials in a similar fashion for dirt cheap prices.

What a genius!!

I’ve started thinking about ‘how to save money’. Gimme ideas if u have any!

5. Cupid is stupid!
I’ve seen so many people falling for the wrong person these days and having breakups.
Well, I’m lucky coz I’m sensible and immune to cupid.
( I guess that’s what all of us single people state with the V-day around the corner ;) )

6. A craving for chocolate can not be satisfied by anything else. So don’t make ur life miserable trying to fight the temptation, go buy that chocki..

Enough of my observations, now u go n think of ways to have more fun in life..
If u r having a wonderful time already, go think of ways you can make someone else’s life better..

Spread the cheer!!

senseless nonsense..!!..

Sometimes in life your computer and the network test your patience to the breaking point. You wait endlessly for the particular course to load.. but it just stays there, hung with a stupid ‘please wait’ plastered across its face, seemingly enjoying antagonizing u. You can either rant and rile in frustration, or just tell it to get lost and open a word n start scribbling away to glory.
I was thinking about the things i’d rather be doing instead of staring at my stupid monitor, and my flights of fantasy went places..

I’d like to be working as an apprentice under Sam Walton, the genius who started Wal-Mart for a few days. I’d thoroughly enjoy that. It’s amazing story, the building up of a retail empire from a dollar store. I want to be there in his initial days and watch that man envisioning the plans of huge expansions..

I’d also like to be present when the greatest epic of all times, the Mahabharata was being composed. Just to lay my eyes on the great sage who composed that extraordinary saga that the whole world respects.

One partly silly thing I thought was.. I’d like to arrange a meeting between Adolf Hitler and mother Teresa.. make them stay together for a while and see who influences whom!!

Among the hundreds of things I want to learn, one that popped into my mind right now is learning how to eat with chopsticks. I’m very curious how do those people manage to do that?? Specially rice! Ain’t it frustrating to do that? Or maybe that’s the idea! Make eating so complex that people will stay thin.. would be very helpful to me..i’ll try it out.. Can someone gift me a pair of chopsticks?

Some things going in my mind are dangerous to be put up on the net… I might be hunted down and killed before I can even shut down my system..

I also want to know some great truths about myself. Not who am I? or my purpose in this universe or some philosophical crap, (no.. I’m too smart 2 b a philosopher).. the stuff I want to know is more like why the hell can’t I get up early in the morning? Why do I postpone only the most important things? Why..why why only the last minute to do anything? Most importantly, when the hell will I finish that novel I started writing around five yrs back.. actually will I ever?????

Well this train of thoughts has to stop somewhere!

Last of all.. I want to meet Bill Gates in person and tell him how much I appreciate Microsoft Word and the wonderful way I’m using it.. to type out useless thoughts and post them in useless blogs that even I don’t give a damn about!

frog princess? lolz..

“U r like a frog in a well!!”

That’s what a friend of mine told me a few days back.

My first reaction- “whaaaat?? No way!!”
The idea was so ridiculous that I was more amused than offended.
Why?
I’ve traveled all over India,(except the northeast) and have been to a lot of places.
I’ve read about a diverse range of things, from Aztec and greek mythology to nebulae and black holes in the universe.. from detailed tales of Hinduism to biographies of entrepreneurs.. from classical literature to stupid fiction novels..
I have a lott of friends..
And I have high (almost unrealistic) ambitions..

So how the hell am I a frog in a well thingy?? I thought if this guy thinks I’m dat, maybe he duznt know me at all!! The most frustrating part was that he wouldn’t even tell me why he thought so.

Well, putting aside why he thought so… this incident got me thinking about a lot of things. True, I don’t have a closed mind, but of late, I have only been looking at things which were right there in front of my eyes. For quite a while now, I’ve completely been missing the bigger picture!
I lost a lot of precious, precious time pursuing temporary gratifications. All my plans n my dream kept tumbling down the hill, but my blanket(or should I call it a ‘shroud’?)
of complacency was so comfortable that I didn’t even care! I was happily ignoring the fact that time was running away.

I had a whole year!! A whole year to improve myself, and go chasing my dream.
But I chose to while away my time keeping my brain occupied with petty things, just like a stupid frog in a stupid well!!! Actually I’m worse coz I, unlike the frog , know that there’s a whole world outside my well, know that I desperately want 2 be there and make it big.
However, in this one year, I’ve experienced a lot. I’ve had many wonderful moments, had a lot of fun, felt very special sometimes and have been very thankful for having wonderful friends… and I do not regret any of it.. these are moments I shall cherish all my life, preserved carefully in the pages of my diary.

BUT Right now, I’m in the same situation as I was last yr… in deep mess, disappointed with myself, uncertain of the future and sick with realization of the fact that I’ve seriously screwed up one year of my life.

So am I a frog in a well?? No. I still don’t think so. I’ve made some mistakes, I took some things for granted.. but still.. no, I’m not.
Why?
Coz I’ve just jumped out of it!! :P

dental mental

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The American poet Ogden Nash said
“Some tortures are physical and some are mental;
But the one that’s both is dental” .
Too true!!
In my case it was more mental than physical, when I had a ‘root canal surgery’ done on one of my teeth.. Actually it was a financial torture! Dental care in Bangalore is insanely expensive.
This ordeal which lasted for over 4 weeks (weekends, actually) taught me a few things.
Lesson 1: NEVER ever ignore a cavity!
Just coz I ignored it, I had to spend five Saturdays in the dentist’s office, sitting in a stupid position, with my mouth hanging open, shell out a month’s salary on a stupid tooth( the health insurance plan duzn’t cover it!!! Not fair!!) and spend some sleepless nights getting terrorized!
Week 1:
My first visit, the doc, a pleasant old man got an x-ray done n said in a morose voice.. “sorry dear, u need a root canal. Come back next week” .
I kept worrying, tried not to worry, talked abt it, cursed myself for not getting it treated earlier.. n somehow the week passed.
Week 2:
Back at the dentist’s, same time, same place. This time it was a nice lady, a root canal specialist.
Doc: “ hi manasa.. what I’ll do is drill a hole in ur tooth, pull out the tissue, cut the nerve off, fix a screw…..”
Me: “ please doc, I don’t really need to know abt it.. just get on with it”
Then she takes a really long injection. Now injections really really freak me out! Cant stand looking at them! I refused to open my mouth until she started losing patience n said †if I do the procedure without this anaesthesia, u’ll die of pain!
Lesson 2: NEVER open ur eyes while getting a dental treatment! They use pretty sharp instruments and it duznt feel nice seeing those going into ur mouth. I wished I cud close my ears off too when I was hearing things like “give a me a sharper, longer one“or
“clean all that blood“or the very annoying noise of those instruments..

Week 3:
All the way to the clinic, I was praying “please no injection today” but the first thing I saw as I took my ‘now familiar’ place was the long, horrible thing in her hand. This time thr was less drama, less panic, less hysteria.. I behaved quite well actually, though it was painful. I even got a free toothbrush..lol!


Week 4:
Again “please god, no injection” .. but..
“open ur mouth dear.. a small injection ..it was that old doc. This time it pained even less. N I didn’t freak out at all. Dat stupid long needle looked familiar. This was the most uncomfortable visit. Horrible tasting things were stuck in my mouth, it was held open 4 soo long dat I thought my jaw would break! Something very similar 2 road construction thing was done..drilling, fixing screws..
At last, “all done dear” . Root canal successful.!! Just a cap needed to b placed A very proud moment in my life. I survived it! :D
Week 5 :
Took my place very comfortably, opened my mouth for an injection. But surprise surprise, thr was no need. Just got my brand new tooth cap placed.! I was out on 15 mins!!
The best visit ever!
At the end of it all, I’d become immune to pain, injections and dentists, started hating ice cream ( my food for 5 Saturdays was only ice cream) and am very thankful to the guy who invented anaesthesia!
PS: Thr's a controversial story abt its invention which u can check out at
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/158/12/2103

A shower of silver..

I’ve read about moonlight being referred to as silvery beams by imaginative creatures like me who are called poets, but experienced it for the first time. Last night, up on my terrace enjoying a few rare moments of blissful solitude. In the softness that engulfed me, I was at complete peace with myself.

For a moment, I found everything I was looking for. As the silvery folds caressed me, my fears were calmed, my emotions were soothed, I felt the presence of a dear friend whom I was missing and found the inspiration I was looking for.

Science tells us dat it’s just a huge mass of rock which revolves around the earth every 27days and 7 hrs. and a load of information like it’s full of craters, causes tidal waves.. they call it the natural satellite and it probably must have given the inspiration to man for making the artificial ones.. but who cares if it just reflects the light of another huge ball of gases? Who cares how far it from the earth and how big?? Uh-umm the geniuses who launched Apollo 11 wud’ve cared! Lolz.. and of course our very own Chandrayaan is raring to go park on it.. (wish I were on it)..




But when I’m standing up on my terrace alone , looking at it.. all this information seems to me like a load of rubbish! ;) the moon’s just a beautiful pretty light put up in the sky by nature to light up the darkened skies.. to give comfort and peace to us earthlings and to put a smile on our faces…. And yeah to inspire fantasy freaks like me to write blogs like these..

Well and last night, the moonlight I’ve been praising so much gave me a hug, whispered everything’s always going be fine and promised to bring forth a dawn of a new day with the song of the sun.. 